408 



CONIFERS. 



only durable, but is tougher and less liable to split than 

 the matured timber. In this opinion we are supported 

 by the authority of Mr. Matthew, who says, " Boards 

 of sap wood, or fast-grown Scots fir, particularly of the 

 outside layers, are much better suited, stronger, and more 

 lasting for boxes used as carriage packages, or for machi- 

 nery, or cart lining much exposed to blows and friction, 

 than boards of the best matured red wood of Memel, 

 Swedish, or Norway Pine. To have these sap-wood boards 

 in perfection, ,,, he adds, " the tree must not be left in the 

 br.rk after felling, and the boards must be well dried soon 

 after being cut. - " 



It has also been used for roofing, and other building 

 purposes with success, and found durable after having 

 undergone the process of steeping in lime water ; this 

 mode of protecting the fibre of Scotch fir sap-wood, was 

 first practised by Sir J. Menteath, Bart., of Closeburn, 

 Dumfriesshire, some fifty years ago, and he finds, that 

 sap-wood which unprotected would not have lasted thirty 

 years, after having been subjected to this treatment, shows 

 not the slightest symptoms of decay, after having been 

 put up for more than forty years. The solution is made 

 by dissolving a small quantity of quick lime in the water 

 in which the wood is steeped, and in which it ought to 

 remain for ten days or a fortnight. Kyanizing, or the 

 solution of corrosive sublimate, would, doubtless, be equally 

 if not more effective than the lime, but more costly in its 

 application. 



By many it has been affirmed that plantation Pine 

 wood never acquires the properties and excellence of 

 forest-grown timber. To this opinion, however, we are 

 not inclined to yield an unqualified assent, for, we be- 

 lieve, provided that fir plantations be made upon soil 



