Old forests, long abandoned, were
even then explored in search of trees that might have escaped the notice
of former proprietors, and wood that was rejected by them was, in 1875,
eagerly purchased at high prices for England. The export of wood was at
that time prohibited from Abhasia and all the government forests in
the Caucasus. A report, dated at about the same period from Trebizond,
points out that the Porte had prohibited the cutting of boxwood in the
crown forests. (_Gardeners' Chronicle_, Aug. 19, 1876, p. 239.) Later
on, the British Consul at Tiflis says: "_Bona fide_ Caucasian boxwood
may be said to be commercially non-existent, almost every marketable
tree having been exported." (_Gardeners' Chronicle_, Dec. 6, 1879, p.
726.)
The characters of boxwood are so marked and so distinct from those of
most other woods that some extracts from a report of Messrs. J. Gardner
& Sons, of London and Liverpool, addressed to the Inspector-General of
Forests in India, bearing on this subject, will not be without value;
indeed, its more general circulation than its reprint in Mr. J.S.
Gamble's "Manual of Indian Timbers" will, it is hoped, be the means of
directing attention to this very important matter, and by pointing
out the characters that make boxwood so valuable, may be the means of
directing observation to the detection of similar characters in other
woods.
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