| Show neighbor the workmen employed it one of tha jirair making works in an english town were cutting up a large cherry treo at the circular saw bench when something in the sawyers face and ran over the bench in all directions the engine was stopped and an examination showed that the saw had struck a cavity in the tree and liberated a considerable quantity of quicksilver afterward estimated as half a gill the log was carefully examined and it was found that many years previously a hole had been bored in a slanting downward direction through the heart of the tree the quicksilver poured in and the hole carefully plugged the rings of the tree showed that it was ninety years old and that after the hole had been plugged the growth had covered the head of the ping with several inches of solid wood As it was known the tree came out of an old cherry orchard at allerton yorkshire where yearly a cherry feast used to be held it was thought the quicksilver bad been put in the tree in connection with somo old ceremony ant later it was found that up to thirty or forty years ago quicksilver was thus employed to kill fruit or other trees by those who had grudges against their neighbors it was usual to do this in tha bead of night A of bark was first irefully fully taken off tho hole bored quicksilver poured in tho hole plugged and last tho bit of bark was carefully replaced the tree from the next rising of the sap began to wither in the present case the attempt was a failure for except where the quicksilver had lain it had not penetrated soma inches beyond the end of ohp boring the tree waa bound notes |
