HARDWOOD TIMBERS OF CANADA, ETC. 111 
with a satiny surface. A moderate quantity is imported 
into Great Britain principally in converted planks and 
in the form of floor-boards, ready dressed and prepared 
for laying down. The chief use of the wood is for this 
flooring purpose, and most of the skating-rinks which 
sprang into existence a year or two ago were covered 
with this fine hard wood. A fair amount is also used for 
turnery purposes, and some little of the wood in the 
making of printers’ joinery. The timber is sometimes 
of figured character, so well known as Bird’s-eye Maple. 
This is supposed to be some freak in the development of 
individual trees, probably arising, it is surmised, from 
the suppression of dormant buds. Large quantities of 
the wood were formerly used in the shape of veneer, 
for picture-mouldings and other decorative work, but 
beyond a few logs occasionally shipped comparatively 
little is used at the present time. 
Cotton Wood, or Carolina Poplar.—This tree, the 
largest representative of the genus, is more or less well 
distributed over the Eastern States of America. It 
is stately in appearance, surpassing in many cases 100 ft. 
in height, and producing a light, soft, willow-like wood 
that can be extracted in large dimensions. Occasional 
parcels of the wood have been tried in the English 
markets, but no great use has been found for it. On 
the Continent, however, principally in Germany, it 
is in some favour. 
Persimmon.—The Ebony of America. In its growth, 
this tree attains a height of 40 or 50 ft., but specimens in 
favoured localities in Indiana and Illinois reach greater 
heights, and grow to a diameter of from 2 to 3 ft. The 
wood is heavy, dense, and close-grained, the heart-wood 
of old specimens showing a dark, almost black colour. 
Most of the wood exported, however, is sap-wood of a 
greyish-brown colour, The limited amount that is 
