ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, V. VII. 7–VIII. 1
[1]Alaternus is only useful for feeding sheep; for it is always leafy. Hybrid arbutus is used for making stakes and for burning: holly and Judas-tree[2] for walking-sticks; some also use bay for these; for of this[3] they make light sticks and sticks for old men. Willow is used for shields hampers baskets and the like. We might in like manner add the several uses of the other woods.
[4]Distinction is also made between woods according as they are serviceable for one or other of the carpenter's tools: thus hammers and gimlets are best made of wild olive, but box elm and manna-ash are also used, while large mallets are made of Aleppo pine. In like manner there is a regular practice about each of the other tools. Such are the differences as to the uses of various woods.
Of the localities in which the best timber grows.
VIII. Each kind of timber, as was said before, differs according to the place[5] where it grows; in one place nettle-tree, in another the cedar is remarkably fine, for instance in Syria; for in Syria and on its mountains the cedars grow to a surpassing height and thickness: they are sometimes so large that three men cannot embrace the tree. And in the parks they are even larger and finer. It appears that any tree, if it is left alone in its natural position and not cut down, grows to a remarkable height and thickness. For instance in Cyprus the kings used not to cut the trees, both because they took great care of them and hus-
