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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont fiimis en commen9ant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'iiiustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur ia dernidre image de cheque mlCkOfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ►signifie "A SUIVRE' , le symbols V signlfic "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre fiimAs d des taux de reduction diffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul ciichA, il est film* A partir de I'angHe sup4rieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes st:ivants iliustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 9 ENGLISH TEEES &r<. :^ ENGLISH TREES AND . TREE-PLANTING BY WILLIAM H. ABLETT lllustratfb luillj .Sii-tccn liiustratbtts of |ii historical ®rws. imous LONDON SMITH, ELDER, & ,:o., 1.5 WATERLOO PLACE 1880 [.1// riijhts rcucrvcd] <^-3: CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. 8AX0BRIOU8 mi^LUENCE OF TKEE3 rPOX THE ATMOSPHEBE-COJf- MBBCIAL PRODUCTS OP FIR-TREES-INTKODTTCTIOI. OP THE LARCH I^TO «COTI^KB_XHB PARKE8IKA OARD^S AT ROME-^E TREES OP BRITAIN, AND IKmODITCED TREES-ANCIENT PO^S AND THEIR PRODUCE-ACORNS AS POOD-MONASXIC GrTntS PAO« CHAPTEE U. 'Tat ri^T "' "^^^-''^''^'^ ^^« bituations-palm sun- DAT IN ITALT-DURABILITT OP CEDAR WOOD-BIBLICAL DESCRIP- TION OP XHE CEDARS OP I^BANON-THK VISITS OP TRAVELERS tJ MOUNT LEBANON-OP THE PRINCIPLES OP PERTILITY OP THE 80IL-C0BBETT ON TULL-TULL's PR0TE8X-THE HUSBANDRY OP TIBGIL'S GEORGICS-TULL'S ACCOUNT OP HIS INVENTION OP l^ BBIIL-COBBIOT'S ANTICIPATIONS OP FUTURE CREDIT-COBBKTT AND THE LOCUST-TREE . tOBBKTr 22 CHAPTER HI. THE MODERN RAGE POR PLANTING-TREE-PLANTING AT THE ANTIPODES -CONE-BPARING OR RESINOUS TREES PIT POR COLD AND ELEVATED DISTSICXS-PAST-GROWING AND SOPT-WOODED TREES PIT POR MoTsT lAND-BROAD-LEAVED TIMBER TREES SUITABLE POR LANDSCAPE B~T":r'^""^"'-™^"™--«----^^^^^^ 58 ^^^33 <^-3^^;i- VI CONTENTS. OPIAPTER IV. CONIFEROUS TREES. THB SCOTCH PH^-DETERIORATION OF THE SCOTCH Pms -TH15 PIN^B BcoTrir:.r'''-^^ «™ «^ A^cn-PHor^ SCOTCH PINB PLANTATIONS-OBTAINING THE SEEDS-SOWIn™ VATION-THE COKRICAN PINE: CULTIVATION-THE STONE PINE • CULTIVATION-THE WHITE, OR WEYMOUTH riNE-LrMBBRINr ' ^rBrwoS™ ^:^"^^^^-^ wHEAT-FAR^iN^rx-; PAOK 71 CHAPTER V. CONIFEROUS TREES-oontinued. '"thThp™; wootl""' " "-^"^ ^^^^^' «« -«-- -««- THE HEAVT-WOODED PINB-tONG-LEAVED INDIAN PINE-DWARP PI^-SPRX;CEFIRS: CriTIVATION-THE BLACK SPRUCE J-s,^ l^l-^^ZZ' —INE-CCLTIVATION OE THE SIL ER FIR— THE BALM OF GILEAD SILVER FIR t^ • • • • . 108 CHAPTER VI. CONIFEROUS TREES-oontinmd. THE LARCH-DURABILITT OF LARCH IIMBER-CXTLTIVATION-CAStT- rr=rLTi^rr-^- ^^"-= -ivATioN-T^^rN 126 CHAPTER VII. CONIFEROUS TREES-cmitimud. OF THE YEV^ -TREE-POISONOUS NATURE OF THE YEW-SPRAY— TTT,= 146 CONTENTS. Vii (JIIAPTKK VIII, BHOAD- LEAVED TIMBEU TREKS PAOK °"oMroA:!r„Ar.;:Ar"': "™"°™- »"— » ,„., • • • • ItiO OIIAFPER IX. BROAD. LEA VED TREES-cmtinued. rHE ELM-IHE ENGLISH KLM : CULTIVATXON-THK WYCH ELM • AMERrCAX KLH-VARr.XroX OK THE ELM-XHE .^"ko ELM 190 OHAPTf]R X. BUOAD.LEA VED TREES-continued. '"l".fr^~^^^ «REAT MAPLE, OK SYCAMORE: OULTIVATION-THE COMMON MAPLE-THE SUGAR MAPLE-XHE NORWAY MAPtT. T, TIVATION-XHE RKB OR SCARLET M A PLE-TH, r A roTlEA^^B rr .r ^'^^TI^ATION-XHE WE«XERN plane: CITLXIvr iroN-THE hornbeam: culxivaxion-xhe SPANISH chSnitt LABeK CHESN.X-XREE ON MO.NX ETNA : OITLXIVAxTn "' 208 CHAPTER XL BROAD-LEAVED TREES-continued Vlll CONTENTS. (\ ■• CHAPTER XII. FAST-GROWING AND SOFT-WOODED TREES, AFFECTING MOIST SITUATIONS. PAOg THh POPIAR— THE GREY POPLAR : PROPAGATION— THE WHITE POPLAR —THE ASPEX: CraTIVATION— iHE LOMBARDY POPLAR— BLACK ITALIAN POPLAR— ONTARIO POPLAR— THE WILLOW— THE WHITE, . OR HUNTINGDON WILLOW— THE GOAT WILLOW— THE WEEPING WILLOW — THE ALDER : PROPAGATION — THE HOR.SE CHESNFT : CUL- TIVATION—THE LIME : PROPAGATION 250 CHAPTER XUI. THE FORMATION OF PLANTATIONS PLANTATIONS AND ILANTING — TRAVELLING SEEDS OF WEEDS — THE TRANSPLANTATION OF LARGE TREES— SIR HENRY STEWART's METHOD— TRANSPLANTING MACHINE— RELATIVE VALUE OF TIMBER PLANTATIONS AND ARABLE LAND— USUAL METHODS OF FORMING PLANTATIONS— NOTCH, OB SLIT-PLANTING— CROSS-CUT PLANTING —PIT-PLANTING— TRENCHED GROUND FOR PLANTING— VARIOUS DESCRIPTIONS OP SOILS ALL SUITED FOR PARTICULAR TREES— AD- VANTAGES OF INTERSPERSING CONIFER.'E IN BROAD-LEAVED PLAN- TATIONS—PERMANENCY OF HARD-WOODED PLANTATIONS , . 28.3 CHAPTER XIV. ORNAMENTAL PLANTING. LILAC — LABURNUM : CULTIVATION— ALMOND : CULTIVATION — THE LARGE FRUITED ALMOND— THE HAJT^L : CULTR-A TION— UNPROFIT- ABLE FILBERT PLANTATION MADE PROFITABLE— CONSTANTINOPLE HAZEL— THE HAWTHORN: CULTIVATION- THE MOUNTAIN ASH: CULTIVATION— THE SERVICE-TREE— WILD CHERRY: CULTIVATION— SPINDLE-TREE- THE ELDER : PROPAGATION 322 CHAPTER XV. ORNAMENTAL PLANTING— continued. EVERGREENS— THE LAUREL— THE LAUREL CHERRY OR COMMON LAUREL : CULTIVATION— THE PORTUGAL LAUREL CHERRY: PROPAGATION — HOLLY: CULTIVATION — BOX: PROPAGATION — PRIVET -ARHOR- VIT.U— JUNIPER- THE VIRGINIAN JUNIPER— THE SPANISH JUNI- PER— THE COMMON SAVIN 351 CONTENTS. IX OJIAPTER XVI. OfilEIl BEDS. PAOB LAYim DOWN AN OSIER PLAXIATIOX-THl, LONDOX CLAT-VARIPTIVS OP «OX.-BrRATIOX 0. OSIER P.AXTAXIOXS-.IE.VBIXa ^BB PLAXTATioxs-crmxa osiers-the preparatiox of robs for THE xew kim)_the gelster-the greex-leaved osier THE BROWXARB,. OR SILVER OSIER-THE PBEXCH-XHE HOT iT™ -THE BITTER ORXARD-THE HTOXE OSIER . ^"^««^'="NDtR ' • ■ • . 370 CHAPTER XVJI. HEDOE-ROW TUtBEIi. KXCES8IVE QrAXTITIES OF HEDGE-ROW TIMBER-MOST SUITABLE TRE.S FOR HEDOE-BOWS-ORXAMEXTAL IIEDGJ>R0WS-MAV»n^,I HEDGE-RO,V TIMBER "''^-KOWS— MAXAGEMENT OF 384 CHAPTER XVHI. COrSE WOOD. USES OF COPPICE WOOD— VARTPTTT-q nw r.^.^ ^ VAKijiriES OF COPSE-WOOD roPSP wn«T» • » UXDERWOOD-MAXAGEMEXT OP COPPICE MA^rl ! *^ "i^ WJ111(,E_MAKIXG CHARCOAL .394 <'HArrER XIX. SEA-SIDE PLANTING. PtAXTATIONS OX THE COAST OF XORFOLTr—Pnvrx...^^^ OrLF OF OASCOXV-MAXAGEMEXT-TlZLTn'r''"'''^' «CITED FOR SEA-SIDE PLANTING ^^«™^™« OP TREI.S BEST 404 CHAPTER XX. HEDGES. OtD-FASHIONED ENGLISH HEDGES— VARIFTTPa nr. xrn^ LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. The Bounds Pakk Oak . The Great Asm at Carnock The Cedar in the 1'ai.ace Garden at The Moor Park Lime Trek The Silver I . at Roseneath . Larches at Dunk eld The Great Vew at Fortincai, . The Vew Trees at Fountains Aiusey The KiNc's Oak The Great Ash at Wohurn Park 15EECH IN Knole Park Elm at Crawlev in Sussex Sycamore at IUshoi-ton, Kenkrewshiri Ulack Poplar at JUiry St Edmunds Elms at Moncenvill Scotch Fir at Dunmore . Enkie l-AGE Frontispiece, I 22 65 121 126 IS3 154 167 190 I9S 200 208 259 351 412 1'^ »,: ENGLISH TKEES and TREE-PLaNTING. i CHAPTEE I. surBBiom ispwuKOT OP mm vios n™ i™n«m„. PBoBrcr, „p ™-,Ep«_n.TKoBro™rop™r?/,™T™"'" liKD-lM PA™,l!,i e»BI,K.rrT Eom J;,™ ™M0T. PK0OT«-AC0»I,8 AS P00D_a0SA,TIC SKi„Tj '"" Of late years the salubrious influence of Trees upon he atmosphere has awakened a great deal of public attention, and the subject has come very prominently forward mto general notice, not only in England, but throughout most European countries The benefit that is to be derived by persons suf- fenng from diseases of the lungs, by residing in the 7"'7 of P'-forests, has long been known; and advantage has successfully been taken of their invigo- rating and restorative attributes in America, where par les are often formed for camping out for a time m them ; whik nearer home we have many direct in- stances furmshed to us of the efficacy of arboricultural vegetation m promoting health under certain condi- tions, Although this particular efficacy of some B ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. trees in preventing disease and promoting health has been fully recognised, the connection between cause and effect has been, until quite lately, by no means clearly established. The most common idea that used to prevail was, that this purifying influence in nature was due to the evolution of the gas from plants exposed to the air, by the process of slow oxidation ; but the proof of the production of this active principle was not forthcoming in a distinct form, and much uncertainty prevailed upon the subject. Scientific investigation has, however, lately de- monstrated that the hygienic principle common to pine-groves and plantations of Eucalyptus globulus, is due to the evolution of the peroxide of hydrogen and camphoric acid ; the cause being the volatilisation of naturally secreted oils ; the principle not depend- ing upon the odour of these treed, . but upon the ' terpene ' or principle of turpentine — the presence of peroxide of hydrogen and camphoraceous substances being referable to the resinous oils secreted by those trees. The Eucalyptus globulus, or blue-gum-tree, of Aus- traha, has of late acquired a very high reputation for rendering localities habitable which were previously the unhealthy seats of malaria, and on this account had to be abandoned ; a striking example of the fever- preventing properties of these trees being furnished by the rehabitation of a deserted cluster of monastic buildings in the most desolate part of the Campagna. DESERTED MONASTERY ,N THE CAMPAQNA. 3 about three miles frotn Rome. This was effected ;-"2:rr.r r Sir ■ t are valleys that only a few years since were mo t uT healthy but which have now been made quUe L l bnous by the planting of some of these trees Commercial prodticts of Fir-trees —Th^'. ■ un M '' '""■'"' '™" *«= Pi-"^ »d & tribes thet^ch T^T"" "' ""^ ''^«' ^"-hes. From " wat^r to its proper channel, and thus VAHIOUS OBJECTS OF TREK-I'LANTIXG. 7 preventing tl,e washing awa, of banks. In tl,e fo™, of osier-beds, they will yield a profitable return ,.n„„ districts subject to the overflow of tidal rivers, where nothing else could be grown to advantage; but as hving objects of beauty and grandeur, trees every- V here rank with the most beautiful of earth's nro- ducti-ms; whether in the instance of the cedars of Lebanon, whicli for ages have been the boast of Syria, and a type of Bibhcal illustration ; or in the imposing, lofty forms that are to be met with in the forest, or the parks and pleasure-grounds of Great Britain ; or in some wild sylvan scene in the Highlands of Scotland, 11, the form of the birch-tree, adorning the margins of lakes and rivers, or standing in solitary glens and ravines in profuse masses ; or the moun- tain-ash, which may be seen in autumn with its ter- minal shoots bending beneath their load of clustering scarlet bernes, which glisten brightly amongst the varied tints of lovely foliage, pecuhar 'to that-seas^ By the aid of arboricultural skill, these beautiful specimens of Nature's handiwork can be made to adorn places which are naturally destitute of trees and this art has fully attested its power in the results' obtained at Sion,Claremont,Holkham, Croome Good wood. High Clere, Woburn, Studle; Pairs' Cross' Chiswick White Knights, Purser's CrL,and var us' paiks and pleasure-grounds of Great Britain Famesina Gardens at Rome.-One of the most notable instances of this skill is the Farncina gZ 'U 8 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. at Eome, which formerly used to be one of the great attractions of the city, and which were closed to the public by the Duke Ripalda, upon the an- nouncement to him, by the Government, that it was intended to sequestrate the greater portion of the garden, and destroy the historical casino standing in it, in order to carry out part of the plans for the improvement of the Tiber. The villa, which Raphael has immortahsed, was built for Alexander Cliigi, the great banker of Rome of the sixteenth century— the Rothschild of his day— by Baldassare Peruzzi ; and where, to keep the great painter at work, Chigi had to set aside an apartment for the use of the Fornarina. Chigi desired the architect to design the house in proportion to the grounds which extend to tlie river-side, and make, as it were, the villa and gardens parts of one complete com- position. Along tlie river-side Peruzzi constructed an embankment, and planted upon it a wide ilex and laurel grove, 260 metres in length ; and at one end also a casino, or summer-house — the same wherein Chigi gave that sumptuous banquet at which Leo X., the* Cardinals, the Duke of Ferrara, the Marquis of Mantua, and all the foreign ambassadors in Rome were his guests. At the conclusion of the banquet, all the massive gold and silver plate it was served upon was thrown into the river ; but this, it was said, was only an act of sham display on the part of the banker, who had taken the precaution to stretch a net below in the river, of which no trace could be seen, THE FARNESINA GARDENS AT ROME. 9 :e of the re closed I the an- lat it was n of the mding in s for the Lsed, was of Eome lis day — ;he great partment lired the n to the ake, as it lete com- istructed ilex and one end wherein Leo X., rquis of n Rome banquet, s served vas said, t of the tell a net be seen, but by which means the whole service was restored to the strong-box, with the exception of one unfortun- ate soup-tureen, that had been unluckily thrown out a Httle too far beyond it. The Farnesina contains Raphael's famous frescoes of 'Cupid and Psyche,' and of the 'Galatea'; the ' Marriage of Alexander and Roxana,' by Sadoma ; the splendid frieze of ' Ovid's Metamorphoses,' by Giuho Romano, and the colossal head, a magnificent T'iece of chalk-drawing, sketched by Michael Angelo .11 one of tJie lunettes, whilst waiting for Daniel di Volterra ; and other works of beauty and interest. The names of many historical characters and re- nowned beauties are connected with this place during the most brilliant period of the Papacy, who have sauntered along the grove-like ilex avenue, extending from the casino. The trunks of these venerable trees have attained a great size, and from them, at the height of some ten feet from the ground, stretch horizontal branches, the result of early training, which form an imposing leafy ceiling. From these again spring innumerable tall, slender, perpendicular branches, through which the iTilhant sunshine strikes, flickering along the ground in all shapes of fantastic shadows ; while in the bright Italian moonlight, the trees pro- duce an indescribable effect of loveliness. In the course of years, after its possession by Chigi, the villa passed into the hands of the Farnese family, and from theirs into those of the Royal Family of Naples, who appear to have taken l^ut very little 10 ENGLI81I TUKES AND TREE-PLANTING. interest in it, and left it almost entirely uncared for. It remained for a long time uninhabited, and persons residing in Eome between 1850 and 1870 will re- member the ruinous condition in which the house appeared. Several of the ceilings were in such a dilaiidated condition that tliey had to be supported by beams, resting on the floors underneath ; and the chefs-dmivre of Sadoma, the frescoes which have ex- cited such universal admiration, were scrawled over and defaced by the race of travellers who cannot re- frain from scratching their ignoble names upon situa- tions of prominence whi(;h give tliem the opportunity of so doing. After remaining in this miserable condition for a considerable period, the villa was purchased by the Duke Eipalda, who was Spanish ambassador to France during part of the reign of Napoleon III., who de- voted much time and money to it, and reproduced it as a public monument of art, grudging no cost that was necessary for putting the building into com- plete repair, and, in fact, making its restoration the chief object of his life. With loving care, and with the assistance of the best artists of the day, he has cleaned the frescoes and repaired the damages they had received in such a complete uumner as to remove every trace of the injuries that had been inflicted upon them by the modern Goths and Vandals from whom they had re- ceived damage. In one of the largest rooms it was found that a beautiful frieze, on which the chief NATIVE AND INTRODUCED TREES. H subjects of ' Ovid's Metamorphoses ' were represented, the work of Giulio Eomano, had been whitewashed over ! This whitewash was all carefully removed and the origmal painting brought again to light, dis- playing the sumptuous manner in which it was usual to decorate the houses of the wealthy i„ Italy in the sixteenth century, and thus restoring from oblivion if not actual extinction, a beautiful object of art The fine old coffered ceihngs were thoroughly repaired, or, where they were too much decayed, were recon- structed m accordance with the original designs, and the interior of the villa restored in all its former beauty of detail. Natim Tree, of Britain and htroduced Trees - ihere are only about twelve genera and tliirty species of the native trees of Britain whieh attain the size of timber-trees, or trees which range above thirty feet m height; and only th.ee out of these are ever greens v,z. the Scoteh-fir, the holly, and the yew_if Britail " "'' *" '""^''^ """" ^^ " "^'*™ °f It was during the sixteenth century that nlanta- hoTw !r '? "' '''™^'™'y f"™-" i» England, boh f„, ,he sake of the timber as well as for elbel- hshment; but long before that epoch many varieties o timber-trees had been introduced into these islands, of which as no definite account has been given, it i commonly supposed that we are indebted t^ the Romans for them, as well as to the monks of the Middle Ages, who were skilful botanists, and to whom 12 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. '• I n pi< we owe many of our cultivated fruits and veget- ables. Amongst the earliest introduced trees we have the chestnut, lime, English elm (the mountain, or wych elm, U. montana, being a native of Scotland), beech, apple, pear, peach, &c. The earhest accounts we possess of the introduc- tion of many of our timber-trees are given by botanists and apothecaries of London, who gathered together all the known specimens they could discover of foreign origin, while forming extensive collections of medicinal plants and trees. About the middle of the sixteenth century at different times was published Turner's ' Herbal,' in which he notices the introduc- tion of the common spruce-fir, the stone-pine, the evergreen cypress, the sweet bay, and the walnut. Towards the end of the sixteenth century Gerard pubhshed the first edition of his catalogue, which gives an account of the introduction of the pineaster, the laburnum, and a considerable number of smaller trees and sh.^ubs. The evergreen oak (the ilex, the ' same tree of which we have been speaking as the principal adornment of the Farnesina Garden) and arbor vitce were also introduced in this century. Gerard had a phymc garden in Holl)orn, and such gardens have done good service in their day to botanical science. There is one still left in London, though it is but very little known, and it is probable that compara- tively few people have ever heard of the Phi/sic PHYSIC GARDENS. 13 Garden of the Urulon Apothecaries' Company, which carnes with it an odour of simples, and old-fashioned compounds which the science of modern medicine has left behmd in the ,narch of Time. Yet such a quamt old garden is still in being, and is kept up to th.s day, having been bequeathed by will, at a triflins qmt-rent, to the Apothecaries' Company by the cele brated naturalist Sir Hans Sloane. This garden is close by Chelsea College, and con- sis s of a space of about five acres, surrounded by hieh walls, and entrance is obtained to the garden through ta iron gates, which are unclosed at the ringing of a belh A strip nearest the Chelsea embankment, known aa the 'kitchen garden,- had originally been redeemed from the bed of the Thames, with the consent of the water baihtfof the period, many years ago Z the centre of the garden stands a statue o'f Sir H Soane, who bequeathed the land, as aforesaid, upon the condition that it should always be maintained as a garden, and a certain number of plants raised each yeai, for the purpose of extending the knowledge of W75 to 1,1.,. mtroduced into England a great number of exotic trees, and did more to advance thl bi-anch 0 knowledge than perhaps any other i^d vidua of his time, having imported many of our bett "I r tb" '™!,t' ^°"'=^ of ^PPly-America iens began to be establish eu in various m « ' i\ 14 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. i parts of England, which were the means of greatly facilitating the introduction of and acquaintance with hardy trees. In 1683 the Cedar of Lebanon was planted by Bishop Compton at Fulham, and also in the Chelsea Botanic Garden. The ' Hortus Kewensis ' gives a list of the most important foreign trees that were introduced in the seventeenth century, amongst which are enumerated the Uirch, horse-chesnut, silver- ftr, American plane, acacia (locust-tree), scarlet oak, weeping-willow, scarlet maple, Norway maple, balsam poplar, the cork-tree, Ealm-of-Gilead fir, the black and white American spruce-firs, &c. Parkinson also, a physician of London and apo- thecary to James L, recorded, in 1629, the intro- duction of the larch, and speaks also of the horse- chesnut ; but the names of those to whom the introduction of these valuable trees is due are not mentioned. During the eighteenth century the catalogue of foreign trees introduced into Britain is a very lengthy one, amounting to nearly five hundred ; but three quarters of this number were shrubs. Nearly three hundred were natives of North America, the trees consisting mainly of pines, oaks, poplars, maples, and thorns-varieties of trees which had been formerly introduced The introduction of new timber-trees from North-west America during the first half of the present century has also been very considerable, particularly, as before mentioned, in the order of Comferce. Others have been brought to us from the AMCIENT FORKSTS ANn THEIR PRODtJCTS. 15 Himalayan Mountain,,, such as the Cedncs deodara. Pinm exceha. and n.any otl,er hardy and ornamental roe,,, wh,ch „,ay po,,,ibly excite the ad.niration of future generation,, ; for i„ relation to the life of ■, eedar-tree,when plaeed i„ a position the be,t adapted for ,t, growth and development, a generation or two of men bear,, but a trifling proportion to it., dura- Aneient Forests ami their Pr„duc,,-h, England prev,ou, to the reign of Henry VIII., the Lbe; required m the construction of houses and for .enera purpo.,es, as well a., for fuel, was supplied by th nauve forests of the king,lon, ; and in a previous a W,ll,am the Conqueror had rendered himself ,■„ sp.cuous m connection with the forests of the kinsr- dom, ,„ h,s passion for turning them inio hunting- grounds by the vexatious act of restricting the people from tattcning their hogs in them, which wa, one of the gnevances that King John had to repeal at E,mnemede. where the Barons compelled him' I Sign Magna Charta. A, swineVtlesh was the pr,n,.ipal food of n,o,t nat,ons dur.ng the early stages of civilisation-whLT doubtless, was tnainly to be attributed to the extreme nM..clny w,th which pig, multiply,;, „ay Is ly be ™ag.ned that the virtual closing of extensL ": est, where these annuals obtained the most part of theh: food, was felt as a very great hardship, 'up to q a recent penod, large droves of hogs were fatten d every year uv— ^'- - . ® rauened 'P'^n the mast of the :^ew F orest in •r?^ 16 ENGLISH TREEl.; AND TREE-PLANTING. Hampshire, being collected together every night by the swineherds, who liad superintendence of them, by the sound of a horn. In ' Ivunhoe,' Sir Walter Scott gives a description of this occupation in the instance of Gurth, the swineherd of Cedric the Saxon — an occupation the same in its method as is fol- lowed equally by modern stock-keepers who have the chance, as well as by our Saxon forefathers. During the time the Saxons held sway in this country, the fattening of hogs upon acorns was con- sidered so important a branch of domestic economy that, about the close of the seventh century, Kinf^ Ina enacted the panage laws for its regulation ; and even so late as the reign of Queen Ehzabeth, swine ran wild over the fells of Lancashire and Cumberland, and in the Weald of Kent. The woods were preserved both for fuel and for the support of hogs, which fed upon the oak and beech-mast, and formed a large portion of the sustenance of all classes. Upon the introduction of hops in this reign (Ehzabeth), the Kentish farmers, whose land was overrun with coppice, objected to their growth, by which they are now so largely benefited, • because they occasioned a spoile of wood for poles.' As well as swine, wolves used to abound, the race of which in England is commonly supposed to have been destroyed in the reign of Edgar, about the middle of the tenth century ; but their existence in that of Stephen has been proved, according to Burton's ' Monast. Ebor.,' under Fors Abbey, by the 1 I ^'1 G. night by of them, r Walter >n in the he Saxon 18 is fol- ''ho have ers. 1 in this was con- economy King Ina md even vine ran and, and reserved hich fed a large ^pon the !th), the m with they are sioned a the race to have 3ut the tence in ling to by the PHESERVAHON „P GAME BY NORMAN KING,, IT drive away the wolves T "'' ™^ '""'"'^' '° bemg enacted for the preservation oiJ^^ Tl ''^' these severe edicts have been attributX th 7 •"an kings, it has been pointed o"tbv„ ? ^°'" a code of laws reserving the riX'ff "" "'"' the monarch and his \^:t l^ZZTl '" been promulgated in the reign of Canur '"' . By these the freeman forfeited hi. lit,' . dave his life, f„r „ayi„„ , . 3™! '"'^^'^f'd the thnno-l, .1, n * suggon, or royal beait though the murder of the former mi<.ht I, muted on the payment of two hundr d shll '°"" of the latter for half that sum. Af tt""/' '*"* Conquest, however, freemen trespass 1 "''7 kmg's venison were nunishprl K •? ^ ^^^ >o-f sight; and the:ptn2eX;r^^^ -fltcted w.th no sparing hand unde'C: , veTet"" a.d ex,sted_with some modifications p 27"' their execution-until the accession f ^f ' ' " when all the sanguinary part ofrc,:L..r, '' and pecuniary fines inflicted instead. '^'"'"^^ c .C3-. 18 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. It has been assumed that the severity of these laws was not only for the protection and security of the game, but also to exercise a deterrent effect ; for, by reason of its great abundance, it was alluring to bodies of idle vagabonds, who, by prc^ ing upon it, could hve in plenty and freedom; and, from the security afforded by the abundant covert which pro- tected them, from poachers they became robbers, and were nursed up, as it were, into outlaws and ruffians, who preyed upon travellers, and made whole districts dangerous to peaceable inhabitants, although the halo of romance has been thrown over the ex- ploits of sucli freebooters as Eobin Hood and his gang in Sherwood Forest. Acorm as Food—The ancient Britons are said to have used acorns as food, and these in much later times have been ground up with peas and beans into flour, of which bread used formerly to be made; while acorns are still used as food by the peasantry of Southern Europe. The oaks with edible acorns are not, however, of the same species as the Enghsh oak ; and the description which Virgil gives in the second book of his Georgics, of tlie tree, the eleva- tion of whose top, the steadfastness of its roots, and the greenness which triumphs over the lapse of' age, is the Italian oak, which bore fruit that was used as food. There is another evergreen oak, Querciis ballota, commonly met with in Spain and Barbary, the acorns of which are most abundant and nutritive. Cer- vantes, in • Don Quixote,' describes the goatherds ' EDIBI.K AC»RNS. jg eating acorns as a dainty, the clioicest bein. picked out for the peculiar delectation of the Counte;,' But the Quercu. ^fe^_the evergreen oak which i, stU common n Snain Ttalv r,.^ a • France ^ , P^'"' ^^7' ^^^^^e' Syria, the south of Dunng the Peninsular War, the soldier. , K- i, comprised the French armies ..listed "rcU'e? able extent upon the ballota acorns of the woodf of Salamanca, and certain classic authors describe th. pnmmve inhabitants of Greece and Southe rEurope as hv.ug n, easy abundance upon the acorn, TfT natural forests, upon which they were aWst en, t supported. These staten,ents, Irver a n T '' starthng as at first sight they appear TwH T necessary distinction between thfcommon! "' familiar to us in England, and .C:7:CZnl and esculus oaks. A modern writer ha, Z' , ' that the Grecian poets and his rfau cXIh"' people »alan.,Ha,i (eaters of acorns , wSh't Romans translated glans facornl . i, . f' "^"'on the plied also to such fruits as dat "™ "P" and oHves. Chesnu™ 1 '' ""''• ""^^^h-nast, be added; and as ,^11 coTtliT""' ""^''' ^'- oU Which renders ^ ^Z^Z^;;^^ fataess of bodUy condition whichl des 2d S ?sT 7 '""^ '^^^^' ""^^ - "-^ -r ut^mg so jsurprisiM" "^ --t' -^i . - ^' ^^^«g, as If they had subsisted upon 20 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. i! ! i' I such very lean Aire as the common British oak, or that which a similar tree is only able to furnish If also we look nearer home, we learn from that extra- ordmary medley of satire, morality, and manners, ' The Vision of Piers Ploughman '-which is supposed to have been written by a Shropshire priest about the middle of the fourteenth century-that the bread then in common use, to which we have made reference before, was composed of the flour of peas and beans. The nutritive value of pulse is very great, and the use of it in the form of lentils is, mdeed, strongly recommended by certain crotchety people of our own times, with, it must be confessed, no small degree of reason on their side. Monastic Grants.~The Doomsday Book, at the Norman Conquest, describes the agricultural aspect of the kingdom as being generally in uninclosed pasturage, or covered with vast tracts of forest and unproductive coppice ; and Hallam, in his ' View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages,' speaks of many of the grants to monasteries, which, although they strike us as being enormous, were in reahty districts absolutely wasted, and which could only have been reclaimed by the monks, through whose means there was not wanting a certain amount of encouragement to cultivation, even in the least civil- ised periods; and the ameliorating principle of human industry struggling against destructive revo- lutions, barbarous disorder, and the devastation of war, from the fifth to the eleventh century, rendered ^imURVCK OF THE MONASTIC OUDERS. 21 land the least costly of all gifts, though it ,aust ever be the most valuable and permanent. Under the protection afforded by the reliaiou, Xaid '"'"'' "^''''^-^ """'te-' '— welfare fth" "T'T '" ""' ■""'•"' ""'' -'-'" welfare of the.r dependents, and whose courf. of .lur,sd.ct,on were less arbitrary than those of the great feudal lorfs, the lands belonging to them w r better cultivated than other estates, and more thilkTv nab,ted; while the remains of agricultural bui^' •ngs the vestiges of orchards, and other improve aTtt'e'r": T ™"^^"™"' P™™" *- -' lonJ % °"""' <^™1™^'- ^ considerable am^nt of eare was bestowed upon rural economy by he monastic orders, and the earliest improZ ^kUl and industry, though the remembrance of manv ' abuses has caused the monks to be vulgarly regadel as an idle and worthless class, and the good sfrvTces 22 ENGLISH THEES AND TREE-PLANTING. CHAPTER II. nr ITAIT-DTTRABrLIIT OF CBDAR-WOOD-BIBLICAL DESCRIPTION OP XBJ CEDARS OF LEBANON-THE VISIXS OF XRAVE.LERS xoToUNX LEBANON-OF XHE PBINCIPI^ OF FERXmXY OF XHE SOIL-COBB^X xi^w^orx^r""-^"^ HnsBA.DR.oF viRoiroEorr- TULL8 ACCOTTKT OF HIS IXVENXION OF THE DRILL-COBBETX's ANTI CIPAXIOXS OF FITTHRE CREDIX-COBB.TX AND XHE JZZl First Principles of Planting .