|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 37
The Ash (_Fraxinus excelsior_ and other varieties) is a particularly
graceful and fine tree at its full growth. It is a native of Great
Britain, and of many other parts of the world. It is long lived. The
most profitable age for felling it as a forest-tree is from eighty to a
hundred years. The flower comes out before the leaves, which are late,
like those of the oak. The bunches of seed-vessels, or "ash-keys," as
they are fancifully called, were pickled in salt and water and eaten in
old times. The Greeks and Romans made their spears of ash-wood. The wood
is not so durable as that of some other trees, but it is tough, and is
thus employed for work subject to sudden strains. It is good for
kitchen-tables, as it scours well and does not easily splinter.
In little woods, or ash-holts, or ash-coppices, the ash is very
valuable. They are either cut over entirely at certain intervals, or
divided into portions which are cut yearly in succession. At four or
five years old the ash makes good walking-sticks, crates to pack glass
and china in, hoops, basket handles, fences, and hurdles.
Croquet-mallets are also made of ash. At twelve or fourteen it is strong
enough for hop-poles. There are many old superstitions in connection
with the ash, and there is a midland counties saying that if there are
no keys on the ash, within a twelvemonth there will be no king.
There are several fine American varieties, and both in the States and in
Canada the wood is used for purposes similar to ours.
The Alder (_Alnus glutinosa_, &c.) is never a very large tree. It is
supposed to be in maturity when it is sixty years old. It will grow in
wetter places than any other tree in Europe--even than the willow.
Though the wood is soft, it is very durable in water. Virgil speaks of
it as being used for boats. It is highly valued in Holland for piles,
and it is said that the famous bridge of the Rialto at Venice is built
on piles of alder-wood. Though invaluable for water-pipes, pump-barrels,
foundations for bridges, &c., alder-wood is of little use on dry land
unless it can be kept _perfectly_ dry. Wooden vessels and sabots,
however, are made of it.
Alders are chiefly grown in little woods. Planted by the side of rivers,
too, their tough and creeping roots bind and support the banks.
Alder-coppices are very valuable to the makers of--gunpowder! Every five
or six years the little alders are cut down and burned to charcoal, and
the charcoal of alder-wood is reckoned particularly good by gunpowder
manufacturers.
The Aspen, or Trembling Poplar (_Populus tremula_), like the alder, is
fond of damp situations. It has also a white soft wood, used by the
turner and engraver, and for such small articles as clogs, butchers'
trays, &c, &c.
The quivering of its leaves is a favourite topic with poets, and there
is a curious old Highland superstition that the Cross of Christ was made
of aspen-wood, and that thenceforward the tree could never rest.
In "little woods" it may be cut every seven or eight years for faggots,
and at fifteen or twenty years old for poles.
The Beech (_Fagus sylvatica_). With this beautiful tree all our young
readers must be familiar. There may be those whose minds are not quite
clear about wych-elms and sycamores, but the appearance of the
beech-tree is too strongly marked to allow of any confusion on the
subject.
The beech is spoken of by Greek and Roman writers, and old writers on
British agriculture count it among the four timber trees indigenous to
England: the beech, the oak, the ash, and the elm.
It is said, however, not to be a native of Scotland or Ireland. It
attains its full growth in from sixty to eighty years, but is believed
to live to be as old as two hundred. The timber is not so valuable as
that of the other three British trees, but it is used for a great
variety of purposes. Like the alder, it will bear the action of water
well, and has thus been used for piles, flood-gates, mill-wheels, &c. It
is largely used by cabinet-makers for house furniture. It is employed
also by carriage-makers and turners, and for various small articles,
from rolling-pins to croquet-balls. The dried leaves are used in
Switzerland to fill beds with, and very nice such beds must be! Long ago
they were used for this purpose in England. Evelyn says that they remain
sweet and elastic for seven or eight years, by which time a straw
mattress would have become hard and musty. They have a pleasant
restorative scent, something like that of green tea. When we think how
many poor people lie on musty mattresses, or have none at all, whilst
the beech-leaves lie in the woods and go very slowly to decay, we see
one more of the many instances of people remaining uncomfortable when
they need not be so, because of their ignorance. The fact that
beech-leaves are very slow to rot makes them useful in the garden for
mulching and protecting plants from frost.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|