Page:TheTreesOfGreatBritainAndIreland vol01.djvu/82

54 is due to the roots of the tree having reached a cold wet subsoil, or from exposure to excessive cold. There seems to be no remedy for this disease, which usually kills the tree.

Araucarias do not thrive in the smoky atmosphere of a large town, and for this reason are not seen at their best in the immediate neighbourhood of London, nor do I know of any very fine ones in Wales or in the midland and northern counties of England.

The gum which exudes from the bark is used in Chile as a salve for wounds and ulcers. It has a pleasant smell like that of turpentine, and sets hard when dry, but I am not aware that it contains any special intrinsic virtue.

The seeds are largely consumed by the Araucanos and other tribes of Indians, and are occasionally sent for sale to the markets of Valdivia and Concepcion. I have eaten them both roasted and boiled, and found them very palatable, with a nutty flavour somewhat like that of almonds.

The timber is said to have been formerly used in the dockyards of Chile, but is now considered inferior to that of the Alerce (Fitzroya patagonica), and perhaps owing to the remote positions in which the trees grow, is not now used except locally. Through the kindness of the Duke of Bedford I received two planks cut from a tree grown at Endsleigh, near Tavistock, of which the wood does not show any specially attractive quality. The Earl of Ducie describes it as "not unlike good deal, but from the absence of turpentine and for some other reason it is smoother to the touch than the ordinary deals of commerce. In this respect its texture is not unlike that of redwood (Sequoia senipervirens). On testing a thin batten by breakage, it proved to be tough and strong for its size; but the fracture was abrupt, and showed little longitudinal fibre. The wood is somewhat heavier than ordinary deal." The timber is not mentioned in Stone's Timbers of Commerce.