—There is no work perhaps, in the whole round of rural occupations, in which there is occasion for such diverse practice as that of planting trees. Not only does a very wide difference exist in the nature of soils, but also the degree of exposure ; and in the case of foiining exten- sive plantations, upon the kind of herbage that covers the soil, must depend the size and description of the tree-plants. Where land is covered with furze, plants must be used which will in time extirpate it, while in the case of heath-covered districts, in a dry, sandy or gravelly moorland, small plants of Scotch pine' spruce and larch may be planted with great rapidity upon the notch system commonly practised in Scotland without the soil being pulverised, or prepared m the' slightest degree. The heath, which to the uninitiated would appear likely to rob the earth of the necessary nutriment or aliment needed for the sustenance of the newly [NG. "lensrr: -PALM SUNDAY B8CBIPXI0N OF !R8 TO MOUWT SOIL— COBBETT I'S GE0RGIC8— JBBETl's ANXI- IF8T-TRBE. i no work, pations, in >ractice as very wide '' also the ing exten - hat covers ion of the •ze, plants i, while in 7, sandy, •tch pine, t rapidity- Scotland, ed in the d appear 'iment or le newly ■^ (^ff-zi// ,w //Lr Ja/a fe«r pa.r,/^,i, a/ /^,i/cfU FIRST PRINCIPLES OF PLAxNTING. 23 planted tree, when of a moderate size, is, in reality, far more favourable to the growth of the young plants tnan if they were inserted upon a bare, pre! pared surface. The cover afforded by the heath gives a large amount of natural protection, while its open stems do not retain moisture to rot the plants, nor do Its roots injure them Uke that of a grassy sward Young trees of this sort do better, in fact, amongst the heath, than when the soil has been cleared and prepared for their reception; for the pulverised earth, deprived of the protection which the heath afforded, absorbs an excess of moisture that occasions the ground to swell during frost, and subside in open weather ; the consequence being that the plants are ejected. This fact is amply demonstrated in the native-grown forests where, associated with the brown heath, they spring up and flourish without any artificial aid ; and nature thus indicates the natu- ral seed-bed of pines. Deep-rooted trees require a soil more elevated above the rise of water than pines, and other surface- rooting trees. Furze not infrequently forms a dense cover on good soil that is particularly well adapted for the growth of timber-trees. Such places require the furze to be cut down, and the land trenched, or the furze rooted up, and trees inserted by the method of pit-planting. Larch is the best tree to employ for forming a speedy cover and subduing the furze, although the situation may be designed for a different growth of timber, it can be profit:. bly used for th is 24 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. purpose, and should be interspersed closely, even if they have to be cut down, when, by the confinement they have caused, they have succeeded in extirpating the furze. In a great extent of ground, its quahty is often found to vary considerably, and trees require to be made choice of that are best adapted to each variety. Loose, deep earth will grow any kind of trees. Dry, poor, gravelly, or chalky soils are best adapted for pines, beech, and birch. A deep clayey gravel, or clayey soil, is, generaUy speaking, best adapted 'for the oak, which sends its roots deep downwards, and derives its sustenance chiefly from the subsoil On the other hand, as the larch feeds chiefly on the sur- face, when an oak plantation is about to be estabUshed, it is a safe practice to plant larch trees a few years' before, to act as nurses in exposed situations, where shelter is necessary. Where the situation is not exposed, the larch and the oak can be planted together, and as the former grows the fastest, the ne- cessary protection will be afforded in those oases where the services of nurses are needed. After they have performed the purpose intended, the larch can then be cut down. Beech is more profitably grown by itself than mixed with other trees, as it is apt to become branchy and broad-headed, anci its timber is only valuable when it produces tall, clean trunks; and this is best insured when it is allowed to stand by itself, and not interspersed with other species. Coniferous SOIL AND SITUATION NEED CONSIDERATION. 25 trees succeed best on land that is of a light, sandy texture. A deep loam is the most favourable for the growth of the Spanish-chesnut, oak, and ash. In moist bog-land the willow-tribes, the birch, alder, and poplar succeed best; while the order of American plants in most cases make the best roots in peat. Soik and Situations — It will thus be seen that both soil and situation require to be considered, both being very important points for consideration in suc- cessful tree-planting. With many inexperienced tree- planters this consideration is entirely overlooked, the result being often severe disappointment. An oak planted upon an exposed upland, and surrounded by nurses in a trenched soil, will make rapid progress, and will proceed to assume a satisfactory form in an adequate space of time. But when it attains the age of twenty-five years, there will occur a pause in its growth, its vigour and robustness of habit cease, the bark becomes hide-bound, and the top, unable to withstand the rigour of the climate, becomes scraggy- headed, and its progress is arrested ; but if planted in the deep clay soil of the valley, the oak there displays vigour, bulk, and often an appearance of grandeur. The cedar, though commonly planted in England in sheltered situations, where indeed the quahtyof its timber becomes deteriorated, and its soft wood is commonly recognised in the form used for lead pen- cils, stands for centuries in mountain ranges, where Its timber becomes hard and durable ; as in the instance of the Oedir" ^^ TcI^t u- u v - -1 Lue v^euarc v- xjeuanuii, which for ages 26 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTLXG. If I !| ■ have Withstood the fierce storms of the mountains of feyria. The Scotch pine is popularly represented as a tree that will grow almost anywhere, and so indeed it will m nearly all situations, for a time ; ^^.' ^t very plainly manifests its preference for certai. : and siiua- tions. If planted on damp lands it soun ceases to in- crease m bulk, while if placed in warm southern ex- posures, the natural consistence which forms its resi- nous juices becomes deranged, and the oily secretions of Its bark, which favour the growth and living economy of the tree, is exuded in the shape of vapour ; and the compound of its parts becomes injured and weakened. Its natural habitat is in a sandy loam, with a dry, shattery bottom, in a cool climate, in a northern exposure. A spruce planted on a northern exposure towards the foot of a hill, where the soil is loamy and damp, will present the most beautiful appearance ; its hori- zontal branches will touch the ground, and be so close and luxuriant that the stem cannot be seen; and will present a lovely mass of green fohage, which, if left untouched, will remain so for sixty years ; but plant a spruce-tree on a dry, sandy soil, although it will thrive well for six or seven years, when twenty years old, Its under branches will be found withered and devoid of foUage, the bark covered with lichen, and the whole tree at a complete standstill. The soft-wooded trees, which are very quick- growmg, generally affect moist lands, or such as arp EFFECT OF SITUATION UPON TREES. 27 near to water. These, if planted in well-trenched soil that has been prepared before they are inserted, will maintain a fair show for several years, even in sandy uplands, which is the opposite to their natural requirement; but after a time they will give unmis- takable signs that they are not in their proper posi- tion ; and although they may continue to grow, they will do so without vigour or comehness. Place them, however, in low lands, beside streams or .ivers, or wherever the soil has moisture, without being actudly saturated by it, and they will put on all the beauty of form they are capable of attaining. These varieties mclude the wiUow, alder, poplar, lime, and horse- chesnut. Although some of these are not very picturesque objects for the adornment of scenery— for the alder is not a graceful tree, and the poplar, which in some varieties has an ugly trunk when old-some of them are extremely beautiful, as the horse-chesnut, when clothed m Its large, handsome blossoms, and the grace- ful weeping willow, which can so appropriately be as- sociated with others in localities rendered elegant by art, filling its suitable position by the margin of artifi- cial lakes and pools, and which will beautify even a homely pond ; or perhaps some small patch of water which, otherwise not so ornamented, would be objec- tionable near a residence, its delicate sprays, moved by soft breezes, and through which the sunlight flickers. So, situated near a dwelhng-house, its hygiemc usefulness is also very great, tempering the ! I 28 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. sun's rays in hot weather, ivhich otherwise would beat upon the unsheltered margins of ponds and stagnant water, and produce miasma, which the foliage of the tree exercises a beneficial influence upon, and miti- gates what otherwise would have become objection- able and a nuisance. The goat-willow {Salix caprea) also thrives well in a moist situation, and is a tree much more worthy of cultivation than the amount of notice it usually re- ceives at the hands of planters leads to. At the latter end of March, when it displays its beautiful yellow catkins, here and there a stray tree or two may be seen growing in a plantation, or belt of trees at a season of the year when the objects of sylvan adorn- ment are really very scarce, and on this account it is well worthy of being planted in the shape of stan- dards in our shrubberies. On Palm Sundays these catkins do duty for the palm in this country, and sprigs of the goat-willow may frequently be seen borne by the girls of the vil- lage in their hands (and in some towns too, for the matter of that, as in Manchester and other northern cities), while the lads wear them stuck in their hats or button-holes. The fashion is a pretty and a touching one, when used as a simple reminder of the sacred event it typifies, and is not allowed to degene- rate into mere formahsm which is sometimes permitted to take the place of sincere devotional feelings, for there is a poetry about the sacred story which quickens the imagination. I PALM SDNDAY IN ITALY. 29 Palm Sunday in Italy. -In some ItaUan cities, upon the last Sunday in Lent an unsparing attack is made upon the palm-trees and olive-trees, which are piled up mountain high on the altar of every church Here they he untouched until the benediction has been g'ven, when the youthful part of the congregation rush mdiscriminately upon the pile, and a scene of confusion follows that certainly is not in character with the place; but then who could, or would, leave the church without a sprig of the blessed palm or oiive ? The superstitious hang it up by their bed- s«3e to scare away evil spirits that otherwise might d.8 urb the,r slumbers, the lover takes one to present to his mistress, and they are used as peace-offerings to act as mediators between those who have become estranged during the past year, by the petty misun- derstandings and quarrels of life, which, alas ! not only n Ita y, but all over the worid, are allowed to sepa- rate friends, which upon this occasion it would be churljsh to refuse, and a sprig of sacred oHve or palm has often been the means of .obtaining a renewal of kind words a smile, or an embrace from friends who have only held aloof from false pride. Palm Sunday ^ thus commonly welcomed as the period that brings with It a harbinger of love, and ' holding out the olive- branch has really a hteral meaning and significance m these Italian cities. For the palm and olive, the goat-wiUow as aforesaid, is substituted in England and carried about upon the last Sunday in Lent,' though Its moaning, uses, and poetical associations are . f 30 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. not realised or appreciated to as full an extent here as by the dwellers in the southern cities of Europe. Salia; caprea, or the goat-willow, grows very rapidly, and soon makes a handsome show in moist situations, which are very often left bare and desti- tute of trees. The progress of some of the species of poplars and tree-willows on a rich, soft, moist soil, in a period of twenty years, is fully equal to that of many of the best hard-wooded trees in double that time. The Abele and black Italian poplars, with the Huntingdon and Bedford willows, are perhaps the fastest-growing timber-trees of any that are adapted to our chmate, when planted in soil that is suited to them. A very important consideration connected with these trees is that they can be grown upon a descrip- tion of soil that could not be made use of for any other crop, particularly in the form of sallows or wil- lows, on land that is subject to tidal overflow. Osier- grounds planted with Salioj viminalis make a very handsome return in the second year after their forma- tion, the first crop averaging in value fully 30/. per acre, and often they have been cut down annually afterwards, yielding a product of between 25/. and 30/. per acre. Alders are often made serviceable in fixing the banks of water-courses, and preventino- the effects arising from the continued washing of the waters, which often carry away large portions of the edges of the banks. Along strips of land by the side of open ditches, by all kinds of streams and pools, COMMERCIAL VALUE OF WILLOW TREES. 31 by ponds in extensive meadows, often otherwise desti- tute of shade, willows may be planted with great advantage, as they do little harm to grass, while they are often useful in sheltering cattle from excessive heat m summer-time. Unforiunately, too, they some- times shelter the flies as well, which are a great plague to cattle, that would often be better oil' in sheds during intense heat, if farmers could only be persuaded to think so. The economical and commercial value of the trees and loppings of the willow tribe is also com- paratively great, although the value of the wood Itself does not rank high. For sheep-hurdles, hoops, poles wicker-work of all kinds from osiers (willows as they are technically called), for basket-making,' staves for herring-barrels, &c., the product is useful while the timber from the larger trees is appropriate for hmngs of carts, and other purposes where its soft nature renders it desirable for special uses. The consumption of willow-wood for the purpose of making matches is also very considerable ; and where rees are wanted for immediate effect, the whole of the sorts mentioned will be found very useful, even If they are cut down when more valued species have iiad sulhcient time to grow up. Where the soil is thin and poor, in naturaUy cold and elevated districts, cone-bearing or resinous trees are best adapted for the situation, as the Scotch pine pmeaster (and a few others of a subsidiary order/ larch, spruce, silver-iir, and cedar, though fhe latter 32 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE- PLANTING is not made use of to the extent it deserves to be, being more regarded in the light of an exotic than as one of the hardiest of trees. And here it will not be amiss, perhaps, to make some httle digression, and enter upon the subject of the apparent depreciation of the cedar as a timber- tree in Britain, for which purpose it is often con- sidered worthless, and to which slight allusion has been made before. This opinion has been carried so far that it has caused many to think the timber used in the construction of the temple and palace at Jeru- salem, which the voice of antiquity proclaims to have been built of almost imperishable materials, could not have been composed of the wood of the cedar, but of the cypress, or some other hard-wooded tree. But the fact is, the cedar of Lebanon is now cultivated as an ornamental tree, and in England, when they are first raised by the nurseryman, they are changed from pot to pot, with the view of obtaining fibrous roots, until the tap-root is completely lost, and then perhaps a free, deep, enriched soil is selected for them to grow in ; in all probability they are also carefully sheltered from any rough winds by other evergreens being planted around ; so that they are kept in an artificially warm condition that is perfectly foreign to their proper nature. Naturally a very slow-growing tree in soil adapted to the development of its special quahties, everything is done to it to induce rapid growth, and make it shoot up luxuriantly ; and under these conditions it fO ves to be, ic than as J, to make subject of a timber- iften con- usion has carried so aber used '■ at Jeru- ks to have lis, could le cedar, >ded tree, lultivated they are changed g fibrous md then for them carefully ergreens pt in an )reign to adapted erything make it iitions it DETERIORATION OF TIMBER TREES. 33 cannot be a matter of surprise that the texture of its timber is loose, coarse, and spongy. Yet in their native habitat the cedars of Lebanon seem almost incapable of decay. It is said that the timber in the Temple of Apollo at Utica was found undecayed after the lapse of two thousand years ; and that a beam in the oratory of Diana at Saguntum, in Spain, was carried from Zante two centuries before the Trojan war ; and some of the most celebrated buildinas re corded in profane as well as sacred history°were constructed from the timber of the cedar. Even the Scotch pine becomes very deteriorated m quahty when removed from its natural situation in a cool exposure to the district of the fertile lowlands • and the timber is much softer, and not nearly so durable, as that produced in a natural Highland forest ^0 nnnr'^'u "^ '^' ''^''' "^ ^^^^"^^ ^« ^^^rly 10,000 feet above the level of the sea, and it was in this keen and biting air, after the lapse of many ages that the trees perfected themselves, their nourishment being gathered from a subsoil of hard, calcareous stones. The range of mountains from Alexandretta to Jerusalem is in winter covered with snow, which melts after March, except that on Mount Lebanon which Volney refers to while complaining of the excessive heat from which he suffered when journey ing in the valley of the Baalbec. From the con tmual howhng of storms and tempests, which appear to have their birthplace in the mountains of Syria is derived the Scriptural description of the ' violence ' D :l Si 34 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. of Lebanon, undoubtedly a congenial atmosphere for the growth and full development of the cedar. The cedars of Lebanon must have been very much thinned by the exertions of Solomon's fourscore thousand hewers, for Maundrell, in his journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem in 1696, only reckoned sixteen of the large old trees, though there were many smaller ones standing ; and succeeding travellers, who have visited the mountain in later times, speak of the veneration in which these old trees— the patriarchs- were held by the Arabs. Biblical Description of the Cedars of Lebanon.— The sacred historian narrates how ' Solomon raised a levy of thirty thousand men out of all Israel ; and he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month, by courses ; and he had threescore and ten thousand that bore burthens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains. And he covered the temple with beams and boards of cedar. And he built chambers against it, which rested on the house, with timber of cedar. And the cedar of the house was carved with knops and dowers ; all was cedar, there was no stone seen.' The prophet Ezekiel, a close observer of nature, describes the majesty and beauty of the cedar, in' making reference to 'the waters which made him great,' produced by the streams caused by the melt- ing of the snow on Mount Lebanon at the hottest season of the year ; which, doubtless, was the occa- sion of its reaching a height and magnificence that G. iphere for ir. een very fourscore ney from d sixteen re many lers, who ak of the 'iarchs — banon. — raised a ; and he Dnth, by thousand lewers in pie with hambers imber of ^ed with no stone nature, 3dar, in ide him e melt- hottest e occa- ce that VISITS OF TRAVELLERS TO LEBANON, 35 could not be attained by others differently placed, in situations often parched by a fierce drought, but in this situation made them flourish in a manner that no other tree could approach or equal : ' Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and of a high stature ; and his top was among the thick boughs. His boughs were multiphed, and his branches became long. The fir-trees were not like his boughs, nor the chesnut-trees Uke his branches • nor any tree in the garden of God hke unto him in beauty. Thy^ was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches, for his roots were by qreat waters' ^ The Visits of Travellers to Mount Lebanon.—Belon m recording his visit to Mount Lebanon, says- 'At a considerable height up the mountain, the traveller arrives at the monastery of the Virgin Mary, which is situated in a vaUey. Thence, proceeding four miles farther up the mountain, he will arrive at the cedars, the Maromtes, or the monks, acting as guides. The cedars stand in a valley, and not on the top of the mountam,and they are supposed to amount to twenty- eight in number, though it is difficult to count them These the Archbishop of Damascus has endeavoured to prove to be the same that Solomon planted with his own hands, in the quincunx manner as they now stand. No other tree grows in the valley in which they are situated ; and it is generally so covered with snow as to be only accessible in summer.' D a 36 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. ' Successive reports of these interesting remains have been furnished by succeeding travellers, all of whom concur in giving similar descriptions, as Eau- wolf, in 1570 ; Th^venot, in 1655 ; Maundrell, as be- fore instanced, in 1696 ; Bruyer, in 1702 ; La Eoque, in 1722 ; Pocock, in 1745 ; Lamartine, in 1832 ; M. Laura, an oiBcer in the French Marine, and Prince de Joinville, in 1836 ; and Warburton. Lamartine thus describes his visit to these venerable trees : ' We alighted and sat down under a rock to con- template them. These trees are the most renowned natural monuments in the universe. Eeligion, poetry, and history have all equally celebrated them. The Arabs of all sects entertain a traditional veneration for these trees. They attribute to them not only a vegetative power which enables them to live eter- nally, but also an intelligence which causes them to manifest signs of wisdom and foresight, similar to those of instinct and reason in man. They are said to understand the changes of season ; they stir their vast branches as if they were hmbs ; they spread out or contract their boughs, inchning them towards heaven, or towards earth, according as the snow pre- pares to fall, or to melt. These trees diminish every succeeding age. Travellers formerly counted thirty or forty ; more recently, seventeen ; more recently still, only twelve. There are now but seven. These, however, from their size and general appearance, may be fairly presumed to have existed in Bibhcal times. Around these witnesses of ages long since past, there J. remains rs, all of as Eau- iU, as be- a Eoque, 832 ; M. 3 Prince amartine es : — to con- mowned , poetry, n. The deration only a ^e eter- them to ailar to are said ;ir their ead out towards )w pre- 1 every thirty ecently These, ■e, may times. , there ANCIENT TREES OF LEBANON. 37 Still remains a little grove of yellower cedars, appear- ing to me to form a group of 400 or 500 trees.' All the accounts given tally in the probabihty of the immense age assigned to them. Without doubt the nature of the tree remains the same, unaltered • and a similar situation to the one so graphically de- scribed IS the one best adapted for its full development, and not that in which it is most commonly placed by modern practice in this country. Ancient writers bear out the generally received account of the dura- bility of the timber of the cedar, and have noticed that the ships of Sesostris, the Egyptian conqueror, were formed of cedar, one of them being two hun- dred and eighty cubits long. The gigantic statue of Diana, in the temple of Ephesus, is also said to have consisted of cedar-wood. All these examples tend to prove that the hard- ness and durabihty of the old cedar timber were due to the manner in which it was grown, the exposure it endured, and other favouring circumstances ; such as the melting of snows in summer upon mountain ranges, whose fertilising influence would operate upon the roots of the trees ; and it thus becomes a question whether the cedar could not, with great advantage, be planted m the northern districts of our own king dom, and flourish in situations that are favourable to the growth of the Scotch pine, upon calcareous for- mations that are not sandy, and might thus possibly turn out to be the best tree that could be selected for such spots. 38 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. Of the Principles of FerHlity of the Soil.— In tree- planting one of the chief principles of fertility of the soil, especially in aiding the growth and progress of young trees, is to have the soil thoroughly and finely broken up. Trees planted in trenched land can be safely calculated upon to make as much progress in six years as they would do in ten, in ground That has not been so prepared. For the practical appUcation of this principle, upon a general and extended scale, we are indebted to the labours of Jethro Tull, the author of the drill, and the horse-hoeing system of husbandry. It has been remarked of Tull that, ' pur- sued by, rather than pursuing, one ruhng idea, his errors and excesses, as they are called, are as instruc- tive as his most successful experiments. The very failures to which they led, through causes unforeseen, tended to pare down aixd expose in its truer propor- tions the simple and fundamental principle which he dimly saw, and only missed the full attainment of by the want of a helping hand from that master-science which the genius of Davy and Liebig has since held out to later and more favoured experimentaHsts.' The theory of Tull was, that the roots of plants derived their sustenance from minute particles of soil which he terms the pabulum, or food of plants ; and by constant pulverisation the superficies of the earth is enlarged, so that fresh pastures are opened, so to speak, for the roots of plants. This pulverisation, he contended, was quite suflicient without manure, whose only agency was by fermentation to break up the JETHRO TULL'S THEORY. 39 ■In tree- y of the gress of id finely can be gress in that has )lication id scale, rull, the stem of t, 'pur- dea, his instruc- lie very )reseen, propor- hich he t of by ■science ce held ts.' plants of soil s ; and e earth I, so to ion, he whose ip the soil ; and he grew, for several years successively, crops of wheat upon the same land, without manuring it at all, in ridges with spaces wide enough between the rows for the horse-hoe to pass up and down freely. Tull has been accused of having been ignorant of the principle of the admission of air and water into pulverised land being one of the chief reasons of the fertiUty of soil that has been constantly stirred. But this is a mistake, for Tull recommends horse-hoeing, or digging in the driest weather, so as to admit the dews at night, the correctness of which theory any one may find out for himself by digging up a portion of ground in an undigged piece, and after a while look- ing at the bottom of the piece so turned up, when the bottom will be found moist. Many farmers of the present day, though they must not be ranked amongst the enhghtened ones, say that to plough up land in dry weather will let the drought in, instead of, as Tull contended, letting in moisture from the dews of evening and night. Tull's labours, and the obloquy he endured, to- gether with his whole life, that was embittered by suffering and disease as well, is mournfully interesting when taken into account with the vast amount of benefit he was the means of conferring upon British husbandry ; and his name is almost unknown to the great majority of those who are now benefiting by his experiments. Cobbett, in speaking of the principles first enun- I 40 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. ciated by Tull, in the downright manner which dis- tinguished him, when referring to his re-publication of Tull's writings, says that the memory of the author will at last receive something like justice; for though he does not treat of the detail of planting trees, when one has once read TuD's system he will never plant a tree badly, and will take care that the earth be finely broken, that it lie close to the roots, and that it be not tumbled into the hole made for the reception of its roots in clods. Cobhett on TulL—Cohbett acknowledges his obli- gations to Tull for his theory, and said he had derived both pleasure and advantage from reading his works. Although born and bred amongst affairs of gardening and farming, and reading as well a great deal about them, until he read Tull he knew nothing of prin- ciples, and what struck him most forcibly was, when he came so to read him, that all he had read before that had anything like principle in it had been stolen from him, shockingly disfigured indeed, but still, whatever there was of good was his, which contained the whole code of principles of vegetation, applying in all cases, whether in the cornfields, the pastures, the gardens, the coppices, the woods', or the forests. Cobbett's own words are, in quoting Tull: 'It is curious enough that he was, even in his own time, an object at once of plunder and of calumny. He' says, in the memorandum in which he takes his fare- well of the public : " Some have told me that the COBBETT ON TULL. 41 whole treatise should have been entitled, Husbandry Mathematically Explained ; others Agricultura Tul liana ; and this last is the title generally now given it in Ireland. It is said that mine is the first book of agriculture that has happened to be pirated ; and that, upon the first notice of it, I ought to have de- sisted; because I must be a loser by proceeding any further at the press ; and that / could have little obli- gation to a country whose laws did not protect me in the property of my labour (which was the original foundation of property in most things), and of my expense that is joined with it. The best apology I can make for this my folly is, that it is natural for the true parent rather to lose the property of his offspring, than not endeavour to preserve the life and wellbemg of it, though in the hand^ of enemies." ' Would this apt and beautiful allusion to the story of the true and false mothers, who brought their dis- pute before Solomon, have any effect on the pirates to whose baseness Mr. Tull here alludes ? Not it indeed ; except to induce them to add abuse of the' author to the stealing of his property.' Tull was brought up to the profession of the law but having an estate which he was unable to let to' advantage, he took it in his own hands, and published an account of the experiments he made. In his 'Notes on the Preface,' he speaks of a society of writers, who were anonymous, and whom, therefore as well as on account of the doctrine of equivocal generation of plants, which they held, he calls ' the 42 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. Equivocal Society,' and sometimes, for the sake of brevity, ' Equivocus.' This society, as mentioned by Cobbett, published a periodical work on agriculture ; and it also appears that they contended against the doctrines of Tull, and treated him with great severity and brutaHty ; and freely alluded to his private affairs, which Tull resents in pretty strong language, for he seems to have been capable of inflicting as hard blows, at times, as even Cobbett himself. TulVs Protest— ll is melancholy to read of the tria^.s of temper to which he was exposed by constant misrepresentation, of which the following will give some idea : — 'Before I conclude my notes on this chapter of the comparison between the two sorts of husbandry, I will give an answer to a very false and malicious' assertion of the Equivocal Society, though having already proved their notorious and wilful want of veracity in their pretended description of my farm, and in many other particulars, I need take no notice' of any more of their untruths, with which their work so plentifully abounds, but this one on which they lay the greatest stress. It is in p. 37 of their Essay for July, in these words, viz., « The proprietor him- self, instead of raising one estate by this and other new invented pieces of husbandry, has well-nigh spent two ! " ' These latent authors must be very much conceited of their own penetration, if they pretend to know my TULL'S PROTEST. 