SOMETHING ABOUT TREES. 
343 
SOMETHING- ABOUT TREES. 
The Minister of Public Works in France has 
ordered the public roads bordered with trees. 
Those of forty-eight feet wide, or wider, are to 
have a double row. 
“ This is as it should be, not only in France, 
but throughout the world. How delightful it 
would be in the warm summer to ride all day on 
a good road, in the shade. Besides, the value of 
a farm, in our estimation, would be enhanced 
much more than the cost of thus setting the 
trees. Suppose our young men try this thing, 
and in place of shade trees set out fruit trees in 
the highway fronting the homestead.” 
If timber trees are planted, the most valuable 
kinds should be selected, and such as would not 
injure the crops in adjoining fields. Of this 
kind the locust, black walnut, and butternut rank 
high. 
Trees of the South .—Texas produces the pecan; 
Louisiana the cypress, which is the tree of the 
state; Mississippi the magnolia; Florida the 
live oak; Georgia and North Carolina the yellow 
pine. This is the tree which furnishes the world 
with tar and turpentine, and also with that most 
valuable timber, known as hard pine, or North 
Carolina pine. The dead wood of this tree is 
very full of pitch, and is known as light wood — 
One of the best materials ever seen for kindling 
a quick fire. 
The palmetto belongs to South Carolina. It 
is a beautiful tree, but only useful for a few 
purposes. It is the finest specimen of the palm 
family indigenous to the United States. It pos¬ 
sesses a great, and to this country, an increasing 
value. It is the only tree produced in our for¬ 
ests Which is not attacked by the toredo navalis , 
or ship worm, and as it is incorruptible in salt 
water, its value for submarine purposes is almost 
incalculable. 
It proved at the old fort, on Sullivan’s Island, 
to possess another value. Cannon balls could 
not penetrate or destroy a fortification built of 
palmetto logs. Its leaves can be employed-in 
the manufacture of hats, baskets, mats, and many 
Other purposes of domestic economy. 
It is called the cabbage palm, for two reasons. 
There is a resemblance in appearance between 
the cabbage stalk and the bole of the palmetto. 
The roots are also similar; there is also an edi¬ 
ble substance, called the “cabbage,” composed 
of the unexpanded embryo leaves, which may 
be classed among the most delicious vegetables 
produced on our tables. It is, however, a waste¬ 
ful luxury, as the tree always perishes when 
deprived of this part of its foliage. 
The palmetto abounds along the sea coast of 
Carolina and Georgia, confined to the neighbor¬ 
hood of salt water; preferring damp, rich soils. 
Flowers in June—July. 
The Aloe .—We have been shown a beautiful 
specimen of a fishing line made from the fibres 
of the so called century plant, which abounds 
here. It has the smoothness and lustre of silk, 
and great strength, and is well adapted for cord¬ 
age of every description. The plant is grown 
upon the poorest soils, and attains an immenso 
size. The project for introducing its cultivation 
for cordage is worthy of attention. 
Alanthus Tree .—A correspondent of the New 
York Evening Post, states that the odor from 
this tree is poisonous to such a degree as to 
affect health, and in some cases to produce death. 
A whole family in Brooklyn were prostrated 
from a condition of good health to sick beds by 
its poisonous breath, when the season arrived 
for leaving the windows of their bed rooms 
open. They did not know what was the cause 
of decline, until one of their number had become 
a victim to its dangerous shade. 
A valuable Tree .—There is a tree in Mexico 
called the chijol , a very fine wood, which, accord¬ 
ing to a writer in the National Intelligencer, 
(W. D. Porter,) becomes petrified after being cut, 
in a very few years, whether left in the open air 
or buried. From this timber, houses could be 
built that would, in a few years, become fire¬ 
proof, and last as long as those built of stone;,- 
the wood, in a green state, is easily worked; it 
is used in building wharves, forts, &c., and would 
be very good as railroad sleepers, or for plank 
road stringers. 
A great Milker and Butter Cow.— Mr. 
Ganno, of Michigan, writes us that he has a 
grade shorthorn cow, got by Splendor, which 
took the first premium at the state fair last fall. 
She has given 60 and 70 pounds (or 30 to 35 
quarts) of milk per day, for weeks together. 
This milk yielded from 2 to 2£ pounds of butter 
per day. She made 26 pounds of butter in ten 
successive days. 
Mr. G. says, furthermore, that he has a three- 
year-old steer out of this cow, which he can 
sell for much more than any native steer of his 
age in the neighborhood. So much for imported 
stock. 
-- 
Large use of Guano.— Major John Jones of 
Wheatland, has, we understand, purchased 60 
tons of best quality guano, at a cost of upwards 
of $ 3,000, for his wheat fields this fall. He ex¬ 
pects his next crop to reach, with ordinary luck* 
12,000 bushels.— Del Republican . 
