June 20, 1873. 1 



JOURNAL OF HOETIODLTDRE AND COTTACiE GARDENER. 



511 



Those having a sheltered corner on the south siJe of a wall 

 cannot do better than plant this shrub ; but they should not 

 attempt to nail it iu too closely, rather let it asfsuino the 

 character of a shrub growing against a wall and not nailed to 

 it, and it will be found to do much better. — J. Rodson. 



INDIAN AND EASTERN TIMBER AND FANCY 

 WOODS. 



Cedar is a oomuieroial term given to the woods of several 

 distinct kinds of forest trees, the timbers of which are distin- 

 gaished as Red and White Cedar, Barbadoes and Bermuda 

 Cedar, Cedar of Lebanon, Pencil Cedar, Bastard Cedar, and 

 some of those grow iu America, some in Europe, and some in 

 Asia. The lofty IJeodar, a native of the Himalaya, with fra- 

 grant and almost imperishable wood, and often called the Indian 

 Cedar, is sometimes referred to the genus Pinus, and some- 

 times to Cedrus or Larix, with the specific name of " Deodara." 

 But Dr. Hooker is of opinion that the Deodar and the Cedar 

 of Lebanon are identical. The woods of several of the Conifenc 

 are called Cedars. But iu India the term Bastard Cedar is 

 applied to the Guazuma tomentosa, while iu New South Wales 

 the term White Cedar is applied to Melia Azederach, and Red 

 Cedar to that of Flinder&ia anstralis, and the name is also 

 given to the woods of the Cedrela Toona and Chicrassia 

 tabularis. 



In China a kind of Cedar, probably a Cypress, called Nan 

 Mah, or Southern Wood, which resists time and insects, is 

 considered particularly valuable, and is especially reserved for 

 imperial use and buildings, and the Cedar wood of Japan, 

 according to Thunberg, is a species of Cypre,ss. The Cedar uf 

 Cxuiana is the wood of Icica altissima. The 'Wliitewood or 

 White Cedar of Jamaica is Bignonia Leucoxylon. The word 

 " Cedar," in the United States, is applied to various genera of 

 the Pine family. The Virginian Red Cedar, a Juniper, is 

 called Red or Pencil Cedar ; the White Cedar of the southern 

 fwamps is a Cypness. Under the term Cedar, Col. Frith 

 describes a reddish-coloured wood of Palghat, specific gravity 

 0.507, as a large tree, wood aromatic, and used for furniture; 

 and under the name of Cedar Root, a very aromatic wood, used 

 for ornamental furniture in Palghat. 



Specimens of the wood of the Indian Cedar (Cedrus Deodara), 

 and of the Cypress from the Himalayas, were shown by Dr. 

 Boyle at the Exhibition of lw.51. The former has been intro- 

 duced into England as a beautiful ornamental tree, and appears 

 to promise well as a useful timber tree, as the wood works 

 well and freely. 



The Toona (Cedrela Toona) is a large and valuable tree, 

 which grows in varying abundance at the foot of the Hima- 

 layas, also iu the north-eastern provinces, and to the south in 

 Bengal, and in both peninsulas of India. It is rare in the 

 central provinces. In the Punjaub it grows up to 25UO to 

 4800 feet, and is 7 to 12 feet in girth. Its growth there is rapid ; 

 its darkish wood is not subject to worm or warp, it looks well 

 when properly polished, and is there a favourite for cabinet 

 work. Mr. R. Thompson says it grows to a large size in the 

 outer moist valleys of Kumaon and Ghurwal, and hill-men 

 will not sell their trees. In Kumaon, trees with girths of 12 to 

 10 feet yield planks up to 3 feet broad, but 2 feet is the average. 

 In Coimbatore it is a valuable timber tree of large size, and its 

 reddish-coloured wood is used for cabinet-making purposes. 

 It is not a common tree in the Bombay forests, but is found in 

 some of the greenwood jungles about the ghats, and also in 

 the hill range abutting on the Rajpooree Creek to the south. 

 The wood is a choice one for cabinet-makers' purposes, but it 

 is not used for any others, except for house beams, when it is 

 procurable in sufficient quantities. A tree is also found, Dr. 

 Brandis teUs us, on the hills and plains of British Burmah, 

 plentiful in some districts, and if not identical with the Toon 

 of Bengal, certainly nearly related to it. A cubic foot of the 

 Burmah wood weighs 28 lbs. In a full-grown tree, on good 

 soil, the average length of the trunk to the first branch is 

 40 feet, and the average girth, measured at 6 feet from the 

 ground, is 8 feet. It sells iu Burmah at 8 annas per cubic foot. 



