The timber supplied by the Scotch fir is called Red Deal, and the uses to which it is applied render it necessary that the stem should be straight, and close planting materially assists in this object, by preventing the possibility of the trees flinging out their lateral branches; this, as we have already noticed, disfigures the tree in the eye of an artist, however much it may delight that of a timber merchant. The straightest and cleanest-grown trees are selected for masts, spars, scaffold-poles, &c., while the largest _sticks_ are sawed into planks for various purposes. Its wood is very durable, and resists the action of water excellently. The persons employed at different times in the endeavour to rescue the cargo of the Royal George, which foundered off Spithead, in the year 1782, discovered that the fir-planks had suffered little, if any injury, while the other timbers of the vessel had been much acted upon by the water and different species of worms. In Holland this tree has been used for the purpose of preparing the foundations of houses in their swampy soil; 13,659 great masts of this timber were driven into the ground for the purpose of forming the foundation of the Stadthouse at Amsterdam. But it is not only for its timber that we are indebted to this tree; those useful articles, tar, pitch, and turpentine, are all yielded by its sap. Transport of Timber from the Forests. Probably but few of our readers think of the means by which _timber_ is conveyed from the forest where it grows, to the spots where it is to be applied to the purposes of building. And yet it must be evident that the means of transport form a matter of no small importance. We know that our timber-yards are plentifully supplied with the various kinds of wood necessary for building; and that the timbers are shaped by the axe and the saw. But, in most cases, the wood which we employ is brought from foreign countries, often many miles inland. It is conveyed across the ocean in ships; but the mode of transporting it from the forests where it grows to the ports where it is to be shipped, is a curious subject, and one well worthy of a little attention. The main circumstance that forms the groundwork of all the plans adopted for this purpose is, that nearly all kinds of wood are, bulk for bulk, lighter than water, and will consequently swim on its surface. Now as all countries are, more or less intersected by rivers, which flow from the interior into the sea, a very simple and economical mode of transport for timber is at once attained, by causing it to float down running streams, either by the mere force of the descending water, or by the aid of mechanical agents. There is no necessity that each piece of wood should be floated separately down the stream; for they may be fastened together and steered down the middle of the river, in the form of a long and broad raft.