QUA 



QUA 



able time afterwards, leaving the bole or trunk in a differently 

 crooked Hate. The woody parts of the tir and pine are em- 

 ployed by houfc-carpenters, of the crab-tree by mill-wrights, 

 of theafh by plougli-wrights, of the bocch, the walinit, the 

 cherry, the plum, the box, the holly, the yew, and others, 

 by the cabinet-makers. The lime is particularly ufeful to 

 the carver, the fycamore to the turner, the box and holly 

 to the mathematical inllrumcnt-maker, and the alder and the 

 birch to the lad and the heel-maker. Charcoal of any of 

 the kinds is valuable for the iron-founders ; that of the dog- 

 wood, fallow, alder, hazel, &c. forthe gunpowder manu- 

 fafturers. The larch, the filver fir, &c. afford the coarfe 

 turpentine and its fpirit ; the fpruce and pine tribes, relin, 

 tar, pitch, lamp-black, &c. Mod woods, but efpecially 

 the beech, alh, elm, &c. afford potafh. The fap-juice of 

 fome trees, as the birch, &c. yields a vinous liquor ; and that 

 of others, as of the fugar-maple, &c. affords fugar. 



The value of wood as timber, and 'for other purpofes, 

 differs much according to local fituation, and other circum- 

 ftances ; when near a dry-dock or iTiip-yard, oak, elm, &c. 

 fuited to {hip-building, are of much higher value than when 

 at a great dillance in the country. The undergrovvths of 

 feveral forts of trees, as dog-wood, fallow, willow, alder, 

 &c. are of the moll value when near large manufaftories of 

 gunpowder, being of little utility, except as fuel, when at 

 adiftance. Some forts of wood, however, from the gene- 

 rality of their application and employment, are of great 

 value in all fituations, as thofe of the oak, the elm, the afh, 

 the beech, and perhaps the larch has ftill more value than any 

 of them. Others, on account of their fcarcity, are alfo va- 

 luable in all places, as the box, -the holly, the yew, &c. 

 All the lighter products of fome forts of trees, as thofe of 

 bird-lime, potalh, turpentine, tar, pitch, &c. maylikewife 

 be confidered of equal value in all fituations. But a tree 

 which would be of the greateft value in a particular fituation 

 or place, may not find in it that fort of foil that is fiutable 

 to its nature or habits of growth ; in which circumftances 

 that which will come to the moil perfeClion in it, will com- 

 monly be found of the moft value. Such woods as may not 

 be valuable in confcquence of local circumftances, may be 

 rendered a great deal more high in their value, by having 

 them manufaftured in the places where they are met with, 

 thus leffening the expences of conveyance, &c. In confc- 

 quence of the great improvements in roads, canals, &c. and 

 the general promotion of them, woods and plantations for 

 timber, muft, in almoft all places, be valuable, and there 

 can be few in which the other forts of produfts will not be 

 of great importance. In the meafuring of ftandard trees 

 for the purpofe of afcertaining their value, though many 

 think themfelves fully qualified by being fimply able to mea- 

 fure them ; it is only by the perfeA knowledge of the ufe 

 and application of the different (hapes, bends, and woods 

 of them, that a correft eftimate can be given ; as a fmall por- 

 tion of wood may be of little confequence in one fort of 

 bufinefs, while it is of much in another, which is a fecret of 

 great intereft and importance to the purchafers of timber of 

 the ftanding kind. 



In addition to thefe qualities, almoft every tree and plant 

 is poffeffed of various others, -which excite emotions that 

 have a relation to them, and which give their charaftcrs or 

 expreffions. For initance, the cyprefs is of a regular, in- 

 variable fhape, or form, and always, in colour, of a dark 

 green, having a ftill, folemn appearance ; hence it has ac- 

 quired the charafter of melancholy. A fimilar, but fome- 

 what fainter, train of emotions, is produced in the mind 

 by the falling branches, drooping fpray, and yellow greenifh 

 colour of the weeping willow ; hence it fuits with fcenes of 



folitude, and induces meditation. In the light, airy form of 

 the a(h, and the bright white of the variegated holly, there 

 are fome traits of certain degrees of the cheerful kind j in 

 the felloons of the virgin's bower, eafe and gracefulnels ; in 

 che myrtle, delicacy and neatnefs ; and in the fwecp of the 

 ftem, the curve of the branches, &c. of the larch, a pecu- 

 liar elegance. In the oak and the chefnut are forms which 

 have long given the notions of grandeur and fublimity. 

