VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES 



USED IN THE ARTS, 

 AND IN DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 



Part I. 



TIMBER TREES. 



Chapter I. 



Timber is one of the most essential substances in 

 the Arts ; and, in every situation in which it has been 

 found, mankind appear to have first resorted to it, for 

 habitations, for domestic implements, for the means 

 of transporting themselves and their property by land 

 and by water, and for the formation of their weapons, 

 whether to be used in war or in the chase. The va- 

 rieties of timber in use among different nations are 

 vei-y many, and not a few of them are but little known 

 in Eng-land. It will, therefore, be necessary here to 

 confine our notice to some of the more important. 



THE OAK. 

 In point of strength, durability, and general appli- 

 cation, Oak claims the precedence of all timber; and 

 to England, which has risen to the highest rank 

 among the nations, mainly through her commerce 

 and her marine, the oak, " the father of ships," as it 

 has been called, is inferior in value only to her reli- 

 gion, her liberty, and the spirit and industry of lier 

 people. 



