{Sowr Wood.}
The Sorrel, Or Sowr-Wood-Tree, Is So Call'd, Because The Leaves
Taste Like Sorrel.
Some are about a Foot or ten Inches Diameter.
I am unacquainted with its Vertues at present.
{Pine.}
Of Pines, there are, in Carolina, at least, four sorts. The Pitch-Pine,
growing to a great Bigness, most commonly has but a short Leaf.
Its Wood (being replete with abundance of Bitumen) is so durable,
that it seems to suffer no Decay, tho' exposed to all Weathers, for many Ages;
and is used in several Domestick and Plantation Uses. This Tree affords
the four great Necessaries, Pitch, Tar, Rozin, and Turpentine;
which two last are extracted by tapping, and the Heat of the Sun,
the other two by the Heat of the Fire.
The white and yellow Pines are saw'd into Planks for several Uses.
They make Masts, Yards, and a great many other Necessaries therewith,
the Pine being the most useful Tree in the Woods.
The Almond-Pine serves for Masts very well. As for the Dwarf-Pine,
it is for Shew alone, being an Ever-green, as they all are.
{Hiccory the best Fire-wood.}
The Hiccory is of the Walnut-kind, and bears a Nut as they do,
of which there are found three sorts. The first is that
which we call the common white Hiccory. It is not a durable Wood;
for if cut down, and exposed to the Weather, it will be quite rotten,
and spoil'd in three Years; as will likewise the Beech of this Country.
Hiccory Nuts have very hard Shells, but excellent sweet Kernels,
with which, in a plentiful Year, the old Hogs, that can crack them,
fatten themselves, and make excellent Pork. These Nuts are gotten,
in great Quantities, by the Savages, and laid up for Stores,
of which they make several Dishes and Banquets. One of these
I cannot forbear mentioning; it is this: They take these Nuts,
and break them very small betwixt two Stones, till the Shells and Kernels
are indifferent small; And this Powder you are presented withal
in their Cabins, in little wooden Dishes; the Kernel dissolves in your Mouth,
and the Shell is spit out. This tastes as well as any Almond.
Another Dish is the Soup which they make of these Nuts, beaten,
and put into Venison-Broth, which dissolves the Nut, and thickens,
whilst the Shell precipitates, and remains at the bottom.
This Broth tastes very rich. {Red Hiccory.} There is another sort,
which we call red Hiccory, the Heart thereof being very red,
firm and durable; of which Walking-Sticks, Mortars, Pestils,
and several other fine Turnery-wares are made. The third is call'd
the Flying-bark'd Hiccory, from its brittle and scaly Bark.
It bears a Nut with a bitter Kernel and a soft Shell, like a French Walnut.
Of this Wood, Coggs for Mills are made, &c. The Leaves smell very fragrant.
{Walnut.}
The Walnut-Tree of America is call'd Black Walnut. I suppose,
that Name was, at first, to distinguish it from the Hiccories,
it having a blacker Bark.
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