636 SOME OF THE POSSIBILITIES OF ECONOMIC BOTANY. 
which Mr. Darwin regretted he could not entertain. However this may 
be, all acknowledge that by the hand of the cultivator variations can 
be led along useful lines; and furthermore the hand which selects must 
uphold them in their unequal strife. In other words, it is one thing to 
select a variety and another to assist it in maintaining its hold upon 
existence. Without the constant help of the cultivator who seleets the 
useful variety, there comes a reversion to the ordinary specific type 
which is fitted to cope with its surroundings. 
I think you can agree with me that the prospect for new fruits and 
for improvements in our established favorites is fairly good. 
IV.—TIMBERS AND CABINET WOODS. 
Can we look for new timbers and cabinet woods? Comparatively few 
of those in common use are of recent introduction. Attempts have been 
made to bring into great prominence some of the excellent trees of India 
and Australia which furnish wood of much beauty and timber of the 
best quality. A large proportion of all the timbers of the South Seas 
are characterized by remarkable firmness of texture and high specific 
gravity.* The same is noticed in many of the woods of the Indies. 
A few of the heavier and denser sorts, like jarrah, of West Australia, 
and sabicu, of the Caribbean Islands, have met with deserved favor in 
England, but the cost of transportation militates against them. Itis 
a fair question whether, in certain parts of our country, these trees and 
others which can be utilized for veneers may not be cultivated to ad- 
vantage. Attention should be again called to the fact that many 
plants succeed far better in localities which are remote from their 
origin, but where they find conditions substantially like those which 
they have left. This fact, to which we must again refer in detail with 
regard to certain other classes of plants, may have some bearing upon 
the introduction of new timber trees. Certain drawbacks exist with 
regard to the timber of some of the more rapidly growing hard-wood 
trees which have prevented their taking a high place in the scale of 
values in mechanical engineering. 
One of the most useful soft-wooded trees in the world is the kauri. 
It is restricted in its range to a comparatively small area in the North 
Island of New Zealand. It is now being cut down with a recklessness 
which is as prodigal and shameful as that which has marked our own 
treatment of forests here. It should be said however that this de- 
struction is under protest, in spite of which it would seem to be a 
question of only a few years when the great kauri groves of New Zea- 
land will be a thing of the past. Our energetic forest department has 
on its hands problems just like this which perplexes one of the new 
lands of the south. The task in both eases is double, to preserve the 
old treasures and to bring in new. 
* Useful Native Plants of Australia, by J. H. Maiden, Sydney. 