43 sake of ublished appears of Tull, •utality ; ch Tull eems to It times, of the constant ill give pter of Dandry, ilicious having '^ant of T farm, notice r work 1 they Essay r him- other 11 -nigh iceited )w my affairs better than I do ; and if I know them, I have been so far from spending an estate in any manner, that my circumstances are now better than when I first set out in the world, notwithstanding many un- common and inevitable misfortunes of divers kinds that have befallen me ; amongst which, the loss of health, obliging me to quit the profession to which I was bred, and to travel for saving my life, may be reckoned. ' As to agriculture, it was not by choice, but a sort of necessity, that I practised it ; and I never kept an acre in my hands that I could reasonably dispose of to a tenant ; I knew too much of the inconvenience and slavery attending the enormous power of hus- bandry-servants and labourers over their masters (those were not the days of strikes and unions, either) to propose to myself any other gain by occupying of land, but to repair the injuries done it by bad tenants, and to keep it till I could let it at a reasonable rent to such as I thought good ones. ' I have occupied only two farms ; the first was in Oxfordshire. I so much improved that farm in nine years as to let it for above a third more rent than it was ever let for before ; and that being almost thirty years ago, the rent is not sunk yet, but likely always to continue or increase. But che lands of the farm I have now lie so remote from all farmers, that they cannot be let without the house where I hve, and which is situate in an air that I would not willingly part with. *^ " 44 II ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. ' ; ' To avoid this, and yet be out of trouble, as I was likely to be confined to my bed, I prepared mate- rials for building a new farmhouse ; and had in a manner agreed with a tenant to enter on my farm the last summer ; which was disappointed by an accident, and now, perhaps, I may be forced to keep it as long as I live. However that may happen, I am confident (all things considered), that in the time I have already occupied it, if I had managed it in the common course of husbandry, the value of its purchase would have been lost by it ; though a robust, able-bodied farmer in the clovering and turnip method might have thrived upon it ; but every Virgilian fanner that has rented it (there have been few others, since it was first made into a farm), that being about seventy years ago, has either broke, or quitted it before the end of his term. 'It is to the new husbandry' (his horse-hoeing system) that I owe the property of my farm ; and all that I here have said, I can make appear to any gen- tleman whose curiosity shall induce him to inquire of me to find the truth for his satisfaction. My estate IS not so large as to leave an overplus for acquiring another, after the expenses of maintaining me in the manner I have been accustomed to live. I propose no more than to keep out of debt, and leave my estate behind me better than I found it; which, unless some new accident prevent, I shall perform : whilst not only many farmers in my neighbourhood have broke, and several gentlemen-farmers have lost their THE HUSBANDRY OF VIRGIL'S OEORGICS. 45 estates larger than mine, and others more money than all I have is worth, by the old husbandry, and by the many chargeable superinductions, their horses, baihffs, &c., incident thereto, within the time I have been practising my scheme; though generally the first mventor of a project is a loser. But my scheme dimmishes the usual expense so much, that one who understands it can scarce be in danger of losirig by it • yet, owned it must be, that had I, when I first began' to make trials, known as much of it as I do now^or as the diligent reader of my Essay and this Appendix may, the practice of it would have been more profit- able to me. ' But suppose I had wasted my substance, are there not many who by family misfortunes or other- wise have lessened their estates, though they have never practised agriculture? Nor do I think any gentleman ought to repine at the smallness of his estate, if (without his own fault) it be reduced to his bare share of the island ; which will be in justice the less m proportion as that possessed by his ancestors has been greater and longer enjoyed.' The Husbandry of Virgil's Georgics.—ln the fore- going reference made by Tull to Virgihan husbandry, he contrasts his own method of deeply stirring the' land, which he calls the new system, with theirs which was to plough only once, or perhaps twice' and follow up the system of paring and burning.' And thus Tull got into hot water with the critics of his day, for speaking of the bad husbandry that is so iiiii 46 ENOLISH T.1Ei:s AND TREE-PLANTING. finely expressed in Virgil's first Georgic ; and, as is very often the case under such circumstances, he was blamed for censuring Virgil as a poet, which is what he did not do, and he defended himself by saying : ♦ I do not say it is a great fault in Virgil to be wrong either as a poet or a husbandman ; I only think I prove that he is wrong in the latter capacity ; and I have not so much veneration for the prince of poets as to think that right which my reason and expe- rience convince me is wrong ; and I cannot help thinking the late commentator much in the right, when, blaming Mr. Dryden's version, he says, that if you take from Virgil his figures, you take the club from Hercules ; neither can I dissent from Seneca in my opinion of the Georgics, because he, living nearer to Virgil's time, could better judge of them than Equivocus. Take Seneca's words in his 86th Epistle Enghshed by Mr. Cowley in the notes on his "Davidies," as follows, viz., "Virgil did not look upon what might be spoken most truly, but what most gracefully- and aimed more at delighting his readers than at instructing husbandmen." ' Equivocus demands the reason why I find fault with one of the best authors of antiquity, whose husbaxmry has stood the test of so many ages '^ To which he gives himself an answer as ridiculous as false. And then he goes on to say of me as follows, viz., " He might, indeed, have attacked a Bradley, or even a Woodward (as he has done), with very good success, but a Virgil is certainly an VIRGILIAN HUSBANDRY. 47 over-match for him ; and it is much to be wondered at that Virgil's translator, who has so just value for him, should let this great adept pass so long unob- served." ' It is well known that Virgil was bred a farrier, which we call a horse-doctor, which trade has gene- rally, in most countries, annexed to it that of a blacksmith ; it doth not indeed appear that he had both those trades ; but, however, his farrier's trade was sufficient to take up his time in learning and practising it, until he went to Eome, and then he had something else to do than to plough : therefore the only time he was hkely to have for ploughing must be before he was arrived at years proper for learning his trade, and most of that time, too, seems to have been spent in keeping goats or sheep, as many of the boys of our lower class of people do. However such an age, wherein even plough-boys that do nothing else but plough, are very incapable of making useful observations upon arable industry; so that Virgil could have little or no experience in it of his own, and must have taken what he wrote from books written by those authors who have lived when agri- culture was in its most imperfect state, as Heaiod and the other Greeks did. ' Virgil was born a poet, and undoubtedly the best (of the Latins) that ever wrote ; but neither he, nor any other, I believe, was ever born a farmer. Talents in husbandry must be acquired by long experience and diligent observations therein ; and he that will 48 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE- PL ANTING. make any improvements therein must sometimes deviate from the old beaten road oi Patrios cultusque habitusque locorum, by way of trial. ' Poetry, Hke music, is a very pleasant and innocent amusement of life ; but we ought not to suffer our diversion to captivate our reason ; and if we seriously consider the scope and design of the " iEneid " and " Georgic," what opinion can we have of Virgil's re- gard for truth ? Or if it be true, as Eu^us^'relates, that Virgil's advice and persuasions entailed perpetual slavery upon the bravest people in the world, we cannot but know what a patriot he was, and how his principles ought to be esteemed by all the lovers of liberty. And I do not think it more injurious to Virgil's memory to say that he was the best poet and the worst field-husbandman, than it i^ to Tully's to say that he was the best orator and the worst poet. ' Should any author in prose have given a caution to the Itahan farmers against planting their lands with perfumes, ivory, frankincense, castor, or steel, would he not be thought very impertinent ? ' In reference to the lines Multum adeo, rastris glebas qui fmogit inortes, Vimineasque trahit crates, juvat arva rendered Much too he helps the field, who every clod With harrows breaks, and drags the hurdler 'oad, TuU remarks : ' Equivocus accuses ..le for disUking harrowing and hurdhng generally, when I only blame « AGSICULTUHE OF THE ANCIENTS. 49 the method used by our worst Virgilians of scratch- 2 'he ^perfices of the land instead of tilling the staple of .t, wh,ch, if it were weU tilled, there lould be no clods to occasion the trouble and (if the land be motst) the dan,age of harrowing. Bu , I believe harrowmg or hurdhng ,s necessary for covering of ■•^own corn, or grass seeds, except such corn as i sown under furrow. 'This way of tilling the land with harrows, recom- mended by the poet, seems to show his l>u b ndn- wa. degenerated from that of the old Romans wh (That field IS dl tilled that wants harrowing ) ^^ 'A yet worse contrivance it was to till with a hurdle made of v„,e twigs. This is so pueri lal .nven .on that he might have directed it to be draw: by a hobby-horse.' " Time has, however, vindicated suiHcientlv the correctness of Tulls principle as to the necessL f! an abundant pulverisation of the soil anT. the following interesting account of h' .^""' the Hr,-li 1 ■ ; ^ account of his invention of the dnll, wh,ch some of bis critics asserted he had obt^ned the ,dea of, either in France or Ttaly ' «Ho::it::Li:'t:r::/ '^^ -^^^^^ accidentally the drill wartLTlXrHo-t: del;: t: '"''■ '"""-'^'^"^ -^ ^ "--^ *^" . 60 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING, ' When I was young, my diversion was music ; I had also the curiosity to acquaint myself thoroughly with the fabric of every part of my organ ; but as little thinking that ever I should take from thence the first rudiments of a drill, as that I should ever have occasion of such a machine or practise agri- culture ; for it was accident, not choice, that made me a farmer, or rather many accidents, which could not then possibly be foreseen. 'It was my chance afterwards to have a large farm in hand, which I could not well dispose of; and it being about the time when plough servants first began to exalt their dominion over their masters, so that a gentleman farmer was allowed to make but Httle profit of his arable lands ; and almost all mine being of that sort, I resolved to plant my whole farm with St. Foin ; but the seed of it being scarce and dear, and very httle of it good, I found it would be very difiicult to procure sufficient quantity to sow, at seven bushels to each acre, which were usually sown. Whereupon I began to examine whether so great a quantity of seed was absolutely necessary, and whether the greatest part of the seed sown did not constantly miscarry, either by its badness, or from being buried too deep, or else lying on the ground un- covered ; and T observed in several fields of St. Foin, sown with that proportion of the seed, that in those parts of them which produced the best crop there were (as I o.ounted them when the crop was taken off) but about one plant for each square foot of sur- ff TULL'S ACCODNT OF HIS INVENTION OF THE DMI.L. 51 face ; and yet the number of seeds in seven bushels sown on each acre, being calculated, amounted to one hundred and forty to each square foot ; and what was yet more observable, in other parts of the same fields, where a much less number of seeds had mis- carried, the crop was less. ^oo^?'h T' ?f ''"■"'•' P''*^"y '" distinguish good seeds from bad, and had, by many trials, found that scarce any, even of the best, could succeed unless covered at a certain exact depth (especially in my strong land), and had also found the reason of this n'cety, I employed people to make channels, and sow a very small proportion therein, and cover it over exactly. ,. 1 ™,\T^ '"'"""'''' '" "y '^'''''■<'' and was in eed and labour but a fourth part of the expense of the common way; and yet the ground of seed was better planted. but'Jr '"''1 ''''? '° "'" ''°'"^' I did not doubt but a thousand might have been done as well in the same manner ; but the next year, as soon as I began to plant, I discovered that these people had conspired 0 disappoint me for the future, and never to plant a row tolerably well again; perhaps jealous that if a great quantity of land should be taken from the plough It might prove a diminution of their power I was forced to dismiss my labourers, resolving to quit my scheme, unless I could contrive an engine would do. '™" ''""'""^ ""'" ™<''' •'-ds E 2 52 ) ! ! I' I M ENGLISH TREES AND TREE -PLANTING. ' To that purpose I examined and compared all the mechanical ideas that ever had entered my ima- gination, and at last pitched upon a groove, tongue, and spring in the soundboard of the organ. With these a little altered, and some parts of two other instruments, as foreign to the field as the organ is, added to them, I composed my machine. It was named a drill, because when farmers used to sow their beans and peas into channels or furrows by hand, they called that action drilhng. 'It planted that farm much better than hands could have done, and many hundred acres besides ; and thirty years' experienc.3 shows that St. Foin, thus planted, brmgs better crops and lasts longer than sown St. Foin. ' This drill has also been used almost as long in planting most kinds of corn for hand-hoeing, and these last nine years for horse-hoeing. 'I was surprised to hear that some gentlemen pretend I brought the instrument from France or Italy, when it is well known it had planted two farms with St. Foin before I travelled, which was not till April 1711, being above ten years after making and using my drill. The praised commentator of the " Georgic " can testify this, he having twenty-seven years ago seen the fields of my last farm planted in rows by it. I gave one to a neighbour, who used it in his fields every year whilst I was abroad, and it would be strange if I should bring it from countries where it never was. \ HORSE-HOEINQ DERIVED FROM FRENCH VINEYARDS. 53 ' I could bring a multitude of undeniable testi- monies to prove myself the sole inventor ; but as I am no patentee, nor can have any benefit, but rather less by publishing the invention, I should not rare who took it upon himself, were I not apprehensive that some ignorant impostor, pretending himself the mventor, might by that means impose upon the world m vending a false, useless engine for a true one • his conceited workmen will be still improving one part or other of it, till it will perform nothing, after having performed well for almost forty years. And then the mvention being lost, who will have recourse to my cuts for restoring it, if I am not known to be the inventor ? ' But I own I took the first hints of my hor.e-hoemg culture from the ploughed vineyards near Frontignan and Sett m Languedoc ; and after my return to Eng- land, having land come to my hands, I improved those hmts, by observing that the same sort of vineyard tillage bestowed on potatoes and turnips, had the same effect on them as it had on these vines, and my practice ever since has been a further confirmation to me of the truth of the same principles.' Cobbett, in speaking of the common practice which prevails very often of drenching the roots of newly planted trees with pailfuls of water, remarks : ' Mr. Tull does not treat of transplanting field plants at all ; and he (who wrote when Swedish turnips had not yet been heard of in England) says, that trans- planting IS not so good a way as sowing in rows and 54 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. IP J' horse-hoeing. But it was from reading Tull that I came to take, by preference, dry weather to transplant in, and not the showery weather chosen for that work by all the writers, French as well as English. Tull had taught me that it was finely broken earth that I ought to have about the roots of my trans- planted plants. This I could not have if I trans- planted in the wet. The instructions, on this head given in my " Year's Residence," a seedsman in Lon- don told me, .'ontained the most valuable discovery that he had met with in any book. It certainly is valuable; but though I had had instances of the effect, I never knew the cause, and never should have attempted the thing on an extensive scale, had I not read Tull.' The way that Cobbett took up the cudgels on behalf of Tull, and laid about him right and left, is highly diverting and characteristic. Referring 'to Tull's assailants, he says : ' They were in their day in agriculture, what the greater part of our reviewers now are in pohtics. They had no names any more than our critical sages have ; and, if it is not im- probable that some future editor of " Cobbett's Essays on Paper-Money " may have to perform for the " Edinburgh and Quarterly " conjurors the office which I am now performing for Tull's " Equivocal Society," who and whose works are now what " Walter " and " Stoddart " and " Old Times " and "New Times" will be tifty or sixty years hence; that IS to say, wholly unremembered except in the COBBETT'S ANTICIPATIONS OF FUTURE CREDIT. 55 pages of those works, which they have vainly en- deavoured to suppress by their calumnies on the authors.' Cobhett's Anticipations of Future Credit.— Oohheit, as will have been seen, rather expected that posterity would give him credit for the work lie was doing in thus manfully defending the memory of lull's most valuable inventions, and he certainly deserves it ; but these anticipation.^ were also extended to other matters, for between the years 1820 and 1825 he imported large quantities from America of the seeds of the Robina pseud-acacia, a leguminous tree be- longing to Diadelphia Decandria in the Linntean system, which he sold under the name of Locust-tree, the popular name for it in its native districts of America, and he was the means of giving a great impetus to its cultivation ; many believing it to be a newly introduced tree, for he extolled it in his 'Woodlands,' and other pubhcations, as being far superior to any other, both for rapidity of growth and durabihty of timber. The tree had, however, long been known in Europe, for, according to Loudon, the first plant of the species that was brought to Europe was planted in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, in 1635, and two hundred years after, in 1835, it was still there, having attained a height of seventy-eight feet. Cobbett and the Locust-tree. ~Ris statements, in- deed, created a sensation throughout the country for the time being, which caused the tree to be planted 56 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. 'I I ill to an unprecedented extent, but it has lapsed back again into semi-obscurity notwithstanding the high praises he lavished upon it. He describes the timber as being absolutely ' in- destructible by the power of earth, air, and water • and that the time will come, and it will not be very distant, when the locust-tree wiU be more common m England than the oak ; when a man would be thought mad if he used anything but locust in the making of sills, posts, gates, joists, feet for rick- stands, stocks and axletrees for wheels, hop-poles pails, and for anything where there is liabiHty to rot' This time will not be distant, seeing that the locust grows so fast. The next race of children but one- that IS to say, those who will be born sixty years hence-will think the locust-trees have always been the most numerous trees in England ; and some curious writer of a century or two hence will tell his readers that, wonderful as it may seem, the locust was hardly known in England until about the year 1823, when the nation was introduced to a knowledge of it bv WilUam Cobbett.' ^ We shall speak of the tree at length under its proper classification, but we may remark here that in favourable situations, it produces small timber' suitable for props to shrubs, stakes, &c., and for this purpose IS better adapted, perhaps, than the wood of any other tree ; but its value as a timber-tree, it must be confessed, in the foregoing description, has been greatly exaggerated. PULVERISATION OF THE SOIL. 57 Enough, however, has been said to show the great advantage that accrues to the roots of trees, or to any other plant, by being surrounded with fine, well- pulverised earth ; and the driU system invented by TuU—which, by admitting the passage of the horse- hoe between the rows of plants, allows the earth to be divided into smaller particles, and so opens the soU to the admission of air, the rain, and dews- illustrates upon a large and general scale these ad- vantages, in which the roots of trees also participate to an equal extent, by the same course of manage- ment. Under certain conditions, as we have before pomted out at the commencement of this chapter, Scotch pine, spruce, and larch plants may be planted by the notch system in heath-covered districts without any preparation of the land whatever, such as dry, gravelly, or sandy moorland, in which case the roots' of the young plants gradually establish themselves firmly in a soil that is a natural one for them, and which no amount of preparation could excel ; but in pit-planting especially, and in all cases where large trees are expected to grow in a close and retentive soil, their growtli will be considerably hastened on by the soil being deeply stirred, and the earth well pulverised. 38 ENOLKH THEBS AND THE,i-PLANn,Na • 1 I 1 IHn CHAFI^EH 7TI. THE MODEBN RAGE FOR PLANTTV« t racOBAlTOM. """^ ■""> "MfM MR AKB0MTIC4I. r/,. Modem Rage for Plantma.-.T:ke subifinf ,f trees suite,) !^ ^ ,' ^ " J'"''"'"™ ?'»"'"« of or r^r oee^I^lr f ""7 '"^'^ ""'"^'^^ lected for tul^' ^ '""" "'" "la™ '"'en se- w™ gly c ;„ ":r "'^""""-^ '°™^ '-- been esS^^"'t '-^' '" ^"" '-f "^1 ~ especially in hot weather when th. . a mass of areen fnUo f ^^ ''^'*' "P^n li^l! THE MANCHESTER INFIRMARY. 59 that ha^ been made in their selection, in not plant- >ng tho appropriate kind that is suitable for the position. rn Manciicster, the Infirmary stands in the middle of the city ^a conspicuous object— round vvhi h there are seats placed, upon which may be seen sitting, in their dmnor-hour, a great many of the factory hands who rest from their toil during a brief interval, the' surroundmg space being entirely destitute of the ornamentation md shade which trees would afford ; at the time these lines are written, only a few sickly Htunted shrubs at the back, attesting the want of judgment that has been used in the attem^.t at arbor- etical decoration ; wliile in the Cathedral inclosure a lew bare poles, or ghosts of trees, stand in a melan- choly row, according with nothing, except, perhaps, in a typical sense, any one straining for an illus- tration could fin. it in the flat tombstones, record- ing the dec'ease of individuals, that are spread upon the ground ; offering a picture of melanchoV desola- tion that is very depressing to the visi or xvho coming from some southern county, looks upon these' futile eff-orts, when it is well known that trees and shrubs can '^ chosen which will stand the smoke of cities as ueli as the bleak air ol a northern chmate. Tree-planting at the Antipodes.— ^ot only in many parts of the Old World is tree-planting exciting a good deal of attention, but also in the New World as well the subject has come in for its proper share I i I p II' Hfi 1 i 1 i 1 ^ i 60 ENGLISH TIIEES AXD TREE-PLANTING. Of notice, many of the new cities at the antipodes being now laid out with freshly planted trees Under the date of August 8, 1879, the correspon- dent of the Globe newspaper writes from Melbourne an account of what is being done in Victoria, where he describes the winters as being exquisite, and makes reference to certain trees that have been planted, some doing well and others not, while allusion is made to other matters which possess a great interest to those who delight in rural occupations, and who are fond of making experiments. The writer says: 'In Victoria the winters are simply exquisite. Frequently we have days together of cloudless sky, frosty nights, and a fresh wind blowing all day. The camellias, growing in the open air, are a wonder and a charm to behold. I am glad to say that the authorities have been planting our streets with trees, and most of our great thorough- fares will before long be turned into boulevards. Unfortunately, too many trees of the genus pine have been planted in our open spaces, for it seems too cer- tain that they do not last more than thirty years Oaks and elms flourish exceptionally well in this climate, and the elm avenue in the Fitzroy Gardens IS a real wonder.' What follows is also extremely interesting upon a different subject-the acclimatisa- tion of hares and rabbits in Victoria :— 'It may interest some of our sporting friends in England to know that the hares have increased so much in all parts of this colony that they are be- TREE-PLANTING AT THE ANTIPODES. 61 coming a regular nuisance. They bark the young English trees, devour vegetables, and make them- selves generally disagreeable. Eegular battues have been held in the western district, where three or four hundred pussies have been shot in a day. They are sold now in Melbourne at about 2s. a head, at Cam- perdown at 4rf. each. Eabbits are not only a drug in the market, but are actually eating out poor far- mers to such an extent that it has been considered necessary to pass an act for their suppression. They ar killed by putting suffocating gas into their holes, and then stopping them up. Some sporting squatter thought it would be good fun to introduce foxes for the sake of sport into his district, and the result has been that poultry has got very scarce in his neigh- bourhood. This is in the vicinity of Geelong. It will not be long before la chasse au renard is popular here in the French fashion, for animals have a trick of breeding more often out here than at home, and producing more at a htter,' &c., &c. Pari passu, it may be remarked here how truly this result may be said to have taken place w4th regard to sheep, and the consequent large trade that is now done in Austrahan wool, of which very con- siderable quantities are now annually sold at the series of wool sales held at the Wool Exchange in Coleman Street, London, which attracts not only English buyers, but Continental ones as well, espe- cially the representatives of French and German houses, who keenly compete with the manufacturers (p 62 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE- PLANTING. of this country for the possession of the best lots of wool, those of super-excellent quality commanding very often what are termed ' fancy prices.' Our business is, however, with English trees and Enghsh tree-planting, and of these we shall speak in detail, first premising that, for the sake of conve- nience, trees may be grouped under four principal headings or divisions, according to their nature and the object of the planter, whether it be simply for ornamentation or for profit, and the means he has available for their cultivation, which must in all cases mainly depend upon soil and situation. Cone-bearing or Resinous Trees.—Yirsi in order, perhaps, come the cone-bearing or resinous trees,' adapted for cold and elevated districts, where the' soil is thin, poor, or sandy. The great importance of these is readily seen when it is considered that by their means vast tracts of hilly or mountainous land, incapable of producing anything beyond a scanty herbage of a poor description, fit only for the susten- ance of a few mountain sheep, may be converted into profitable fir plantations and pine forests, which, under efficient management, may be made to yield a' profit that will equal that obtained from arable land, the expense of planting being comparatively trifling when done upon the method known as the notch system, many hundreds of acres, whicli are now stand- ing, of thriving Scotch pine plantations having been estabhshed at an expense of 12*. per acre. The British cone-bearing trees mainly consist of BRITISH CONE-BEARING TREES. 63 the Scotch pine, pineaster, larch, spruce, silver-fir, cedar, and a few others of minor importance, for, although the cedar is not made use of to the extent It might be, the tree itself is capable of being planted in the same way as Scotch firs, instead of being treated as an exotic, which is more commonly its fate, the unnatural positions assigned to it being the cause of its great deterioration so far as the timber IS concerned, which, when naturally green, is hard and durable, but becomes soft and perishable when the tree is raised upon low-lying rich soils that are quite unfitted for it, being an exceedingly hardy tree thriving on soils of various descriptions, but requiring an open subsoil, sufiiciently high to be above the rise of water, yet near enough to a stream or flow of water for its roots to feel its beneficial influence such as the melting of the snows upon its most cele- brated habitat—Uouni Lebanon. The value of the cone-bearing order of trees, beyond the timber they produce, is enhanced by the fact that nearly all of them, excepting the larch, are evergreen • and thus afford warmth and shelter in elevated dis- tricts—not only in their capacity of nurses during the infancy of broad-leaved trees, which without such aic^ could not be made to grow, but give shelter enou^rh for the husbandman to raise crops of various fann produce wliich, without this shelter they are enabled to furnish, could never be raised. Fast-growing and soft-wooded Trees, fit for moist land.