146 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
disuse, and great loss was occasioned to the bobbin manufacturer 
thereby. 
Constant supplies, in large quantities, of American bobbins are 
forthcoming, particularly to the Clyde and Mersey markets, and 
now appear in the weekly import list as a matter of course. To 
a limited extent, however, the bobbin-turning trade is still carried 
on, and in centres where supplies of suitable wood can be obtained, 
without being subject to excessive outlays for railway carriage, 
some large turning establishments exist. This altered condition 
of the trade has reduced the value of all kinds of small-wood to 
the lowest margin. In this paper it is proposed to describe the 
manner in which the small-wood of the various kinds of timber 
is disposed of and utilised, and sundry purposes for which it is and 
may be used in different districts of the country. 
Beginning with the oak, the amount of small-wood produced is 
very considerable, and, like the bobbin-wood trade, the outlet of 
former years for vast quantities has been shut up by the revolu- 
tion in shipbuilding. The age of our wooden walls has given place 
to iron, and the enormous consumption of tree-nails which were 
necessary in the building of the wooden ship is now no longer 
required in the iron. These tree-nails, being small in size, were 
chiefly manufactured from what may be termed the waste oak. 
A limited quantity is still consumed by turners, in the manu- 
facture of oak bungs or stoppers for barrels. These are taken 
from wood from one to two inches square, and of same length. 
Specially constructed machinery is used for the production of 
these articles, by means of which a long length is crosscut to the 
desired size of pieces simultaneously with the process of turning. 
A very important outlet for small oak wood is perhaps less gene- 
rally known in Scotland than it ought to be. This outlet exists 
in the brass and copper manufacturing districts, where large 
quantities are consumed, and that in the most effectual way. The 
purpose to which this class of wood is applied is to burn it in the 
furnace where the metal is being smelted. The wood must be 
light, down to an inch in diameter, but it is essential that the 
pieces be supplied in considerable lengths and moderately straight, 
having to pass through the narrow furnace door. The object 
served in the burning of the wood in this manner is the refining 
of the metal, and the process is by stirring the molten material 
with the oak wood. It can at once be understood that it can 
withstand this process for only a very limited time; the demand 
