The Basswood or Linden Tree 



59 



thin piece of pine or cedar? Does it split as easily? 

 Has it an odor? By actually testing the wood you can 

 learn many of its properties. 



At home you can probably find several things that 

 are made wholly or partly of basswood. How about the 

 furniture? Look not only at exposed parts, but also 

 at the parts which ordinarily do not show. Examine 

 also burnt-wood work, plaques, kitchen utensils, pic- 

 ture molding, small boxes of the kind used 

 in mailing samples, and other articles of 

 wood. When you find something made of 

 basswood, see if you can tell why this kind 

 of wood was used in making it. Carriage 

 bodies are made of basswood because it is 

 flexible and can be easily nailed. Which 

 properties of basswood adapt it to use for 

 small boxes? Do not be content with 

 giving one or two properties; there are 

 several. Likewise think of more than one 

 property which makes it useful for each 

 of the purposes for which it is commonly 

 used. 



Bast. Cut off a small branch from a 

 basswood tree and examine the fibrous 

 inner bark. Has it any taste? Can you 

 get from it long strands, slender but 

 tough? These are composed of bast 

 fibers, which are particularly abundant in 

 the linden; hence the name " basswood." FIG. 36. Bast 

 One of the strong, slender strands you pull f^J ""Jj^ 

 out from the inner bark of a basswood twig. 



