The Tulip- Tree : The Sycamore. 251 



993. la speaking of the uses of this wood, Mr. Emerson re- 

 narks: 1 "In New England, it is preferred to all other kinds of 

 rood, in all uses which require great flexibility, as about stairs, for 

 he wash-board, in circular rooms, and for the panels of carriages ; 

 Iso for the bottom of drawers, and for panels in common ward- 

 obes, and other small articles." 



994. The tulip-tree grows to magnificent size, preferring a moist, 

 ich soil, and in good situations it grows to 100 and even 150 feet 

 tt height, and from six to nine and even ten feet in diameter. 



995. The nature of the soil has an effect on the color and quality 

 f the wood, and in West Virginia, where it grows to great per- 

 ection, mechanics class the wood as white, blue, or yellow, but 

 hese can not be determined by external signs. The white variety 

 refers a dry, elevated, and gravelly ground ; it has a branching 

 ead, with a small amount of heart-wood, and has a coarser and 

 arder grain and a less durability than the other varieties. The 

 lue has nearly the same characters. The yellow is by far the 

 .nest, and is extensively used for lumber and shingles. It affords 

 - good foundation for veneers, and is much used in cabinet work. 



996. The tulip-tree is readily propagated from seed, and should 

 >e sown in a fine, soft mold, in a cool and shady place. If sown in 

 he same autumn of its growth, it will germinate the next spring; 

 lut if sown in spring, it may not sprout till the next year. 



997. This tree is lather difficult to transplant, and the end of the 

 oot should be cut off with a sharp knife when it is taken from the 

 eed-bed and set in a new place. The development of lateral fibers 

 nay be encouraged in the same manner as we elsewhere describe for 

 he oak. The tulip-tree occurred native in Canada, west of the Ni- 

 gara river, but much of it has been cut away. 



^HE PLANE-TREE, BUTTONWOOD, on SYCAMORE (Genus Platanus). 



998. This is the only genus of the natural order Platanece,aud it 

 mbraces five or six species, natives of the Northern Hemisphere, in 

 he Old World and the New. They are of rapid growth, and, for the 

 most part, thrive only along river banks a ad in deep, rich, alluvial 

 oil. 



999. The COMMON BUTTONWOOD of the Atlantic States (Platanus 

 ccidentali&) has a wide range in the Atlantic States, and grows to a 



*" Trees of Massachusetts" 2d ed., p. 606. 



