CHAP. CIV. i?ETULA"cE^. .^'LNUS. 1681 



a few months, and the furniture afterwards well varnished over with what is 

 called the French polish, it will stand unharmed for generations." (Lauder^s 

 Gilpin, vol. i. p. 1 37.) Wood of alder, which has lain a long time in peat 

 bogs, becomes as black as ebony ; and as, in a recent state, it readily receives 

 a black dye, while, from the homogeneousness of its texture, it will take a 

 better polish than soft woods do generally, it forms a very common substitute 

 for that wood in small articles ; but it has always a dull hue, being inca- 

 pable of receiving the lustre of the real ebony. When used in constructions 

 above ground, it ought only to be placed in situations where it will be kept 

 perfectly dry : but the great use of the wood, on a large scale, is for piles, as 

 foundations for bridges and other buildings, water-pipes, barrels of pumps, 

 and props for mines. The spray is more durable than that of most other 

 trees, when used for filling drains in moist soil. Dorsetshire woodwards 

 (woodmen), Mitchell observes, " have nearly the same adage applied to alder 

 poles, when peeled for rafters, as those of the midland counties have for willows 

 and poplars (see p. 1637.) ; viz : — 



" Thatch me well, and keep me dry. 

 Heart of oak I will defy." 



" Stakes of alder," he says, " will not stand twelve months, nor will the timber 

 do for posts, or anything else, where it is in contact with the ground, except 

 under water. The wood, however," he adds, " ought not to be entirely re- 

 jected;" and he recommends it as linings for stone-carts and wheelbarrows, 

 that are in constant use ; " because, being soft, though it may bruise, it does 

 not split by the stones being tumbled in." It makes better weather-boards 

 than elm or beech, because it does not warp or cast. (DendroL, p. 55.) Alder 

 hop-poles, according to Cobbett, will only last one year. As fuel, the alder 

 is to the beech as 985 is to 1540 : but, like other woods of little value as 

 fuel for heating dwelling-houses, it is preferred for other purposes, where a 

 slow and not fierce heat is required ; such as for heating bakers' ovens, for 

 burning limestone and chalk, for burning bricks, &c. The charcoal is es- 

 teemed excellent for making gunpowder ; but for domestic uses it is considered 

 inferior, being to that of the beech as 885 is to 1600. The ashes yield at the 

 rate of 65 lb. of potash to 1000 lb. of ashes; which ranks it among 73 other 

 woods that yield this salt, in the 67th degree. The bark on the young wood 

 is powerfully astringent, and is employed by tanners : and the young shoots 

 are used both for tanning, and dyeing red, brown, and yellow ; and, in combi- 

 nation with copperas, to dye black. The catkins dye green; and the female 

 catkins are used by fishermen to sustain their nets above water, instead of 

 cork. In Hall's Travels in Scotland, the author says that the country people 

 in the Highlands make their own shoes ; and, to avoid the tax on leather, pri- 

 vately tan the hides with the bark of birch and alder. (Travels hi Scotland,vo\. ii. 

 p. 401.) The fresh wood dyes a snuff-colour; and the bark, dried and pow- 

 dered, and mixed with logwood, bismuth, &c., yields the colom" called bone de 

 Paris. It is said that the Laplanders masticate the bark, and, with the saliva 

 so coloured, stain their leathern garments red. {Syl. Sketches, p. 9.) In France, 

 the small roots are split, and worked into baskets ; and the knotty parts of the 

 larger roots are used for inlaying cabinet-work. Both linen and woollen 

 cloths are dyed black by boiling them with the flowers, buds, female catkins, 

 bark, and spray, and afterwards putting them into water which has been used 

 at a smith's forge for quenching the red-hot iron. The leaves are used in 

 medicine as detersive ; and they are employed in decoctions and gargles for 

 diseases of the throat. Among the uses which may be considered obsolete, 

 are two mentioned by Pennant ; viz. spreading the boughs over the fields 

 during summer ; leaving them there during the winter to rot ; and, in the fol- 

 lowing March, clearing off the undecayed parts, and ploughing the ground for 

 a crop of corn. The other use is that of strewing the leaves and young shoots 

 on the floors of houses to attract fleas, which are said to be entangled in the 

 " tenacious liquor, as birds are by birdlime." 



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