— The second division of strongly marked trees Jll ■ HI 1 64. ENGIJSH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. as regards their habit may be classified as fast-grow- ing or soft-wooded trees that do well in moist land, or near to water. Among this division are to be found trees that speedily make a handsome show in bare situations, where they will do well for a time, even if the soil is not damp, if it is well trenched previously to planting ; and it is to this class of trees that the planter must look who may perhaps ht.ve built a house in a bare situation, and sighs for the adornment that well- estabhshed trees can give, but who cannot wait for the growth of ' ancestral oaks,' but must needs per- force have recourse to the friendly aid of the poplar to give him that umbrageous shade and soft murmur- ing of leaves without which his fine country house, built upon the most approved modern principles, is quite incomplete ; for the Londoner, and the succes- ful tradesman or manufacturer is no longer satisfied to pitch his dwelling close to the roadside, and, according to Cowper, . . . . breathe clouds of dust, And call it country air ; but wants the adornment that trees alone can furnish ; and these he can obtain in the soft-wooded and fast- growing trees, which can be cut down after they have performed the purpose for which they were intended, may be, and give an aspect of completion and finish to a new building, while slower-growing and more valuable trees are coming to maturity. ist-grow- i land, or rees that ituations, le soil is planting ; ter must 1 a bare at well- wait for ieds per- e poplar nurmur- y house, ciples, is succes- satisfied le, and, furnish ; nd fast- er they ?y were npletion grooving ity. . ViM m. m P r QtllCK^OHOWLNG TREES. ■ g^ These trees, i„ addition to the poplar, are the vmou. tnbes of willow, the alder-a„ sp il useful tree in low-lying lands by the bo' d r "f rzroTt ''"rit ''°"^-"='^'»- ^^«fi^- nature of the roots of the latter tree, if it has beer frequently transplanted, will enable it to be remov^' with safety at a greater size than that at which m^ rees are ordmarily removed; and on th.saceou: it a valuab e tree for producing an i,nn,ediate effec in forming hnes, or avenues of approach to a ho^se or mansion, and in converting a plain field, or s ret h o meadow land, into an incipient park where he ' presence will entirely alter the aspect of a flat unm teresting district, destitute of ornamental trees The writer upon one occasion visited the house of a weU.known banker in a northern county that I ce ebrated more for its manufacturing ski" '; „ h attention bestowed upon arboricultural eflect and ,i expectations had been raised by the descriml of the old house by a friend 'to Ih IT TalT "o t 'r't ""'• '"' ''' -Pectationf C raised o the utmost by a description of the old h„ll :zii:ifr'"""™^-'^'--^-htt^^^^^^ rooKs built their nests, reminding nr.^ ^ , Englishmen seem to h. incapable of arrival 7 are not acquamtea w:.ii the hirrf, Z T ^ ' ""^^ to our country, and w.^ 'a 1 ^owf: ^ '"t^^"' -ows,indifl-erently;butwhich^i:^r/rr: F ' I ■ B I'! 66 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. SO agreeably describes, and draws a clear distinction between, when he says : * The rooks are old-estab- lished housekeepers, high-minded gentlefolk, that have had their hereditary abodes time out of mind ; but as to the poor crows, they are a kind of vaga- bond, predatory gipsy race, roving about the country without any settled home. " Their hands are against everybody, and everybody's against them," and they are gibbeted in every cornfield.' We have no evidence of the fact, but doubtless the difierence between a crow and a rook was ex- plained to Washington Irving by a competent friend when he visited Bracebridge Hall, and this fact should be impressed upon the minds of those fair ladies who, when returning from their walks, describe the vast number- of crows they have seen congregated upon a certain spot, the aforesaid crows being of course rooks, whose cawing the amiable Cowper duly appreciated in his description of country sights and sounds when he said : — But cav/ing rooks, and kites that swim sublime In still repeated circles, screaming loud. The jay, the pie, aud e'en the boding owl That hails the rising moon, have charms for me. With a head crammed full of such and similar ideas, the writer pictured to himself an old country house full of agreeable old recollections, associations, and imaginations, in such an old place where The drudging goblin swaat. To earn the cream-bowl duly set : AGREEABLE RECOLLECTIONS AND ASSOCUTIONS. 67 When in one night ere glimpse of morn, His shadowy flail had threshed the com, That ten day labourers could not end ; Then lays him down the lubber fiend ' And stretched out all the chimney's length Baaks at the fire his hairy strength ; And crop-full out of door he flings, ' Ere the first cock his matin sings. ' These were the kind of associations that flitted across his mind as appropriate to such a scene ac- cording to poetic legendary lore, in the old abode he was about to visit, but carrying with him the same pang of sympathy described by Bishop Corbett :— Farewell rewards and fairies, Good housewifes now may say, For now fowle sluts in dairies, Do fare as well as they ; And thoughe they sweepe'their hearths no lesse Ihan maids were wont to do, '' Yet who of late for cleanlinesse' Finds sixpence in her shoe ? The growth of such ideas had been aided by a photograph heading the letter of invitation, which depicted an old house of an early penod smothered m ivy, and crowded up with luxuriant growing trees • and this turned out to be the case when the house' Itself was finally reached; but, before then, the car nage stopped at the gate of an ordinary field, through which there was a straight roadway, extending for about ha f a mile, and at the end of this road stands Hall. The field was as level and bare as the palm of v2 If! ' 1 ' i 68 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. one's hand, and all the previous occupants of the old Hall had been quite content to approach it by this uninteresting, straight road, not one appearing to have conceived the idea of making an approach worthy of the building, which might easily have been done with horse-chesnut trees, and a handsome avenue created almost immediately, it being in such cases as these that fast-growing trees could be c ■anted upon for giving an immediate effect, and an avenue of horse- chesnut trees in full bloom is a sight worth seeing. Broad-leaved Timber-trees suitable for Landscape Decoration and good Soils. — The third main division may be properly made to include all the broad-leaved timber-trees which, for the most part, require good land, and which do not thrive in either low-lying situations, which are extremely moist, or in those elevated districts where the Scotch pine would flourish, but where the oak would become dwarfed and stunted ; and may be said to embrace the oak, ash, beech, Spanish chesnut, elm, hornbeam, locust, plane, walnut (which, although generally classed with fruit- trees, yet makes a beautiful timber-tree), and the birch. The latter, however, will thrive upon a mountain-side, amidst shattered debris, in situations favourable to its growth ; yet with this exception, perhaps, the others that have been enumerated all require soil of a tolerably good quality to grow to perfection, and display that embowering appearance which are characteristic of the broad-leaved timber-trees of Britain. TREES FOR LANDSCAPE DECORATION. 69 As landscape ornaments these are unequalled, the ash being clothed with pendulous masses of foliage, which bows gracefully to the breeze ; the oak forming a picture of massive strength and grandeur ; while the acacia, or locust-tree, both on account of fohage and flower, is a very beautiful object, and a beech-tree, especially after showers of rain, when the sun shines upon its ghstening leaves, is perhaps one of the most beautiful objects of inanimate nature, so called ; while the plane-tree, in a sheltered park, is luxuriantly clothed in profuse fohage, and becomes an object of sylvan loveliness that it is not possible, perhaps, to surpass. Trees and Shrubs for Arhoricultural Decoration.— The fourth division may be conveniently classified as embracing trees and shrubs which are commonly used for arboricultural decoration, some of which in certain positions never attain a very large size, but when occupying situations that are pecuharly favour- able to their growth, form trees of no despicable magnitude, such as the holly, yew, cypress, laburnum, lilac, wild cherry, mountain ash, spindle-tree, ever- green oak, almond, hazel, arbor vitse, various laurels, varieties of thorn, &c.,&c., including evergreens that are well adapted to grow under shade, as the common juniper, box, privet, &c. (amongst ihe latter, holly and yew being included). We have roughly classed trees m the divisions enumerated in order to furnish a definite plan for the proper arrangement of 'the subject under distinct 70 KNOLWFr THEh^H AND TREK-PLAN JINO. headings, so that we may give a full description of each, and the best methods that are used in their cuhivation and propagation, according to the most approved practi<'C tliat is followed in various districts of the kingdom. ■ ' li 71 r CHAFrKR rv. CONIFKROUS TREES. THR SCOTCH PINB-DBTERIORATION OP THB BCOTOH PINB-THB PINB9 DF KORTHBRN KUKOPB-THB SLIDK OF ALPWACH-PRODUCB OF BCOTOH MNB PLANTAXI0N8-0BTAINXNO THB 8EED9 -SOWINQ THB SBEPS- OTLTIVATION-THE CLITSTER pt oR PINBA81 R-CULTIVATION-THB 0OR8ICAN PINB-CULTIVATXON ,8 8T0NB PimS-OrLTITATION-THB WHITB, OR WBTMODTH I'INR -L0MnHRING-LABOURBK r.EAVING ' THB BI00B8T WHEAT FARM IN AMERICA ' FOR lUMBKH-WORK. The Conifera?, or Pine tribe of trees, is perhaps the most important of any for the purposes of the planter, embracing as it does a well-defined order, being all evergreens, excepting the larch, which is deciduous, and the gingo ; the most important genera for com- mercial purposes for the sake of their timber being Pinw, the pine ; Abies, spruce ; and Larix, larch ; there being ten other subsidiary genera, which we shall refer to in detail. Of these three, the timber from the genus Pinus —especially in the instance of the Scotch pine— is produced of the hardest and best quality when grown upon poor soils in great altitudes ; so thr^t in most mstances the colder the situation, and the slower the growth of the tree, the harder and more durable the timber becomes. And this fact is so completely attested, even in individual instances, that it is by no IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) i.O H'i- i 1^ I.I •" 116 I u liii ^ 1^ 2.5 2.2 11.25 2.C 1.8 14 IIIIII.6 V] 6>;#^. ^ ^ cf^ ^ ^w '^W r.^ ■%■ % '/ ^W Photographic Sciences Corporation V ^ ^<^ ^\ w^<> pu^ 'fb %^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 e. 72 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. means uncommon to find the wood of a common pine hard and red which faces the north, while the re- maining half of the tree which enjoys a southern exposure, though considerably thicker from the pith to the bark, has become soft, spongy, and white in colour ; and as the Scotch pine afibrds a remarkable instance of what may be termed degeneracy of quahty of timber, from being grown in situations not fitted for its best development, we will speak of this tree first. » The Scotch Pine {P. Sylvestris) —There are several varieties of the Scotch pine, tlie best timber being that which is hard and resinous, as is found in the native forests of the Highlands of Scotland, and those which grow in a wild state in Sweden and Norv/ay, and some parts of Germany, Eussia, and Poland : but when removed from their native districts, and propa- gated successively in a richer soil and milder climate, it varies very much in foliage and form, and is apt to' degenerate greatly in quality ; and where mixed seed has been procured, the trees that have been grown upon the same soil have been entirely different so far as the quality of timbei- was concerned when they were felled. Many writers have pointed this out, amongst the first of whom was the Earl of Haddington, who pub- fished a ' Treatise on Forest Trees ' in 1760, where he makes reference to the varieties of the Scotch pine. ' When I cut firs that were too near the house, there were people alive here who remembered when my my DETERIORATION OF THE SCOTCH PINE. 73 father bought the seed. It was all sown together in the seed-bed, removed to a nursery, and afterwards planted out the same day. These trees I cut down, and saw some of them very white and spongy, others of them red and hard, though standing within a few yards of one another. This makes me gather my cones from the trees that bear the reddest wood, as I said before.' DeterioraUon of the Scotch Pm^._The common impression at one time was that the trees varied in quahty, not that the seed was various, till at length it became recognised as an estabhshed fact that seeds from degenerate trees were largely used in ignorance of their deterioration from their original quality, and of such trees as may. be seen growing in the native forests of Invercauld and Rothiemurchus, which per- haps furnish the finest specimens of this tree in Britain. At the end of the first quarter of the present century, the attention of the Highland Society of Scotland was directed to the degeneracy of great numbers of plantations of Scotch pine throughout Scotland, and with the object of improving the quahty of the timber, which they justly regarded as a subject of national importance, they offered premiums for the collection of the greatest number of seeds of the Scotch pine, from the most celebrated forests in the Highlands of Scotland, with satisfactory proof that the seeds were all sold in the way of business for the purpose of sowing, or were actually sown ; as well as I 74 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. 11 'it 1 premiums for raising the greatest number of plants from these best seeds, the offers extending over a period of ten years or so. Messrs. Grigor & Co., of Forres, gained all tha premiums, both for collecting the largest number of seeds and for raising the most plants, the result of these measures being that, greater attention was paid to the due obtaining of proper seed and plants, by per- sons desirous of planting upon a large scale ; exten- sive plantations having been formed by various gen- tlemen and noblemen, some of them containing several millions of the plants of the true Pinus sylvestris in ©ach. The late Mr. Don, of Forfar, exhibited specimens of various cones to the Highland Society of Scotland, and pointed out the variations that existed in the several specimens; the variety preferred by him being distinguished b>- the disposition of its branches, which are remarkable for their horizontal direction, and for the tendency they possess to bend downwards close to the trunk, minute details being published about 1811, by Mr. Don, who describes several varieties of trees that grew in a wood near to Forfar. But although that gentleman's remarks and description were correct, it does not appear that he was thoroughly aware himself whether this deterioration was due to degeneracy, or to careless cultivation of a bad variety; yet his observations proved of the greatest service, in directing special attention to the matter, and any experienced pine-seed collector could VARYING FIR-CONES. iO now tell from the appearance of the cones, in accord- ance with his description, whether they had been obtained from the old Highland forests, or from de- generate plantatons. Don contrasted cones of the different qualities, whicJi he numbered 1 and 2 specially, the former being the inferior, or degenerated description, which he describes as being considerably elongated and ta- pering to the point, the bark of the trunk being very rugged. This variety seems to be but short-Uved, becoming soon stunted in its appearance, and it is altogether a very inferior tree. It produces its cones much more freely than variety No. 2, and in conse- quence seed-gatherers who are paid bv the quantity collected, and not for the quality, would seize upon the former, and neglect the latter. Of the trees No. 2, or the best variety, the same as grown in the native forests of the Highlands of Scotland, he says : ' Its cones are generally thicker, not so much pointed, and they are smoother than that of variety No. 1. This tree seems to be a more hardy plant, being easily reconciled to various soils and situations. It grows very freely, and quickly arrives at a very considerable size. This is the sort which I conceive might constitute a distinct species, and from the disposition of its branches I would be inchned to call it Pinus horizontalis. May I here be allowed to conjecture that, the fir woods which formerly abounded in every part of Scotland, and the trees of which arrived at a great size, had been 76 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. of this variety, or species. I have certainly observed that the greater part of the fir woods of the pre- sent day, and which are so much complained of, are of the common variety, or variety No. 1. His conjecture was confirmed by the action of the Highland Society of Scotland as before described, the cones of the best kind produced in its nativj and congenial habitat being short, round, and of a light colour, while those of the third or fourth ge- neration degenerated by cultivation in soil and dis- tricts away from its native one, are long and taper- ing, and there can be no doubt but that the eflbrts made resulted in a reform in the method of plant- ing the Scotch pine, the seed being now obtained direct from native indigenous forests. The Duke of Sutherland and Mr. Matheson of Ardross, a good many years back, planted immense numbers of the Scotch pine, as weU as Sir George McPherson Grant, Lord Lovat, Mi-. ElUce of Glen- quoich. The Mackintosh, Mr. Dempstfer of Skibo, Mr. Mactier of Durris, Sir Thomas D. Lauder, besides a number of other planters in various counties in Eng- land and Scotland, by whose endeavours many a barren hiUside and desolate waste has become beau- tified by thriving fir plantations, the effects of which may be seen in districts quite near to London ; as the parish of Frensham, a short distance from Farnham in Surrey, where many tracts are of pure sand, un- fitted for the purpose of the husbandman, but which in time will be made fertile through judicious planting. THE PINES OF NORTHERN EUROPE. 77 With respect to the necessity of obtaining the best seed, Sir T. D. Lauder, in his edition of « Gil- pin's Forest Scenery,' gives the following recommen- dation : 'It should be carefully remembered by planters that sundry wretched and worthless varie- ties of the Scotch fir have crept into use, which, in some measure, accounts for the miserable appearance of the low-country planted trees. The greatest care should be taken to plant nothing but those trees raised from the seed of the true Pinus sylvestris of the mountains.' The Pines of Northern Europe.— The timber of the Scotch pine, commonly though erroneously called the Scotch ^r by the authors we have quoted, when produced in the cold elevations of the north of Scot- land, is not inferior in quality to that imported from Sweden and Norway, the pine forests of the north of Europe being considered the most valuable on account of the quaHty of their timber, some of the mountains of Sweden and Norway being covered with pine-trees, as well as the sandy tracts near the Baltic, and in Poland on each side of the river ilemel,' from whence the timber is imported into England' ' Memel fir ' being dealt in to a very considerable extent by EngUsh timber merchants. Dr. Clarke gives some interesting particulars of the extent of the pine forests on the Swedish side of the Gulf of Bothnia. ' At Helsinborg some fir-trees of an astonishing length were conducted by wheel axes to the water side. A separate vehicle was employed for each tree, 78 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE' . LANTING. *|i| being drawn by horses which were driven by women. These long, white, and taper shafts of deal timber, divested of their bark, afforded the first specimens of the produce of those boundless forests of which we had then formed no conception. That the reader may therefore be better prepared than we were for the tract of country we are now to survey, it may be proper to state, in the way of anticipation, that if he cast his eyes upon the map of Sweden, and imagine the Gulf of Bothnia to be surrounded by one contiguous, unbroken forest, as ancient as the world, consisting principally of pine-trees, with a few mingling birch- and juniper- trees, he will have a general and tolerably correct notion of the real appearance of the country. If the sovereigns of Europe were to be designated each by some title characteristic of the nature of their domi- nions, we might call the Swedish monarch Lord of the Woods, because, in surveying his territories, he might travel over a great part of his kingdom from sunrise until sunset and find no other subjects than the trees of his forests. The population is everywhere small, becaus,^ che whole country is covered with wood ; yet in the nonsense that has been written about the northern hive, whose swarms spread such consternation in the second century be- fore Christ, it has been usual to maintain that vast armies issued from this land. The only region with which Sweden can properly be compared is North America, a land of wood and iron, with very few inhabitants, " and out of whose hills thou mayest dig I CLARKE'S ACCOUNT OF THE SWEDISH PINE-FORESTS. 79 brass ; " but, like America, it is also as to. society in a state of infancy.' Affairs have a good deal changed since these lines were written in the United States, where the ' lumber ' trade has been a good deal developed, to- gether with other mercantile progress, but the same writer gives a description of sawing timber on the banks of the Dal, westward of the Gulf of Bothnia. ' Between Meheda and Elfskarleby, about two Enghsh miles before we reached the latter place, we were gratified by a sight of some cataracts of the Dal, which we thought far superior to those of Trol- hcstta. The display of colours in the roaring torrent was exceedingly fine : rushing with a headlong force, it fell in many directions, and made the ground tremble with its impetuosity. The height of the fall is not forty feet, but the whole river being precipi- tated among dark, projecting rocks, gives it a grand effect. A swelhng surf continues foaming all the way to a bridge, where another cataract, meeting the raging tide, adds greatly to its fury. Such is the commotion excited, that a white mist, rising above the fall and over the banks of the torrent, rendered it conspicuous long before we reached the river. Close to the principal cataract stood a sawing-mill, worked by an overshot wheel, so situated as to be kept in motion by a stream of water diverted from its channel for this purpose. The remarkable situa- tion of the sawing-mills, by the different cataracts, both in Sweden and Norway, are amongst the most 80 ^i f: ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. extraordinary sights a traveller meets with. The mill here was as rude and as picturesque an object as it is possible to imagine. It was built with the un- planed trunks of large fir-trees, as if brought down and heaped together by the force of the river. The saws are fixed in sets, parallel to each other, the spaces between them in each set being adapted to the intended thickness for the planks. A whole tree is thus divided into planks by a simultaneous operation, in the same time that a single plank would be cut by one of the saws. ' We found that ten planks, each ten feet in length, were sawed in five minutes, one set of saws working through two feet of timber in a single minute. A ladder, sloping from the mill into the midst of the cataract, rested there upon a rock, which enabled us to take a station in the midst of the roaring waters. On all sides of the cataract, close to its fall, and high above it and far below it, and in the midst of the turbulent flood, tall pines waved their shadowy branches, wet with the rising dews. Some of these trees were actually thriving upon the naked rocks, from which the dashing foam of the torrent was spreading in wide sheets of spray.' Dr. Clarke also speaks of the accidental fires that take place amongst pine forests, and those occasions when fires are sometimes burned in order to make ready the soil for the operations of the husbandman. ' As we proceeded to Hamrange, we passed through noble avenues of trees, and saw some fine lakes on BURNING FORESTS. gj either aide of the road. Some of the forests had been burned by wh.ch the land was cleared for cultiva- tion The burmng of a forest is a very common event m ,h,s country, bu, it is most frequeL towa d the nor h of the Gulf of Bothnia. Sometimes a con s.derable part of the horizon glares with a fi ry red- ness^ owmg to the conflagration of a whole di trict, which for many leagues in extent has been rendered a prey to the devouring flames. The cause is fre- quently attributed to hghtmng, but it may be other- wise explained.' ^ A similar burning of forests is also described by Dr. Clarke, in Lapland, beyond Pornea. ' Some forest! were on iire near the river, and had been bur^S a consideraole time. Mr. Tipping informed us ll a these fires were owing to the carelessness of the Lap anders and boatmen on the rivers, who, using t ioletu. ,gmanus (German tinder) for kindling their among the dry leaves and moss. They also leave rge fires burning in the midst of the woods, which they have kindled to drive away the mosquito s fro their cattle r.nd from themselves ; therefore, the L flagration of a forest, however extensively tie flain s -ay rage is easily explained. Yet LinnL. w t^ U his know edge of the countiy and custom of the the north of Sweden to the eflijcts of lightning During these tremendous fires, the bears, wolve "d foxes are driven from their retreats, and In^IZ^ G TT i II I 82 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. depredations among the cattle. A bear, having crossed the river about a fortnight before we arrived, had killed in one night six cows and twelve sheep, the property of a farmer. We saw their former owner and the place where all this slaughter had been com- mitted, having landed to walk by the side of the river, while our boatmen were engaged in forcing the rapids. The farmer attributed his loss to the burning of the opposite forest, which had compelled 'the bear to pass the river for food.' These accounts are interesting for the light tney throw upon the Scotch pine in the Scandinavian forests, the slopes of ^he mountains and arms of the sea in most of the centi 0. parts of Sweden and Norway consisting for the most part of Pinus sylvestris, or what we term Scotch pine, and spruce ; the former yielding red or yellow deal, and the latter white. Pines are generally found growing in forests or clustered together, when they assume a tall and upright form, with few lateral branches except at top. But when grown singly, the pine branches out into a spreading tree, and presents a more picturesque object, as respects shape and outline, than when grown in masses. Immense districts in North America are covered with them, and we are indebted to Douglas, as before stated, for the introduction of some of the largest species of pine into England, as P. Lamher- tiana, which was introduced by him in 1827. To the difficulty of removal of the felled timber we probably owe the remains of some of the old THE Sm-iJ OF ALPNACir. gg Scotch forests, such as those which remain in the valleys of the rivers that flow northward to the Snev The estate of Eothiemnrchus, to the timber of whirl, we have previously referred, produces trees that are full of turpentme. The timber being of excellent quahty, a succession springs up, so that the forest phce„..-hke, possesses the property of continuing Itself, a considerable portion of the pine in accessible places havmg been cut down, and for the most part floated down the river Spey. In times of drought the workmen collect the trees m what they term a dell or den, and build up , temporary dam, and await the coming of a flood When this takes place, and the temporary dam is full of water, the dyke is broken, and the trees are swept down with the course of water to the Spey 'diffilt '^''t f "^'P^'^-^ striking instance of the difficulty of transport being overcome in an inac- cessible situation was furnished by the contrivance of what was termed the Slide of Alpnach, which was made under the direction of an engineer, M. Kupp which, on account of the singularity of its construe- t.on, ,s worthy of being ranked with some of tlie engmeenng undertakings of modern times, which degree"""" "" '"■"■'* '° ™"' ' «'™>-kabIe Mont Pilatus m Switzerland had been clothed with impenetrable forests, which were practically useless from a commercial point of view, till M. R„pp eon- G 2 84 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. reived the idea of launching the pines down an inclined plane, from the top of the mountain to Lake Lucerne, a distance of nearly nine miles. This was effected by means of a kind of trough, six feet broad and from three to six feet deep, composed of 25,000 pine trees, its length being 44,000 English feet. This singular contrivance was finished in 1812, and excited universal wonder, as it had to be constructed upon an undeviating line, passing over the summits of rocks, along their sides, over deep ravines or mountain gorges, where it had to be supported by scaffoldings, and in some instances even had occasion to pass underground. Notwithstanding these difficulties, which may be readily imagined, they were all over- come in eighteen months from the time the work was first began ; and when the work was finished the trees descended from the mountain and plunged into the , lake with inconceivable rapidity, the larger pines, which were about 100 feet long, performing the journey of about eight miles and a third in about six minutes. This extraordinary contrivance was called the Shde of Alpnach,from the name of the commune in which it was situated ; but the speculation was finally abandoned as unprofitable when the markets of the Baltic were opened by the peace, and it was allowed to fall into ruin. The timber that is grown in these cold situations, especially upon light soils and when planted by nature, is always of the best quahty. On rich loams. t -y «. down an 1 to Lake This was jet broad )f 25,000 et. This i excited upon an 3f rocks, noiintain fToldings, to pass Acuities, ill over- '■ork was ;he trees into the . r pines, ing the bout six led the nunc in s finally of the owed to nations, ted by loams, PRODUCE OF SCOTCH I>1NE PLANTATIONS. 85 though it grows fast, the timber of the Scotch pine becomes mferior, and contains a great deal of sap- wood ; while on stony clay it will not thrive, and the imber .s almost worthless; but after a certain eleva- lon, and north of the latitude of 55°, it is found to be the most abundant timber in the Continents of J^urope, Asia, and America, and there is no other tree that grows so freely, and produces such valuable timber upon soils of such opposite qualities, as it flourishes on dry and gravelly healh-covered moors and its roots find sustenance amongst the fissures of the rocks, and obtain support from apparently the most scanty means of subsistence. Stagnant water i. very opposed to the health of the Scotch pine, yet by reason of its roots rangin- near to the surface, it will often be found to answer very well in a comparatively thin stratum of earth above water, where other kinds of trees will not grow when they approach maturity. Produce of Scotch Pine Plantations.— The j^vol\ucre- i)2 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. paring resin and tar, which these plantations yield, and the conversion of a tract of drifting sands into several hundred square miles of thriving forest, has been justly regarded as a great triumph of arboricul- tural skill. Cultivation.