32 SAP AND HEART OF TIMBER. 



and annual additions are in general clearly 

 discernible/' 



" One things Sir/' said Harry^ I have 

 observed ; but I do not quite understand it ; 

 in looking at the end of a piece of timber^ or • 

 the arm of a tree newly cut^ the parts within 

 two or three inches round the edge look 

 whitish^ whilst that towards the middle is 

 much darker." 



The whiter part is a younger and softer 

 wood; and because the juices of the tree 

 most abound therein^ workmen call it the 

 sap. The dark part is the hearty and is, in 

 fact, the only part fit for use, where good 

 timber is required. In the branches therefore, 

 where the heart is often only an inch or two in 

 diameter, very little wood worth sawing is 

 found. They are, however, used whole, or in 

 quarters, for fences and other purposes. Con- 



