FORESTRY BUREAU. 



169 



SCOTTISH ARBORI CULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The members of the Scottish Arboricultural Society to the number of 50 or GO were 

 exhibitors, and beiug gathered together into one place and neatly arranged the numer- 

 ous articles which they showed were an important part of the general collection. 

 These included such exhibits as forest tools and implements, a new dendrometer, 

 models of rustic bridges for forest purposes ; method?* of lining river banks with tim- 

 ber to prevent erosion, and models of transplanting machines of more or less utility. 

 One of the curiosities shown was a table made by Mr. I). F. Mackenzie, Moreton Hall, 

 consisting of 10,000 pieces of 117 varieties of wood grown on the Murthly estate, Per- 

 shire. Of more practical importance were contrasted specimens of Scotch-grown and 

 foreign woods used as railroad sleepers. In 1877 some silver fir {Allies peeHnata) 

 sleepers were laid down on the Caledonian Railway alongside of others made of Baltic 

 timber. On being lifted last June the Scotch silver fir ones were found perfectly 

 sound, whereas those of the Baltic were quite worn out. The collection further in- 

 cluded many examples of the ravages of disease in various trees, sections of wood 

 showing damage done by squirrels and various boring insects. The only specimens of 

 living insects which destroy trees were five examples of a giant sirex, both in its 

 natural and larval state — the latter being seen at work tunneling through a log of 

 Ccdrtts Libani. The operations of these creatures — which it should be said were sent 

 from Cheshire — were watched with interest for a few days, but confinement under a 

 glass shade did not seem to suit them, and they died. 



BRITISH GUIANA. 



One of the most interesting sections was that from British Guiana, a colony whose 

 splendid timber resources are apparently as yet but little understood by the home 

 Government. The executive hope that one of the results of the Edinburgh exhibi- 

 tion will be to call attention to this colony and its resources in a way which has 

 never been done before. The primeval forests of this South American colony are of 

 great extent, and lying along (as they do) the courses of the four great rivers — the 

 Corentyn, the Demerara, the Berbice, and the Essequibo — they may be tapped with 

 comparative ease, and timber transported in an equally cheap manner to the sea-coast 

 for shipment. The famous Greenheart — so useful in ship and dock building — is one 

 of the chief trees; where one of the monarchs of the forests is Mora giganiea, which 

 sometimes rivals the California redwoods in height and girth.. Specimens of 105 

 to 110 trees abounding in the colony were comprised in the collection, most 

 of these proving most valuable timber. It may be mentioned that the wood was 

 brought over to this country in a rough state, and when cutting it up for exhi- 

 bition purposes the workmen declared they had never had to deal with such hard 

 timber in their life. Its effect on their ordinary tools was most marked. Considera- 

 ble quantities are cut every year in the South American forests for exportation, but 

 so free is the growth that as yet nature has had no difficulty in filling up the gaps 

 thus made. To check waste, however, on each of the rivers a superintendent has 

 been appointed, and the legislature have it in contemplation to establish a forest 

 school and amend the laws so as to obtain more control over the forests than is at 

 present possessed. Greenheart is the chief timber exported, and the temptation to 

 cut down immature trees growing in accessible situations rather than go further into 

 the forest to select full grown timber is great. The specific gravity of greenheart is 

 about 75 pounds to the cubic foot, and its power of resisting the attack of marine 

 worms has been amply demonstrated. One log was shown which had been under 

 water for 100 years, and was as sound as the day it was put in. Many beautiful 

 specimens of cedar wood were shown, and a fine table-top into which 48 speci- 

 mens of different woods had been worked showed the richness of the colony in 

 timber adapted for furniture and ornamental purposes. For brewing purposes, 

 splendid vats and tuns were shown made of Waldba and PurpJeheart. There is a large 

 collection of the extraordinary fungi of the Guianan forests, which have not yet 

 been studied by any botanist, and there is also an important exhibit of fibers and 

 fiber-producing plants and of medicinal barks. A very popular part of the British 

 Guiana collection were the models of the huts of the Indians who inhabit the head- 

 waters of the rivers, and of curious articles of their manufacture. The forest pro- 

 ducts shown were also rich and varied. Striking among these was a group of large 

 and curiously-shaped blocks of Gum animi from the locust tree, Uymencea eourbarel. 

 They were for the most part of a beautiful amber color, and resemble stalactites. 

 Their origin is peculiar. When its pith gets injured by insects, or otherwise begins 

 to decay, the locust tree sheds resinous tears into the cavity thus formed — many of 

 the pieces of gum having the shape of cyclopean tear-drops. The accumulation goes 

 on increasing year by year, and when the tree dies and is cut or blown down, the 

 Gum animi is found in the interior. It is much sought after for making the finer kinds 

 of carriage varnish, and is said — such is its scarcity — to be worth £200 per ton. 



