458 



THE FARMER AT HOME. 



Mahogany is now of universal use for furniture, from the common 

 tables of a village inn, to the splendid cabinets of a regal palace. But 

 the general adoption of this wood, renders a nice selection necessary 

 for those articles which are costly and fashionable. The extensive 

 manufacture of piano-fortes has much increased the demand for this 

 wood. Spanish mahogany is decidedly the most beautiful ; but occa- 

 sionally, yet not very often, the Honduras wood is of singular bril- 

 liancy ; and it is th^n eagerly sought for, to be employed in the most 

 expensive cabinet work. A few years since, three logs of this wood, 

 taken from the same tree, were sold to some piano forte manufacturers 

 for fifteen thousand dollars. Next to mahogany, rose wood is most 

 admired for furniture. Some, indeed, give it the preference, probably, 

 however, from the fact that it is less common. The first used for this 

 purpose, is said to have been brought from Cyprus, although the prin- 

 cipal supply is now, it is believed, from Brazil. 



WOOD-SAWING MACHINE. 



WOOD-SAWING MACHINE. Among the important labor- 

 saving purposes of the horse-power machine for farmers, is its appli- 

 cation to the sawing of wood and timber. The labor of chopping 

 wood with an axe, and cutting it with a common hand wood saw, 

 where fuel is used very freely, as in some sections of our country, is a 

 most laborious occupation. Those only who have had experience in 

 this toil, can judge of its odious severity. Fifty odd years have not 

 blotted it from our own recollection. It used to occupy one man most 

 of the time for six months, to supply the family fires. The cut con- 

 nected with this paragraph, represents the machine to be attached to 

 the horse power for sawing wood. It is easily driven by a one horse 



