58 Dr Howison’s Account of the Forest-Trees 
great height. These, however, form but a very small propor- 
tion of the forest, in comparison with the pine ; and they are 
applied to no very particular purpose, except that of being made 
use of indiscriminately with the others as fire-wood. From the 
roots of the ash, in the great towns, beautiful pieces of furni- 
ture, as small tables, are made. 
The Mountain-ash, or rowan-tree of Scotland, is to be found 
in great abundance upon the outskirts of the forests, as also 
about private pleasure-grounds. In the summer months, it forms 
a lively addition to the appearance of the other trees by the 
showiness of its flowers, and in the autumn by its still more 
showy fruit. On this account it is much esteemed by both Rus- 
sians and foreigners for ornament. Its fruit, preserved in spi- 
rits, gives a species of liquor well adapted for the cold of this 
northern climate : preserved with sugar, it forms a marmalade. 
The native Russians use the berries, salted, with other wild 
fruits, at their ordinary meals. 
The brushwood, covering a vast extent of forest-country, 
consists almost entirely of the hazle, the dwarf-birch or Betula 
nana, the alder, the willow, and the juniper. This last grows to 
a large size, and is generally loaded with fruit. 
The surface of the earth, in the forests, is covered with the 
various kinds of mosses, and heath, with several species of wild 
berries, particularly the cranberi'y, and the Bruismka or bil- 
berry, These various species of wild berries are produced in the 
greatest abundance, and supply the peasantry with an ample 
and constant addition to their other food. They use them when 
fresh during the summer, and salted for winter. The peasant 
and his family seldom or never sit down to a meal which is not 
one-half composed of these preserved fruits. 
It may perhaps appear surprising, that amongst the trees now 
specified I have not mentioned the Oak, the monarch of the 
wood.’’ But in the great tract of country through which I have 
passed, upon the Moscow road, in the neighbourhood of that 
town, as also of Petersburgh, I do not recollect of ever having 
seen one above the thickness of a man’s arm, and even of these 
very few indeed. 
When in Moscow, I was told by Mr Rodgers, a British agri- 
culturist, settled for a great number of years in that neighbour- 
