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Show A Difccutfe of Foreft-Trees. Chap.XXII. the Tooth-pickers for which eventhe very /eaves are Sparendedy Tn flim, they are Plantations which exceedingly ad Re the Air by their oderiferous and balfamical emiflions , or Ornament, create a perpetual Spring where they are plentifully PaoOs And if itcould be proved that the Almugim-trees Recor ed 1 Rep, 10, 2. and whereof P#ars for that famous Temple, and’ the Roy- al Palace’, Harps, and Pfalteries, oc, were made, were of thisfore of Wood (as fome doubt not to affert) we fhould efteem it at another rate, yet we know Jofephus affirms they wete a kind of Pine-tree, though fomewhat refembling the Fig-tree wood to appearance , asof a moft luftrious Cazdor. In the 2 Chron. Dae there is mention of Alwug-trees to grow in Lebanon 5 and ie fo, methinksit fhould rather be a kind of Cedar; Cyét we find Far alfoin thefame period ) for we havefeen a whiter fort of it, even very white aswell asred; though fomeaffirmit tobe bur the Sap of it ( fo our Cabinet-akers callit) Tfay, their were both Fir and Pine-irees alfo growing upon thofe Auntains. Mr. Parchas informs us, that Dr, Dee Writ a laborious Treatz/é almoft wholly of this S#bjel#(but I could never have the good hap to fee it ) wherein, a8 Commmiffioner for Solomon's Timber, and like aLearned Architeth and Planter, he has fammon’d a Fury of twelve forts of Trees, namely; 1. the Fir, 2, Box, 3. Cedar, 4. Gpreffé, 5. Ebony, 6. Afb, 7, Juniper, 8. Larch, 9, Olive, 10. Pines t1. Oke, and 2, Sandal-trees, to examine which of themi were this Alwugim , and at lat eems'to concur with Fofephus , infavour of Pine or Fir 5 whopoffiblyfrom fome antient Record, or fraguent of the Wood it {elf} might leara fomething of its and’tis believ'd, that it was fome material both odoriferous to the Sent,and beautiful to the Eye,and of fitteft temper to tefratt Sounds ; befides its ferviceablenefle for Buélding,all which» Properties are in the beft fort of Pize or Thytna, as Pliny callsit 5 or perhaps fome other rare Wood, of which the Eaftern Indias are doubtlefie the beft provided 5 and yet! find , that thefé vaft beans whichfuftain’d the Roof of S:Peter*sChurch at Rome, laid (aé ree ported) by Con/tantine the Great, weremadeof the Pitch ivée,and havelafted from Azxo 336.down to our dayes, above 1300. years: 16, But now whiles I'amreciting the Zyesof thefe’ bencficiil Trees, Mr, Winthorp prefents the Royal Soczety with the Proce’ of making the Yar and Pitch in New-England, which we thus abbreViate. Tar is made out of that fort of Pixe-tree from which natu ally Turpentine extilleth 5 and which at its: firft flowing out. is liquid and clear 5 but being hardned by the 4é, either on the Tree, or where-everit falls,is not much ‘unlike the Burgundy Pitch; and wecall them Pitch pines out of which this gummy fubftance tranfudes: They grow upon the moft barrex Plains on Kocksalfo and Hills rifing amongtt thofe Plaizs, where feveral are found blown dowvny, that have lain fo many Ages, as that thé vvhole Bodies , Branches and Roots of the Trees being perifhed , fome certain knots onelyof the Boughy have been left’ remaining intire (thefe Avots are that part vvhere the bough is joyn'd to the body Chap. XXII. A Difcourfe of Forett-Trees, body of the Tree) lying at the fame diftance and pofture as they grevv upon the Treeforits vvhole length. The Bodies of {ome of thefe Trees are not corrupte d through age, but quite conf am'd and reduc'd to afhes, by the annu al when they {et their grounds on fires burnings of the Ladians power over thefe hard yéts, beyo which yet has, it ems, no nd ablack {corching ; although being laid on heaps , they are apt enough to burn, It is of thefe knots they make their Zar in New: Engl cent, whiles they are well impregna and and the Countrey adjaand Refizons matter,whichlike a Balf ted with that Terebinthine ampr putrifadtion. The reft of the Tree does eferves them fo long from indeed contain the like Terebinthine Sap, as appears ( uponanyf light incifion of bark on the ftem, or boughs ) bya {mall cryft aline pearl which will {wear out; butrhis, for being more watery , and undigefted by reafon of the porofity of the Wood » whic h expofes it to the impreffions of the ir and Wet, rendersthe Tree more obnoxious 5 efpecially, if it lye proftrate with the bark on » Whichis a receptacle for a certain Intercutancous Worm, that accelera tesits decay, They are the Avots then alone which the Zar. make ing them in Carts to fome convenient plac rs amafs in heaps,carrye notfar off;where finding Clay, or Loamfit for their turn, they lay an Hear th of fch ordinary ftone as they have athand : This they build to fuch an height from the Jevel of the ground, that a Vefe then the Hearth,to receive the Tar asit lmayftand a little lower runs out : But firft, the Hearth is made wide according to the quantity of Avots to be fet at once, and that with a very fmooth floorof Clay, yet fomewhat defcending,or dripping from the extr eam parts tothe middle,and thence towards one of the fides, wher e torunoutat, The Hearth thus finith’d a gulletis left for the Tar , upon another, after the very fame mann they pile the 4wots one wood for Char coal 3 and of a height proper as our Colliers do their ortionable to the breadth of the Hearth ; and then cover them over with a coat of Joam or clay ( whichis beft) or in defe ct of thofe, with the beft, and moft tenacious Earth the place will afford ; leaving onely a {mall fpiracle atthetop, whereat to put the fire in; holes round about at feveral heights , for and making fome little the air asis requifite to keep it burning, and admiffion of fo much to regulate the fire by opening, and {topping them at pleafure, The proce/éis almoft the the fame withthat of making char coal,aswill appear in due place; for whenitis well on fre, that middle hale is alfo ftopp’d , and the reft of the Regifters fo govern'd, as the Avots may keep burning and not be fufiocated with too muc h Jmoak,, whilesall being nowthrough- heated, the Tar runs down to the Hearth , together with fome of the more watry Sap, which hafting from all parts towards the middle, is convey'd by the fore-men Barrel,or Vefel placed to receive it : Thus tion’d gutter into the , the whole 4rt of Tarmaking is no other, than akind of rude diftillation per defcenfum, and might therefore beas well donein Furn aces of large capacity, Wereit worth the expence, When the Taris now all melted out,and 2 z run, |
