December 31, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



631 



delicate taper and is as straight as a mast. Indeed, if ships 

 could be fitted here their masts could be " stepped" as solid 

 timbers instead of having the top and top-gallant masts added 

 as separate pieces. A sea captain tells me that he saw a mast 

 taken from one of these trees, on Puget Sound, 104 feet long 

 without a knot or branch in its entire length, while the bark 

 was so thin, as compared with that of the Redwoods, that it 

 gave no trouble to the strippers ; and a scientist in Canadian 

 service tells me that he measured one tree that threw its first 

 branch 160 feet above the ground. It is from solid trunks of 

 this tree that the Siwash hew their gondola-like canoes, which 

 in their proportions and evenness of balance would be a credit 

 to any boat-builder in the world. The huge limbs of the Fir 

 give to the avenues of Stanley Park the shadowy solemnity 

 and beauty of cathedral aisles, and the greenish brown moss 

 with which many of them are draped may be compared to 

 moldering banners such as hang from the walls of Henry VII's 

 chapel in Westminster. Walking in these magnificent forest- 

 arches, breathing their sweet air, listening to the mysterious 

 music that the wind is making overhead and feasting on the 

 rich color of the foliage, one feels the same uplifting of spirit 

 that comes in the presence of grand mountain scenery, for the 

 trees seem to be as distinctly types of greatness and endurance 

 as the hills. 



While the few deciduous trees that have gained roothold 

 flourish like the evergreens they do not gain so great a size, 

 although Poplars will be found not less than ioofeetin height. 

 It is in the undergrowth, even more than in the trees, that the 

 fatness of the soil and the indulgence of air and rain and sun- 

 shine are perceptible, and especially is this true of the Ferns, 

 for the dainty Aspidium of our eastern fallows is here knee- 

 high, and the common road-side Brake is nearly as big as an 

 Elder-bush. Without choosing a particularly large one to 

 measure by, I stood beside one of these plants, and straighten- 

 ing the stem, found that its upper frond was at least seven 

 feet above the ground. One is occasionally startled by the 

 glide of a snake and the whirr of a partridge, but as hunting is 

 forbidden in the park it is not likely that this splendid under- 

 growth will ever be trodden down. The only thing to dread 

 is that fire may somehow reach the wood, and that such dis- 

 heartening damage may be wreaked as careless men have 

 wrought among the Selkirks and in the valleys of the Fraser and 

 Columbia, where miles on miles of wood like this have been 

 converted into charred fields dotted with gaunt skeletons of 

 Cedars, Hemlocks, Firs and Spruces. The greatest value of 

 Vancouver's park is that it exhibits a native product at its rich- 

 est. The illustration on page 635, which shows the wealth of 

 this forest-growth, is taken from a photograph by Notman. 

 Brooklyn, N. Y. Charles M. Skinner. 



Basket-Work of the North American Indians. — II. 



THE conifers contain a certain number of plants of great 

 value to the native basket-maker. The best known is the 

 Great Cedar or Arbor-vitas {Thuya gigajitea) of the coast ranges 

 and Cascade Mountains of Oregon and California. This tree 

 has a thin fibrous bark coming off in long ribbons, of which 

 the Indians make mats, bags, baskets and articles of dress. 

 Says Dr. O. T. Mason, in the article already quoted : " Mats, 

 wallets and rectangular baskets are produced by the plainest 

 crossing of alternate strands varying in width from a millime- 

 ter to an inch." . . . "Cedar mats of great size, and made with 

 the greatest care, enter as extensively into the daily life of the 

 Indians of this vicinity (coast of British Columbia) as do the 

 buffalo robes into that of the Dakota Indians. They may be 

 seen upon the floors, sleeping berths, before the doors of the 

 houses, and they are also used as sails for their boats and are 

 wrapped around the dead." 



The roots of several conifers supply excellent material for 

 the woof of basketry, varying in color from gray to light red 

 and dark brown. The Hoopa and Klamath Indians use the 

 roots of the Bull Pine (Pinus Sabiniana), gathering large 

 pieces, sometimes six inches wide, which they prepare by 

 parching in hot sand. The roots of the Spruce {Pice'a Engel- 

 maiini, and probably others) are quite tough, and a common 

 basket-material of the north-western Indians. The roots 

 of the Tamarack (Larix occidentalis) are used by the In- 

 dians on the headwaters of the Yukon River for " basket ket- 

 tles," which are woven very neatly, and ornamented with hair 

 and dyed porcupine quills. The dye is obtained from "berries 

 and a kind of grass growing in swamps." (Smith's Rep., 1856.) 



Pitch is frequently employed by the Indians of the Great 

 Basin of Arizona and New Mexico to render their trays and 

 jars water-tight. 



