RTS ECONOMICAL USES OF PLANTS. 



may be seen trunks of trees which shaded the bower of fair Rosa 

 mond, and which it is supposed are not less than a thousand years old. 

 At Hartford, in Connecticut, is the Charter-oak, which was a hol- 

 low tree in the days of James IL, nearly two hundred years ago. In 

 the hollow of this tree was concealed the charter of the state^ when 

 the King of England, through his agents, attempted to deprive the 

 colonists of that guarantee of their civil rights. This oak must, even 

 at that period, have been an aged tree. 



Economical uses of various Plants. 



We perceive among the various species of vegetable beings, some 

 which seem destined only to beautify and enliven the earth ; others, 

 with little or no beauty, are valuable only for their utility ; and in 

 some instances we find utility and beauty united ; roses, hlies, tuhps 

 carnations, and most of the green-house and garden plants, belong 

 to the first-mentioned class. Trees are not only beautiful, but many 

 of them are highly useful, affording fuel, shelter, and shade, nuts, ber- 

 ries, and other fruits ; their bark is used in tanning, for medicine, 

 and spices ; and their sap and secretions furnish sugar and various 

 medicinal extracts. 



Trees, with respect to their wood, may be divided, 1st, into such 

 as have hard wood, as the oak, elm, apple, &c. ; 2d, such as have soft 

 wood, as the poplar and willow ; 3d, such as have resinous wood, 

 as the pine and fir ; 4th, such as are evergreens, but not resinous, as 

 the evergreen oak of the south of Europe. 



Hard wood is considered best for fuel ; as it contains the gi'eatest 

 quantity of carbon, it causes a more intense and permanent heat; 

 resinous wood containing more hydrogen, burns with a more bril- 

 liant flame. 



The fermented juice of the grape produces wine. Grain of differ- 

 ent kinds produce gin, whiskey, &c. Apples, by their fermentation, 

 produce cider ; this Uquor, concentrated by distillation, produces 

 brandy and alcohol. The vineyards of Italy and France, and of 

 some of the Atlantic islands, are the most celebrated for their wine. 

 In America, the vine does not flourish in the same luxuriance £is 

 upon the eastern continent. 



Grasses are the palms of cold climates ; they are of the class of 

 monocotyledons, and have endogenous stems. Some are perennial, 

 some annual ; the meadow grasses are of the former kind. The 

 grains, Indian corn, and rice, are annual. There are certain grasses 

 which are called artificial, because they do not spring up without 

 cultivation ; of this kind is clover. Gramineous plants, although 

 very important, as furnishing from their leaves food for cattle, are 

 yet more especially useful for their seeds, which furnish food for man. 



Some plants furnish oils, which are of important uses in various 

 ways. Of the fixed and volatile oils we have already spoken. The 

 fixed oils are extracted from plants called oleaginous ; they may be 

 considered under three heads: 1st, olive-oil, produced from the olive 

 in warm countries ; 2d, nut-oil, of temperate climates, as obtained 

 from walnuts, &c. ; 3d, oil obtained from the seed of oleaginous, or 

 oily plants, as the flax. 



Tuberous roots, as the turnip, potato, carrot, beet, parsnip, &c., fur- 

 nish important articles of food. 



Asparagus, when young, is esteemed a luxury ; the rhubarb plant 

 is used in making pies ; celery, onions, and even garlic, are esteem- 



Charter-oak— Plants which are chiefly valuable for beauty — For utility— Division of 

 trees with respect to wood— Liquors produced from plants— Grasses— Oleaginous 

 plants— Tuberous roots— Asparagus, &c. 



