Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Chapter On Oaks.
white is the most valuable . The wood is of great strengh ancl durability , and extensivel y used in ship building for staves of casks , spokes and naves of Avaggon Avheels , rail Avay ties , & c . ; bark useful in tanning and medicine . The timber is largely exported to Eng land and West Indies , and can be furnished in the remotest parts of tipper Canada at £ 40 sterling per 1 , 000 cubic feet ; freight to Quebec about _ £ 11 sterling per 1 , 000 cubic feet . Specific gravity 0-84 ; weight of cubic foot , fully seasoned , 501 b . Potash obtained from outer Avood 13-41 and from heart AVOOC ! 9 ' 68 per cent ., value for heating purposes 81 , shell bark hickory being 100 . ''
All oak presents tbe inconvenience of splitting and warping m the seasonmg , and it is on this account itis so important to use none but seasoned timber hi ship-building , and the best oak is liable to objection on account of the gallic acid it contains , wliich has an injurious action upon any iron nails , or bolts , used in connection . vith it . Young oak is tough and hard to work ; old oak is said to be more brittle , but much easier work . Oak trees are subject to the attacks of numerous insects , some of which bore holes of more than half an inch in diameter into the very heartAvood . The growth of trees
takes place Avith greater rapidity when young than it does in the maturer stages of their groivth , but with all varieties there is a period ( dependent upon the nature of the tree , and of the conditions under Avhich it grows ) at wliicli all increase , Avhether of height or volume , ceases , and the tree then , instead of gaining , begins to lose strength ancl vitality . It is easy to- discover when this period has been attained , for the upper branches begin to lose their leaA ^ es , and the tree becomes , in a woodman ' s phrase , "
stagheaded . " Indeed , the state of the upper branches of a tree may be considered to be amongst the best indications of its soundness ; and , provided they be m a healthy condition , the withering of the lower branches is a matter of comparatively small importance . So long , however , as tbe tree continues to groAv , the heartwood is the harder and denser ; but Avhen they are on the decline , the outer rings , Avhich seem to be more actively concerned in the vital processes of the tree , absorb the nutrition from the heartwood , ancl thus superinduce in it a gradual but sure decay . ( To be Continued . )
Misery.
MISERY .
BY BRO . KICHAKD SIMMONS . I HAVE no legend wild to tell Of olden times long since gone by , I draw my story from the Avell That never fails nor yet runs dry : Some poets seek the distant past—With ancient fuel build up their fires ; I deal with modern writer ' s blast , And it enough my Muse inspires .
' Twas Christmas—time of joy to some—Though frost and snow the earth hacl bound , The king of ice had swiftly come And spread his mantle o ' er the ground ; In many homes a cheerful light Leaped through each frost-decked Avindow pane ,
And holly berries , red and bright , Looked down on mortals young and vain . I loved to hear their laughter ring , To mark their shadows on the blind , To hear their dulcet voices sing And mingle Avith the rushing wind ;
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Chapter On Oaks.
white is the most valuable . The wood is of great strengh ancl durability , and extensivel y used in ship building for staves of casks , spokes and naves of Avaggon Avheels , rail Avay ties , & c . ; bark useful in tanning and medicine . The timber is largely exported to Eng land and West Indies , and can be furnished in the remotest parts of tipper Canada at £ 40 sterling per 1 , 000 cubic feet ; freight to Quebec about _ £ 11 sterling per 1 , 000 cubic feet . Specific gravity 0-84 ; weight of cubic foot , fully seasoned , 501 b . Potash obtained from outer Avood 13-41 and from heart AVOOC ! 9 ' 68 per cent ., value for heating purposes 81 , shell bark hickory being 100 . ''
All oak presents tbe inconvenience of splitting and warping m the seasonmg , and it is on this account itis so important to use none but seasoned timber hi ship-building , and the best oak is liable to objection on account of the gallic acid it contains , wliich has an injurious action upon any iron nails , or bolts , used in connection . vith it . Young oak is tough and hard to work ; old oak is said to be more brittle , but much easier work . Oak trees are subject to the attacks of numerous insects , some of which bore holes of more than half an inch in diameter into the very heartAvood . The growth of trees
takes place Avith greater rapidity when young than it does in the maturer stages of their groivth , but with all varieties there is a period ( dependent upon the nature of the tree , and of the conditions under Avhich it grows ) at wliicli all increase , Avhether of height or volume , ceases , and the tree then , instead of gaining , begins to lose strength ancl vitality . It is easy to- discover when this period has been attained , for the upper branches begin to lose their leaA ^ es , and the tree becomes , in a woodman ' s phrase , "
stagheaded . " Indeed , the state of the upper branches of a tree may be considered to be amongst the best indications of its soundness ; and , provided they be m a healthy condition , the withering of the lower branches is a matter of comparatively small importance . So long , however , as tbe tree continues to groAv , the heartwood is the harder and denser ; but Avhen they are on the decline , the outer rings , Avhich seem to be more actively concerned in the vital processes of the tree , absorb the nutrition from the heartwood , ancl thus superinduce in it a gradual but sure decay . ( To be Continued . )
Misery.
MISERY .
BY BRO . KICHAKD SIMMONS . I HAVE no legend wild to tell Of olden times long since gone by , I draw my story from the Avell That never fails nor yet runs dry : Some poets seek the distant past—With ancient fuel build up their fires ; I deal with modern writer ' s blast , And it enough my Muse inspires .
' Twas Christmas—time of joy to some—Though frost and snow the earth hacl bound , The king of ice had swiftly come And spread his mantle o ' er the ground ; In many homes a cheerful light Leaped through each frost-decked Avindow pane ,
And holly berries , red and bright , Looked down on mortals young and vain . I loved to hear their laughter ring , To mark their shadows on the blind , To hear their dulcet voices sing And mingle Avith the rushing wind ;