Sarcococca.] EUPHOHBIACI 371 



" Boxwood is the nearest approacli to ivory of any wood known, and will therefore 

 probably gradually increase in value, us it, as \\vll as ivory, become scarcer. It is now 

 used very considerably in manufacturing concerns, but on account of its gradual ad- 

 vance in price during the past few years, cheaper woods are in some instances being 

 substituted. 



" Small wood under 4 inches is used principally by flax-spinners for rollers and by 

 turners for various purposes, rollers for rink skates, <fcc., &c., and if free from splits is 

 of equal value with the larger wood. It is imported hnv as small as 1J inches in 

 diameter, but the most useful sizes are from 2* to 3 inches, and would, then fore, we 

 suppose, be from 15 to 30 or 40 years in growing, whilst larger wood would require 50 

 years and upwards at least, perhaps we ought to say 100 years and upwards. It is 

 used principally for shuttles for weaving silk, linen and cotton, and also for rule- 

 making and wood engraving. Punch, The Illustrated London .Zfow, The Graphic, 

 and all the first class pictorial papers use large quantities of boxwood." 



Messrs. Churchill and Sim, reporting on some boxwood sent to them for sale in 

 1880, and which fetched 21 shillings per cwt., equivalent at 60 Ibs. per cubic foot to 

 Us. Id. or about Ks. 6 per cubic foot say : 



" The. pieces of boxwood were remarkably fine specimens, equal in quality to the 

 best Abasia, and fetched a very high price, equivalent to 21 per ton. These logs 

 were depreciated in value for ordinary purposes, owing to their having been squared, 

 which was a mistake, as in that operation much valuable wood had been wasted, and 

 when the bark is removed, a good protection to the log is destroyed. In the present 

 state of the boxwood trade, and considering the fact that the supplies which have been 

 coming forward for some time past are deteriorating in quality, from the action of the 

 Turkish Govennment in closing the forests and from other causes, the probability of a 

 supply of this wood from India is a matter of considerable importance. The usual 

 run of this wood would not, however, fetch the high price of this picked sample. The 

 price realized cannot, however, be taken as any criterion, for whether supplies can be 

 sent to this market, and sold at prices which will cover transit and freight, and then 

 leave a profit, is very doubtful. Could this wood be regularly placed on the market 

 at a moderate figure, there is no reason why a trade should not be developed in it." 



25. SARCOCOCCA, Liudl. 



Two species, S. saligna, Mull. Arg., with tri-nerved and S. Hookeriana, Baill., with 

 penniveined leaves. The latter is a shrub of the hills of Sikkim. 



1. S. saligna, Miill. Arg. ; Beddome ccxvii. ; Brandis 448 ; Gamble 

 72. Vem. Sukat sing, Kumaun ; Chilikat, Nep. 



A small evergreen shrub. Wood white, moderately hard. Pores 

 very small and extremely small. Medullary rays tine and moderately 

 broad. 



Afghanistan, Himalaya at 4,000 to 7,000 fret, ascending in Sikkim to 

 Khasia Hills, Nilgiris and Western Coast. 

 Wood sometimes used for walking-sticks. 



H 2832. Simla, 7,000 feet. 



