Conservative.
the ptimts pectinicornis , whoso eggs are
deposited 011 the surface of the wood ,
and the young worms eat their way in.
Floats for nets are made of the baric.
It is excellent for wood fires , and is
called in France bois iT Andclle. The
beech bursts into leaf between April 19
and May 7.
"The Twelve Apostles. " On ail island
of the lake Wetter , were twelve majes
tic beech trees , now reduced to eleven ,
for a zealous peasant cut down one of
them , declaring "that the traitor .Tildas
should have no part nor lot with the
faithful. " On these beeches are cut
the names of Charles XI , Charles XII ,
Queen Eleonora , and other distinguished
visitors. Other famous beeches are the
Frankloy Beeches , in Worcestershire.
Virgil's bowl , divini opus Alcimedontis ,
was made of beech wood , and Pliny tells
us that vessels used in the temples were
made sometimes of the same wood.
The beech , like the fir and chestnut , is
very destructive of vegetation beneath.
BIRCH , used by the ancients for pap
yrus. The wood is used for the heels of
shoes , cradles , packing-boxes , sabots ,
drinking cups , brooms or besoms , rods ,
torches , and charcoal.
"It supplies the northern peasant with
his house , his bread , his wine , and the
vessels to put it in , part of his clothing ,
and the furniture of his bed. "
Birch loves the coldest places.
BLACKTHORN is formed into teeth for
rakes and into walking sticks. Letters
written on linen or woolen with sloe-
juice will not wash out.
It is said that Joseph of Arimathea
planted his staff on the south ridge of
Weary-all Hill ( now Werral ) , where it
grow and put forth blossoms every
Christmas day afterwards. The original
tree was destroyed in the reign of
Charles I , by a puritan soldier , who lost
his life by a splinter , which wounded
him while so employed. The variety ,
which blossoms twice a year , is now
pretty common.
The Holy Thorn lias been introduced into
many parts , and is now grown in several gar
dens about Glastonbury and its vicinity. Pil
grimages continue to bo made to this tree even
in Mr. Eyston's time who died 1721. Warner ,
Evening Post , January 1753.
Box , used for turnery , combs , mathe
matical instruments , knife-handles , tops ,
screws , button-moulds , wood engravings.
Box wood will sink in water.
A decoction of box wood promotes
the growth of hair , and an oil distilled
from its shavings is a cure for hemor
rhoids , tooth-achoepilepsyand stomach-
worms ; so wo are told.
CEDAR , used for cigar boxes. It is
hateful to moths and fleas , and hence it
is used for lining wardrobes and drawers.
CHERRY TREE , used by the turner ,
formed into chairs and hoops. It is
stained to imitate mahogany , to which
wood , both in grain and color , it approaches
preaches nearer than any other of this
country. It is stained black for picture
'rames. The cherry tree was first intro
duced from Flanders into Kent , in the
reign of Henry VHI.
More than a hundred men , during a soige ,
were kept alive for nearly two months , with
out any other sustenance than a little of this
gum taken into the mouth and suffered grad
ually to dissolve. Hasselquist , Itcr Palces-
tinuin (1757. ( )
CHESTNUT TREE , the tree introduced
into the pictures of Salvator Rosa. The
wood is used by coopers and for water-
pipes , because it neither shrinks nor
changes the color of any liquor it con ;
tains. It is , however , bad for posts , and
grass will not grow beneath its shade.
Staves that nor shrink nor swell ,
The cooper's close-wrought cask to chestnut
owes. Dodsloy.
The roof of Westminster Abbey , and
that of the "Parliament House , " Edin-
burg , are made of chestnut wood.
In Cobham Park , Kent , is a chestnut
tree 40 feet in girth (5 ( feet from the
ground. )
At Tortworth , Gloucestershire , is a
chestnut tree 53 feet in girth. Even in
1150 it was called "the great chestnut
tree of Tortworth. " Mr. Marsham says
it was 540 years old when King John
came to the throne , which would carry
us back to the heptarchy. If so , this
tree has tallied the whole history of
England from the Roman period to our
own.