— The pineaster is raised in a similar manner to the Scotch pine, the seeds being covered with soil half an inch in depth, but it is the most difficult of any of the coniferjE to remove, perhaps, which arises from its long and naturally bare roots, two-year seedHng plants seldom taking root when removed. It is necessary, therefore, to transplant seedlings that have stood for one year, and let them stand in nursery Hnes for another year, so as to be two years old, which are the only kind that can be relied on for planting successfully. But this pecuHarity of organisation— different to that of most trees— which causes the plant to be removed safely culy with great difficulty, is the means of adapting it for being^uc- cessfully grown from seed sown in the sand, as its long roots strike readily to a great depth, and spread- ing themselves widely, they act as anchors in sup- porting the seedUng plant, and in seasons of drought are enabled to procure their sustenance from a longer distance than other kinds, and possess a better safe- guard against the casualties of a shifting surface. A conspicuous and ornamental variety, P. P.foliis variegatis, is propagated by inarching on any of the common kinds. One of the best of the ordinary CORSICAN PINE. 93 m pineaster trees, P. P. escarenus, was introduced into this country by the Earl of Aberdeen in 1825 from the south of France. The Corsican Pine (P. /anWo)._This tree is nearly alhed in its character to the Scotch pine, but is alto- gether a larger and handsomer tree, growing wild on the summits of the highest mountains of the Island of Corsica, as well as in other parts of southern Europe and the west and north of Asia. In its native habitat it frequently attains the height of 140 feet, but it does not, like the Scotch pine, affect the poorest soils, nor is it found in such -high altitudes as the latter. It was introduced into England about the middle of the eighteenth century, and produces a white timber which is not held in much esteem in England, being soft, and more fit for packing cases and other subsidiary purposes than for the more important re- quirements of joinery, though it has been described, when grown in Corsica, as producing weighty and resinous wood, quite equal to, if not superior, to the Scotch pine ; but it has been cultivated only to a small extent in England, except as an orna- mental tree, one standing at Kew nearly ninety feet high. _ The Black Pine of Austria {P. L. Austriaca).^ This pine-tree, commonly seen in Austria and other parts of Germany, was not cultivated in this country until 1835, and produces a strong resinous timber of a superior description, being of robust r^rowth in 94 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. soft soils of opposite qualities. In its native country It frequently attains a height of 100 feet. Cultivation.— The seed has been chiefly imported into England that has been used for the propagation of this species, the method of treatment being the same as that pursued with the Scotch pine ; but as Its roots are liable to grow in a more stragghna fashion than those of the latter, it is found that the strongest and most successful plants are obtained by allowing the seedlings to stand in the seed-bed for one year, and then transplant them into nursery lines, where they may stand one or two years, according to circumstances, and the situation they are intended to occupy. The Stone Pine {P. pinea).~The stone pine is very commonly met with in the south of Italy, the ex- tensive forest at Eavenna being of this species, and It IS the tree very commonly planted near the villas of Florence and Eome, where, the seeds being edible, are eaten by all classes, their taste resembling some- what that of almonds, with a slightly turpentine flavour, which is considered by many to be very agreeable to the palate, while they are extremely nutritious. While forming the most ornamental tree in the landscape scenery of Italy, it is far too tender for cultivation as a forest tree in this country, and is consequently grown merely as an ornamental plant In Naples the variety P. Rfragilis is cultivated for the sake of its fruit, which is encased in a thin shell THE SIBERIAN PINE. 96 easily broken, but those of the common kind are contained in a hard shell. In this country the tree requires to be sheltered without being confined, and grows best in a dry sandy soil, in the neighbourhood of the sea. It was' introduced into England early in the sixteenth century. The Siberian Pine {P. cembra), as well called the Cembrian pine, also produces edible seeds, and forms part of the regular food of the peasantry of Switzerland in those districts where these trees abound. It is identical with the tannenbaum of Byron's Childe Harold and the aphernousli pine of Harte, growing higher up the Alps than any other pine-tree, being found at elevations where larch re- fuses to grow, and is a native of the Alps, Siberia, Switzerland, Italy, and other mountainous districts' dwarf varieties of the P. sylvestris being often found growing with it. It was introduced into this kingdom about the end of the last century by the Duke of Argyle, the timber being finely grained and very fragrant ' On this account the peasants of the Tyrol make a variety of carved ornaments of the wood, which are sold amongst the lower orders of Switzerland, who are partial to the resinous perfume it exudes, and, being very soft, with scarcely any grain, it is easily worked. The tree yields crops of cones at Kew, Witton Dropmore, and other places, and is very hardy, there' being several varieties. "!|>^ >|ii* 96 ENGLISH TREES AND TIIEE-PLANTINO. H Ml i Cultivation.-The method of cultivation is mucli the same as that followed in the case of the Scotch pme, the seeds being sown half an inch under the surface, but they do not vegetate until the second PDring, and when they do make their appearance the plants are remarkable for the slowness 6f their growth. They should be transplanted into nursery lines after standing for two years in the seed-bed. The tree rises erectly, with a smooth bark, having leaves of a fine green, silvery aspect, and althougli growmg slowly when young, makes much more rapid progress in after-years, retaining its lateral branches down to the ground in a very conspicuous manner. The White or Weijmouth Pine (P. strobus).~Tlhis valuable tree is a native of America, abounding on the hillsides from Canada to Virginia, being some- times found in the State of Vermont standing 150 feet high, having a diameter of from three to five feet. From having been planted to a considerable extent by Lord Weymouth upon his estates in Wiltshire, it came to be called the Weymouth pine, owing 'its name of white pine to the perfect whiteness of its wood when freshly exposed, attaining its greatest dimensions in the upper part of New Hampshire, the State of Vermont, as before said, and those tracts of country situated near the source of the St. Lawrence, where it figures as one of the most ancient and ma- jestic inhabitants of the North American forests, being seen at long distances towering above the heads of surrounfUn- ,reep. growing extensively between THE WHITE, OK WEYMOUIU IMNE. !I7 the parallels of 43" and 47°, being the first tree to take possession of barren Jistricts, and n.ost hardy in res,stn,j; the rough gales which blow from ofl the ocean. Almost im:redible quantities of this tree have been telled smce the commencement of the present century ". North America, but the conditions under which hose persons operated have changed very much of late years since the development of the railway svs tem ,n the United States. Formerly the persons J.o engaged in this branch of industry were of that class which were led and influenced by a roving disposition, for whom the rough life foUowed had a positive diarm, rather than the desire of amassing wealth, and the practice used to be for them to traverse these vast solitudes m every direction during the summer in ™^,1 companies, so as to ascertain whore the pines After cutting the grass and converting it into hay for the support of the cattle they intended to employ mthe course of their future labour, they returned home, and at the beginning of winter would enter the forest again, and cstabhsh themselves in winter quar ters, m huts covered with bark, in which they lived with a certain degree of rough comfort, though the cold was often intense, and the mercury remained for several weeks from 40° to 45° below the point of congelation. With the game of the forest to subsist upon, plenty of tobacco, and some jars of strong hquors. It may readily be imagined that many wild H ihl s i } ■HI I fP 1 98 ENGLISH TKEES AND TREE-PLANTINU. spiiits would find a charm in tliis rough hfe, when, although the cold was intense, large blazing fires of resinous timber-loppings threw out a ruddy heat, and the laugh and jest went round, occasionally varied by an ugly quarrel or two ; but, although they might spend merry evenings, they persevered with unabated energy and courage in their work in the daytime. When the trees were felled, they cut them into logs, varying from fourteen to eighteen feet long, and by means of their cattle, which they employed with great dexterity, they used to drag them to the nearest river, and, after stamping each log with a distinguish- ing mark, roll them upon its frozen surface, when, at the breaking up of the ice in the spring, th^y would float down with the current. About 120 miles from the sea these timber loss would be collected, and each party would form their own into rafts, and either sell them to the proprietors of the various saw-mills on the banks of the river, or get them shaped into deals on their own account, and dispose of them in the fittest market to insure them the largest ])rofit for their labour. Luinberinij. — McGregor gives a graphic account of the mode of procuring the timljer of the wliite pine in New Brunswick. ' The timber trade, which, in a commercial as well as a political point of view, is of more importance in emi)loying our ships and seamen than it is generally considered to be, employs also a vast number of people in the British colonies, whose manner of living, owing to the nature of the LUMBERING. gn business they follow, is entirely different from that of he other inhabitants of North America. Several party, composed of persons who are all either i.ired by a master labourer, who pays them wages and find them m provisions, or of individuals who enter into sn understanding with each other to have a ioint interest in the proceeds of their labour. The neces sary supplies of provisions, clothing, &c., are generally obtamed from the merchants on credit, in cLidera tion oi receiving the timber which the lumberers are to bring down the rivers the following summer. The 3tock deemed necessary for a lumbering party con- P )iK oeei, and iish, peas and pearl barlev or soup, with a cask of molasses to sweeten a decoc tK,n usually made of shrubs or the tops of the hem- lock-tree, and taken as tea. Two o, three yokes of oxen with sufficient hay to feed them, are also re quired to haul the timber out of the woods ' When tluis prepared, these people proceed up the nver, with the .provisions, to tlie place fixed oif for their winter establishment, which is selected as near a s ream of xvater and in the midst of as much pine timber as possible. Tliey commence by clearin' away a tew of the surrounding trees and building a camp of round logs, the walls of which are seldoiit more than our or five feet high : the roof is covered With birch bark, or boards " A pit is dug under th( H 2 w Is 100 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. i || 11 -f camp, to preserve anything that is Uable to injury from the frost. The fire is either in the middle or at one end; the smoke goes out through the roof Hay, straw, or fir branches are spread across or along the whole length of this habitation, on which they all lie down *^^ogether at night to sl(^ep, with their feet next the lire. When the fire gets low, he who first awakes or feels cold springs up and throws on five or six billets, and in this way they manage to have a large fire all night. One person is hired as a cook,' whose duty it is to have breakfast ready before daylight, at which time all the party rise, when each takes his morning, or the indispensable dram of raw rum, im- mediately before breakfast. This meal consists of bread, or occasionally potatoes, with boiled beef, pork, or fish, and tea sweetened with molasses. Dinner is usually the same, with pea-soup in place of tea, and the supper resembles breakfast. These men are enor- mous eaters, and they also drink great quantities of rum, which they scarcely ever dilute. Immediately after breakfast they divide into three c/an/j.^ one of which cuts down the trees, another hews them, and the third is employed with the oxen in hauling the timber, either to one general road leading to the bank of the nearest stream, or at once to the stream itself. Fallen trees and other impediments in the way of the oxen are cut away witli an axe. 'The whole winter is thus spent in unremitting labour. TIk^ snow covers the ground from two to three feet from the setting in of winter until April ; LUMBEREKS AND IIAFTSMEN. 101 and in the middle of fir forests, often till the middle of May. When the snow begins to dissolve in April the rivers swell, or, according t'o the lumberers' phrase, the freshets come down. At this time all the timber cut during winter is thrown into the water and floated down, until the river becomes sufficiently wide to make the whole into one or more rafts The water at this period is exceedingly cold, yet for weeks the lumberers are in it from morning till night, and It IS seldom less than a month and a half from the time that floating the timber down the stream com- ^aences, until the rafts are delivered to merchants No course of life can undermine the constitution more than that of a lumberer and raftsman. The winter snow and frost, although severe, are nothing to endure m comparison to the extreme coldness of the snow-water of i\ie freshets, in which the lumberer IS day after day wet up to the middle, and often im- mei^ed from head to foot. The very vitals are thus chilled and sapped, and the intense heat of the sum- mer sun, a transition which ahnost immediately follows must further weaken and reduce the whole frame' To stimulate the organs, in order to sustain the cold these men swallow immoderate quantities of ardent spirits, and habits of drunkenness are the usual consequences. Tlieir moral character, with few ex- ceptions, is dishonest and worthless. I believe there are few people in the world upon whose promises less taith can be placed than on those of a lumberer. In Canada, where they are longer in bringing down their BK I 102 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. rafts, and have more idle time, their character, if possible, is of a still more shuffling and rascally de- scription. Premature old age and shortness of days form the inevitable fate of a lumberer. Should he even save a httle money, which is very seldom the case, and be enabled for the last few years of his hfe to exist without incessant labour, he becomes the victim of rheumatism and all the miseries of a broken constitution. But, notwithstanding all the toils of such a pursuit, those who once adopt the life of a lumberer seem fond of it. They are in a great measure as independent, in their own way, as the Indians. ' In New Brunswick, and particularly in Canada, the epithet "lumberer" is considered synonymous with a character of spendthrift, and villanous nnd vagabond principles. After selling and delivering up their rafts, they pass some weeks in idle indulgence, drinking, smoking, and dashing off in a long coat, flashy \,aistcoat and trousers, Wellington or Hessian boots, a handkerchief of many colours round the neck, a watch with a long tinsel chain and numberless brass seals, and an umbrella. Before winter they return again to the woods, and resume the pursuits of the preceding year. Some exceptions, however, I have known to this generally true character of the lum- berers. Many young men of steady habits, who went froni Prince Edward's Island and other places to Mi- ramichi, for the express purpose of making money, have joined the lnm_bering parties for two or three M DESTRUCTIVE FIRES. 103 years, and, after saving their earnings, returned and purchased lands, on which they now live very com- fortably.' . A good many years back it was suggested that, what with the indiscriminate clearings of the agricul- tural settlers, and the conflagrations' that occasionally take place, after no very great length of time North America may possibly no longer continue to be an exporting country for timber. At times, it has beer, explained, forests are injudiciously set on fire by the settlers, to save the labour of cutting, and partially burnmg, by which indiscriminate method the land is not properly cleared, and is the occasion of a stron.^ and noxious weed, called the ' fire-weed,' springing up^ which exhausts all the fertility of the ground, these' conflagrations sometimes raging to an enormous ex- tent, producing the most fearful destruction to hfe and property. McGregor describes one of these destructive fires that raged upon one occasion in New Brunswick. 'In October 1825, upwards of a hundred miles of the country on the north side of Miraraichi River became a scene of the most dreadful conflagration that has perhaps ever occurred in the history of the world. In Europe we can scarcely form a conception of the fury and rapidity with which the fires rage through the American forests during a dry hot seasot, at which time the underwood, decayed vegetable sub- stances, fallen branches, bark, and withered trees are as inflammnble as a total absence of moisture can 104 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. 18 II r* P ■it 0 make them. When these tremendous fires are once m motion, or at least when the flames extend over a few miles of the forest, the surrounding air becomes highly rarefied, and the wind naturally increases to a hurricane. It appears that the woods had been on both sides of the north-west branch partially on fire for some time, but not to an alarming extent, until October 7, when it came on to blow furiously from the north-west, and the inhabitants on the banks of the river were suddenly alarmed by a tremendous roaring in the woods, resembhng the incessant rolling of thunder, while at the same time tlie atmosphere became thickly darkened with smoke. They had scarcely time to ascertain tlie cause of this pheno- menon before all the surrounding woods appeared in one vast blaze, the flames ascending more than a hundred feet above the tops of the loftiest trees, and the fire, hke a gulf in flames, rolling forward with inconceivable celerity. In less than an hour Douglas- town and Newcastle were enveloped in one vast blaze and many of the wretched inhabitants, unable to escape, perished in the midst of this terrible fire.' From the particulars that were ultimately gathered respecting this fire, it turned out that several hundred lives were lost in Newcastle, Douglastown, and Frede- ricton ; tliat nearly all the lumberers engaged in fol lowing their occupation in the woods perished, and in various parts of the country all the cattle were destroyed, the loss of property for a comparatively new country being immense. THE MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN LABOUR. 105 _ Labourers leaving the ' biggest wheat farm in Ame- rica for " lumber workr '-From the descriptions that have been given of the vast destruction of timber in the United States, it might naturally be supposed that the trade of the ' lumberer ' must be on the dechne. Yet according to the very latest reports, up to the time these hnes are being written, the trade IS being phed as briskly as ever, only of course at dis- tances much further afield from the chief American cities. An account appeared in ' The Times ' of October 30, 1879, furnished by a special correspondent, under the heading of the biggest wheat farm in America, upon which it appears customary to discharge nearly all the hands upon the first approach of winter, the said hands readily finding ' lumber work.' We will give a short extract from the letter in question, which contains many interesting particulars. The United States, although famous for great busi- ness undertakings, have not many large wheat-grow- mg farms. Throughout the eastern, middle, and even the north-western states, the ordinary grain-farmer seldom possesses more than 200 acres. But here at Casselton, in Dakota Territory, in the valley of the Ked Elver, is a striking exception— a farm of 75,000 acres held by Mr. Oliver Dalrymple. Four years ago this enormous farm was a portion of the far- reaching prairie wilderness. No evidences of human life were visible. Prairie fowls, snipe, jack rabbits, the prairie squirrel, or gopher, were the inhabitants • while wild ducks and gccse congregated in creeks or 106 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTIXn. III ill ma. shy spots. A few years previously, bufTnloes and badgers were common, and on tlie imtiUed prairie their whitened bones lie thickly strewed. Some of the directors of tlie Nortliern Pacific Eailway had acquired these lands, and wisely appointed Mr. OHver Dalrymple tlieir manager, with a half share in the concern. Mr. Dalrymple brought to his serious task a goodly experience, acquired in successfully farmin- 6,000 acres at Lake Elmo, near St. Paul, Minnesota. " ' On Friday the members of the Royal Commission, Messrs. Read and Pell, your commissioner, and a party under the guidance of Mr. James H. Drake assistant manager of the St. Paul and Sioux Railway Company, were most hospitably received by Mr Dalrymple, were driven for miles over this vast prairie farm ; examined its dark, friable, alluvial soil, perfectly free from stones, varying from 12 inches to 20 inches deep, resting upon an argillaceous clay, rich in vegetable remains ; gatliered information as to the cost of wheat production, and speculated on the performance of continuous wheat-growincr The estate is partitioned into divisions of 5,000 acres' each under the management of a divisional super- intendent, who has under him two foremen, one of whom, on horseback, accompanies his ten or fifteen teams to work, sees to the ploughing or drilling, observes and reports as to the behaviour of the men the condition of the animals, and the eflicacy of the machinery. Each division has two or more sets of buildings, and in connection with the principal mi LARGE AMERICAN FAR.M. 107 lioinestead of each farm are the quarters for the men —large wooden barrack-rooms, sometimes over the stables, comfortably warmed with stoves, where fifty men sleep in busy times, two in a bed. Hard by are the kitchens, each witli the capacity to provide for the wants of 100 men, presided over by the cook and his mate, who, on requisition through the fore- man, draw supphes from the stores— flour for bread, puddings, and cakes, beef, which costs fresh fully M. per lb., pork, bacon, clieese and butter, tea and coffee, and other good things, &c., &c. . . . During harvest and threshing, whicli is done out of the field", as many as 600 men are frequently employed. Even' with this great accession of labourers, work proceeds systematically. No rows occur ; brawhng and fight- mg are extremely rare, but when they do occur, it unfortunately is usually on Sunday. ... So soon as frost prevents ploughing, the whole of the men on the farms are dismissed, witli the exception of the divisional manager and about ten men, who each look after about forty mules or horses, feed and water them, and turn them into a yard for a quarter of an hour's exercise night and morning. Hard as such a wholesale dismissal would be in Great Britain, it is no hardship here, for these men readily find lumber work in the forests. It is obviously an enormous boon thus to get rid of men whom the farmer cannot profitably employ during the five winter months ' &c., &c. • ' We have given these .short extracts from the very 108 ENGLISH TREES AND TUEE-PLANTING. . IS' interesting letter in question, for the purpose of 3l>ow.„g M,at < lumbering . sti,, goes on s Tnt „ in t fe"; '"■■;","" ''"''"' ''^"^^' ^"^ "> *- "-1 w 11 doub less be sent to us from America in the ture, added to the large quantities received fr™, other parts of the world, as France, who sends" her su 1„ „,„ ,,^^^ , ^__^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ u i!.urope, and many other countries which it is ,„,- necessary to specify ; that there is not much chance of ~ful competition by the English wheat-gro ve of the future, and many districts nnght be more profitably dealt with by iudicioux ,.:. i 7 especiaii fruit-trees. vast^::::ro;"frj;'t::' -ported mto England from the Continent, wh ch ""gh JUS. as well be grown in this country profitab y (or winch there ,s an ever-increasing demand, espe- c.a ly for „,any of the finer sorts, the cultivat on of wh,ch .s a good deal neglected ; and in support of „„ argument, as we proceed we shall give an example " two to prove that larger profits have been gah.ed bv planting, fdhng, and mterest of money th™ the rent o the land would have amounted to'ha!! Tb let out for ordinary agricultural purposes. 109 rpose of continu- ow that, eat ,,iat in the 3d from ends us lorth of is un- ance of grower i more anting, being which fitably tables, . espe- ion of of our pie or ed by 1 for 1 the been CHAPTER V. CONIFEROUS TRKKS (continued). TKE eiGANTIO, OR lAMBERTS PINE— THE LOPTt op ^^r.^, STIUBBUBG TraPE»TI»E-cur,lmTIO» OP THE ,LZ Z BILM OF 8IMAD BIMIR „„. '""' ■"■™'' "»-™ m Gigantic, or Lambert's Pine (P. LamberHana).-- Th.8 pme, a native of the north-west coast of North America, was introduced into England i„ 1827 and named after Lambert, the author of a work on' the genus pinm, as a tribute to his labours, is found dispersed over large tracts of country, especially n Northern California, and is a majestic tree of very large proportions, but does not form dense forests like most of the other pines. Douglas, who introduced he ree, measured one that he found prostrate, the length of which was 215 feet, and its circumference, where It would have stood when upright at three feet from the ground, was fifty-seven feet nine inches r Some of the cones of this variety which have been |.nix.rted have been found to measure a foot and a half m length. The plants are quite hardy, and at one year old are capable of sustaining the severest winters Its yearly shoots becoming well matured before win- ter, us girth being very great in proportion to its Iff ii' i «' m ifiiS f- ilk. M 110 ENGLISrr TREES AND TREE- PLANTING. height. The tree bears a considerable resemblance to the spruce fir, and the seeds are eaten when roasted, or pounded into cakes. As its turpentine when partly burned loses its peculiar flavour, and ac- quires a sweetish taste, it is eaten as a substitute for sugar by the natives where the tree is indigenous. The Lofty, or Bhotan Pine (P. Exceka).~^h\H tree is a native of the Himalayan Mountains, and was introduced into England also in the year 1827. The amiable Bishop Heber gives an interesting account of the pines of the Himalayan Mountains in a letter addressed to Lord Grenville, who formed some most valuable fir-plantations at Dropmore, in Buck- inghamshire, upon a spot which at one time was a most desolate and barren heath, that nobleman having given the prelate a commission to search out any new species of pines in India. ' A visit which I paid to these glorious mountains, in November and December last, was unfortunately too much limited by the short time at my disposal, and by the advanced season, to admit of my penetrating flir into their recesses, noi- am I so fortunate as to be able to examine their productions with the eye of a botanist. ' But though the woods are very noble, and the general scenery possesses a degree of magnificence such as I had never before either seen or (I may say) imagined, the species of pine which I was able to distinguish were not numerous. The most common is a tall and stately but brittle fir, in its general -■;« BISHOP HKBER'S LETTER. Ill c-haracter not unlike the Scottisli, but with a more branching liead, which, in some degree, resembles that ot the Italian pine. ' Another, and of less frequent occurrence, is a splendid tree, with gigantic arms, and dark narrow leaves, which is accounted sacred, and chiefly seen in the neighbourhood of ancient Hindoo temples, and which struck my unscientific eye as ver^ nearly resembhng the cedar of Lebanon. These I found flourishing at near 9,000 feet above the level of the sea, and where the frost was as severe at night as is usually met with at the same season in England. But between this, which was the greatest height that r climbed, and the limit of perpetual snow^ there is doubtless ample space for many other species of plants, to some of which a Dropmore winter must be a season of vernal mildness.' The reader will perceive by comparison with the passage further on, where a description of Lebanon is given, that the tree described as resembling very much the cedar, grows in a similar position to that occupied by the latter on Mount Lebanon, or nearly 10,000 feet above the level of the sea, yet below the region of snow, whose annual melting is doubtless the occasion of the massive strength anddurabihiy of the cedars of Lebanon, which have been made use of as similes by the Hebrew prophets, and are renowned in biblical history. The Bhotan pine is a very ornamental and hardy tree when grown in this country, ten-year-old plants Itifj l^i i A h II iiii 112 ENGLISH TRFES AND TREE-PLANTING. being generally twelve feet high, and growing readily from imported seed. The Ileavy-icooded Pine {P. Po7y/erosa). Tliis tree is of a very vigorous liabit of growtii, producinn- leading shoots one inch in diameter when only a few years old that measure about two feet long. Its leaves are thickly set, and are from nine inches to a foot long. It was introduced into England in 1826, and though very apt to receive injury from the wind, is perfectly hardy. There are also a great number of other pine-trees, some dwarf and hardy, and others too tender to be grown without a little artificial aid in England, as the long-leaved Indian pine, which is perliaps the most beautiful of all the genus (P. gernrdiana), a native of Nepaul, with seeds nearly an inch long, and although the plants will endure our '■ inters, the climate seems incapable of developing tliem into full-grown trees ; and also many American pines, as Rigida, Banksiana, Piingen.9, Resinosa, &c., manv of them of great beauty, but too tender and feeble for cultivation as timber trees. Dwarf Pines. — There are also some dwarf pines which bear a somewhat close resemblance to one another, in appearance very much like that of tlie Scotch pine, being natives of high mountains and found in tlie Alps, Pyrenees, and other cold exposures, where they are merely bushy shrubs, but in more sheltered situations acquire the stature of low-growing trees. These are P. sylvestris Mughn, P, S, Pumilio, ^« I I ■ - I i Sl'IfUCE FUIH. 113 win. I ,t.s then, for expose,! .situations, ti.e yearly J cbinous Jiard wood •^mri ;f i, i I'ose yar,etio.,„ay have become dwarfed. Tndtunod ro. a eourse of exposure in ^.peated gen'eratir . ,' hat .t ,a po..ble tl,at. if by „„ i„,erae system, t ,ese tree,, were eult.vated at a lower ultitnde with s.elter her eharaeter would becon.e gradually altere.^^' tl.ey would a.ssuu,e the shape an.l contour of loffe p.ne., I„ the.r present form, that is to say, the plait ™sed from the seeds of tl,e eones of these dwarf're" they arc propagated nierely for ornament, and offer a l.te^.ng variety in conjunetiou with other trees i>pnu-e Fin (/IfeVs).— The firs o,. .„, -hcr.enusofconifL,w,,ic:XZr;p^: . -th„ for,,,, and position of their leaves, as we. .'■" "1 the general ap,,earauce of tl,e trees, the leaves Mngij, uistead of m pairs. Tl.cre are several sjiedes. natives of Europe Asia -.1 An,eru.a, being like the pine, evergreen bt' .