The lofty Deodara (Cedrus Deodara) is a native of the 

 Himalayas, and has an almost imperishable wood. Dr. Hooker 

 is of opinion that it is identical with the Cedar of Lebanon, 

 and this view is generally concurred in. It grows at 4000 to 

 10,000 feet in many parts of the Himalayas, from the Ganges 

 to beyond the Indus at Safed Kob, and the mountains north 

 of Jellalabad. It is a very handsome tree, with a yellow- 



coloured, easy-worked, straight-grained, and durable wood, 

 and pillars of it in the great mosque are said to be of the 

 year 804 Hejira, but those in tiio Hindoo temples there are 

 said to be six hundred or eight hundred years old. Insects do 

 not attack it. It is strong and elastic, and not too heavy. It 

 is used for knees of boats, and for all building purposes. A 

 tree takes from .SO to 120 years to roach (J feet of girth, attains 

 a height of 100 feet, 120 feet, even over 200 feet, and girths of 

 from 2.5 to 42 feet. It is the best of all the coniferous timbers, 

 and yields a valuable cmpyreumatic oil. 



With reference to the central province forests. Major Pear- 

 son gives some very valuable information. At the present 

 time the only forests in which teak of good size is procurable 

 are, first, the forests of Borce, at the foot of the Puchmureo 

 or Mahedeo hills, and those of Sowleeghurh and Jamgurh in 

 liaitool ; second, the forests around the Bormeyr River iu 

 Mundla; third, the forests of Lahora, KonkeLr, and Pana- 

 barras, of which the latter is the centre, between Raepore and 

 Chandah ; and fourth, the forests of Aheree on the Godavery, 

 between Seroncha and Chandah. The last two named belong 

 to zemindars, the first two only are Government property. 

 There is also teak found of large size iu the Gurjat States, 

 120 to 150 mQes south-east of Raepore; but it is so remote 

 that it can hardly be considered as belonging to the available 

 resources of the country. It is believed, however, not to exist 

 in any extraordinarily large quantity ; indeed, Lieut. Forsyth's 

 report on the Xuvriar forest represents twelve thousand trees 

 in all. In Boree, including the Baitool forests (which latter, 

 however, are practically worked out), there may be ten thousand 

 available timber trees. In Mundla there are about half that 

 quantity remaining. In the forests of which Parnabarrag is 

 the centre, there is still practically a perpetual supply, if they 

 are only worked with care, as a vast supply of trees are there 

 found in every stage of growth. About Dorwa in Pamabarras 

 alone he calculated there were ten thousand trees available for 

 felUng, and thirty thousand more from 2 to 2ifeet in girth, all 

 fine promising young trees. From the distance of the forests, 

 and excessive weight of the timber, Saul does not come into 

 much use. There is, however, a fine forest (a solitary patch) 

 in the Daniwah Valley at the foot of the Puchmarreo hills, 

 which is now being worked, and the executive engineers at 

 Jubbulpore and Saugor supply themselves with this timber 

 from the Rewah State, fifty or sixty miles east of Jubbulpore, 

 and from the Government forests in Beejoragogurh. Of all 

 other timbers — good, bad, and indifferent, and many of them 

 bad, the demand for sleepers for both branches of the Great 

 Indian Peninsula Railway, east of Bosawul, has almost cleared 

 the forests within fifty miles of the railway lines of every tree 

 that would yield a sleeper ; nor has the supply of them done 

 much good, as a very few years will have to elapse before all 

 have to be replaced. This is being done partly by Saul, in a 

 very small degree by Teak, but chiefiy by iron-girt sleepers. 



Western Mysore produces valuahle timber trees, useful for 

 building and cabinet-making, such as Boghy, for furniture, 

 strong and tough ; Soojhal, useful for all purposes, iu colour 

 a light brown, long grain, and rather open ; Hoonsay, with 

 red and black-streaked heartwood, close-grained and knotty, 

 which makes excellent naves of wheels, oil-mills, mallets, &c., 

 and is valuable for brick and tile burning ; Biti, an open- 

 grained timber, something like rosewood, which makes up into 

 good furniture of all descriptions ; Honagul, a building timber, 

 also used for furniture ; Wulla Honay, a light-coloured, open- 

 grained timber, a very excellent description of wood suitable 

 for house-building and furniture; Nundee, of which substantial 

 bridges are built ; Nellee, of a dark flesh colour, smooth, very 

 close grained, compact.and tough, making fine veneers, does not 

 decay under water, and is well adapted for turning ; Novoladdi, 

 a greenish-brown, dull, close-grained timber, which polishes 

 well, and is much liked by builders and others ; and Handiga, 

 useful for furniture and for the turner, &c. 



These are but a few of the forest products of India, but will 

 serve to show the vast and, comparatively speaking, still un- 

 developed timber resources of that country. — (Building News.) 



Cn.iNGiNC, THE CoLOUKS OF Flowehs. — The Gazette des Cam- 

 pagii'-s states that M. Huoghe has succeeded in changing tho 

 common Cowslip from its natural yellow to an intense purplo 

 by merely transplanting it into richer earth. The colour of 

 plants can he readily varied by mi.xiug certain substances with 

 the soil. Wood charcoal will darken the hue of Dahlias, Pe- 

 tunias, and Hyacinths. Carbonate of soda turns the last- 



