1885. 
TREES OP THE UNITED STATES 
Thoro has rouonl ly i, 
History, an almost c.omplou. 
o( tho trees oi; the United StaL.M‘’'''r?"'‘“" 
400 and 500 trunk sections ot Ue 
species. Tliese speein.ens are 
foot oiglit iiielies long naeli .‘ • ' ''‘■ 
manner as to disp.a; Umir’Ck'^uuM: 
transverse and longitudinal sections o 
wood. This is done hv euttino- , ^ 
side of eaeli specimen at'tlic tonh, 
of one-haif the dia.netm of S o ia' 
for one-third of its length. One-la.lf TeS 
exposed portion is polished to illustrate ‘the 
ellect o. ans treatment of tlie Avood, the re 
inainder being loft in tlie natural condition' 
with the top of tlie upper divided part fm’ 
ished by beveling, l,, tlie case of trees of 
commercial impoitance tliis form of repre¬ 
sentation is supplemented by carcfulljr se¬ 
lected planks, or by burls, sltowing better 
than tlie logs tlie true hidusti-lal value of the 
wood. Among specimens of tins kind is a 
plank of Kcdwood, Si^quoia sempenirens, 
measuring eight-and-a-half feet in wicltli’ 
A species remarlcable for slow growth, and 
which is only 24 inches in diameter, sliows 
an age of 410 years, being the oldest tree in 
the collection, lliis isthe-Picca 
named for its discoverer. Dr. Eiigelmaun, 
and known also as Eugelmanii’s Spruce. An¬ 
other example of slow growth is seen in the 
Pimts edtilis, or Edible Pine, from Arizona, 
called also Nut Pine. The seed of this Pine, 
which resembles a good-sized Dean, is used 
by the Indians for food. A tree of tliis spe¬ 
cies which is 369 j'ears old, measures only 
15 inches in diameter. Another specinieii, 
which is 341 3 rears old, shows a diameter of 
37 inches. It is the Western Shell Baik 
Hickory, Carija suleata, from Allentown, 
Mo. The same locality is represented by a 
specimen of the Tilia Americana, or Bass¬ 
wood, which is 40 inches in diameter, and 
150 years old. 
This valuable collection, numericall)' ex¬ 
ceeding that made in connection witli the 
census reports, includes examples of many 
curious and interesting species, of which 
probably the complete u.atural series could 
never have been view'ed in their native soil 
'jy any single traveler, however diligent. 
Among specimens of suoli interest is tiiat of 
the Gleditschia triacanlhun, or ITonej’' Locust 
from- Missouri. 'I’his is a tree of singulai 
red witli thorn 
thbam erican oa rdrm 
fnr'foi''t£.’'.'T'?° ‘“y at the cen- 
Palm fcou, 
rioiis. 'I'ljA 
.icii is the 
')oars its dried 
267 
dn.iii ■■■ ‘ ho Washington 
Southern California is also cu- 
tro(. ...I • r ■'''''''‘Oieii inch 
')oars its dried n 
■eaves. Its n(.f!„r """ widel3'-.spreading 
tionsof r'’‘-''‘"““'‘tyisin''.=.« 
liiA i .. , the ring forina- 
detaehcd iv, “‘"’ost wholly 
bark wliidi ■ " '’‘“'Oession of forms of 
fine V ''^««tand the 
TheC'it'ihv iinportance. 
re mwi aiV' as a species most 
« 'mi ■/ this 
e. th for seventy-live years has been brought 
Tf be? ^ «°“‘“tio». Specimens 
autdul woods are seen in tlie Jlolape- 
i‘s, the .Arbutus, Sweet Bay, Perseu caroH- 
lensis, Alaska Cedar, Chamrecyparis nulkan- 
sas, and the beautifully figured Alaple Burl 
from Missouri. 
IVitli only seven unimportant exceptions, 
the specific gravity, asli, and fuel value of 
the wood of every indigenous arborescent 
species of the United States have been sei- 
entiflcallj' determined. The specific gravity 
is obtained by weighing carefully measured 
specimens 100 millimeters long and about 3.5 
millimeters square, previously subjected to 
a temperature of 100"^ until their weight be¬ 
came constant. Tlie ash is given in percent¬ 
ages of dry wood, which are determined by 
burning small blocks of the wood in a muffle 
furnace at a low temperature. The relative 
approximate full value of any wood is ob¬ 
tained by deducting its percentage of ash 
from its specific gravity. The correctness 
of the result thus found is based upon the 
liypothesis, first proposed by Count Bum- 
foi'd, that the value of equal weights of all 
wood for fuel is the same, which is con¬ 
sidered to be approximately true.— Scientific 
American. 
&wag0. 
f'ppearance. Its trunk is coverc 
V-like in all 
clusters, the spikes sliooting ray ^ 
directions from theii" growth centers. I 
■^horn formations liave their basis in tlie bark 
®‘oiie, without any source whatevei in 16 
"^ood itself, not even reacliing it, aie 
®asUy detached. It was, therefore, neces- 
®*h’y to suspend the tree from tlie ceding 
‘‘he car in its journey from the West. 
