Retrospective Criticism. 491 



duction of such new kinds of timber trees as might be grown to advantage in 

 our country. It is far from improbable, that estates, containing large tracts of 

 forest, might be doubled in value, by being planted with either quicker-grow- 

 ing, or higher-priced, timber than they at present produce. Several of the 

 German species of Pinus would be of inestimable advantage to us, both from 

 their enormous size, and the superior quality of their timber. I have seen a 

 French species in the garden of Sir Oswald Mosley, at Rollaston Hall, Staf- 

 fordshire, which far surpasses either the spruce or silver fir, or even larch, 

 in the celerity of its growth. 



What splendid results might we not expect, could we grow, ourselves, in- 

 stead of importing, the costly trees which produce the timber used by cabinet- 

 makers and turners ; and which we at present purchase under the double 

 disadvantage of a high duty and an uncertain ^supply. My knowledge of 

 botany is but slender; you may therefore deem the very idea of introducing 

 some of the trees contained in the following list preposterous : but I may 

 plead two excuses ; first, the scanty degree of information possessed either 

 by botanists or by commercial men on this subject; and, secondly, the 

 number of species now naturalised which were formerly thought tender. It 

 may be an interesting subject of enquiry to some of your almost innumerable 

 correspondents, whether any of the following woods might become articles of 

 British production : — Mahogany, rosewood, zebra-wood, camwood, logwood, 

 ebony, tulip-wood, satin-wood. Botany Bay wood, cork tree. It is possible 

 that I may be over sanguine ; but I anticipate not only the general use of 

 these woods for furniture, but that the floors of our mansions may, like those 

 of the palace of the Prince of Orange, at Brussels, consist of alternate layers 

 of rosewood and satin-wood. — Y.D. Doncaster, July 15. 1836. 



The woods mentioned by our correspondent are nearly all stove plants in 

 this country ; and some of them have not yet been introduced. The idea of 

 their ripening their timber here is, therefore, quite chimerical; but, as some of 

 our readers may like to know a few particulars respecting them, we have given 

 the short enumeration below : — 



Mahogany (Swietenza Mahdgoni L.) is a native of the West Indies and 

 South America, where it grows to the height of 80 ft. It belongs to the 

 natural order Cedreleaceae, and is nearly allied to Cedrela odorata, the Bar- 

 badoes, or bastard, cedar. The tree has pinnate leaves, and yellowish in- 

 conspicuous flowers. It has been cultivated in our stoves since ITSi. 



The Rosewood (Physocalymna floribunda) is a native of Brazil. It belongs 

 to the natural order Z<ythracese, and is nearly allied to Lagerstrce^mia indica, 

 which it greatly resembles in flowers, and general appearance. It is a hand- 

 some tree, about 30 ft. high, and is not yet introduced. 



Zebra-wood appears to be the name for a coarser kind of rosewood ; the 

 variation probably arising from soil and situation. 



Camwood (Baphia nitida) is used in dyeing. It is a native of Sierra Leone, 

 where it grows about 30 ft. high ; having impari-pinnate leaves, and white or 

 yellow flowers. It has been in our stoves since 1793. 



Logwood ( Haematoxylon campechianum) is a native of Jamaica, where it 

 is much used for hedges. When suffered to grow alone, it makes a tree ibout 

 20 ft. high, with yellow leguminous flowers. The trunk is generally crooked, 

 and seldom thicker than a man's thigh. It grows best in sandy or peaty soil, 

 and has been in our stoves since 1732. 



Ebony. The best black ebony is the wood of the jDiospyros ^'benum, a 

 native of Madagascar, the Mauritius, and Ceylon, which would require a 

 stove in this country. It belongs to the natural order jEbenaceae, and re- 

 sembles in appearance the D. Z/Otus, and D. virginiana of our gardens. 



The American, or yellow. Ebony, which is the kind usually employed for 

 walkingsticks, and sometimes for inlaying, is the wood of ^rya ^'benus, a 

 West Indian shrub, or low tree, with bright yellow flowers, belonging to the 

 natural order Leguminaceae. The trunk is seldom above 3 in. or 4 in. in di- 

 lameter, but the wood is very tough and flexible. 



