p. 125 | Boxwood and Its Uses

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Feb 25, 1886

Boxwood and Its Uses.

The boxwood of commerce is a tree of considerable size, attaining a height of 80 feet. It is a native of the islands of the Mediterranean, and grows in Turkey, Asia Minor, and around the shores of the Black Sea. The wood possesses a delicate yellow color, is very dense in structure, and has a fine uniform grain, which gives it unique value for the purposes of the wood-engraver. In addition to the ever-increasing demand for the wood by engravers, a very large amount is used in the manufacture of measuring-rules and various mathematical instruments, as well as for turning into many minor articles, and for inlaying, and it is a favorite wood for small carving. The use of boxwood for turnery and musical instruments is mentioned by Pliny, Virgil, and Ovid. The quantity of the wood which passes out from Constantinople yearly is estimated at from 5,000 to 7,000 tons, with about 1,500 tons more of inferior and small pieces. While the consumption is continually increasing, the present sources of supply are rapidly becoming exhausted, the forests near the sea are denuded of their best trees, and access to the wood growing in the interior of the country around the Black Sea is difficult, owing to the want of means of internal communication. The consequent increase of the cost of boxwood has led to frequent attempts to discover other woods for the purpose of the wood-engraver; but none of the numerous substitutes proposed have hitherto been found to possess all the necessary properties.