-cncally g ow„,g erect, with a profusion of foliage eco,,esben,g pendent, and ripening during tie' jcai the blossoms are produced, m Aoncay Spnu-e {A. «,,*.a),-This is the "-";;;-" '- ;><■ the ge„us that is cultivated •I- l-',^'l"m, and one of the tallest firs indige- I ii 4 f 114 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. nous to Europe. It rises with very uniform growth, and possesses great beauty of form, assuming a coni- cal shape, and, when planted in soil the best fitted for its constitution, retains its branches, and luxuriant foliage at an advanced age, down to the surface of the ground, being known to reacli an altitude of 180 feet, its native habitat being the north of Europe, principally found in Sweden and Norway, Prussia, the north of Germany, and Denmark, and Lapland. The precise period of its introduction into Britain is not exactly known, but it was noticed by Turner in the Hortus Kewerisis in the sixteenth centur) . The timber is inferior to that of the common pine for du- rability, and is often found to be very knotty, but it possesses tlie redeeming quahty, like the larch, of being equally durable at any age. In growing the Norway spruce-fir for ornament, it is essential that it has shelter, as well as sufficient space, for its beauty will not be fully developed unless it is allowed to stand alone ; but when grown in plantations for profit as timber, this is by no means necessary, for the quality of the timber is improved by the trees crowd- ing one another somewliat, when the branches lowest down will become enfeebled, and drop off, pruning never being practised on this species. The tops, or young sprouts, give the flavour to spruce beer, and by incision it yields resin and Burgundy pitcli, wliicli is the congealed sap, melted and clarified by boiling it in water. growth, I a coni- itted for ixiiriant surface altitude lortli of SForway, ,rk, and Britain Lirner in y. The for (hl- , but it irch, of ing the that it beauty iwed to ir profit for the orowd- i lowest iruniug e tops, :er, and , wiiicli boiling THE NORWAY SPRUCE. J 15 CMmlion.~ne tree blosson,, in May and June and the cones become ripe in the winter of the ,"»; year, when they n,ay be collected either th ^ I^ ^pnng, the seeds being extracted in the san^ wav as that escribed for the Scotch pine, the .ne" o^of sowmg them being also the same. After the plants have stood for two seasons in he see -bed, tl^y are generally from seve, T ; ho^d flf ' '"' "" '"'" '' "" '--P'^tation, b„ lould fiom any cause the plant., not appear to be strong, they may be safely allowed to stand for another -.nmer, and then tran.,planted ; for while no o seed-bed. the fibrous roots of the spruce adapt it for t.^es, If alowed to stand so long undisturbed, would have developed a strong tap root, plants being some tnZt 7 ': ""'-'"'• '" ^n^istinc- «::«; lint "™^' ""''°''^ °f '™-p'-^^^^^ The ordinary method is, however, to folhnv this xcellent pracfce, and transplant the .seedlin" il 1 nes for one or two years, for although one y "r old tra,,,,p,a„ted plants are seldom mucirbi Jr th™ when hey ,e t the seed-bed, they are muchl ar IT and the,r roots more fibrous, so that they snflbr les^ from transplantation. The spruce, on account of its form of makin. roots admus of be,ng removed at a greater size th^at I 2 II !i iil if- hi im ii 116 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. otlier tree of the same order, though more seldom transplanted. No amount of frost will liurt the spruce in winter, but yet it will not attain a large size in an exposed situation, though it is extremely useful as a nurse to other trees, on account of its numerous lateral branches, and the great shelter its foliage affords. It derives its support from the surface soil, and though luxuriating in one that is cool and moist, it will grow in a dry, sandy soil, sufficiently well to serve as a protection for other trees during its youth, though it will assume a sickly aspect when it ap- proaches the size of a timber tree. The Black Spruce Fir {A. nigra) The black, white, and red spruces are natives of Nortli America, and nearly resemble in their qualities those of North- ern Europe, the Black Spruce being considered the most durable, being used in America, where neither oak nor larch can be easily obtained, as knees for ship-building. The black spruce was in- troduced into Britain by Bishop Compton in the end of the seventeenth century, and is one of the few trees that has attained to a nearly equal height in England, as it does in its native districts ; luiving reached sixty or seventy feet in this country, fre- quent instances occurring of heights of upwards of fifty feet ; the indigenous forests of great extent that are to be met with in Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the district of Maine, seldom overtopping it. THE T5ANYAN THEE. m It is not, liowever, cultivated in this country for the sake of its timber, but is merely used as an orna- mental tree, being at once hardy, and possessing rich and dense foliage, affording great shelter and seclusion. It likes a moist soil, and under favourable conditions its lateral branches often strike root into the ground, and form a circle of young plants around the parent tree, somewhat after the same manner (only to a lesser degree) as the celebrated banyan tree {Ficus Tndica). This singular tree, belonging to the family of figs, was known to the ancients ; Strabo describ- ing it very naturally, that after the branches have extended themselves about twelve feet horizontally, they shoot down in the direction of the earth, and then root themselves, and when these have attained maturity, they propagate inward in the same manner, till the whole circle becomes, as it were, an umbrage- ous tent, supported by many columns. Pliny also gives a minute description of it, which Milton has very closely followed in the following lines : — Branching so broad along, that in the gi-ound The bending twigs take root, and daughters grow About the mother-tree ; a pillared shade High over-arched, with echoing walks between. There oft the Indian herdsman, shunning heat, Shelters in cool, and tends his pasturing herds. At loop-holes cut through thickest shade. Southey followhig also in the same strain : 'Twas a fair scene wherein they stood, A green and sunny glade amid the wood, 118 ENGLISH TliEES AXD TIIEE-PLANTING. And in the midst an aged Banian grew, It was a goodly sight to see That venerable tree, For o'er the lawn irregularly spread, Fifty straight columns propt itc lofty haad ; And many a long depending shoot. Seeking to strike its root. Straight, like a plummet, grew tov, , I- . ■ ■ gi>ound Some on the lower boughs which crc wav Fixing their bearded fibres, round ana ..und ' ' With many a ring and wild contortion wound ; Some to the passing wind, at times, with sway' Of gentle motion swung ; Others of younger growth, unmoved, were hun<» Like stone-drops from the aivern's fretted heiglit Beneath was smooth and fair to sight. Nor weeds, nor briars defam'd the natural floor • And through the leafy cope which bowered it o'er Came gleams of chequered light. So like a temple did it seem, that there A pious heart's first impulse would be prayer. It may be incidentally remarked here that an in- stance IS recorded of one of these singular trees that stood near Mangee, twenty miles to the westward of ratna, in Bengal, which spread over a diameter of 370 feet, the entire circumference of the shadow at noon being 1,116 feet. The fruit of some of these remarkable trees is very small, not exceediny It, which, hovvevei-, would protect the silver-fir from tlie e/Iects of late fj-osts. On this account it is totally unfitted for bare and rough elevations, for which .the Scotch pine and larch are so well suited, and for such places are most appro- I)nate ; but it grows well with the oak, and they arc oiten associated in plantations togethej-. Its wood is generally of a pale yellow colour, the grain bein<. often very irregular, which arises from the unequal character of its growth at different .stages of its existence. Stmslmrq Turpentine. ~lt yields a good deal of resin, and produces the Strasburg turpentine of c(jm- merce, which owes its name to the large quantity of turpentine which was made a definite trade of, many years ago, m those parts adjacent to that town, wher€> Its preparation used to be extensively carried on. The resinous fluid is obtained from the tuinour-like blistei's which form under the outer bark, and from other parts of the tree, and forms the turpentine that is specially employed in clear varnishes, and for artists' colours. The essential oil of turpentine is another preparation produced from this tree, which is con- sidered very salutary for sprains and bruises, and the resuious juices are manufactured wiUi several articles I rj. occur, on silver-fir i" Miiikiiijf ler trees e injured siJver-fir l)ai-c and wid larcli St ypj)r()- tliey are ' vv(kk1 is in being unequal s of its deal of of coni- mtity of f, many 1, where on. The blistei's n other ' that is ■ ai'tists' another is con- and the articles I f Juvf-T .-^r at Jlosf^n^ath n *Fr] i-»' S^!*;?'^ PltODUOT OF TIIK SILYEIJ Fill. 121 considered to be of great efFicacy in veterinary prac- tice, and medicine. Its produce lias been sold botli in England and America under the name of balmm, or balm of Gilead, which is the product of an entirely different tree. Cultivation of the Silver Fir—The cones become ripe in the beginning of winter, when the scales fall away, which permits of the extraction of the seeds without the aid of artificial heat. The ground should be made fine, and tlie seeds sown in April, after the manner before described, the plants standing from an mch to an incli and a half from each other in the seed-bed, the seeds having been covered with about half an inch depth of soil. The seed varies in quality in different seasons, when they are at their best being full and plump, a larger quantity needing to be used when they are of inferior quality, so as to ensure enough plants in a given space. The young plants generally make their appearance above ground about the end of May, and up to this time the seeds should be well protected from the ravages of birds, and a covering is also necessary as a protection against the late fi-osts, the slightest torch of frost destroying the plants in their early infancy, and this may be ensured by covering the bed with branches of evergreen trees, or broom placed flat on the ground, or by small branches stuck up in the ground pretty thickly, but not so much so as to exclude the air. Some planters use straight straw, whidi they place across the beds, and to prevent it 122 KNOUSII TUEES AND TllEE-PEANTINO. from being blown away they stretch straw ropes across the covering, which they keep in jjosition by pegs stuck into the ground. But even when they have got over their first tender infancy, and .re in their second year, the top shoots of tlie young phmts are quickly destroyed by frost, so that a constant shelter should be provided until the second year's growth is matured, when they should be transplanted into nur- sery lines. Should, however, any of them have been injured by frost, these should be allowed to stand another year in the seed-bed, so as to form fresh tops, which they will do better before they have been dis- turbed, than afterwards. Keeping this contingency in view, the site of the seed-bed should be chosen in a sheltered situation, which is better calculated to produce healthy plants than a sunny one, where growth might be stimulated, it is true, but which a late frost might afterwards cut up. The lines should be twelve inches asunder, and the plants a few inches apart, and, after standing for two summers thus, they should be carefully lifted, and either placed in a permanent, sheltered situation, such as in making good bare places in an already estabhslied plantation, or wood, as before mentioned, or again be replanted into nursery lines, so as to allow them to become of a large size before they are finally estab- lished in their intended positions. A great saving of time is effected by purchasing the plants, instead of raising them from seed, for plants that have been carefully and properly treated seldom exceed a foot in BALM OF QILEAI) HILVKli FIR. 123 height at six years of age, but a counterbalancing element of strength is to be found in their roots, wliich are large and bulky in fioinparison with their tops ; while the diameter of the stems is greater in propor- tion than the height of the plant. The Balm of Gilead Silver Fir {P. halsamea).— This is a hardier tree when young than the preceding, being of early and rapid growth, at the age of five years or so being twice the size of the common variety, and at ten years perhaps being three times Its height ; but this rapid progress appears to cause it to lose its vigour, as it seldom Hves beyond the age of thirty or forty years, which is no great epoch of time in the life of a first-class timber tree. Notwithstanding this, on account of its being able to give immediate ornamental effect, it is a most useful tree ; its fohage being closely set, and, though shorter, more dense than that of the common silver fir, the leaves being of a dark ghstening green on one side, and silvery beneath. In growing, it assumes a pyramidal form, and is a capital tree for shrub- beries, or belts of plantations. It requires a deep, moist soil, and to be well sheltered ; in light gravelly soils that are quickly affected by the droughts of summer, wearing a sickly aspect, and gradually dying off. It was introduced into this country by Bishop Compton towards the end of the seventeenth century from America, the resinous substance which it pro- duces being known in its native country as Balm of lONOLISri TIIEES AND TIIEE-PLANTING. Gilead, or Canadian balsam, a resinous compound whicli it yields more profusely than any other of the tribe of Coniferie, the cones, buds, and bark being often literally smothered in turpentine, which emits a ])enetrating and odoriferous perfume, that runs freely upon the slightest incision of the trunk, the early decay it is subject to, doubtless, in a great measure, resulting from this circumstance. It yields cones abundantly, and is cultivated after the same manner as P. pectinata, or the common silver fir. 125 pound of the being emits runs k, the great after nmon CHAPTER VI. coNiFKRous TREES {continued). THE LARCH — DURABILITY yiP LARCH TIMBKR— CULTIVATION — CASUAL- TIKH AND DISEASES — THE CEDAR — CULTIVATION — THE INDIAN CEDAR — CULTIVATION. The Larch [Larix Ewopcea). — Unlike the rest of the natural order of coniferas (with one other minor exception), the larch is deciduous, and, on account of thus shedding its leaves, it is probably often saved from those ill-consequences that often arise from the keen blasts that frequently prove destructive to pines in early spring ; and after the common pine, the larch is probably the most valuable tree of the tribe. Its native locality is tlie Tyrolese and tlie Dal- matian Alps, and similar })ositions on other mountains in Germany, but has been found to answer uncom- monly well in Britain, where it now takes rank as a tree of the first importance. Gerard, who in 159G published a catalogue of trees of native, and foreign growth, in wliich upwards of a thousand difl'erent varieties were specified, gives an accurate description of the larch, which it appears was introduced into England early in the seventeenth century, a definite account of it being given later by Parkinson, an apothecary of London, in 1620, in his ' Paradisus,' 126 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. I which, although now so common, he describes then as being a rare tree in England. In 1731 it appears to have become common in gardens in this country according to Miller's ' Gardener's Dictionary,' pub- lished in that year ; when its habit, as it clearly appears, was not understood; for in the seventh edition of the ^ Dictionary,' published in 1759 it is there related as a matter for surprise that the trees planted in the worst soil, and the most unlikely situa- tions, had thriven by far the best, great numbers of larch-trees having by that time been planted, and were being reared in the different nurseries of the kingdom. At first it was not understood that rich fertile land, in shaded situations, was not calculated for the larch to put on its best appearance, which requires an open subsoil in an elevated situation, and clear atmosphere ; but from this time its requirements became better known, and appreciated, the best speci- mens ultimately being produced on the slopes of high mountains, contiguous to running streams, in a subsoil offering a ready discharge of moisture. These elements, the most conclusive to its pro- sperity, were offered in various parts of Scotland, where, however, the tree does not appear to have been introduced until 1725, or something Hke a hundred years after its advent in England, first having been planted at Dalwick, in Tweeddale, and afterwards at Dunkeld, Monzie, and Blair, according to the account pubhshed in the ' Transactions of the Highland Society,' under the authority of the DnVe .^r^hlj M .'iu/KA)Ot- I INTllOD'ICTION OF THE LARCH INTO SCOTLAND. 127 of Athol's trustors, which Htates tliat the first larches wore l)rou«rht fioiii London by Mr. Menzies, of Mitrcny, ill 1738, five small plants lacing left at Dmikcld, and eleven at ]31air, in Athol, as presents to the Duke of Athol, although by many who are unacqmiinted with the facets of the case, and its com- paratively recent introduc!tion into Nortli Britain, it is often supposed to be an indigenous tree. It is said, however, that this ])opular account of the introduction of the larch into Scotland as respects the particulars mentioned is not a correct one, and that the tree was nnicli in request during the ten years between 1730 and 1740 by many landowners, who planted it to a small extent, most of whom made the same mistake with it that liad taken place in England, the trees being inserted in soil too richly cultivated for their future success ; and it only began to be planted as a forest tree about the middle of the eighteenth century in Great Britain, its progress, upon the whole, having been lar greater and more uniform than that of any other tree not indigenous to the country. The larch is an elegant object during every stage of its growth, assuming the utmost regularity of form, attaining a symmetrical conical figure, with a straight trunk that acquires massive proportions under the most ftivourable conditions for its growth ; its branches being connnonly horizontal, with a drooping habit. The foliage is of a bright green, and the leaves grow in the form of bundles, except I Hi: 128 ENaLISII TREES AM) TREE-PLANTINO. in the case of the young shoots, where they stand out individually. It is now often found in Scotland associated with the Scotch pine, clothincr the sides of mountains ; its progress as a planted tree having been very rapid and widespread, yielding in many instances massive timber, though in some districts it has proved a comparative foihire ; but this has ai-isen in nearly all cases in elevated districts, from the surfece so^!! having been mainly composed of })eat, which is less adapted for the larch than the Scotch pine. There are some peculiarities in connection with its growth that are especially noteworthy. No amount of cold or frost can injure it during the winter, when it stands divested of its leaves ; but few trees are more susceptible to frosts when clothed with foHage, its leaves, which are remarkably fine and tender, beirig almost the first to be affected by any sudden change in weather. This is particularly noticeable upon the warm slopes of hill-sides which have a southern ex- posure. The sunbeams, which not unfrequeiMJy fling their ]-adiance upon the trees towards the end ol" March, or beginning of April, stimulate the putting forth of leaf, which succeeding frosts injure, or de^ stroy; for sometimes they will not get over such a visitation, and when they do, it is always only after a considerable interval that they will recover. From this cause, no little disappointment has often been occasioned by the planting of larch-trees in such situations, which has arisen from a want of due « LARCH AN EXTIRPATOR OF RANK HERBAGK. 129 knowledge of its habit, and in any situations where it is likely to be brought into early leaf, other trees should always be planted with it which afford a cer- tain amount of protection. As well, also, for the sake of appearance, this will be found good practice, for on account of its deciduous habit it wears a bare aspect throughout a great portion of the year, which the evergreen Scotch pine, when associated with it, neutralises, the latter also growing well with it ; but it answers better, perhaps, when grown with the oak, which draws its support and nourishment from a long distance down in the earth. In exposed situations in North Britain, where the Scotch pine and larch are planted together, it is generally customary to allot 4,000 plants to an acre, from a quarter to half of that number being larch ; but in lower positions 3,000 is commonly thought sufficient, the number being regulated by the suitable- ness of the soil, and the value of the thinnings to the planter, who can intersperse them in the manner he considers will best answer his purpose. The larch is a valuable tree for extirpating furze and rank herbage; and even in those cases where other trees are desired to stand permanently, the larch can be made use of very effectually as a pioneer for other descriptions of timber, by interspersing them closely, even if they have to be cut down afterwards, when they have performed the allotted task assigned to them, the confinement obtained by their presence suppressing the native cover, being of quicker growth K 130 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. when young, than any other coniferous tree ; when planted closely about a yard apart, soon overtopping and suffocating the furze ; and for this purpose two- year-old transplanted plants are used, which are in- serted immediately after the furze is cut down. At the same time it must bi. remarked that, no plantations have suffered so greatly as larch planta- tions from want of space at that precise period when it attains the size of a timber tree, rising from ten to twenty years of age. The leaves, being very minute, present only a small surface to the influence of the atmosphere, from whence a great portion of its su;^tenance must be derived, especially when planted upon flat districts, or level formations ; so that when too much crowded, the leaves are unable to elaborate the sap necessary for the production of timber. The trees, under such conditions, become bark-bound, bare, and stunted ; and here it becomes essential to' draw the necessary distinction, for the thick planting, which is so highly useful during the career of the young tree, arising from the close contiguity of the branches and fohage to the surface of the soil, de- stroys the native herbage, and converts the decaying matter into a manure for the subsequent growth of the timber tree, which is evidenced by the rapid growth of a plantation after it lias suppressed the original surface vegetation, and has been properly thinned. The larch, when planted upon a congenial soil, and in the most appropriate situation for its growth, DUIIAIJILITY OF LARCH TIMBER. 131 has been found to produce a greater quantity of tim- ber than almost any other tree ; and perhaps, from the want of judicious thinning, none has ever suffered so much from overcrowding, as it requires sufficient space in proportion to its growth. By a wise regula- tion of nature, the leaves of a healthy young plant are first developed near to the surface of the ground, and some time before the upper ones are exposed to the 'nfluence of the biting winds which often prevail in the early spring, so that the top does not get de- veloped until its safety is more assured. There are some very fine specimens of the larch to be seen growing in Aberdeenshire, near the well- known mansions of Monymusk, Westhill, Tillyfour, .and other places, some of which stand eighty feet in' height; splendid specimens of both krch and Scotch pine being seen in the neighbourhood of the moun- tain streams which find their way to the Don. There are also some fine specimens to be seen at BalHndal- loch Castle, on the banks of the Spey. Durability of Larch Timber.-From the inquiries that have been instituted upon the subject, it does not appear that the quaUty of larch timber depends so nmch upon the maturity of the tree, and the slow- ness of its growth, as is so decidedly the case in the instance of the Scotch pine ; boats that have been built of larch timber forty years of age having been found to last more than double the time than when built of the best Norway pine, and it appears to be most durable in those instances where it is exposed E 2 132 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. definitely to either earth, air, or water; the preserva- tion of some of the best paintings by the ItaUP. masters, it is said, being attributable to the panels of larch on which they were designed, and many houses in Venice, which have been mainly constructed of larch, show no symptoms of decay, there being single beams, m some of the public buildings and palaces ot Vemce, that measure 120 feet long. It is particularly. useful as agricultural timber in the form of posts, or railings when inserted into the ground, or for railway sleepers and similar uses It IS also well adapted, as before said, for certain build- ing uses, as rafters, lintels, joists, and main timber, though, on account of its propensity to warp, and the' greater difficulty in working it, it is not usually em- ployed for flooring boards, or similar lighter pur- poses, but has been found of great service in ship- building. ^ The bark has been occasionally used for tanning • but as it IS twice the bulk of that of the oak, in pro- portion to its weight, it is seldom profitably manufac- tured, generally selling at half the price of oak-bark The larch produces Venice turpentine, taking its name from the fact of having been first exported from thence, the method of procuring the turpentine being to pierce a full-grown tree with an augur to its centre, the turpentine exuding through the puncture, and conducted by a tube into a trough, where it is received in such pure condition as to need no other preparation to cause it to be suitable for commercial CULTIVATION OF THE LARCH. 133 preserva- e Italipn panels of y houses ucted of ig single palaces mber in into the ses. It n build - timbers, and the ally em- er pur- in ship- mning ; in pro- anufac- k-bark. ing its :porte(l pentine r to its ticture, re it is ) other iiercial purposes than straining through a coarse hair-cloth It 18 said that a healthy tree, thus tapped, will flow from May to September, and yield seven, to eight pounds of turpentine annually for forty, or fifty years The larch is found to flourish and do well upon soils of very opposite qualities, including dry and sandy, as well as that which is wet and clayey; but in the' latter case it is absolutely necessary that the land be drained, or the water pass .off" freely. Where it remains stagnant, or becomes confined in a ferrugi- nous gravel, which is sometimes the case, it then gets stunted and diseased, requiring above all things a free circulation of air, and sufficient space for the full development of its foHage, preferring cool, elevated situations, such as it obtains on the Alps and the Apennines, where it is found luxuriating at a great altitude. Cultivation.—'IYie larch blossoms and the cones ripen in the same year, and in the beginning of win- ter, when the cones are collected, it is of importance that the seed is taken from cones that have come off- healthy and free-growing trees; the method of extracting it safely, and speedily, being to place the cones on a timber-kiln before described, and spread SIX inches deep, the temperature not to exceed 110°. When the cones are made brittle by this drying pro- cess, they should be taken from the kiln while warm, and laid about six inches deep upon a suitable ffoor- mg for the purpose, and threshed to pieces with a flail ; the dust and seed being gathered together as it 134 ENGLISH TREES ANJJ TREE-PLANTINO. accumulates, which renders tlie cleansing process easier ; and this is a better method of extractincr the seed than by means of a mill, as the dust and pLces of cone protect the seeds from injury. After the seeds are threshed out, they should be dressed in a common barn fanner, after which they will be ready to be sown. In the more southern districts of England, about the middle of April is a favourable time for planting the seed, but in the more northern parts of the kincT. dom, the end of that month is early enough. ° The ground should be well pulverised, and the seed-beds should be formed upon soil that has been well manured the season previous ; but if not suffi- ciently rich for the purpose, and more manure is ne- cessary, well rotted dung should be used. The beds should be formed four feet in width, and smoothly raked, and the seeds covered with quarter of an inch depth of soil. One pound of seed is about a sufficient quantity for four lineal yards, and it should be well protected from the ravages of birds, until the plants have been a fortnight above ground, generally makincr their appearance in about a fortnight, or three weeks after the seed has been sown. Choice should be made of land that is free from the presence of the grub worm, which is often destructive to larch • and the beds should be carefully weeded during the sea- son, the young plants finishing their first year's growth by the end of September, when they will be from four to seven inches hiah }. [n'ocess cting the id pieces k-fter tlie set! in a >e ready 1, about planting !ie kinjj- iiid the as been ot suffi- 'e is ne- he beds loothly m inch ifficient be well plants naking weeks lid be of the ; and e sea- year's nil be li.UJCir I'l.ANTS. 135 11" tlie plantH have come up thickly, they should be thinned out during the ensuing winter, or spring, the ground being carefully loosened with a fork, and those taken up planted in nursery lines, in beds made for their reception, standing in the rows fifteen inches apart, and the plants a few inches asunder. So dis- posed of, both lots when they have thus stood for another year, being fit to be planted out in moorland, the undisturbed ones becoming two-year-old seed- lings, and those transplanted, one-year-old transplanted plants. Larch plants should never be allowed to stand in the seed-bed longer than two years undis- turbed. When strong plants are wanted to extirpate furze, or suppress any description of rank herbage, they should be allowed to stand for two years in nur- sery lines, where they will have commonly attained a height of from two to two-and-a-half feet, and be of an adequate strength for the toughest description of forest ground. The two-year-old seedlings, after being transplanted into nursery lines for two years, will generally be three feet high; but beyond this age and size, the tree does not appear to be adapted for successful removal ; and, although a deciduous plant, no other seems so capable of effectually subduing any coarse, rough herbage which it may be thought ne- cessary to extirpate ; and by the aid of larch-trees unprofitable land may be made to become ultimately of a good, serviceable description, from the constant dropping of the leaves, and the gradual formation of a vegetable surface. Wi't 136 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. When planted in situations the most favourable to their growth, larch-trees will often attain an altitude of forty feet in twenty years, though a height of thirty feet is the more common average. ^ Casualties and Diseases — The rot, atmospheric blight, and other casualties and diseases, sometimes visit the larch; an insect called Coccus Laricis having at times been very destructive in larch planta- tions, being rarely met with upon strong trees of vigorous growth, but chiefly infesting confined woods and low situations, where humidity of atmosphere prevails to a great extent, being most destructive in wet seasons, its ravages being very fatal in periods when late frosts occur in spring ; and in wet and cloudy seasons ; as before said, the tree requiring a clear, cool atmosphere. Those which have been visited to a great extent by this insect never advance m growth, the sap appearing to escape through numerous perforations, and the tree acquii-es a kind of black coating, which in some degree resembles the effect of smoke, the top shoots of such affected trees being invariably short and feeble. But when there is free circulation of air, and the trees stand well apart, and in those plantations not exclusively composed of larch, the coccus is least injurious. About the end of July, or beginning of August, an atmospheric bhglit has at times visited larcli planta- tions with great severity, blasting the foliage, gnd giving it a ripened appearance, n:^stly affecting the DISEASES OF TII1<: LARCH. 