The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1907-11-23
FIND FORTUNES in WOOD %
SOME TREES THAT 5HAvE>PRovEo
~ TO 1EsREAL: TREASURES : i
:: TO OWNERS. -:
Oak Is Most Valuable Of Any British
Timber! but Its Value Is Small Conn.,
pared to Foreign Woods Used for
Veneering.

When InWaltheS yak, Sa1u 10 De
the finest tree in Norfolk. was sold
some years ago, the trunk alone
fetched G44 The branches were sold
for G28, while the bark and chips re-,
allied another $50. So the whole
tree fetched more than $50, a sum
which would have been greatly eS-
ceeded had the cost Of getting such a
mass of timber to it's destination rot
been so great. The trunk alone
weighed more than twenty tons, and
1t took fourteen-horse power engine
a day and half to get it to the road.
Oak is the most valuable of any Err
fish timber, but it's value is small III
deed compared with that o. foreign
woods used for veneering anG other
ornamental work of the kind. A5o 1t
five years ago there were sold in Liv-
erpool two logs of African Mahogany,
trunk of one tree, for the immense
sum of e l, 536. The grain of this spe-
cial tree was extraordinarily fine. and,
cut into veneers, these two mighty
logs now grace the dining room Of
Park Lane mansion, being used in
place of wall paper.
In August last an American lumber
man paid several hundred pounds for
one log, and taking it to The states,
cut it up into veneers which sold for
$4,000. This is probably the record
price ever realized from single ir.,a.
Vol Inv 10 sc
another valuable timber for veneering
purposes. There is a story thar a
Kentucky farmer who had ruined
himself over races recouped all
his losses, over $4,000. by the sale Of
a grove of about thirty walnut tree S
| which stood near his house.
The largest trees in the world are
not-as usually supposed--thc led
| woods of California, but the Australian
gums. The tallest of the American
trees still standing is less than $50
feet in height, while gum has ',een
woods, it must be confessed. are the
| most valuable. The famous "Moihe:.
Of the Forest" which was 321 feet
high and 1877 feet to the first branch,
yielded 537; 900 feet of sound inch I'M
| Der. At moderate computation this
| tree was. therefore. wort h e1,000.
| Happily, the best of the remaining big
| trees are now preserved by the gov.
eminent. It is sad pity that AIS
tralia does not follow so good an ex-
ample
California possesses not ONLY the
redwoods, but also giant oaks. At the
Chicago worlds fair was exhib:te a
house twenty feet square, the four
walls and roof of which, together With
doors and easements, were made Of
timber cut from single oak.
One more Californian plant record
must be mentioned. This is La Para
Grande, the most gigantic grapevine
in the world. 1t is to be seen at a
ranch in the Montecito valley near
Santa Barbara. Its main stem is
three and one-half feet in circumfer-
ence, and the trellis, which supports
it, covers nearly quarter of an acre.
In its prime the great vine produced
on an average four tons Of grapes
yearly, which sold for e22 per ton.
Quite a comfortable income. G88 a
year!
The famous rose tree of Hildesheim.
| IN Germany, which has been growing
and blooming since the year 1922.
against the side of the famous old
church Of st. Michael, has the honor
OF being tie tree for which the record
sum has been offered. Some years ago
an American millionaire offered "a.
| 900 down for the tree as it stood.
Phlegmatic as the Germans are, the
enterprising Westerner was reallr
rather fortunate in getting off with his
life. AS a great favor shoots are
sometimes sold, and these realize very
large prices.
The average man who sees camellia
blossoms in florists windows tssix-
pence apiece would not mind owning
the camelli atree which grows at PHI.
metz, near Dresden, and is one, Of the
sights of the district. It was imported
from Japan about the middle Of the
eighteenth century, and at. present
stands just over fifty feet high. It
has an annual average of 5000 bios.
SONS, which, if sold at ssixpence
apiece, would realize exactly 1el 900.
Their Onlv rh.oo>