The Alders 



living green? "He who would see the alder in perfection must 

 follow the banks of the Mole, in Surrey, through the sweet vales 

 of Dorking and Wickleham, into the groves of Esher." 



The English people cherish an affectionate regard for their 

 native black alder, a description of which follows. The hawthorns 

 of their hedgerows are not more a part of the life of the people. 

 John Evelyn expresses the sentiment when, after recounting the 

 many practical uses of the tree and its wood, he adds two more: 

 "The fresh leaves alone applied to the naked sole of the foot, 

 infinitely refresh the surbated traveller"; and "The very shadow 

 of this tree doth feed and nourish the grass that grows under it." 



The Black Alder {Alnus gluiinosa, Gaertn.), native of Europe, 

 Asia and North Africa, is the most picturesque of water-loving 

 trees, with its dark green, round or oblong leaves glutinous 

 when they unfold in the spring. The trees are tall and erect, with 

 dark trunks. The tallest sometimes reach 70 feet and have a 

 trunk diameter of 3 feet. These giant alders are dignified, indeed, 

 but the rank and file of the species are smaller trees. They hang out 

 their long yellow catkin fringe on the bare twigs in earliest spring, a 

 sight to repay a visit, even if it involved the wearing of rubber 

 boots; and the little green knobs on the branching side stems grow 

 by autumn into ripe cones, out of whose slits fall the little flat seeds. 



Compared with oak and ash timber, alder is indifferent in 

 quality and does not interest the lumberman, but there are 

 special uses to which alder is always put. Growing in water, it 

 seems to recognise its element; alder piles, water pipes, pumps 

 and watering troughs kept always saturated last indefinitely. 

 The piles of the Rialto in Venice and those of Amsterdam, ac- 

 cording to ancient authorities, are of alder. Exposed to conditions 

 of alternate wet and dry, the wood soon rots. It was a canny 

 Scot who buried alder boards in a peat bog, in which lime was 

 also thrown. This prevented the invasion of destructive insects, 

 and turned the pinkish brown wood to the colour and hardness of 

 mahogany. The grain of alder is smooth, fine and lustrous. 

 It does not warp nor splinter. In the old days it was a wood 

 for the boatbuilder. "Excepting Noah's Ark, the first vessels 

 we read of were made of alder." Virgil gives a pretty glimpse of 

 northern Italy in one of his Georgics: 



"And down the rapid Po light alders glide." 



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