214 SYLVAN WINTER. 



and being hard and durable, and capable of taking 

 a high polish, it is much used* for the manufacture 

 of fancy boxes and other articles. The heart- 

 wood in all the trees of this genus is dark, and 

 it is darker in the Common Laburnum (Cytisus 

 laburnum) than in some of the others. Turners 

 and cabinet-makers therefore put it to good use. 

 It is used also for the staves of casks, and for 

 making noggins or wooden mugs or cups. 

 Punch-ladles are also made from this wood, and 

 it is sometimes employed in the manufacture 

 of musical instruments, and in former times it 

 was used in the making of bows. 



Lancewood is familiar to everybody from its 

 use for bows and fishing-rods. In the south of 

 Africa the natives make the stems of their spears 

 of this wood, and its use for lance-making has, 

 of course, originated its name. The tree which 

 produces it is the Lancewood tree (Guatteria 

 virgata) and is a native of Jamaica. Though not 

 a large-growing tree, its wood is very valuable 

 for its peculiar qualities of elasticity and tough- 

 ness. This wood is not only elastic, but strong, 

 and of close and uniform grain. For other 



