1G80 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



Africa. Acconlinj^ to Piirsh, the coiiinioii alilor is also a native of North 

 AiiR-rica; in the interior of Canada, anil on the north-west coast. The alder 

 was known to Homer and Theo;)hrastus. (See |). IS.) According to Virgil, 

 it formed tiie first material for boats; and Lucan rcconnnends it as a wood 

 proijcr for shi|)-l)iiilding. Virgil describes the proper situation for it, as on 

 the margin of still waters; and Vitruvins recommends the wood for ])iles, 

 stating that the city of Ravenna was built on it. Aristotle mentions that 

 the alder was generally barren in (ireece, and only fertile in the island of 

 Crete; hut it may be doubted whether he alludes to the same tree. In the 

 time of Theophrastus, the bark was used for ilyeing leather ; and, in the days 

 of l^liny, the wood was employed for piles, which he calls " eternal ;" and for 

 pipes, for conveying water under groiuul, as it is at present. The same 

 author states that the tree was pianteil along the banks of rivers, to prevent 

 them, by its numerous roots and suckers, from being washed away during 

 extraordinary Hoods. Evelyn tells us that the celebrated bridge of the Rialto, 

 at Venice, was built on piles of this tree. It is still extensively used in 

 Flanders and Holland, for the purjjose of forming piles. Routcher, writing 

 in 1780, informs us that, between I7;i() and 1750, "vast quantities of alder 

 plants were brought from Holland to Scotland, at a considerable jjrice, and 

 unhappily for the owners, planted in large tracts of moist land, from which 

 no returns suita!)le to the labour and expense had been received." He adds 

 that he would greatly have preferred "poplars and abeles." (Trcatuic, &c., 

 p. 111.) 



Properties and Uses. Naturally, the leaves of the alder afford food to the 

 larva; of different species of moths, and other insects ; and the leaves and 

 young shoots are eaten by horses, cows, goats, and sheep, though they are 

 not fond of them ; and they are refused by swine. Among the lepiilopte- 

 rous insects may be mentioned several species of the genus Hipparchia 

 Fab. Saturnirt Schrank, (See Ulagnziiic of Natural Histori/, vol. viii. 

 p. 210., and vol. v. p. 2ol.) Clytus alni Fah., a coleopterous 

 insect, is common in the trunks of old alder trees. C./Jrietis 

 Fah., Ceranibyx Jrietis L., Sam. pi. 2. f. 25., and our^g. 1.541 ., 

 is also common. The tongues of horses feeding upon the alder, 

 Linnieus observes, are turned black ; and, on that account, it 

 is supposed by some persons to be unwholesome for them. 

 The uses to which the alder has been applied by man are 

 various. The wood, though soft, is of great durability in 

 water. It weighs, when green, 62 lb. (5 oz. ; half-tlry, 48 lb. 

 8 oz. ; and (|uite drj', 30 lb. 4 oz., per cubic foot ; thus losing ]5il 



above a third of its weight by drying, while it shrinks about a twelfth part 

 of its bulk. In the Dict'umnairc dcs Faux ct Forcf.i, the wood is said to 

 be unchangeable either in water or earth. It is used for all the various pur- 

 poses to wliich soft homogeneous woods are generally apjilied ; viz. for turnery, 

 sculpture, and cabinet-making; for wooden vessels, such as basins, ])lates, 

 and kneading-troughs; for sabots, wooden soles to shoes and pattens, clogs for 

 women, iind similar purposes. In France, sabots made of alder wood are 

 smokecl, to render them hard and impervious to the larva of the beetle which 

 attacks that wood. The French, and also the Highlanders, arc said to make 

 light chairs of the wood of this tree, which have the colour, though they have 

 not the grain, of mahogany. Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, speaking of the wood, 

 says, " It is extremely valuable, even when of a small size, for cutting up 

 into herring-barrel staves; and thus whole banks, in Scotland, have been 

 denuded every year of this species of timber. The old trees, which are ("nil 

 of knots, cut up into jilanks, have all the beauty of the curled maple, with the 

 advantiige of presenting a deep, rich, reddish tint; and, in this state, they make 

 most beautifid tables. It must be remcmberctl, however, that the alder tim- 

 ber is liable to be perforated by a small beetle ; it should, therefore, if possible, 

 be prepared by inmiersiug the logs in a large hole dug in a peat moss, and im- 

 I)regnating the water of the hole with a (juantity of hmc. If this be done for 



