173 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



quarter of an acre for yo, between 1858 and 1863, yet now he can only get \ a ton 

 for the wood, and at that low price no one seems to want it. In parts of the wood 

 where rides have been cut, or openings made by the falling of trees, seedlings spring 

 up abundantly ; but the growth of the shoots from the stool seems very slow, owing 

 perhaps to the rabbits, which are hard to keep out. 



Mr. Cedric Bucknall describes ' another wood of box trees, between Wotton- 

 under-Edge and Alderley, clothing the hill-side for a considerable distance, and with 

 abundance of natural seedlings. 



In Ireland perhaps the best specimens of box are those growing in the grounds 

 of the Earl of Rosse at Birr Castle. 



Timber 



The wood of the box tree is dense and homogeneous, with a very fine grain ; 

 and is said to be the nearest approach to ivory of any wood known. Boxwood 

 is unrivalled for wood-engraving, and is used for turnery and inlaying, and for making 

 rules, scales, and other mathematical instruments. It is also employed in making 

 shuttles and rollers that are used in textile factories. A good account of boxwood, 

 with information about the best modes of felling, seasoning, and shipping, is given 

 by Gamble, 2 who quotes largely from a letter written by Messrs. J. Gardner and 

 Sons, Liverpool. Boxwood from the Caucasus, whence formerly the main supply 

 was drawn, is now being replaced, except for the very best articles, on account of its 

 increasing cost, by "West Indian boxwood," 3 by Buxus Macowani from South 

 Africa, and by other woods, belonging to different and often quite unallied genera. 



(H. J. E.) 



1 In Journal of Botany, xxxix. 29 (1901). Cf. also J. H. White, Flora of Bristol, 523 (1912). 



* Manual of Indian Timbers, 592-593 (1902). 



3 Sir David Prain, Director of Kew Gardens, informs me that "West Indian boxwood" is not really shipped from the 

 West Indies, but from Venezuelan ports ; and that its botanical origin is still unknown. It was erroneously stated in Kew 

 Bull., 1904, p. 1 1, to be Tabebuia pentaphylla, Bentham and Hooker, a Bignoniaceous tree, which is known in the West Indies 

 as " white cedar." H. Stone, Timbers of Commerce, 169, plate xii. fig. 105, gives an account of the so-called " West Indian 

 boxwood," which he confuses with " white cedar," although he rightly questions the accuracy of the determination of Kew 

 Bull., 1904, p. 1 1. " West Indian boxwood " is used for making parasol and umbrella handles, shuttles, rulers, thermometers, 

 etc. A.H. 



