"Small wood under four inches is used principally by flax spinners for rollers, and by turners for various purposes, rollers for rink skates, etc., etc., and if free from splits, is of equal value with the larger wood. It is imported here as small as one a half inches in diameter, but the most useful sizes are from 2½ to 3½ inches, and would therefore, we suppose, be from fifteen to thirty or forty years in growing, while larger wood would require fifty years and upward at least, perhaps we ought to say one hundred years and upward. It is used principally for shuttles, for weaving silk, linen, and cotton, and also for rule making and wood engraving. Punch, The Illustrated London News, The Graphic, and all the first class pictorial papers use large quantities of boxwood."
In 1880, Messrs. Churchill and Sim reported favorably on some consignments of Indian boxwood, concluding with the remarks that if the wood could be regularly placed on the market at a moderate figure, there was no reason why a trade should not be developed in it. Notwithstanding these prospects, which seemed promising in 1877 and 1880, little or nothing has been accually done up to the present time in bringing Indian boxwood into general use, in consequence, as Mr. Gamble shows, of the cost of transit through India. The necessity, therefore, of the discovery of some wood akin to box is even more important now than ever it was.
BOXWOOD SUBSTITUTES.
First among the substitutes that have been proposed to replace boxwood may be mentioned an invention of Mr. Edward Badoureau, referred to in the Gardeners' Chronicle, March 23, 1878, p. 374, under the title of artificial boxwood. It is stated to consist of some soft wood which has been subject to heavy pressure. It is stated that some English engravers have given their opinion on this prepared wood as follows:
It has not the power of resistance of boxwood, so that it would be imposible to make use of it, except in the shape of an electro obtained from it, as it is too soft to sustain the pressure of a machine, and would be easily worn out. In reply to these opinions, Mr. Badoureau wrote: "My wood resists the wear and tear of the press as well as boxwood, and I can show engravings of English and French artists which have been obtained direct from the wood, and are as perfect as they are possible to be; several of them have been drawn by Mr. Gustave Dore."
Mr. Badoureau further says that "while as an engraver he has so high an opinion of the qualities of compressed wood as a substitute for boxwood, as the inventor of the new process he considered that it possesses numerous advantages both for artistic and industrial purposes." In short, he says, "My wood is to other wood what steel is to iron."
The following woods are those which have, from time to time, been proposed or experimented upon as substitutes for boxwood, for engraving purposes. They are arranged according to their scientific classification in the natural orders to which they belong:
Natural Order Pittosporeæ.
1. Pittosporum undulatum. Vent.--A tree growing in favorable situations to a height of forty or even sixty feet, and is a native of New South Wales and Victoria. It furnishes a light, even grained wood, which attracted some attention at the International Exhibition in 1862; blocks were prepared from it, and submitted to Prof. De la Motte, of King's College, who reported as follows:
"I consider this wood well adapted to certain kinds of wood engraving. It is not equal to Turkey box, but it is superior to that generally used for posters, and I have no doubt that it would answer for the rollers of mangles and wringing machines." Mr. W.G. Smith, in a report in the Gardeners' Chronicle for July 26, 1873, p. 1017, on some foreign woods which I submitted to him for trial, says that the wood of Pittosporum undulatum is suitable only for bold outlines; compared with box, it is soft and tough, and requires more force to cut than box. The toughness of the wood causes the tools to drag back, so that great care is required in cutting to prevent the lines clipping. The average diameter of the wood is from 18 to 30 inches.