PROPEKTIES AND USES OF TIMBEK. 387 



kind of wood used in building. This, together with 

 its cheapness, causes it to be pretty frequently used 

 in inside work, as doors, flooring, stairs, &c. One 

 purpose, however, there is, for which it is unrivalled, 

 viz. rustic work in gardens and pleasure-grounds, 

 such as seats, pillars for arbours and ornamental 

 cottages, &c. In these capacities it is commonly 

 used with its bark on and its knobs entire, and makes 

 a very romantic appearance. 



The timber of the Silver-fir is said, like the 

 spruce, to be inferior to that of the Scots fir. It 

 has, however, two properties, which, for some pur- 

 poses, are of no small value, viz. great lightness, and 

 little or no tendency to shrink or warp. 



ASH. 



Next to the oak, the most important of all hard- 

 wooded trees, on account of its timber, is the Ash. 

 It possesses great elasticity, and will bear a consi- 

 derable strain crosswise. Its chief defect is, that it 

 is very easily split in the longitudinal direction. 

 Unlike most other trees, the quicker it grows, and 

 the sooner it is cut down, after it attains a useful 



B b 2 



