The only place where the tree is reported to have been killed by frost is in the plantations at the Cairnies, Perthshire, where Hunter says (p. 364) that in the severe winter of 1880-81 many were injured and some killed. Two of the finest specimens in Scotland are, however, growing in the grounds at this place.’
In Ireland the best specimen we know of is one at Glenstal, Co. Limerick, which measured in 1903, 78 feet high by 7½ feet in girth. One of exactly the same height by 6 feet in girth is growing at Kilmacurragh, Co. Wicklow; and around it are several self-sown seedlings. At Mount Usher, in the same county, there is a fine specimen, 28 years old, from seed, which was 57 feet high by 4 feet 5 inches in 1903.
Timber
The timber of the western hemlock has not until recently been much valued, or cut for lumber, on account of its supposed inferiority to that of the Douglas spruce, and is often left standing by loggers, but the increasing scarcity of lumber in some districts has led to its being converted into boards, and it is now largely used for the construction of buildings. Sargent says that it is light, hard, and tough, stronger, more durable, and more easily worked than the other American hemlocks. Allen’ says that in strength it cannot be classed with oak, red fir, or longleaf pine, nor is it suitable for heavy construction, especially where exposed to the weather ; but it possesses all the strength requisite for ordinary building material. It is largely used in Washington for mill frames.
At Mr. Bradley’s sawmill at Bridal Veil, Oregon, I saw it being manufactured, and brought away a sample which quite bears out Sargent’s high opinion of it. If such timber existed in Japan or in Europe, I am sure it would be highly valued for joinery, but so far as J can learn none has yet been shipped to Europe. Hemlock timber” has been exported to Manila, and is likely to prove of considerable value in the tropics for housebuilding and indoor finish, as it appears to be free from the attacks of white ants. The wood is distasteful to rodents, and is used on that account by farmers for the construction of oat-bins.
The bark, according to Sargent, forms the most valuable tanning material produced on the west coast of North America, and the inner bark is eaten by the Indians of Alaska.
James M. Macoun® says of it—"The abundance of other wood of better quality has prevented the hemlock from coming into general use, and the same prejudice exists in British Columbia against the western tree that prevailed until very recently against hemlock in eastern Canada. Though its grain is coarse, western hemlock is for many purposes just as serviceable as other woods which cost more. The bark is rich in tannin, but is too thin to be extensively used while there is such an abundance of Douglas fir in the same region.” (H.J.E.)
1 These are trees growing in peat soil at 635 feet altitude. ‘Lhe seeds were sown in 1853, and in 1868 one tree was 29 feet by 1 ft. 11 in., and the other 26 feet by 2 feet at three feet from the ground (Gard. Chron. 1868, p. 518).
2 Allen, "Western Hemlock,” 20, 21 (U.S. Forestry Bulletin, No. 33, 1902).
3 Forest Wealth of Canada, 82 (1904).
