230 SYLVAN WINTER. 



are mottled, knots, and, wlien polished, this wood 



makes handsome and ornamental boxes. 



Useful in a humble degree is the Spindle Tree 



(Euonymus europceus), whose close-grained, hard 



wood is employed in making spindles and skewers. 



Formerly it was used by musical instrument 



makers, and in the present day it furnishes, when 



reduced to charcoal, a capital drawing material for 



artists. 



As the Scotch Pine amongst Pines claims 



superiority for its timber, so may the Spruce Fir 

 (Abies excelsa) be said to deserve pre-eminence 

 amongst the Firs. Its wood is both elastic and 

 light, it is durable, sometimes red and sometimes 

 yellowish in colour — durability and colour depend- 

 ing a good deal on the soil in which it grows — and 

 it is extremely resinous. Potash is produced by its 

 ashes. For the masts of vessels, for which whole 

 trees, stripped of their bark, are used ; for ladders, 

 scaffold and other poles ; for oars of boats, and for 

 other aquatic purposes ; for the flooring of houses, 

 sometimes for making musical instruments ; for 

 packing-boxes, for the interiors of cabinets and 

 drawers, and occasionally for carvers and gilders 



