370 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[December, 



upon the (Pacific) Northwest as five times as great 

 as that now upon this State, we should have thirty 

 times the demand made upon Oregon and Wash, 

 ington that is made now. And this starts the 

 question, how long would these forests be a hope 

 to the nation because they were "inexhausti- 

 ble?" There is no flattering unction to be laid to 

 our souls unless we begin to plant forests, at least 

 as fast as we cut them down. If we do not, the 

 want of timber will lead to business stagnation, 

 and to shame, that we could have been so short- 

 sighted. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. ! 



Legislative Forestry. — It is said that so far 

 as can be learned, no one has availed himself of 

 the extraordinary liberality of the Legislature of 

 Pennsylvania, which permitted a man to neglect 

 the pubhc roads, provided he planted trees along 

 their sides. The Pennsylvania farmer has no idea 

 of sticking in the mud with his team, in order that 

 the few score trees he may plant shall keep pos- 

 terity from living in "an arid, treeless waste." 



Perhaps he has studied road making as well as 

 forestry, and has learned that roadside trees add 25 

 per cent, to the annual expense of road maintenance 

 — a practical thought which probably did not oc- 

 cur to the excellent people who have urged Legis- 

 latures on to these trifling enactments. 



An American Forester Abroad.— It is rela- 

 ted in English journals that during his recent visit 

 to Europe, Mr. Wm. Little, of Montreal, found 

 himself on an excursion with the Scottish Arbori- 

 cultural Society. It was desirable to climb a tall 

 tree of Picea nobilis to get a cone. No one would 

 venture up for it. Seeing the hesitation of the 

 " sturdy band of stalwart Scotch and Enghsh 

 foresters," Mr. Little "flung off his hat and coat, 

 and with the nimbleness of a squirrel in a few 

 minutes brought down some cones." 



The Silk Mulberry. — Mr. Felix Gillett, of 

 Nevada, California, thinks there is no profit in the 

 small leaved forms of the white mulberry. The 

 large leaved varieties should be preferred where 

 practicable. The trees should be kept as bushes, 

 for convenience in the daily gathering of the 

 leaves. 



Beauty of Yellow Pine.— The Northwest 

 Lumberman says: "Yellow pine, hard finished 

 in oil, is the rival in beauty of any wood that 

 grows, not excepting the costliest hardwoods. It 

 is susceptible of receiving and maintaining as high 



a degree of polish as any wood with which we are 

 familiar, and as to durability, when thoroughly 

 impregnated with oil, it may be said to be almost 

 everlasting. In such a condition it is impervious 

 to even hot grease and other substances that 

 leave an ineffaceable stain upon white pine, ma- 

 ple, and various other woods. Flooring for use 

 under carpets should be largely sap, and when 

 exposed either for inside or outside use, should be 

 as near all heart as possible. For inside trim- 

 ming, wainscoting or panel work, the curly varie- 

 ty, which, by the way, can only be obtained in 

 limited quantities, and ought to bring from $60 to 

 $80 per thousand in any market, instead of only 

 half that sum — is, in the writer's estimation at 

 least, superior to either cherry or bird's eye ma- 

 ple." 



Unfortunately " yellow pme" is given to so many 

 kinds of pine, we should be glad to know what 

 species receives this name in the Northwest. 



The Latest from Timber-land. — The period 

 now fixed by a prominent forestry essayist for the 

 " utter disappearance of every stick of American 

 timber," is now placed at seven years. He is not 

 so liberal as old Ben Franklin. If we remember 

 correctly he put the period at twenty years. 



The Pepper Tree — The Schinus MoUe, a Peru- 

 vian tree, thrives admirably in California. The 

 editor saw trees as large as an average oak would 

 grow in many parts of California. A very fine 

 line of them along the public road is seen near 

 Mr. Shinn's home, at Niles. As to the relative 

 value of this and Eucalyptus, we find the follow- 

 ing in a California paper, which seems to us as a 

 good estimate : 



" I also know that it is worth one-half of the 

 stovewood they make, to cut up and split it and it 

 must be done soon after it is cut down or it is im- 

 possible to split it. The wood don't compare in 

 quality with oak but is better than willow ; about 

 like sycamore. For timber it is entirely useless 

 and for posts and stakes it rots in one or two 

 years. I planted the next spring, after the gums, 

 six pepper trees and they average larger than the 

 gums in diameter and would make more wood 

 per tree, easy to chop and split and fully equal in 

 quality. If my grove was pepper, I would now- 

 cut the limbs off and make twenty cords of wood 

 and in three years they would have grown out 

 again larger than they are now." 



A Large Tulip Tree. — A specimen cut down 

 in Cayuga county, near Cayuga Lake, according 

 to a correspondent of the Country Gentleman, 

 measured 6 feet across and was 124 feet high. 

 Another was 6 feet 4 inches, cut some time since. 



