242 
Fie. 
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS 
227.—Peat-moss (Sphag- 
num cymbifolium, Peat- 
moss Family, Sphagnacee). 
14). plant im roast, 4... 15, 
spore-case, with lid still in 
place, 4%. (Kerner.)— 
Plants soft, yellowish 
green or purplish; “‘fruit”’ 
dark brown. Native home, 
throughout the world in 
bogs and peat swamps. 
less needful than clothing. Both 
materials serve us mainly by their 
mechanical strength, but with this 
difference, that whereas a fiber of- 
fers but little resistance except to 
stretching, a piece of wood main- 
tains its form but little changed 
against severe mechanical strains 
of whatever sort. Hence the great 
use of wood for support in struc- 
tures for shelter, storage, transpor- 
tation, and repose; and its wide 
application to innumerable minor 
uses. The ready separation of 
vegetable fibers and the facility 
with which they may be twisted 
and interlaced is matched by the 
comparative ease with which wood 
may be shaped and joined. 
The great importance of the 
wood-working trades, carpentry, 
joinery, turnery, and carving in- 
dicates something of the extent 
of our dependence upon the ma- 
terial in which they work. A 
further idea of the usefulness of 
this material may be gained from 
a brief review of the more impor- 
tant classes of things which are 
made wholly or in part of wood, 
and of the qualities they especially 
require in the material used. 
Buildings require different qual- 
ities in the frame, the exterior and 
the interior finish. Strength, ease 
of working, and availability in 
large dimensions are the main 
needs for the framing timbers; re- 
sistance to weather or adaptability 
