XIII LOGWOOD 



251 



used to 



sophisticate 



wines. 



" top-hats " is produced by logwood dye in combination with 

 indigo and mordants. Besides bkie and black, many other Great 

 colours arc produced by acting on a decoction of the wood co[ours.° 

 with various chemicals, and so the red logwood may be made 

 to create nearly all the colours of the rainbow. The common 

 black inks, too, are made from logwood, and it is used by 

 unprincipled persons in making up unwholesome compounds 

 which they sell as claret and port wines. Indeed, it is a The wood 

 common saying in Dominica that some of the logwood ex- 

 ported from that island to the French colony of Martinique, 

 is brought back in the form of claret ! 



The tree is a low spreading one rarely reaching to the Description 

 height of forty feet, with a trunk at the most not more than ° 

 eighteen inches in diameter, and usually ribbed longitudi- 

 nally. The stem is frequently crooked, and the smaller 

 branches are covered with a whitish bark. When found grow- 

 ing in hot dry places the branches are spiny, but in wet 

 mountainous districts they are unarmed. 



Soil and Climate. — Logwood will grow well on most The best 

 soils, except loose sands and heavy clays. It grows best, 

 however, and produces finer heart-wood on moist rich soils 

 where there is an abundance of vegetable matter. The cli- Climate. 

 mate must be hot, but not arid ; although the plant, when it 

 has become firmjy rooted in the ground, stands a drought 

 very well. Mr. Morris states that the logwood grows in great 

 abundance in the moist lands lying to the north and west of 

 British Hond iras, it being found in these places in im- 

 mense thickets ; and, in Hayti, the best wood comes from the 

 interior. 



Propagation.— The plant is propagated by seed, and Nurseries. 

 seedlings may be raised in nursery beds in the usual way. 

 In countries, however, where the tree has become natural- 

 ised, young plants can be got in great numbers in the Seedlings. 

 neighbourhood of old trees. The seedlings should be dug up 



