63 



We know that, with vegetables as well 

 as animals, a certain degree of age is gene- 

 rally necessary, before they come to what 

 is called maturity ; or, in other words, be- 

 fore they become possessed of the proper- 

 ties, for which they are deemed the most 

 valuable : — Timber for instance, with the 

 exception of the Fir tribe, is a case in 

 point, as almost every carpenter knows, 

 at first sight, for what purpose most of the 

 other sorts and scantlings of our own 

 growth are proper. The experience of re- 

 volving ages has reduced the matter to so 

 much certainty, that if he eiT in respect 

 to their application, he will be considered 

 as a person unacquainted with the com- 

 mon maxims or rules of his profession, — 

 while, with regard to British Fir Timber, 

 no such maxims or rules exist, and there- 

 fore he can proceed only by guess ; and 

 in so doing it is almost certain that, in 

 some degree or other, the article will have 

 injustice done to it. 



