26G ENGLISH EOT ANY. 



valuable timber ; for it is tall, straitilit, of uniform iliametor tlirongliout its lenfjftli, 

 and free from knots ; all wliicli qnalitios combine to render it fit for spars, which 

 fetch double or treble the sum per foot that the other trees do. The large and 

 spreading trees are on the outskirts of the masses, and straggle here and there in 

 groups or single trees." These last are the trees which are described by tourists, and 

 drawn by artists as the Highland pine. 



The pine forests of the Continent have suffered like those of the Highlands of 

 Scotland, but in Germany and France the work of reproduction goes on \vith a rapidity 

 which is interrupted in Scotland by the pasturing of cattle and sheep, which, as well 

 as the deer, browse on the young seedling trees, and prevent their growth. 



The wood of the pine is light, but strong, and nearly as durable as oak when kept 

 dry, and answers well for house-building, and is only inferior to oak for ships, the 

 best masts and spars being made of it. A great deal of the pine wood that is used in 

 ship-yards is imported fi'om the Baltic and from Norway, and the most celebrated 

 masts in Europe are those of Eiga. The value of the wood consists in its freedom 

 from knots, and it is found that the knots of this species are more easily worked and 

 less liable to drop out of the flooring boards than is the case with knotty boards of the 

 spruce or silver fir. The facility with which the wood of the Scotch pine is worked 

 occasions its employment in almost all kinds of joinery and house- carpentry, to the 

 exclusion of every other kind of timber wherever it can be procured. It is at once 

 straight, light, stifi", and consequently best fitted for rafters, girders, joists, &c., which 

 may be made of smaller dimensions of this timber than any other. Complaint has 

 been made of the want of durability in the timber of the Scotch pine, and a Mr. 

 Menteath of Closeburn has for upwards of fifty years caused all his Scotch pine timber 

 to be steeped in lime water, after it has been cut and fitted for the different purposes 

 required. It appears that the alkali of the lime neutralises, in some degree, the 

 albuminous nature of the soft wood, or that the water acts as a solvent, and extracts 

 a part of it ; for while Scotch pine of twenty or thirty years' growth seldom lasts 

 thirty years before it is destroyed by worms, Mr. Loudon tells us that timber pre- 

 pared by Mr. Menteath's process has lasted much longer, and is still as sound as 

 ever. Mr. Loudon suggests that alum dissolved in water might be even more effective 

 than the lime. As fuel, the wood of the Scotch pine lights easily, and burns with 

 great rapidity ; but it produces a black and very disagreeable smoke. The faggot 

 Avood of the Scotch pine is valued by the chalk and lime-burners of England more 

 than any other, on account of its rapid burning and intense heat, and consequent 

 saving of time in attending on the kilns. The roots, which are extremely resinous, 

 were formerly used in Scotland as a substitute for candles. The resinous juice, 

 whether exuding naturally, or procured by incision and distillation, produces tar, 

 pitch, rosin, turpentine, and the essential oil of turpentine employed in house-paint- 

 ing. The turpentine of the Scotch pine is, however, inferior to that of the silver fir, 

 and is only used for the coarsest kind of work. To produce it, a narrow piece of bark 

 is stripped off the trunk of the tree in spring, when the sap is in motion, and a notch 

 is cut in the tree at the bottom of the channel formed by remoA'ing the bark, to 

 receive the resinous juice, which will run freely down to it. As it runs down it leaves 

 a white matter like cream, but a little thicker, which is very different from all the 

 kinds of resin or turpentine in use, and which is generally sold to be used in the 

 making of flambeaux instead of white beeswax. The matter that is received in the 

 hole at the bottom is taken iwp with ladles, and put into a large basket. A great part 

 of this immediately runs through, and this is common turpentine. It is received into 

 stone or earthen pots, and is then ready for sale. The thicker matter Avhich remains 



