94 



THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



A large field of these low growing semi-desert plants is 

 by no means an unpleasant sight. There are varying shades 

 of green, from extremely light to extra dark, that blend admir- 

 ably when surveyed from a distance so as to form something 

 of la cloud effect. Just enough life in the form of birds, butter- 

 flies, and dragon flies is in evidence to form a fringe and break 

 the set background of a rather quiet landscape. No artist 

 could paint the delicate shades and tints as they merge into a 

 deep blue sky or a long stretch of dusty road. 



WEIGHT OF OUR NATIVE WOODS 



TN ATTEMPTING to estimate the weight of a piece of 

 wood, we are often deceived by its appearance. In gen- 

 eral hardness is associated with weight, but this is not always 

 a safe guide. Though the wood itself may be hard, the pres- 

 ence of numerous large ducts, through which the water 

 travelled when the tree was alive, may have a considerable 

 effect in lessening the weight of the specimen. It is stated that 

 the weight of pure wood fiber is the same for all kinds of wood, 

 but the pore space and the amount of moisture the wood con- 

 tains accounts for the difference between various species. In a 

 bulletin on the "Qualities and Uses of the Woods of Ohio" 

 Professor William Lazenby gives a list of their weights newly 

 determined whch we reproduce here through the courtesy of 

 the Ohio Biological Survey. It is likely that the list contains 

 some surprises for those who do not come much into contact 

 with plants after they are worked up into lumber. One might 

 expect, for instance, that the black walnut would be heavier 

 than the elm and would scarcely regard the locust as heavier 

 than either. The woods in the list are arranged in the order of 

 their weight. The specific gravity given is only another way 

 of stating the weight since it indicates how much a given 