Of the LUiacea, the Yuccas stand foremost as basket and 



textile plants. Their fibrous leaves furnish excellent material 

 to the Apaches, Pimos, Pueblos, etc. The Yucca filamentosa, 

 Y. gloriosa and Y. aloifolia were formerly held in some esteem 

 in the eastern and southern states for the manufacture of 

 string, rope, mats and other household articles. In the great 

 interior arid region, from California to Texas, Y. baccata is of 

 decided economic importance. The full grown leaf is three to 

 four feet long, tough and pliable, and yields an excellent tex- 

 tile fibre ; when slightly parched in ashes it becomes still 

 more supple, and may be split into strands of various sizes, 

 which are woven into coarse mats and baskets, and otherwise 

 used as whips, withes and rope by Mexicans and Indians. The 

 leaves of the allied species, Y.filifera of northern Mexico, are 

 equally good ; valuable also for the same purposes are those 

 of Y. angustifolia, Y. elata and Y. Whipplei. 



To the same family belongs the Xerophyllum tenax of the 

 Pacific coast, a common perennial with numerous radical, 

 narrowly linear leaves two to three feet long. These leaves 

 do not contain textile fibres, but are sufficiently strong and 

 flexible for weaving, and are largely used by the Indians of 

 northern California and Oregon for the white groundwork of 

 their finer grades of basket-work. 



Several species of Agave {A. Americana, A. heteracantha, A. 

 Sisalina, etc.) are well known textile plants also turned to 

 good account by the Indian and Mexican basket-makers. 



It will probably be a matter of surprise to most botanists to 

 hear that the leaves of Iris macrosiphon are much used in 

 northern California and in Oregon to make ropes, fish-lines, nets 

 and a cloth hardly distinguishable from coarse canvas. I have 

 received interesting specimens showing the various steps of 

 the process. The leaves are one to two feet long and one to 

 three lines wide, each with two strong fibres forming the 

 edges. These fibres are dexterously separated by the squaws 

 with a sharp zinc thumb-piece, then neatly and evenly braided 

 into cord of variable size, or otherwise woven into nets, 

 cloth, etc. The leaves of the Palmetto (Saba/ Palmetto) yield 

 fine pliable strips, from which are made hats, mats, baskets, 

 etc.; doubtless those of the 5. Mexicatia, which extends north- 

 ward to the Lower Rio Grande, are used for the same purposes 

 by the Mexicans. Those of the Saw Palmetto (Serenoa ser- 

 rulata) are made into hats and baskets by the negroes. 



Even the Ferns contribute several useful plants to our list. 

 The Chain-Fern ( Woodwardia radicans) of the Pacific Coast 

 has long stalks, each containing two fibre-vascular bundles in 

 the shape of large, flattened, brown threads, tough and flexible. 

 While still fresh the stalks are bruised and pounded so as to 

 liberate the threads, which are then cleaned and stained in an 

 infusion of Alder bark. These threads become brittle in dry- 

 ing and must be used moist. Another Fern affording an 

 elegant material for the woof of the nicer caps and baskets of 

 the Hoopa and Klamath Indians is the Maidenhair {Adiantum 

 pedatum). The stems are of a deep, lustrous black on one 

 side and red on the other ; after being soaked in water or wet 

 with saliva, they are split open with the finger-nail so as to 

 separate the black skin from the unused red side. 



The bast of the Lime or Linden-tree {Tilia Americana) is 

 exceedingly tough and strong, and readily made into cordage, 

 matting and baskets. The wood and bark of the Leatherwood, 

 a shrub common in the Atlantic States {Dirca palustris) and 

 on the Pacific Coast (Z>. occidentalis), have always been exten- 

 sively used by Indians and settlers. The bark is almost as 

 strong and useful as that of the Lime-tree ; the wood is soft, 

 tough and flexible, so that branches can be bent into hoops 

 without breaking. The bark of the Canoe Birch, as everybody 

 knows, is readily and frequently made into jars and baskets in 

 the region of the Great Lakes. 



The wood of several hard-wood trees, cut into thin boards, 

 ribbons or shavings, is sufficiently elastic to lend itself to 

 basket-work; that of the White Oak (Quercusalba) and of several 

 species of Hickory (Hicoria) was formerly much used for this 

 purpose. The soft wood of the White Birch (Betula populi- 

 folia), and of other white-wood trees, is still employed along 

 our northern frontier and in many parts of Canada by the de- 

 scendants of the Algonkins and Iroquois. Thousands of their 

 pretty baskets, wrought into many shapes, are sold in the 

 towns and villages of the northern states. 



Rushes, on account of their abundance, softness and 

 pliability, have been more or less used by many tribes. Pretty 

 specimens of Rush basketry, made by the Klamath Indians 

 from undetermined species, are found in the National Museum. 

 The Juncus effusus, often a weed in the Atlantic States, is said 

 to be cultivated in Japan for the manufacture of fine floor- 

 mats. The tough scapes of J. robustus are split by the 

 Indians of south California and wrought into the material of 

 their baskets. 



