213 
ECONOMICAL USES OE PLANTS, 
may be seen trunks of trees which shaded the bower of fair Rosa¬ 
mond, and which it is supposed are not less than a thousand years old. 
At Hartford, in Connecticut, is the Charter-oak, which was a hol¬ 
low tree in the days of James II., nearly two hundred years ago. In 
the hollow of this tree was concealed the charter of the state, when 
tlie King of England, through his agents, attempted to deprive the 
colonists of that guarantee of their civil rights. This oak must, even 
at that period, have been an aged tree. 
Economical uses of various Plants. t- 
We perceive among the various species of vegetable beings, some 
which seem destined only to beautify and enliven the earth; others, 
with little or no beauty, are valuable only for their utility ; and in 
some instances we find utility and beauty united ; roses, lilies, tulips, 
carnations, and most of the green-house and garden plants, belong 
to the first-mentioned class. Trees are not only beautiful, but many 
of them are highly useful, affording'fuel, shelter, and shade, nuts, ber¬ 
ries, and other fruits; their bark is used in tanning, for medicine, 
and spices; and their sap and secretions furnish sugar and various 
medicinal extracts. 
Trees, with respect to their v 7 ood, may be divided, 1st, into such 
as have hard wood, as the oak, elm, apple, &c.2 d, such as have soft 
wood, as the poplar and willow; 3d, such as have resinous wood, 
as the pine and fir ; 4th, such as are evergreens, but not resinous, as 
the evergreen oak of the south of Europe. 
Hard wood is considered best for fuel; as it contains the greatest 
quantity of carbon, it causes a more intense and permanent heat; 
resinous wood containing more hydrogen, burns with a more bril¬ 
liant flame. 
The fermented juice of the grape produces wine. Grain of differ¬ 
ent kinds produce gin, whiskey, &c. Apples, by their fermentation, 
produce cider; this liquor, concentrated by distillation, produces 
brandy and alcohol. The vineyards of Italy and France, and of 
some of the Atlantic islands, are the most celebrated for their wine. 
In America, the vine does not flourish in the same luxuriance as 
upon the eastern continent. 
Grasses are the palms of cold climates; they are of the class of 
monocotyledons, and have endogenous stems. Some are perennial, 
some annual; the meadow grasses are of the former kind. The 
grains, Indian corn, and rice, are annual. There are certain grasses 
which are called artificial, because they do not spring up without 
cultivation; of this kind is clover. Gramineous plants, although 
very important, as furnishing from their leaves food for cattle, are 
yet more especially useful for their seeds, which furnish food for man. 
Some plants furnish oils, which are of important uses in various 
ways. Of the fixed and volatile oils we have already spoken. The 
fixed oils are extracted from plants called oleaginous; they may be 
considered under three heads: 1st, olive-oil, produced from the olive 
in warm countries; 2d, nut-oil, of temperate climates, as obtained 
from walnuts, &c.; 3d, oil obtained from the seed of oleaginous, or 
oily plants, as the flax. 
Tuberous roots , as the turnip, potato, carrot, beet, parsnip, &c., fur¬ 
nish important articles of food. 
Asparagus, when young, is esteemed a luxury; the rhubarb plant 
is used in making pies ; celery, onions, and even garlic, areesteem- 
Charter-oak—Plants which are chiefly valuable for beauty—For utility—Division of 
trees with respect to wood—Liquors produced from plants—Grasses—Oleaginous 
plants—Tuberous roots—Asparagus, &c. 