137 m oldest leaves, ciiid only slightly touching the more recently expanded ones, except in very pronounced cases, its effects often being wrongly attributed to frost. The rot in the larch is a disease which appears to originate in the root, and work its way upwards, causing the trunk to become hollow, but is not always confined to the trunk, and has been observed to pre- vail most on those sites which have been previously occupied by timber, it being surmised that the decay- ing roots, and the fungus which forms wl^ ore timber has been felled, tend to injure the roots of the growing trees; even manure being found to be injurious to the larch ; but a wet subsoil is doubtless the frequent occasion of rot in the larch, which to a certain extent must be ranked witli the class of Enghsh trees as elms and poplars, which have a natural tendency to get diseased in the trunk, and in those situations which cannot be considered as favourable ones for the growth of the larch, other kinds of trees sliould be chosen in preference. Canker visits it also when grown in wet situa- tions, and it has been noticed to be prevalent when planted after corn. Portions of the tree decay, and a black substance issues from the affected part, its whole growth becoming distui l^ed, and irregular, there being apparently no method of treatment that will effect a cure ; all that can be done being to avoid planting the tree under unfavouraole conditions, such as allowing larch to follow after Scotch pine, wlien it H-'-lw 1 ] J58 EXGLISrr TUEKS A\I) Th'EK-I'LANTIXG. fl. n ill ulinost .nvuriabJy becomes unsound ; ir. all pr()l)u- bihty, as before stated, owing to the <'oad roots coming mto contact with the living ones, and so com- mnmcatmg the principle of decay through means ol infection from the fungoid growth of the old Scotch pine roots, and thougli larch is often planted after that tree, the practice is undoubtedly a bad one. The Cedar {Cedrus Ubanl, or Abie,^ Cedras).—ThQ mlar of Lebanon, thougli c;omnionly met with in il^ngland as an ornamental tree, and attaining a very iarge size in this country, has unfortunately never oeen planted in any great numbers as a timber tree the comparative slowness of its growth beincr J good deal against it, though at Lord Carnarvon's"; at Highclere, they have been grown with remarkable rapidity, and the cedars which were planted in the Royal Garden at Chelsea, in 1683, in two cases had in eighty-three years acquired at two feet from the ground a circumference of more than twelve feet their branches extending over a circumference of about 120 feet. A cedar-tree planted by Dr. Uvedale, in the war- den of tlie Manor-house at Enfield, about the middle of the seventeenth century, is recorded to have hpd a girth of fourteen feet in 1789, about eight feet of the top having been blown off during a hurricane which visited the district in 1703 ; while at Whitton, near Hounslow,a very fine specimen was blown down in 1779. Its height was seventy feet, the branches covering an area of 100 feet in diameter, the trunk LARGE CEU.VIl TREKS. 139 being sixteen feet in c-ii'cunii"erence at a Jieiglit of seven feet from the ground, there being about ten principal brandies whose average circumference was twelve feet. There seems to have been a great deal of obscurity as to the date when this tree was planted, some historians attributing it to the reign of Elizabeth, and indeed by her own hand, the common assumption of tlie introduction of the cedar into England being that, it took place about tlie middle of the seventeenth century. There are many large trees of very considerable dimensions to be met with in various parts of the kingdom, one at H'Uingdon, near Uxbridge, when at the supposed age of 116 years measuring 53 feet in height, the spread of its branches being 96 feet from east to west, and 89 from north to south, the circum- ference of the trunk close to the ground being 13-1 feet, and at 7 feet from the ground 12^ feet, and at 13 feet, just under the spread of the branches, it was 15 feet 8 inches. Two trees used to stand, if not standing now, at Claremont, and Stratlifieldsaye, re- spectively, the former 100 foot higli, with a trunk 5 feet 6 inches in diameter, and the latter with a bole 108 feet in height, and a head 74 feet in diameter; while at Sion House one measured at the same time 72 feet in heiglit, with a trunk 8 feet in diameter at a yard from tlie ground, tlie head being 117 feet in diameter. The growtli of two cedar trees planted with otliers at H()])eton House, near Edinburgli, in 1748, Avere I i 14l» ENGLISH TREES AND TKEE-PLAISTING. chromclec, a. follows i„ the different epochs speci- Themcrease of each being as follows .— In 1820 First cedar Second cedar 182d 1833 R. in. 10 0 8 6 1848 ft. 16 12 lu. 1 3 ft. ill. 17 14 2 H Ihe cedar IS indigenous to Mount Lebanon in Syria and to Mount Atlas in the north of Africa, and a few analagous districts, but is found in much smaller numbers t an formerly was the case, the exampL of So omen . four score thousand hewers having been mitated to a considerable extent by other hewers of < later generation the number of men employed '" 'h«. Procuring of timber for the temple givin! a good Idea of what must have been the xtem o^tlie original cedar forest of Lebanon tiee of the conifera;, assuming a grand and pic- uresque form. The durabihty of its timber hi I.een a matter of notoriety for ages, the ships of Sesostns the Egyptian conqueror,'havii,g be „' de cnbed by ancient writers as being made of cedar ^mber one of them being 280 cubits long; a u , difficulty has occurred with some modern liters al 0 the exact identification of the cedar in some o the instances recorded, there being other trees," iC IMPOSLNG APPEARANCE OF THE CEDAR. 141 speci- Ft. in. 10 0 8 6 t as the wliite cedar, or cypress, and the red, which is juniper, grown in this country. The timber is soft, and anything but durable ; but, as mentioned before, the manner of its growth is so entirely different to those raised in its native habitat, that the wood has become vastly deteriorated, tjie tree requiring to be, at its best, in a somewhat peculiar and speciafsituation, such an one as that of Mount Lebanon, where the heats of summer melt the snows annually, which have a peculiar influence upon the growth of cedars placed at a high altitude, in a clear and bracing atmosphere, and which produced the timber of biblical times; the degenerate trees which are raised in Britain in the same way, described as being the case with the Scotch pine, having become greatly dete- riorated in point of hardness, and durability, from their original state. When allowed sufficient space, the tree is more remarkable for the size of its trunk,' and the remarkable expansion of its branches, than for its height; its appearance impressing the be- holder with a vague sense of its comparative immor- tahty, there being a firmness, and stabihty of the trunk, and the manner in which it lays liold of the ground, that heightens this impression. The description given by the prophet Ezekiel— who was a close observer of natural objects—of the cedar of Lebanon is very correct. 'Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and of an high stature ; and his top was among the thick boughs. Hi« boughs were multiplied, and his 142 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. brancl.es became long. The fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not hke his branches • nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in' his beauty '__the cedar of Lebanon being often used by the Hebrew prophets as a type to illustrate the stead- fastness and spiritual condition of the righteous its elegance and grandeur being often extolled by them The celebrated cedars of Lebanon have now nearly all disappeared, and there are now, doubtless more cedar-trees to be found in England than are' contamed in the whole of Syria at the present time An Arabian poet describes Lcl^anon as bearing winter on its head, spring upon his slioulders, and autumn in his oo.om, while summer hes sleeping at bis feet ; and it is at the bottoms of the highest peaks of the mountain that the cedars were found-a situa- tion, doubtless, from concomitant circumstances more than usually favourable for the growth of the trees which were doubtless sustained by the melting snows' at the hottest season of the year, by which their power and vitality must have been greatly augmented • and as the nature of the tree would remain the same' a similar position would be necessary to secure an equally favourable development as regards durability and quality of timber-essentials somewhat difficult oi attainment. The cedar is said sometimes not to yield cones before it reaches the age of 100 years, there seldom being any produced before it has attained forty years an Iff- 1' ■i Ml I ANCIENT YEW-TREES. 153 age and dimensions, in eacli of the three kingdoms, and it is a matter of regret with levers of ancient trees, these old relics of the past are Uterally criimb- hng away, without having their places occupied by natural successors, which one would wish to be the case, many interesting particulars being recorded of these venerable trees. Tlie ' Edinburgh Philosophical Journal ' for 1833 gives a description of the Fortingal yew in Scr land, which stands in a churchyard, in the vicinity of a small Eoman camp, in a remote situation, in a romantic district, at the entrance to Glen Lyon in Perthshire. ' The side of the trunk now existing gives a diameter of more than fifteen feet, so that it is^'easy to conceive that the circumference of the trunk, when entire, should have exceeded fifty feet. Happily, further depredations have been prevented by means of an iron rail which now surrounds the sacred spot ; and this venerable tree, which in all probabihty was a flourishing tree at the commence- ment of the Christian era, may yet survive for centuries to come.' Pennant also describes the same tree. The yew-trees which now remain standing in Scotland and Ireland of great age are very few, that at Mucruss Abbey, in the latter, having a trunk about SIX feet and a half in circumference, being fourteen feet high, terminaCuig in a head that fills the area of the cloisters. The old yew-tree at Fountains Abbey, in Yorkshire, ' i5?s-<4i"?Si--„„-ary.„li,,,VH„li„.il.|, ,n,«l,.Hl,,„lH "■ ■':''^' ""''^'"H ''-•"' .....I.'.' »...■! .„lifi„nH, n„,l ..-.......,.' 11.,. ,l,.„|,„,,, ,,,, .„,.,,„, ,„. ^^,| .^.|^ ^1^^^ I'l....' .y..!...!.!,. „r ,v,.,„in,,. -in,. ,1,,. win..,.,, it " "*»"»''"Plil'l".„ !■,.„»,, wliil,. Ii,,. r„n,m(i,.„ „i-TN Ki-,„v|.|, ,„ .,„r,f; „„ ,|„,i„fr U„. ..„,iv ,„„.,, „r ,1,, „,„, ...... \Vl,..i, ,s,„.,..„„„|..,i, „„| „v,.,.i,„„j; |,y tall,, •I'.'" . "..V "M.,M-i,v,.,„n.i„„,i,i« „,,,„„„, ,„„,,;, ,^^i: v.mt.,,v„„»|y „„„|, „„ „, „, ^, ,.^,^,,,,, ^.^^, . ^ M..' l,..-.u„l„,„ „r ,,l«,s,„....(.,-,„M„i l„„„u|a,.i,,, or io, ».J.'on lo„,.o.s : il„ ,i,|„,„, ,„. i,^ ,|„„|, ^.^.^.^,^_ ^.^|. ^^^^_ ""'■.■.".« a„ ,„l,„in,l,l.. ,.,„,„-„st witi, ,„|,„ „,.,.., osiK.- -•.ally ,luri„,. ,i„ „.i„„.,. .„..,«,„, ,„„1 wl„.„ , .lip,,,,! a« « l."l.;v, .1 u,-.,ws ..„ ,.,„„|,a,.,iy tl„., ,vc.„ ,1,0 .s,„„lK,,t hmh ,.a„„„i v,.,y ,.,a,liiy |i,„l ,, pa,,,,;., ll„-o„..|, it As an ,„.,ia„ic.„tal l,-o.. i„ a ,.,,1,1 ,.|im;,t,.,'it is ., vei-y „.s,|„l „„e ,.„, ,|„ ,^,^^.,,^ ^^^, ^_|^,^^^^^^^^ ^^^_ ^^^^^^ ^fW^^.^ '^^^W^' I'OISONOUS NaTUUK ok YKW Si'J{AV. 157 ftssuhn ' til slia|)(' of u coiiiciil 1)uhIi in early life. IK tlur Hiill'criiijr frtm intense i'vuni, or bein«r uHected 1)} i(»ii^'li winds. The \n'rrio» of tlie yew-tree arc nil. ,1 relished by .sn.^ri j.ii^. j^^ ^]^,^^^^, Mhii^c ndordn theni the best pt .ibh> Hhelter. Poisf„iou.s Niiturc. of the Yem Sjirai/.— The elij)- l)injrs of yew (vs when eaten by cattle, and horses, are poisonous. Frerpient cases have ocuturred of the yow spray dr()ppin iipj)in- character, furnishing landscape ornaments which give shade, shelter, and seclusion, in a manner which may be said to be peculiar to England. In many foreign countries, especially upon the continent of America, large and handsome trees may be seen growing in masses, sometimes with very large trunks ; but rising in close-filled woods, they are bare and destitute of that embowering character, and um- brageous roofing, as it were, that the great spread- ing boughs, and diffusive spray of our native trees furnish. Dotted upon park-hke meadows, standing in hedgerows, or half obscuring some picturesque vil- lage, these stately ornaments of our rural scenery have comparatively short boles, which are almost hidden by the roaming branches, and clustering foliage, upon which the eye rests so complacently, u 2 "^^■■■BPiaii 164 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. and is so satisfied with the verdant garniture displayed in ' leafy June ' and at other seasons. In some of the aboriginal forests of the American continent, and also in Africa, sylvan giants, it is true may be seen, whose boles tower towards tlie sky ; but they bear no resemblance to English trees, growin.r upwards destitute of those spreading branches which distinguish the outlines of our own, which form in many cases successive tiers, or galleries of leafy de- coration, and alternate masses of light and shade, which, in the case of the beech-tree, has been de- scribed during summer time as a 'great hill of leaves ; ' while the ash bows in a graceful, and stately manner to the gale, decorated with its easy flowing spray, which often hangs in loose, pendulous masses that are' easily stirred by the passing breeze. Broad-leaved timber trees generally prefer a good quality of land, with only a few exceptions, not thriv- ing in cold, elevated situations, or being able to endure a rigorous climate ; neither hking adry, sandy soil, in which the Scotch pine, or pineaster would flourish, nor succeeding in low situations that are surcharged with moisture, in which trees of the willow tribe put on all the verdant beauty of which they are capable ; but requiring a moderately rich soil, and fairly shel- tered position that does not lie too low. An oak is a noble landscape ornament in a proper situation fit for its growth, and it is often regarded as the national tree, symbolical of steadfastness, a type of massiveness and strength ; but in a cold, and exposed THE OAK. 165 situation, or in a damp, and low one, it becomes alike dwarfed, and stunted, while in situations the best suited to them, oaks may be found growing in England that measure eighty-five feet in height, with trunks twelve, or thirteen feet in circumference at a foot from the ground. The broad-leaved trees may be con- sidered, roughly, to include the oak, ash, beech, elm, sycamore, hornbeam, locust, plane, Spanish chesnut, birch, and walnut, which all succeed well in average agricultural land throughout the country. The Oak [Querciis). — The oak, which is generally considered the foremost amongst English trees, belongs to the natural iamWy amentacece ; Moncccia polyandria of Linnaeus, and is considered a valuable tree in all quarters of the world, from the remotest antiquity being reckoned pre-eminent, on account of its great size, noble aspect, and long duration, qualities which have earned for it the title of 'monarch of the woods.' It was considered sacred by the ancient Greeks and Romans, as well as by the Gauls and Britons, being dedicated by the Romans to Jupiter, the pea- santry crowning their heads with wreaths of oak- leaves before commencing their harvests ; while the solemn ceremonies of the Druids were enacted be- neath its broad -spreading branches, cutting the mis- letoe from off its trunk being associated with one of their most mysterious, and sacred rites, in proximity to rude temples, at times formed of huge stones of enormou. weight and size, some of which are now I 166 ENGLISH TREES AxND TREE-PLANTING. Standing, and puzzle modern beholders to discover by what mechanical agency these enormous stones, stuck up endways, with another of great size placed across their tops, could ever have been raised into the position they now occupy ; one of the most curious of these, perhaps, unlike those of Stonehenge, being a solitary specimen, standing near Maidstone, called Kits Cotty House. < The oak lives to a great age, and possesses such strong vitahty that, it continues to vegetate after the core has decayed, and disappeared, leaving merely a husk of timber outside, but having strength enough, even at such an advanced age, to produce both leaves and acorns. Ancient 0«/:5.— Gilpin, in his 'Forest Scenery,' says that, there are a few venerable oaks in the New Forest that chronicle upon their furrowed trunks ages before the Conquest ; but the more accurate Evelyn counted in the same place, in the sections of some oak trees, 300 and 400 concentric rings, or layers, which each record a year's growth. The most celebrated of these venerable trees was perhaps the Winfarthing Oak in Norfolk, reputed to have been called the ' old oak ' during the reign of WilUam the Conqueror, and was said some years back to be 1,500 years old, a plate being attached to the tree bearing this inscription and date:—' This oak in circumference, at the extremity of the roots, is 70 feet, in the middle, 40 feet.— 1820.' The Kiw/s Oak in Windsor Forest is represented discover IS stones, ze placed lised into st curious ge, being tie, called 3ses such after the merely a . enough, th leaves Scenery,' the New nks ages 3 Evelyn some oak 's, which rees was puted to reign of le years iched to :— 'This e roots, resented m ANCIENT OAKS. 167 M^ N ^ as having been a favourite tree of William the Con- queror, and hence its name, being the largest, and old- est in the forest, and reputed to be upwards of 1,000 years old, measuring, some twenty years or so back, twenty-six feet in circumference at three feet from the ground. Another out of the number of ancient oaks that are celebrated, also bearing the name of the King's Oak, that stood in Bennington Park, had a longer bole than ordinarily, and ran up to fifty feet before a knot or bough appeared, the base squaring five ^.et entirely solid ; while the Queen's Oak was forty feet, and then branched out into two enormous arms, the base squaring to four feet. Bennington Park, near Newbury, was once the residence of Chaucer, and an oak, said to be planted by the poet, and called Chaucer's Oak, was a stately tree, there being others well evidenced to be of a greater age than three hun- dred years, which may be easily enough believed, though Gilpin's statement as to the enormous age of oak-trees is not founded upon any incontestable proof, and is therefore open to considerable doubt. Another oak in Holt Forest, in Hampshire, which was measured in 1759, was found to be thirty-four feet in circumference at seven feet from the ground, but twenty years afterwards its circumference had not increased a single inch. An oak felled at Norbury, on the authority of Dr. Plott, is stated to have been of the enormous cir- cumference of forty-five feet, so that, when it was 11 168 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. Ij-ing prostrate upon the ground, two horsemen on e ther s:de of the trunk were concealed from the view ■ ofeachothe.. He also mentions an oak at Keicot beneath the shade of which 4,374 men had sufficient room to stand upright, from the computation of cubical space beneath the spread of its branches Park^ta'rfv ""T ' '' " ^'''"' '""'' ™ fagot's Park, Staffordshire, there is an immense oak, twenty- eight feet in circumference at five feet from the ground, the branches extending forty-eight feet from the trunk m every direction. ' It contains 877 cubical ^.et of timber, which, including the bark, would have produced, according to a price offered for it in 1812 the sum of 202/. 14., 9d. This tree is quite fre h vigorous and beautiful.' But by far the largest ™m that was ever reahzed by one tree was in the mstance of the Gelonas Oak, which has often been mentioned by different writers as standing a few mile, ■^Newport in Monmouthshire, that ^as felled t 18 0. According to the 'Gentleman's Magazine 'for 1817, It IS said to have been sold while standing, in he first place for 100 guineas, under the belief f^t for 40./. ,0 :.nother speculator. The expense of con verung the tree into timber was 82/., making i„ all 487/., and subsequently it was sold again for 675/ It IS said to have contained 2,426 feet of cubical tim- ber, us bark being estimated to weigh six tons m^torieal Oaks-Most EngUsh counties possess historical trees, that have been associated wi'h im HISTORICAL OAKS. 169 portant events, thougli, doubtless, a good deal of the fabulous is connected with them. About a century ago the oak in the New Forest, against which the arrow of Sir William Tyrrel is said to have glanced before it inflicted the mortal wound upon William Eufus, was described as still standing, though in such a state of decay that. Lord Delaware caused a monu- ment to be erected to mark the spot. An oak was standing some years ago, if it no longer remains, at Torwood Wood, in Stirhngshire, beneath the shade of which William Wallace is reputed to have assembled his followers and urged them to deliver their country from the tight grip of Edward ; while Gilpin, who leans to the marvellous, speaks of Alfred's Oak at Oxford, which was a saphng when that monarch founded the university. There are, however, abun- dant well-authenticated records of trees that have attained a vast age, without the necessity of pinning our faith to anything that savours of the fabulous. The Parliament Oak in Chpstone Park, the property of the Duke of Portland, is said to have derived its name from the fact that u Parhament was held under it by Edward I. in 1290, the girth of the trunk being twenty-eight and a half feet. The park was formed before the Conquest, and Avas seized by WiUiam, who made it a royal demesne. The Shelton Oak near Shrewsbury is associated with Owen Glendower, who upon June 8, 1403, mounted it, that he might obtain a better view of the battle of Shrewsbury, then being waged, on his arrival near the scene of action, with no ENGLISH TKEES AND TREE-PLANTING, 12,000 men, its girth being about twenty-six feet at four and a half feet high. -^ leet at 1^. Hunter describes the great Cawthorp Oak wh.ch stood near the village church of Cawthorp,' near We.herby, in Yorkshire, in his Notes to 'Eve 'yns Sylva,;a3 it stood in 1776. 'The dimensions are almost mcredible. Within three feet of the sur- face It measures sixteen yards, and close by the ground twenty-six yards, or seventy-eight feet Its height m Its present ruinous state is almost eighty- five feet, and its principal hmb extends sixteen yards from the bole. Throughout the whole tree ^e fohage IS extremely thin, so that the anatomy of the ancent branches may be distinct!, seen in the height of summer When compared with this, all other trees are but children of the forest.' Fifty-three years afterwards, namely in 1829, it was again de- scnbed m Strutfs 'Sylva Britannica,' by the Eev. Thomas Jessop. 'The Cawthorp Oak is still in exi,,t- ence, hough very much decayed. At present it abounds wth foliage and acorns; the latter have long sta ks, the leaves short ones. The dimensions are as follows : Height, forty-five feet ; circumference close to the ground, not including the angles, sixty feet-at one yard high, forty-flve feet; extent of prin cpal branch, fifty feet, being an increase of two feet .n about half a century. I am inclined to think 'Xlvr^'Th Tr"" """^ *"^ ^'^«» '» 'he sn! <• ,1 ""' P'''°"' '" ""= neighbourhood apeaK of the t^ee as having been once much higher- OAK-APPLE DAY. 171 and were the angles included in the measurement which project from the lower trunk, the circumfer- ence might be made out twenty-six yards. It is said by the inhabitants of the village that, seventy persons at one time got within the hollow of the trunk ; but on inquiring, I found many of these were children, and as the tree is hollow throughout to the top, I suppose they sat on each other's shoulders; yet, without exaggeration, I beheve the hollow capable of containing forty men.' The Boddington Oak^ in the Vale of Gloucester, was recorded about the year 1850 to be fifty-four feet in circumference at its base. In 1783 the larger branches had gone, but the hollow cavity in its centre mea- sured sixteen feet at its greatest diameter, the top being formed into a regular dome, while the young twigs on the decayed top had small leaves about the size of those of the hawthorn tree, bearing an abun- dant crop of acorns. The hollow spaces had a door and one window, which with a little labour might have been converted into a very commodious room. Although not so large a tree as the preceding, the Fairlop Oak^'m. Essex — to which it was custoparyfor Londoners residing in Whitechapel, Mile End, and other eastern portions of the metropolis, on Oak- Apple Day to make special trips, or outings, as they are termed by them — was of very great size, being between six and seven feet in diameter at a yard high from the ground ; and the Corporation of London, who have lately been instrumental in preserving Eppino- 172 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. Forest from the encroachments of neighbouring land owners, and retaining it for the use, a°nd recreati n „f What they have done. Like the Jioddinnto,, Oat which was hollow in the centre, Ba.ror/sOak t Dorsetshire, had a cavity which measured Lteen fe t long, and twenty feet high, and at the time of the hoZT^r " "" """^ ^^ - °'^ -» as an at house for tlie entertainment of travellers. Beport does not say whether he had a license, or paid ra e riS 'T'' tT"''""' '' <^esc'ribias be ; . maes2 ^ '"'"^'"' ^'°™ «'-«-ed thi: majestic tree, and m 1755 the last remains and vestiges of it were sold for firewood The7 T, Oak, m Nottinghamshire, in 1724, had a roadway out hroug , ,ts trunk sufficiently wide to allow a ca:^^ of thl ru'n r *™"^'' "' '''^ eircumferenfe h ii of 1 Tf -"^ ""'' '""=" ""'y-«™ f-'' the ence of the trunk about the middle upwards of six Many of these historical old trees are now gradu- which Charles II. concealed himself after the defeat at Worcester, has gone; and though several tree were raised subsequently from its acorn,, which e tain loyal subjects collected, even these s;em to havj become ost m obscurity, and no trace of them is lo of chelated :,^T '""'^'^ "^"^ »- >-- of celebrated old oak-trees ' full of story, and haunted SOIL SUITABLE FOR THE OAK. 173 by the recollections of the great spirits of past ages,' but we have quoted sufficient for our purpose to illustrate the great age, and durability of the ' mon- arch of the woods;' and the compunction of the spendthrift in later hfe whose folHes during his incon- siderate youth compelled him to fell his ' ancestral oaks ' to meet his pressing necessities, may well be imagined. Soil sidtahk for the Oak. — The oak, when asso- ciated with other trees growing upon rich soil in sheltered valleys, becomes a tall tree, with a straight trunk ; assuming a dwarf, and bushy habit in exposed situations, but its natural growth can only be esti- mated when grown alone, under the most favourable conditions, where the roots form a spreading basis on the surface of the ground, which is thus grasped* as a sure, and firm foundation, the trunk assuming propor- tions of massive compactness, bearing ponderous, horizontal limbs, the roots perhaps penetrating to a further distance than those of any other tree. On this account its health, and continued prosperity must naturally, in a great measure, depend upon the nature of the subsoil, a strong deep soil elevated a considerable distance above stagnant water being re- quired ; but yet it will grow fairly well upon sandy, or gravelly land, more especially when it is mixed with a certain amoimt of clayey particles, often suc- ceeding very well upon soils of opposite qualities, that are too poor to produce either elm, or ash, which will be accounted for .n this dependence of the oak more 174 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. upon the under stratification of the land, than the upper surface. The tree, breaking out into leaf late in the season IS yet often injured by frosts before they take their final departure; and when forming oak plantations, it has been found prudent to associate them with other faster growing trees, to serve as nurses, or shelter, as beech, larch, Scotch pine, or spruce fir. In exposed situat,o„s, with thi» shelter, the young trees soon take firm hold of the soil, and do not suffer from the con- finement, until the time comes round to reUeve them of their neighbours as soon as they have performed the,r allotted tasks, after which the young trees often advance very rapidly, and often produce both sum- mer and autumn shoots, these Lammas growths t^e'oa'k*"'"""" ''""'*' "' '"""'' ^''"^ !"'="""•■ t" While thus standing in plantations, or surrounded by other trees during the early stages of its growth It IS generaUy erect, and pKant ; but when a greater space IS allotted to it, its growth and habit begin to alter; and before its top reaches its full height, which ^"11 depend in a great measure both upon the amount of exposure, and the quahty of the soil, its outline W.U become bolder, and more in accordance with its well-known characteristics, it« gnarled hmbs being firmly knit together, assuming various ramifications! and bold outlines, that it never would have attained It It had continued crowded. Cultivation.^The acorns become ripe and drop DISTINCT SPECIES. 