42 



Many of the more important classes of forest trees are common both to 

 the Old and New World, such as the Oak, Ash and Elm, and these 

 resemble each other closely, although in almost every instance, says 

 Browne in his " Sylva Americana," the resemblance stops short of com- 

 plete exactness. In many cases there are varieties in which the differ- 

 ence is so slight as to be only perceptible to the botanist, and yet they 

 are differences which a careful examination plainly shows, and the 

 varying qualities may materially affect the purpose or use to which the 

 wood is to be applied. 



Where the exact line is to be drawn distinguishing a tree from a shrub 

 is a question more appropriately in the province of a botanical work 

 than in a plain descriptive treatise, and there are several species attain- 

 ing the proportions of trees in one part of the country which in anothei 

 are mere shrubs. 



The following description is made as concise as is practicable, giving 

 the scientific and ordinary names of all our trees. The wood each 

 tree produces is also described, together with the purposes to which it is 

 applied. 



The order in whfch the forest trees are here given follows the arrange- 

 ment adopted in the United States " Official Catalogue of Forest Trees of 

 North America " by Professor Sargent of Harvard College, published by 

 the Department of the Interior at Washington in 1880. 



TULIP TREE, YELLOW POPLAR, or White wood (Liriodendron Tulipifera\ 

 a tree by no means common, and annually becoming scarcer, attains a 

 large size, reaching a height of from fifty to seventy feet, with a trunk 

 from three to five feet in diameter. When young the bark is light brown 

 and smooth, whilst on old trees it is deeply furrowed by longitudinal 

 fissures, giving it almost the appearance of a fluted column. It presents 

 a beautiful appearance when covered with its large tulip shaped 

 flowers after the middle of June. Its wood is very valuable, being light, 

 close-grained, strong and easily worked; it is extensively used for interior 

 work, carriage panels and the finer fittings of cabinet work, such as 

 drawers and fancy boxes. Being easily bent it is in demand for curved 

 work of all kinds. This tree seems to be confined, with the exception of 

 a straggler here and there to that portion of Ontario bordering on Lake 

 Erie and the Niagara district, 



BASSWOOD, Linden or American Lime (Tilia Americana), resembles the 

 Maple in growth, but the trunk is more pillar-like, and free from the 

 knots which characterize the latter. It attains a considerable size, 

 reaching from sixty to eighty feet in height, with a trunk of from three 

 to four feet in diameter. Its leaves are smooth and large, rendering it a 

 fine shade tree for pastures, as the denseness of its foliage resists the 

 great heats of summer. Its wood is white, light, tough and durable, soft 

 and easily worked, and is used for carriage panels, seats of chairs, fan- 

 ning mills, sleighs, and for sounding boards for pianos, being a wood that 

 will not warp. It is largely employed in inside work, and is sought after 

 by carvers for toys and for the figure heads of ships, and for the curved 



