292 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



the wood, is also used in farm implements and for railroad 

 ties. Various species of Albizzia furnish excellent wood for 

 houses, boat building, furniture, tea boxes, farm implements, 

 bridges, etc. Golden shower (Cassia fistula), a smooth-bark 

 tree, with drooping racemes of beautiful yellow flowers, fur- 

 nishes a hard, heavy wood, gray or red in color, and brittle, 

 but more durable in the soil than even teak. It is extensively 

 used for fence posts, boat spars, carts, etc. 



Rosewood (Dalbergia latifoUa) is one of the famous legu- 

 minous trees of India. The wood is extremely hard and 

 heavy. The heartwood is of a purple color with black streaks 

 and with a rose-like odor. This tree furnishes the Indian 

 rosewood or blackwood. Among the other Indian trees which 

 produce rosewood, mention may be made of D. sissoo and 

 Pterocarpus indicus. The Seychelles rosewood comes from 

 Thespesia populnea, which is called "milo" in Hawaii. Brazil 

 supplies a large part of the rosewood of commerce from the 

 tree D. nigra. The grades of rosewood known as violet wood 

 and king wood come from other related species of trees in 

 South America and Madagascar. In fact, the rosewood of 

 commerce is derived from more than 25 species of trees, of 

 which D. latifolia is the best Indian species for cabinet and 

 furniture purposes. 



Andaman redwood, named from its origin in the Andaman 

 Islands, is derived from Pterocarpus dalbergioides. This tree 

 produces a red heartwood streaked with black and brown. 

 The wood is extensively employed in the manufacture of fur- 

 niture, door frames, balustrades, finishings of Pullman cars, 

 and for other purposes. 



The family Ebenacese is chiefly noted for furnishing the 

 ebony of commerce. There are about 30 species in this fam- 

 ily which produce ebony, the best grade coming from species 

 of Diospyros, to which our common persimmon belongs. Eb- 

 ony is very heavy, extremely hard, and of a black or dark 

 greenish color streaked with black. Coramandel wood is a 



