68 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
in the near future some cheap method of mechanical propulsion 
can be applied to ordinary fishing-boats, in order to enable them 
to get quickly to and from the fishing grounds, it is probable that 
wood boat-building of this sort will become a thing of the past. 
Beech is still largely used for tool-making and shuttle-blocks, 
and wood suitable for these purposes is never difficult to dispose 
of; but owing to the ever-increasing use of metal, and to the 
more general use of belt-driven machinery, and the gradual 
disappearance of the cog-wheel, the demand for beech by mill- 
wrights and ,engineers has now shrunk very considerably. 
For a number of years a considerable quantity of beech was 
used in the manufacture of golf-clubs, but this outlet has been 
steadily decreasing recently owing to the substitution of foreign - 
woods, such as Persimmon! and dogwood,? for the purpose. 
For well-grown beech timber 2 feet on the side and over there 
is still, however, a good demand. 
Scots plane under 7 inches in diameter is difficult to market, 
but for sizes from 7 to 9 inches in diameter there is always a 
good demand, and at satisfactory prices. or sizes from g to 
16 inches in diameter it is difficult to find a satisfactory outlet, 
but larger sizes can be readily disposed of, the prices varying 
with the quality of the timber and the straightness of the bole. 
Owing to the now almost universal use of the metal brake-block 
for railway and other waggons, such woods as willow, poplar, 
and lime have lost the position they formerly held in the timber 
market for this purpose; but, all the same, it is surprising to find 
that the black Italian poplar is not grown to a greater extent 
than it is, as on suitable soil it will give a much quicker and 
heavier return than any of the other broad-leaved trees, and its 
timber can be put to a great variety of uses. 
Birch was formerly much in demand for the manufacture of 
gunpowder, but the introduction of nitro-glycerine explosives has 
seriously affected its use for this purpose. Its chief outlet at 
present is in the brush-making trade, in which large quantities 
of the timber are used; but a serious drawback to the use of 
home-grown birch for this purpose is its coarse quality, and in 
many cases, owing to the inaccessibility of the woods in which it 
is grown, there is great difficulty in connection with its convey- 
ance to the saw-mill. The timber merchant therefore prefers to 
1 Diospyros virginiana. 
2 Cornus alternifolia (probably). 
