242 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the Bermuda cedar. This timher is now almost wholly used in 

 the manufacture of lead pencils, and as the supply of Bermuda 

 cedar has become well-nigh exhausted, the bulk of what we now 

 import is the px'oduce of the Virginian tree. Formerly this timber 

 was much sought after by cabinetmakers for the construction of 

 the internal parts of wardrobes, cabinets, etc., its pungent odour 

 furnishing efficient protection against insect attack, but its use for 

 this kind of work has now practically ceased. 



The timber of the European silver fir (Abies pectinata) is 

 imported under the trade name of " Swiss pine," and it is chiefly 

 used in the manufacture of musical instruments, for which purpose, 

 on account of its excellent sonorous properties, it is well adapted. 



The only other European coniferous timber which we import to 

 any extent, is that of the maritime or cluster pine (Pinus innaster), 

 and practically the whole of this is in the form of pit-wood. The 

 most of this timber comes from the west coast of France, where 

 large forests of the maritime pine have been formed on the sand- 

 dunes, and it finds its chief market here in the Welsh colliery 

 districts, where it does not come much into competition Avith the 

 Baltic produce. 



The timber of the Kauri pine of New Zealand, like that of the 

 Oregon pine and Californian red-wood, is one of the more recent 

 introductions. The timber is excellent, and has been used to 

 some extent in shipbuilding and for various other purposes, but 

 heavy freights operate prejudicially against its importation. In 

 its native country, however, the Kauri pine (Agathis, or Dammara, 

 mtstralis) is an important timber tree, and large quantities of its 

 timber are exported to the neighbouring Australian towns — in fact, 

 it plays much the same part in that quarter of the globe which the 

 pines and firs do in Europe and America. 



