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A11130 RET U M AND l'HUTICETUM.

PART III.

houses; which is another important defect in a country where nearly all thehouses are of wood : but when covered it is of great duration; and asthe white pine (I J . jStrobus) becomes rarer, the hemlock spruce is sub-stituted for it as extensively as possible. It is firmer, though coarsergrained; affords a tighter hold to nails; and offers more resistance to theimpression of other bodies. For this reason, it is employed, in the districtof Maine , in the form of 2-inch planks, for threshing-floors. But the mostcommon use, in which great quantities are consumed in the northern states,is for the first sheathing of wooden houses, which are afterwards coveredwith clap-boards (see p. 2284.4 of white pine. For economy, the interiorframe is sometimes made of hemlock spruce; and it is found, when guardedfrom humidity, to be as durable as any other species. It is always chosenfor the laths of the interior walls, and is exported in this form to England. Inthe district of Maine , it is usually taken for the posts of rural fences, which lastabout 15 years, and are preferable to those of the grey and red oaks (kiuercusambigua and Q. rubra). It contains little resin, and the trunk is but slightlycoated with turpentine, even where large pieces of bark have been a longtime removed. The bark, when used for tanning, is taken from the tree inthe month of June; and half the epidermis is shaved off with a plane before itis thrown into the mill. From the district of Maine , it is exported to Boston ,Providence, &c,, and is "almost exclusively employed in the tanyards at thoseplaces. It is brought to New York from the upper parts of the Hudson, andis sometimes carried to Baltimore . Its deep red colour is imparted to theleather; and, though it is inferior to the bark of the oak, the American tannersthink the bark of the two kinds united are better than either of them alone.Hemlock spruce bark was once exported to England, but the commerce hasceased with the demand. The Indians are said to use it in dyeing their lightbaskets made of red maple. ( Michx .) The young twigs and ends of theshoots are used by the settlers as a substitute for tea ; the essence of spruceis also extracted from the shoots. In England, the hemlock spruce formsone of the most ornamental of the fir family; being among needle-leavedevergreen trees what the weeping willow is among the willows. As it bearsthe knife, and is extremely hardy, it might be employed as hedges; forwhich purpose it is used in the American nurseries, along with the 7'hiijaoccidentals.

Statistics. In the environs of London , at Kenwood, Hampstead , f>0 years planted, it is 25 ft. high,the diameter ot' the trunk 2ft. 6 in., and of the head 40 ft.; at York House, Twickenham, it is 30 ft.high, with a trunk 1 ft. 2 in. in diameter; at Muswell Hill, it is 30 ft. high ; at Abercorn Priory, atStamnore, it is 30 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 1 ft. 6 in., and of the head 33 ft. — South of London .In Devonshire, at Bystock Park, 21 years planted, it is 50 ft. high. In Dorsetshire , at Melbury Park,15 years planted, it is 23 ft. high. In Hampshire , at Alresford, 41 years planted, it is 59 ft. high ; atStrathfieldsaye, it is 45 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft., and of the head 42 ft. In Somerset­ shire , at Kingsweston, 12 years planted, it is 18 ft. high. In Surrey, at St. Ann’s HiJl, 34 yearsplanted, it is ^8 ft. high ; at Claremont, it is 45 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 9 in., and ofthe head 55 ft; at Ockham , 35 years planted, it is 18 ft. high. In Sussex, at Westdean, 10 yearsplanted, it is 19 ft. high. In Wiltshire , at Wardour Castle, 50 years planted, it is 30 ft. high, thediameter of the trunk 3ft.6in., and of the head 43 ft. —North of London . In Bedfordshire , atSouthill, it is 22 ft. high, with a trunk 1 ft. in diameter. In Berkshire, at Bearwood, 10 years planted,it is 15 ft. high ; at Ditton Park, 34 years planted, it is 30 ft. high. In Herefordshire , at Stoke EdithPark, 50 years old, it is 30 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1ft. 8 in., and of the head 26 ft. J»Hertfordshire , at Cashiobury, 30 years planted, it is 28 ft. high ; at Cheshunt , 10 years planted, it is17ft. high. In Leicestershire , at Elvaston Castle, 16 years planted, it is 12ft. high; at BelvoirCastle, 18 years planted, it is 15 ft. high. In Nottinghamshire , at Clumber Park, it is 25 ft high. InStaifoidslnre, at Trentham, it is 16 ft. high. In Warwickshire , at Combe Abbey, 60 years planted,it is 41 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 3in., and of the head 36 ft. In Worcestershire , atCroome, 40 years planted, it is 35 ft. high. In Yorkshire , at Grimston, 12 years planted, it is 18 ft-high. — In Scotland , at Hopetouu House, it is 35 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk nearly £ it., andof the head 21 ft. * In Itoxburghshire, at Minto, 50 years planted, it is 35 ft high. In Perthshire, atTaymouth, it is 20 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1 ft. 6 in., and of the head 12 ft.; another, 50years planted, is 26 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. Gin. , and of the head 18ft. In Iloss-£>hire, at Braban Castle, it is 20 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 14 in. — In Ireland , in Louth, atOriel Temple, 35 years planted, it is 32 ft. high. — In France , at Colombey, near Metz , 67 yearsplanted, it is40 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1 ft. 6 in. — In Hanover, in the Botanic Garden,Gottingen , 20 years planted, it is 20 ft. high — In Saxony , at Worlitz , 60 years planted, it is 60 ft. high,the diameter of the trunk 3 ft., and of the head 40 ft. — In Austria , at Vienna , at Briick on theLeytha, 36 years planted, it is 26 ft. high. — In Bavaria , in the English Garden at Munich , 10 yearsplanted, it is 10ft. high. — In Prussia, near Berlin , at Sans Souci, 50 years planted, it is 40 ft. high.

Commercial Statistics. Plants, in London , are 2os. per hundred ; 2 ft. high)50.?. per hundred : at Bollwyller, from 3 francs to 5 francs each ; and at New York , 50 cents.