The Tulip Tree. 



where it will not attain a pretty good size ; but the situa- 

 tions I have pointed out are the best. 



518. The height of this tree, when it arrives at perfec- 

 tion, may be taken, upon an average, at a hundred feet. 

 MicHAUX saw one which he judged to be one hundred and 

 forty feet high ; and his son, who is now living at Paris, 

 and who imports American tree seeds into France, after- 

 wards verified the correctness of the estimate. Michaux 

 measured this tree and found it twenty-two feet and a half 

 in circumference, at five feet from the ground 3 that is to 

 say, about seven feet three inches through. A plank might, 

 I dare say, have been cut out of this tree, fifty feet in length 

 and four feet in breadth at the smallest end. My corre- 

 spondent sent me some Tulip-tree planks last year, one of 

 which was fourteen feet long, and very nearly four feet 

 wide at both ends , though these planks were not selected 

 for their great dimensions, but were merely planks such as 

 he promiscuously found in the timber-yards of New York, 

 and sent to me as a sort of venture to see how they would 

 sell. I sold the greater part, and kept the rest for my own 

 use. In the whole lot, forty-seven planks, there was not to 

 be seen a single knot, curl, or flaw. 



519. The wood, which is nearly of a Lemon colour, is 

 made use of in America for various purposes, where light- 

 ness, fine grain, and high polish, are all wanted. It is made 

 use of particularly for coach-pannels, for which purpose it 

 is carried from the Northern to the Southern parts of the 

 United States. It makes beautiful bedsteads, butter churns, 

 cheese vats, wooden bowds (of which 1 have one that will 

 hold more than a bushel). The farmers choose it for eating 

 and drinking troughs for cattle, which trwighs are cut out 

 of a solid piece with a chisel. The wood receives a polish 