The horse chestnut bursts into leaf
between March 17 and April 19. The
Spanish chestnut fully a month later.
CYPRESS hurts the least of all trees by
its droppings.
DOG ROSE. So called by the Greeks
( kunordon ) , because the root was deemed
a cure for the bite of a mad dog.
ELDER TREE , used for skewers , tops
of angling rods , needles for netting ,
turnery. The pith is used for electro
meters and in electrical experiments.
An infusion of elder leaves will de
stroy insects on delicate plants better
than tobacco-juice ; and if turnips , cab
bages , fruit trees , etc. , are brushed with
a branch of elder leaves no insect will
infest the plants.
ELM is used for axle-trees , null-wheels ,
keels of boats , gunwales , chairs , coffins ,
rails , gates , under-ground pipes , pumps ,
millwork , patterns.
Grass will grow beneath its shade.
The elm is pre-eminent for the tenacity
of its wood , which never splinters. It
is the first of forest trees to burst into
leaf.
leaf.Toads
Toads and frogs are often imbedded in
elm trees. They creep into some hollow
place or crack , and become imprisoned
by the glutinous fluid of the now innei
bark ( liber and alburnum. ) Some have
been found alive when the tree is cul
bown , but they need not have been
embedded long.
At Hampstead there was once a fam
ous hollow elm , which had a staircase
within and seats at the top.
At Elythfleld , in Staffordshire , was an
elm which , Ray tells us , furnished 8600
: eet of planks , weighing 97 tons.
The elm at Chequers , Buckingham
shire , was planted in the reign of
Stephen ; the shell is now 531 feet in
girth. The Chopstead Elm , Kent , con-
: ains 268 feet of timber , and is 15 feet in
girth ; it is said to have had an annual
fair beneath its shade in the reign of
Henry V. The elm at Crawloy , in Sus
sex , is 70 feet high and 35 feet in girth.
Fia TREE. The leaves of this tree have
tl' property of maturing game and
nVjj , Turing amongst them.
TREE. In Ireland the bog firs ,
beaten into string , are manufactured
into rope , capable of resisting the
weather much longer than hempen ropes.
The bark can be used for tan. Tar and
pitch are obtained from the trunk and
branches. The thinnings of fir forests
will do for hop-poles , scantlings , and
rafters , and its timber is used by builders.
Grass will not grow beneath fir trees.
STREET PLANTING ANI > SIIA1 > E
TllEES.
IIY HENRY C. 11L1SS , Sl'IUNQFIELn , MASS.
We have driven out our trees and the
peaceful rest of their shade. Let us
bring them back , for it is easy with
modern means to get to them. If people
ple luiow how easy it is to plant trees ,
and if they realized how valuable these
shade trees coiiio to be for perhaps a
century , more persons might bo induced
to join in the work. Nearly one hun
dred years ago someone planted a double
row of elms on a street that bears the
name of the tree in my own town. I
cannot imagine how n man with greater
ease and certainty could have added so
much to the sum of human happiness.
The grand elms on Court square , in this
city , could have been planted in a day ,
but the loss of these old trees would put
the city in mourning for a year. In
one day I have gone into the swamps ,
with but two men to help , and taken up
seventy-five elms. In two more days
these trees could bo planted with the
same assistance. Of course , you must
first find the swamp , but this usually
requires but a little prospecting.
At first care should bo taken to deter
mine the line for the trees , and to that
end boundaries must bo carefully
looked up. Casual paths must be ig
nored. The trees will be likely to fix
things for many years , and new paths
arc easily made. In the village of Mit-
tineague , in order to have the trees at a
uniform distance from the margin of
the road , it was necessary to put some
directly in the common footpath. The
people , however , kindly cared for the
trees , and scarcely any suffered on ac
count of their location.
In talcing trees from wet ground , you
will usually need but an axe , for trees
in swampy or wet ground have no tap
root , and the fibrous roots are usually
bunched near the trunk. Cut the turf ,