 Both thefe and other trees are particularly expreflive of 

 peculiar known charafters, arifing, in fome degree, from 

 tiieir own nature, and in part from afft>ciations in the ir.ind. 

 Thofe of the cyprefs and yew kii.ds have been planted in 

 burying grounds, and other fimilar places ; the weeping 

 wiUow, as the fiiade of urns ; the laurel ufed as the crowa 

 of warriors ; and the chefnut introduced in landfcapes. 



Some accidental charaftcrs and expreflions of plants are 

 produced by novelty and fingularity cither in their natures, 

 forms, or appearances ; hence exotics are at firft diftinguifiied 

 from thofe of the indigenous kind, and called beautiful, 

 elegant, fanciful, ftrange, rare, &c. according to circum- 

 ftances. The creeping alh, the ftone pine, &c. derive and 

 retain their characters from their comparative fcarcity and 

 unufual (hape ; while others have that of elegance and no- 

 velty in a much lefs degree, as the cedar of Libanus and the 

 cyprefs ; the hemlock fpruce, and the fcarlet oak, &c. 

 Some trees and plants are common, and thought nothing 

 of in one diftrifl or country, while, in others, they are un- 

 common, and thought highly of; thus, the weeping willow, 

 the narrow-leaved elm, the acacia, &c., which abound, and 

 are little valued, in the fouthern parts of the ifland ; are 

 fcarce, highly efteemed, and termed elegant in thofe ot the 

 north ; while the arbutus, tlie uva urfi, the erica alba, and 

 even the mountam-afti, which are plentiful, unnoticed, and 

 common in the north, are held in eftimation, and thought 

 highly elegant in the fouth. 



Thefe are fome of the more particular qualities of trees 

 and plants, which are concerned in the clafiification and 

 arrangement of them, as the materials by which the objefts 

 of planting and ornamental gardening are to be accom- 

 plifhed, but there are others which are peculiar to them in 

 other points of view, that it is quite unneceffary to notice 

 in this place, as they are fully explained in fpeaking of them 

 individually under their proper heads. 



More ample information on the above fubjeft may, how- 

 ever, be obtained by confulting Mr. Loudon's work " On 

 Forming, Improving, and Managing Country Refidences," 

 in which will be feen their particular utility, and their moft 

 appropriate modes of apphcatioH in the bufinefs of planting 

 and ornamenting different kinds of pleafure grounds, under 

 ail the various circumftances which may occur in fo far as 

 their nature, fituation, foil, and other fimilar particulars are 

 concerned, as well as the pitlurefque effeft which will be 

 produced. 



Qualities of Seeds, Sets, and Produce, the properties 

 which are cffential to them for the produftion of full and 

 beneficial crops of the feveral different kinds, and the moft 

 perfeft and advantageous ftates of growth and maturation 

 of fuch crops, for their being confumed, either as food or 

 otherwife. In all forts of feeds of the grain kind, thofe 

 which are the moft fully bodied, bright, thinneft in the ikin, 

 and the moft found, without being too long kept, are the 

 moft iuitable for making ufe of as feed. Such as are fmall, 

 lean, ill fed, and fhrunk in their Ikins, or which have been 

 in any way heated in the mow or ftack, are moftly quite im- 

 proper for this purpofe. Some have, however, fuppofed 

 the contrary to be the cafe, but they have hitherto adduced 

 no proofs whatever, of the fa£l, while the former opinion is 



fupported 



