are costly and fashionable. The extensive manufacture of piano-fortes
has much increased the demand for mahogany. This musical instrument, as
made in England, is superior to that of any other part of Europe; and
English piano-fortes are largely exported. The beauty of the case forms
a point of great importance to the manufacturer. This circumstance adds
nothing, of course, to the intrinsic value of the instrument; but it
is of consequence to the maker, in giving an adventitious quality to
the article in which he deals. Spanish mahogany is decidedly the most
beautiful; but occasionally, yet not very often, the Honduras wood is of
singular brilliancy; and it is then eagerly sought for, to be employed
in the most expensive cabinet-work. A short time ago, Messrs. Broadwood,
who have long been distinguished as makers of piano-fortes, gave the
enormous sum of 3,000_l_. for three logs of mahogany. These logs, the
produce of one tree, were each about fifteen feet long and thirty-eight
inches wide. They were cut into veneers of eight to an inch. The wood,
of which we have seen a specimen, was peculiarly beautiful, capable of
receiving the highest polish; and, when polished, reflecting the light
in the most varied manner, like the surface of a crystal; and, from
the wavy form of the fibres, offering a different figure in whatever
direction it was viewed. A new species of mahogany has been lately
introduced in cabinet-work, which is commonly called Gambia. As its name
imports, it comes from Africa. It is of a beautiful colour, but does not
retain it so long as the Spanish and Honduras woods.


_Planting_.

The publication of his Sylva, by Evelyn,[5] gave a considerable
impulse to planting in the time of Charles II.; but in the next
century that duty was much neglected by the landed proprietors of this