152 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 



should be glad to hear about it on account 

 of its utility ; you did not mean making the 

 cherries into brandy, did you, sir ?" 



" By no means ; it was on account of the 

 wood that I said the wild cherry was useful, 

 This wood when it is first cut, is of a dull 

 light red colour, but the red grows deeper 

 with age. It is almost as hard as mahogany, 

 very solid and heavy, and polishes exceed- 

 ingly well. In the country, where mahogany 

 is not so easily got as in the cities, the wild 

 cherry wood is almost universally used in- 

 stead of it, for making furniture of all kinds ; 

 and in the Western States it is also employed 

 in ship-building. It has one excellent qual- 

 ity, in great perfection, and that is, that it 

 does not warp by exposure to heat or damp, 

 as many other kinds of wood do. 



" You remember I told you that there were 

 three kinds of wild cherry. One of the 

 other two kinds is called the wild orange, 

 and the third the red cherry. The wild 

 orange is a very scarce tree ; I have never 

 heard of its being found in the United States, 

 anywhere except on the islands that lie along 

 the coast of Georgia and the Carolinas." 



