The Lindens 



Scarcely a part has a linden tree that is not turned to good use. 

 Its fagots make the best of charcoal. The leaves are used, fresh 

 and dry, as fodder for cattle. The flowers furnish nectar to bees, 

 and are distilled by makers of perfumes. An infusion of fresh 

 flowers has long been used as a remedy for indigestion, nervousness, 

 and for coughs and hoarseness. The seed balls are full of oil 

 which is esteemed equal to olive oil for cooking and table use. 

 This oil is also used in perfumeries. The bark of young trees 

 makes the shoes of the Russian peasant. Ropes, fishnets and 

 mats are made of this tough "bast fibre" of the inner bark. It 

 was a favourite tying material in nurseries and greenhouses until 

 the more adaptable raffia came in to replace it. Basswood is 

 second only to "tulip poplar" in the wood carver's esteem. The 

 wood is uniform in colour and texture, does not split easily, and is 

 free from hard knots and minor imperfections. Dryden describes 

 it as 



" Smooth grained and proper for the turner's trade, 



Which curious hands may carve and steel with ease invade." 



Sometimes basswood is sawed by holding a short section of a 

 log so that it revolves against a saw blade. The wood is thus 

 spirally sawed; that is, a thin, continuous board is made as long 

 as the log, and as wide as the spiral path of the saw from bark to 

 pith. Sometimes this sheet of wood is loo feet wide. Steaming 

 and pressing prepare these curved sheets for veneer work. This 

 method practically eliminates waste, both in the sawmill and in 

 the cabinet shop. 



Famous old trees in Europe include the Neustadt Linden in 

 Wurtemburg. Its sheltering boughs formed a temple of justice 

 in the Middle Ages. Public questions were discussed under it. 

 It lived to be almost a thousand years old, with a crown over 

 loo feet in diameter and a trunk 42 feet in circumference. Nearly 

 200 columns supported it in its dotage. 



American Linden, Basswood {Tilia Americana, Linn.) 

 Tall, stately tree with spreading round top, 75 to 125 feet high; 

 trunk 2 to 4 feet in diameter. Bark brown, deeply furrowed, 

 scaly; inner layer tough; branches grey, twigs reddish. Wood 

 white or pale brown, soft, tough, close grained, free of knots; 

 hard to split. Winter buds smooth, plump, pointed, dark red. 

 Leaves alternate, obliquely heart shaped, serrate, with prominent 



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