Another extraordinary tree is a lepi 
tatiye of Texas. This is the Cercus ’ 
j paotus which resembles a fluted co 
IS a tree which can be readily ta mn ‘ 
l^ces. Its component parts are in ' 
Vertical sections of twisting curva 
Une of their circumference, where y 
portion is fitted exactly to anothei- 
be sepai-ated without the slighte 
HOW THE SEWAGE OF PARIS IS DISPOSED OF, 
When the publisher of the Garden was 
tnavelliug in Europe, a fewyears ago, studying 
various phases of agriculture, uoiie was more 
interesting than the utilization of the sewage. 
In France the idea has its greatest develop¬ 
ment. La Semaine des Construcleitrs quotes 
from apainphlet justpublished by 51. Durand- 
Claye some definite statistics in regard to 
the Geuuevilliers irrigation and the sewer- 
a<>e of Paris, which are well worth reiuem- 
beriiio’ For some reason, the results of the 
GeuueWlliers e.xperlinents have keen for a 
long time obscured by a curious indefimte- 
ness, not to say wildness, of statement on 
the part of those who had pretended to have 
examined them, which no impartial person 
Arii-o think it his business to correct, 
She city of Paris has now definitely coin- 
to h-rio'ation as a mode of sew- 
mitted Its o gouie necessary to 
,igedisposa,cndiu h.,ebeenac- 
,btain exact of the city engi- 
comi: 
ueers, and incidentally 
of the world _ 
Tobegiuatm- of'Paris is ascer 
flux through the 362,000 
at the beginning, the entire ef- 
Sed to amount, on an I 
cubic meters a day, or about' 96,000,000 gal- 
lons Ihis is almost exactly three-quarters 
01 the total amount of water furnished by 
the aqueducts and the rainf.all, the other 
quarter being carried off by evaporation, 
absorption into the soil, or by flow over the 
surface directly into the Seine. All the 
rainage flow, before leaving the city, is 
collected into three great intercepting sew¬ 
ers, two of which, conveying 318,000 cubic 
meters a day, join into one at Cliehy,jast 
above a pumping station, where engines of 
1,100 horse power lift a part of the liquid 
into the pipes, which convey it to Genno- 
yilhers, while the surplus is allowed to flow 
into the Seine. The remaining intercepting 
sewer carries 44,000 meters a day by gravi¬ 
tation to the Seine at Saint Denis, but a 
branch is taken from this early in its course 
which conducts a portion of its flow to Gen- 
nevilliers, to supplement the main sj'stem. 
The main irrigation conduit, which leaves 
the great double intercepting sewer at Clichy 
is of rubble and Portland cement, 49 inches 
in diameter. After reachmg the irrigated 
field, it gradually diminishes in size, throw¬ 
ing oft' branches, formed of concrete, and 
vaiying from 14 to 40 inches in diameter, 
which serves as an overflow, to carry the 
surplus liquid of storms into the river. The 
supplementary irrigation main branches in 
the same manner over a difl'erent portion of 
the territory, and the filtered effluent is con¬ 
ducted to the Seine by collecting drains. 
The present area of irrigated land in the 
Gennevilliers peninsula is 1,430 acres, and 
the system is continualh^ being extended to 
nev' land at the request of the owners. The- 
whole amount of sewage brought to the 
peninsula by the drains is 18,000,000 of cubic 
meters a year, or about 12,000 meters annu¬ 
ally to the acre—not far from 3,000,000 of 
gallons per acre—an amount sufficient, if 
delivered at once, to cover it ali about nino 
feet deep. 
Experiments have been made to determine 
whether a larger flow could be advantao-e- 
ously used, and for growing Beets it seems 
likely tluat much more could be absorbed; 
but for general purposes the present flow is 
well proportioned to the needs of the ground, 
and the anniual return fi-oui the crops is from 
.§250 to §809 per acre, and even more where 
a cultivator has made a fortunate choice of 
a special product. The rent paid for the 
land has tripled within a few j'e.ars, and 
averages now §38 an acre; while the popu¬ 
lation of the place increases constantly by 
the arrival of farmers anxious to share in 
the profits of sewage cultivation. 
Judging from the results obtained here, the 
engineers of the city have decided that 10,000 
acres of ground will satisfactorily and prof¬ 
itably purify the whole of the sewage of 
Paris, and have set about inquiring for suit¬ 
able territory to that amount. The districts 
of Acheres and Saint Germain, which have 
already been condemned and taken for the 
purpose, will furnish only 3,000 acres, in ad¬ 
dition to the 2,000 contained in the Genue- 
villiers, so that 5,000 more must, sooner or 
later, be found somewhere; but there can 
be no doubt that, with anything like the 
high rents paid at Gennevilliers, the retm-ns 
from the land taken for u-rigation would 
make the exiiense of taking it a safe and 
profitable investment for the Pailsians, 