176 from the tree about the end of autumn, and they may be sown any time from thence up to the begin- nmg of March. A difference in the manner in which the acorns grow on some oak-trees has been pointed out by a writer in the ' Quarterly Review,' which he attributes to the substitution of a foreign species of oak (but which may be rather looked upon as a variety). He says : ' We may here notice a fact long known to botanists, but of which our planters and purveyors of timber appear to have had no suspicion, that there are two distinct species of the oak in Eng- land, the Qicercm rohur and the Quercus sessilifiora ; the former of which affords a close-grained, firm,' sohd timber, rarely subject to rot ; the other more loose and sappy, very hable to rot, and not half so durable. This difference was noticed so early as the time of Ray ; and Martin, in his ' Flora Rustica,' and Sir James Smith, in his 'Flora Britannica,' have added their testimonies to the fact. The second species is supposed to have been introduced some two or three years ago from the Continent, where the oaks are chiefly of this latter species, especially in the German forests, the timber of which is known to be very worthless. But what is of more importance to us is that, de facto, the impostor abounds, and is propa- gated vigorously in the New Forest and other parts of Hampshire, in Norfolk, and the northern counties, and about London ; and there is too much reason to believe that, the numerous complaints that were heard about our ships being infected with what was 176 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. caUed, improperly enough, dry rot, were owing to the introduction of this species of oak into the nival dockyards, where, we understand, the distinction was not even suspected. It may thus be discriminated from the true old Enghsh oak : the acorn-stalks of the robur are long and its leaves ^Aorjf ; whereas the sessilifiora has the acorn-stalks short and the leaves long. The acorns of the former grow singly, or seldom two on the same foot-stalk— those of 'the latter in clusters of two or three, close to the stem of the branch. We believe the Eussian ships of the Baltic, that are not of larch, or fir, are built of this species of oak ; but if this were not the case, their exposure on the stocks, without cover, to the heat of summer, which, though short, is excessive, and the rifts and chinks, which fill up with ice and snow in the long winter, are enough to destroy the stoutest oak, and quite sufficient to account for their short- lived duration.' That trees deteriorate we have abundantly shown in the foregomg pages, and we have made this slight digression in order to lay before the reader the opinion expressed therein, with the view of showing the necessity of having good rehable seed. As the smallest acorns bring plants that for some years con- tinue to be of feeble growth, it will be found the best course, as acorns are generally plentiful enough, to sift them through a riddle, and separate the large- sized ones from the small, and use only the former. They should be sown in beds four feet wide, and to CULTIVATION OF THE OAK. 177 rolled ov beaten down upon them with the back of a spade to keep them in position, one bushel of acor,. bcng sufficient for a bed twenty-five feet lonJ beds, fifteen inches wide, the at,rface-soil from these alleys bemg removed to make a cover for the acorns which in hght soil should be nearly an inch i,X2 but in heavy soil, half an inch wiil be found a suffi-' cient covering. should be sprcaa roughly, but at the same time th^ seed must e properly, and thoroughly covered, anc be left m this rough state until April, when it should be made smooth in fine weather, and carefully raked The p„ Ivensing effects of the frosts will then have been duly exerted, and the seeds of weeds will have vegetated which can be effectually dealt with by Z ke, and early in May, the oak plants will Ihow th mselves above ground through the surface, which has been made soft, and through which thL ,1 emerge without difliculty. ^ "'"^ '"'" As late frosts often prove very injurious to the young plants, a slight covering should be spread or hem of some kind or other, which may consist of boughs of evergreens, leaves, straw, crlitfer.and eft till the end of May, when it should be takLn H and the beds kept clear from weeds thrugWtTe' It is usual to remove the plants from the seed-bed -to nursery lines at two^ years, but sometimes tit J 178 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE- PLANTING. are transplanted at a year old, which can be done at any time in open weatlier during the winter, or sprintr. When they are taken up from the seed-bed, the ex- tremity of each tap root should be cut off, to en- courage a fibrous growth of root, taking pains in the first place during the removal that their lateral fibres are not injured, to prevent which the ground should be carefully loosened with a fork. The nursery lines should be about a foot and a half apart, or rather less, the plants standing about six inches from each other. After being in the nursery lines a couple of years, they will generally stand from two to three feet high, and are then fit for being planted out. Should, how- ever, larger-sized plants be required, they should be again transplanted at wider intervals, and remain for two or three years longer, according to the purpose for which they are designed ; plants intended to be- come hedgerow timber, for example, requiring to be very stout, and strong, as small ones are often spoilt or injured by vermin. If an oak plant is allowed to remain longer than two years in the seed-bed undis- turbed, it sends its tap root down into the soil, and consequently does not acquire that bushiness which is produced by frequent transplantation, and which is so necessary to the wellbeing of a transplanted tree, as a means of quickly adapting itself to its new posi- tion. Although these undisturbed plants may look to the eye strong and healthy, they will be useless for planting out, if good, reliable plants are looked for. t i TrrE TtlllKEY OAK. 179 The Turkey Oak, or Mossy-„,pped Oak (Q. Cerrix) Ifrica , rT ^"""''"^' "» -^" "^ "- --' of AJnca. It ,s of an elegant appearance, being as Imrdv • as the common oak, but grows faster, and s^ucceedst poorer so,], the leaves being oblong and pointed, of a glossy green above, and inclining to white bet^eath, of a _hat hoary hue, standing upon slender foot- stalks the acorns being small, and having rouch pnckly cups, the leaves dying in autumn, ln,t, ifke hose of the young beech, adhering to the tee tliroughout the winter. The acorns ripen like those of the common En». .sh oak, the modes of cultivation being also aiikl but the young seedhng plants are generally taller than the common oak at the same age, it bei„. generallv constdered better to transplant "them whe^n onel^ old, m preference to allowing them to remain for two years m the seed-beds. In good so^!, the Turkey oak wd attain the height of forty feet in twenty years with girth of trunk in proportion, but thirty fL in' that period may be considered the common average generally rising with a straight trunk, like that of tlie' arch, large ,n proportion to its lateral branches, but n IS destitute of that imposing form which di^tin- gmshes the Quercus rol,ur. It was introduced into Enghind m I 35, some of the oldest specimens now standing m the southern counties of the kingdom measuring upwards of a hundred feet in heiglft th ' species being remarkable for the great numbed . N 2 w\ I! 180 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. varieties it produces, apparently appearing to incline to hybridise with the evergreen oak, it being not un- frequently the case that, in a seed-bed of Turkey oaks a considerable number of sub-evergreen plants are to be found. The Cork Oak {Q. suber).— The cork-tree is found in Portugal, Spain, Italy, the southern parts of France, and the Barbary States, Spain and Portugal supply- ing the greater portion of the cork of commerce which is consumed in Europe. It affects dry, and hilly situations, and seldom reaches above an altitude of forty feet, the outer bark of the tree being the cork, which is its most valuable product. The Greeks and Romans commonly made use of cork as floats for their fishing nets, and buoys for anchors, the useful applications of cork being well known to the ancients, which is evidenced by the writings of Theophrastus, Pliny, and other authors ; during the siege of Eome by the Gauls, Camillus, who was sent to the capitol through the Tiber, wearing a life-preserver of cork beneath his dress. It is usual to clear the trunk of its branches when the tree is young, up to a height of eight, or ten feet, and when it is from twenty, to thirty years old, strip off the outer coating of bnrk, which is then found to consist of a formation of coar e, porous cork, intermixed with woody fibre. This i& removed in July, or August, and after it is cleared off, it mostly takes another ten years to form another coverin«^ of cork, which is of better quahty than the first obtained ; b.n it is not until another interval of eic^ht, or ten m 1*1 c THE PORK OAK. 181 I h ' years, when the , , ,. ^^'^^»o" '« again repeated, that the best quaht^ of cork fit for wine bottles is produced when the cork will have attained a sufficient thick- ness for the purpose. The trees are then always d^s- barked at similar intervals, which is carefully done so as not to injure the inner skin, or wood of the tree' It would naturally be supposed that, this operation would materially affect its growth, but so far from Its proving to be prejudicial, it is said to have the opposite effect, the quaUtyof the cork improving with the increased age of the tree. Loudan describes a large oak-tree at Mamhead, in Devonshire, as beincr sixty feet high, with a trunk twelve feet in circumt ference above the swell of the roots, standing alone about twelve miles from the sea, and about 450 feet above Its level, its head being compact, and oval having grand, massive branches, each of which would form a tree by itself of noble dimensions, which are covered with rugged, corky bark, resembling richly chased frosted silver, which contrasts finely with the dark-green, luxuriant fohage. On the Continent, after the bark has been well scraped, it is cut into pieces and slightly charred, for the double purpose of contracting it, and destroying, the insects (which gives it the black appearance out- side that may be noticed), and is then pressed flat with stones ; but in Catalonia, after being cut into pieces, It IS boiled in water, which is said to improve the quahty of the cork. About one hundred and twenty millions of corks 182 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE- PLANTING. are annually consumed in France, and large quantities are also imported into Britain ; the bottled-beer trade as well as the wine merchant consuming a great many. The Evergreen Oak {Q. ilex). — The common ever- green oak is a handsome tree, being a native of Europe and the south of Africa ; but has been cul- tivated in Britain from a remote period. It is a very handsome evergreen, the foliage beh.g very abun- dant, of a rich dark green, having a fine polish, glossy on top with a downy tinge beneath, and grows in a smoky atmosphere better than most evergreens, the tree being apt to strike out into varieties, of which the principal are integrifoUa, the common ; ser- rata, the notch-leaved ; and oblonga, the long-leaved ; sometimes even the lower leaves diflering from those on the topmost branches. They remain green all the year, and do not fall till they are pushed off by the younger ones in the spring, the acorns being smaller in size than those of the common oak, but of the same shape. The tree blossoms in May, or June, pro- ducing male flowers or catkins, which are from one, to two inches in lengtli on the shoots of the preceding year; but the female flowers are produced on the newly formed twigs, the acorns coming to maturity during the second year, and the tree endures sea- exposure better than any other European oak. If allowed a sufficient space it will commonly form a very large trunk, which it conceals with its foliage that it wears down to the surface of the ground. The timber is tough, strong, and heavy, and is generally NUT-GALLS. 183 The considered to be of much the .ame commercial value as that of the common oak. Nut-galk.—Niit-galh are produced on various species of the oak, and consist of a morbid excres- cence produced by the puncture of a winged insect of the genus Cynipidce, to which OUvier has given the name of Diplolepis Gallce Tinctorice, the excres- cence being of a globular form, with an unequal, and tuberculous surface. It is produced on the young shoots of the trees, and contains within it the eggs which the insect has deposited ; the best galls being gathered before the transformation of the insect, at in that state they are heavier, and contain more of the tannin principle. Perhaps the most remarkable are those which are found on the male blossoms of the British oak. The catkins appear in May, and are from one to two inches long, and having shed their pollen become deciduous, and drop from the tree in June in the ordinary way ; but if they have been attacked by the insect while in a growing state, they remain on the tree till the galls are perfected. The Dyer's Oak {Q. i?i/ectoria).~ Although the nut-gall is common to almost every species of the oak, the nut-galls of commerce are obtained from the Quercus iv/ectoria, which is a species of shrub, seldom rising more than six feet in height, and beinj very common in Asia Minor, the first accurate de- scription of it being given by M. Olivier, who intro- duced the shrub into France, where it grows well m 184 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. the open air, and is cultivated as a garden plant ; the galls being pecuharly astringent, according to Sir Humphry Davy, 500 parts containing 180 parts of soluble matter, principally composed of tannin and gallic acid. The oak-apple is an excrescence of the same nature, though effected by a different insect ; the in- stinct which causes certain insects to choose parti- cular vegetable bodies on which to deposit their eggs being a remarkable provision of nature. Knapp says, ' The insect that wounds the leaf of the oak, and occasions the formation of the nut-o-all. and tliose which are likewise the cause of the apple rising on the sprays of the same tree, and those flower- like leaves on the buds, have performed very different operations, either by the instrument that inflicted the wound, or by the injection of some fluid to influence the action of tlie parts. Tliat extraordinary hairy excrescence on the wild rose, likewise the result of tlie wounds of an insect {Cynips rosoe), resembles no other nidus required for such creatures that we know of: and those red spores on the leaf of the maple are* different again from others. It is useless to enquire into causes of which we probably can obtain no cer- tain results ; but, judging by the effects produced by different agents, we must conclude that, as particular birds require, and fabricate from age, to age, very dif- ferent rece))tacles for their young, and make choice of dissimilar materials, thougli each species has the same instruments to effect it, wliere. generally speak- ■ THE KERMES OAK. 186 ant ; the ^ to Sir parts of min and tie same the in- e parti- eir eggs 3 leaf of lut-gall, le apple ! flower- :lifferent Jted the ailuence y liairy esult of ibles no e know iple are enquire no cer- iced by rticular ery dif- choice las the speak- ing, no sufficient reasons for such variety of forms and texture is obvious, so is it fitting that, insects should be furnished with a variety of powers and means to accomplish their requirements, having wants more urgent ; their nests being, at times, to be so constructed as to resist the influence of seasons, to contain the young for much longer periods, even occasionally to furnish a supply of food, or be a storehouse to afford it when wanted by the infant brood.' The cynips, according to Reaumer, is furnished witli a kind of needle in a sheatli, which lias extraor- dinary capabilities of extension, arising from the sys- tem of construction peculiar to tlie body of the insect, so much so that, this instrument can be extended to double the lengtli of the creature itself, and forms in a lengthened perforation a nest for its offspring, while the young in the same manner, when the proper time comes round, pierce their way outwards from the vegetable enclosure which has been their protection. The Kermes Oak (Q. 6'om/(?m).— Another oak-tree which yields a commercial product is the Kermes Oak, which is commonly met with all along the shores of the Mediterranean, which partakes of the nature of a shrub, seldom exceeding a height of twelve feet. The leaves are oval, and undivided, smooth on their surface, but indented at the edge, which is covered Avitli prickles, resembhng those of the holly. The trunk is featliered to tlie bottom, and tlie acorns are smaller than those of the comniou oak. 186 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-rLANTL\G. It is from thi3 tree that the kermes are gatliered with which the ancients used to dye their garments the rich colour called coccineus, or coccus, as cele- brated 111 Its way as the purple of the Phcenicians which was obtained from the testaceous mollusk murej^, the latter being neglected after the kermes of the oak was introduced. It is still used in the Bar- bary States, and the Levant, for dyeing the round scarlet caps so much affected by the Greeks, forming part of the national costume of the Albanians ; bu't this in Its turn has given way to a yet more success- ful dye product more recently discovered, that of cochineal, an ineect that is found upon the Cactus opuntia. The Fulham Oak.^The Fulham oak is a hybrid between the Turkey oak, and the cork-tree, that was first grown at a nursery ground at FuDiam, being a lofty tree nearly eighty feet high, the trunk at a foot from the ground measuring thirteen feet. It is a fine broad-leaved evergreen, that can be readily propa- gated by being grafted on either stocks of the com- mon, or the Turkey oak. The acorns which have been produced abundantly from the original tree, have in their turn produced other very interesting varieties, which have been propagated by grafts. Seedlings from the original tree have been found to 'sport' very much, so that they cannot always be depended upon to reproduce the true variety now known as the Fulham Oak, the only certain method for its repro- duction being by grafting. The grafts will sprin- THE SCARLET OAK. 187 freely upon stocks of tolerable vigour, and will often grow three or four feet during the course of the first summer. Turner's Evergreen Oak. — Turner's evergreen oak is another interesting variety, being a hybrid between the common British, and the evergreen oak. In ap- pearance it very much resembles the former, but in autumn its fohage assumes a more massive, and darker green appearance, being the fastest growing evergreen- tree that is found suitable for the chmate of North Britain. It resembles other hybrids in needing for its successful propagation to be grafted on healthy stocks of the common species of oak, upon which it will grow fast, and attain the height of four, or five feet in a couple of years, after which it will proceed at about the same rate as the common oak, till it gets twenty years old, its rapid growth when young being often a great recommendation to many planters, and it is also a very ornamental tree. The Lucombe Oak.—1h\& is another hybrid oak, which is also a sub-evergreen, remarkable for the rapidity of its growth, being between the Turkey oak and the cork-tree. It was originally produced rather more than a century ago at Exeter, and there are now a good many trees of this variety scattered over the southern districts of England, many of which are very handsome specimens. The Scarlet Oak {Q. coccinea).—'IhQ scarlet oak is indigenous to Pennsylvania, New Georgia, and New Jersey, and was introduced into Britain about the end 188 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE -PLANTING. !(. Of the seventeenth century, and in many situations it grows with greater rapidity than the common oak. Ihe leaves are ol>long, deeply sinuated, and of a bricrht shimng, green colour, varying exceedingly in shape and size on different trees, and even on the same tree at different stages of their growth, all being remark- ably handsome, and produced on long leaf stalks. The freest-growing, and best trees, sometimes have leaves that are a foot long, and six or seven inches broad. Iheyare deciduous, and the first frosts of autumn, or early winter, change them into bright yellow, or red, which ultimately ripen into the brightest shades of crimson, or scarlet. There are many fine specimens of this tree to be seen m different parts of England: one at Croome, which attained the height of 100 feet in seventy-five years, and another at Strathfieldsaye, of similar pro- portions, the species producing acorns in this country but the trees are usually propagated from Ameri- can seed, which needs to be sown immediately upon Its arrival here, owing to the confinement to which the acorns are subjected in their journey across the Atlantic, which is apt to produce fermentation, the shghtest touch of which causes them to sprout, and unless they are immediately sown, they may possibly lose their vitaHty. Their method of cultivation is the same as that pursued with other oaks, but as they have a tendency to make bare roots, which results in a stunted growth of the plant, tliey should be re- moved early into nursery lines, and planted in the KED, WHITE, AND BLACK AiMERICAN OAKS. 189 situations they are intended to occup- before their roots become too much developed. The red, white, and black American oaks each comprehend a great number of species, many of which become fine, large, spreading trees, but the timber of nearly all of them is soft and porous, and on this account, are not profitable for cultivation. , U-H ! 190 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE- PLANTING. CHAPTER IX. Broad-leaved Trees (continued). ELM-XHB BXaLISH ELM-CTTLTIVATIOW-XHB WrCH ELM-CULTI- VATION-THB HUNTINGDON ELM-THE DUTCH ELM-THE AMERICAN ELM-VAHIATION OF THE ELM-THE WEEPING ElM. The Ash [Fraxinus excelsior). — The ash belongs to the natural family Alcinece polygamia, dicecia of Linn^us, the tall, or common ash being indigenous to Britain, taking its station near the oak in common estnnation, and is equally as useful for agricultural purposes. It thrives best in a deep, sweet, hazelly loam, pre- ferrmg a situation towards the bottom of a hill, espe- cially when it slopes towards a river, whose influence Its roots may feel during the heats of summer, without the soil being absolutely wet. ^ The ash may often be seen growing in hedgerows in England, which is a very improper situation for it, for It causes a large barren circle around it upon which nothing will be produced, the drip of the ash bemg mjurious to other plants, as may often be seen m a cornfield ; though in marshy situations, as the roots run down for a considerable distance they act as drains, and are therefore in such a case beneficial Hence the proverb-' May your footfall be by the THE ASH. 191 root of an ash,' equivalent to, ' May you obtain a firm footing,' Ash-trees are most successfully grown when they are allowed to rise in masses by themselves, but they are often grown for the sake of variety in conjunc- tion with other trees. In the case of the Scotch pine, they shade the tree too much, while the oak gets clothed with a substantial framework of spray and leaves, and does the same ; the ash being a loose-headed, open tree when planted in groups by themselves not doing this, for if the branches slightly interfere with one another, no great harm follows. In the case of most trees, hard and durable timber is the result of a slow growth, but this is not the case with the ash, which requires a free, quick, and unimpeded growth to develop its special qualifica- tions, which are strength, toughness, and elasticity ; and its growth should therefore be hastened by a good soil, and somewhat shaded situation ; in those instances where its advancing career is stopped by a sour, wet subsoil, or its freedom of growth is checked by a naturally poor soil, the wood becomes brittle, and shaky. As a landscape decoration the ash is a very valuable tree, swaying gracefully to the breeze, and pleasing the eye with its easy outline. It succeeds in elevated situations, provided it has shelter, as may be seen from the specimens which stand in the glens, and ravines of hilly districts ; when at a foot from the ground, trunks are some- Ml 192 ENGLISH TllKES AND TREE-PLANTINO. times to be found that will measure ten feet in cir ;«*. \ [W^ ) J tvtw 1 ■i ;-, vv-/ NG. tated, they by ihem- ay require ' must not the weep- to form an discovered "idgeshire ; n-coloured American a beautiful Lving buds tomentosa), er surface I a reddish he bark of CaroKnian arly round only com- maller size nily Amen- ■The beech t stateliest, attaining a parks and ssive, and ; to a great ecus hori- (M *N ii ; •1 1 THE BEECH. 195 I t H 1 i : ■ [ i zontal branches, covered with delicate green leaves while young, but becoming harder, and darker, as they reach maturity. The buds of the common beech begin to expand about the middle of April, the leaves coming out about a week afterwards ; the flowers appear about the middle of May, or a little earUer, by the first week in June being in full blossom. The mast, or seed, consists of an angular nut encased in a prickly capsule, which gets ripe in autumn. It thrives best in a chalky or strong soil, and is found growing in masses on the chalk hills of Kent, Surrey, Hampshire, and Sussex, as well as upon the Cotswold Hills of Gloucestershire, in Buckinghamshire and Hertford- shire ; some very fine specimens of the beech being met with in the woods of Hampshire, but the larrres't mdividual trees are found growing in the parks of our gentry and nobihty. The Burnham beeches in Buckinghamshire are well known, the woods of Lord Grenville at Burnham containing some remarkably fine trees— a spot that has become identified with the musings of the poet Gray, whose celebrated Elegy adorns EngHsh literature. A beech-tree which stands in Windsor Forest is said to have stood before the time of the Norman Conquest : though the beech is not reputed to be a long liver, 150 years being thought to bring it to old age, while 300 years generally witnesses its last decrepitude ; when grown for the sake of its timber it 13 not considered profitable to retain it beyond 0 2 I i 196 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTIXO. the age of eighty years, still there are well-authenti- cated trees, of ages extending from 250 to 300 years. The rate of growth is about the same as the oak, and will succeed on most dry soils, it being considered best to grow in clumps, or masses, being naturally disposed to waste itself in spreading branches. A great many fine beech-trees are to be met witli in Morayshire, in the north of Scotland, which perhaps is mainly to be attributed to the fact that the Stuart, Grant, and Fife families have been noted as tree- planters for many centuries. When planted in sandy loam, or upon the slopes of hills that have calcareous bottoms, where there is sufficient room for expansion, its habit will partake somewhat of the nature of the birch. Its hard, spiky buds, upon the advent of warm weather, are transformed into round, silky folds, producing a soft, delicate verdure, very pleasing to the eye, afl^brding a large amount of shade as the season progresses. Its timber is not very valuable, though useful for many purposes, but it stands well when continually under water, and on this account is frequently re- sorted to in the construction of the keels of ships, for piles, flood-gates, and sluices ; in France being ex- tensively used in the manufacture of sabotf, or wooden shoes, throughout the mountainous districts. The leaves of the beech have been frequently used for filling' mattresses instead of straw ; when applied to this use, being gathered immediately after they have CULTIVATION OF THE BEECH. 197 fallen, and carefully dried before being used, Avlien they will remain sweet for five or six years. The chniate of England does not appear to de- velop that imctuous secretion in the mast which is the case in France, where the oil from the nut forms an important article of conmierce, the forests in the Department of the Oise having yielded, in a single season, more than two million bushels of these nuts, the forest of Compaigne alone, in 1779, it is said, pro- ducing oil enough to supply the wants of the district for half a century. Tlie beech makes a capital hedge, when trimmed close affording a great deal of shelter, particularly during the winter and spring months, in consequence of the withered leaves adhering to the stems. Be- tween Ghent and Antwerp, it is very customary to form hedges of young beech-trees, which are planted seven or eight inches apart, so as to cross each other trellis-fashion, forming apertures about six inches in diameter. During the first year they are united with osiers at the place of intersection, where they ulti- mately grow together, and, not suffering when pruned, are well adapted for the purpose. Cultivation. — The tree is raised from seed, which becomes ripe in October, and is usually obtained by spreading large sheets round the bottom of the tree, and then shaking the branches violently. As there are a good numy bad, or infertile seeds mixed with the good ones, they can be distinguished, and sepa- rated, by putting them all into u tub half filled with 198 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. ii water. Tlie good seeds will sink to the bottom, and the bad ones float on the top of the water, from whence tliey can be easily removed. The job, how- ever, should be done quickly, and the good seed spread out at once to dry ; and when made perfectly free from moisture • . ? should be packed up in boxes, bags, or barr J mixed with twice their volume, or amount, of sand. The seed sliould be sown from the end of March up to the conclusion of the first week in April. The v will grow well enough if sown in autumn, but there are two dangers to which this practice would cause them to be subjected. Tlie depredations of mice, which search them out and eat them ; and the frosts, which will generally destroy the young and tender plants, as the autumn-sown seeds will germinate in April. The method of cultivation followed is the same as that pursued in the case of the ash, except that the nuts should be about an inch apart from one another, and be covered with an inch depth of soil. The mast should also be gently patted down with the back of a spade, to keep them in their proper position before the soil is spread over them. The plants should not be pruned until they are well estabHshed, for if this is done, they will become bark-bound, and refuse to grow, and this will most hkely happen also if they are allowed to stand in the seed-bed for more than two years without being transplanted— an in- valuable system in most cases for inducing a healthy THE ELM. 199 growth of the young plant. Should plants become bark-bound at any time, from one cause or another, the best practice is to cut tliom down in April to within four inches of the ground, and choose out a straight shoot to form the future tree. Upon many soils, the beech cannot be profitably grown, but upon a chalky subsoil, no other tree will grow so well, if we except, perhaps, the walnut. The Elm ( Ulmus), natural family Ulmacece ; Pen- tandria dyginia of Linnasus. — There are several varieties of the elm, but there are two principal ones that occupy a very important place amongst English trees — the U. campestris, or English elm, and the U. 'Montana, the mountain, or wych elm, or, as it is sometimes called, the wych hazel, from its resem- blance to the latter tree, which is a native of Scot- land, but not growing to so great a height as the English elm. The English Elm. — The English elm is generally considered to be one of the finest, and tallest of European trees. It growg rapidly in an erect form, and yields a tall bole, which is remarkable for the uniformity of its diameter throughout. The wood has less strength than that of the oak, and is not so elastic as the ash, but is tougher, and less liable to split, being brown, hard, and of a fino grain, which, as it does not crack, is employed in the manufacture of certain articles, as blocks, pumps, cart-wheels, and for various cabinet-making purposes, as well as being extensively used for making coffins. iii'i El I sH Ex\GLISH TREES AND TKEE-PL ANTING. The tree generally attains maturity in seventy or eighty years ; after which it has a disposition to be- come hollow in the centre, and during heavy gales these affected trees are often blown down, making a gap in some stately avenue, perhaps leading to a country mansion ; elms being often found of larcre dimensions and great age in the neighbourhood of old halls, cathedrals, castles, and palaces ; its close habit of growth and density of fohage causing it to be a peculiarly appropriate tree for an avenue, or ap- proach to a building of importance or architectural pretension. Excepting the oak, perhaps, it is more commonly met With than any other tree in England, it bein.^ said that, there are upwards of forty places which derive their name from this tree. Although they are often uncertain trees, whose duration cannot be always rehed on, yet in many instances they attain a venerable age, some of the old elms planted by Sully, the minister of Henry IV., still standing in France. The measurement of many very large elms growing in England has been recorded, one of the most remarkable being the Crawley elm, standing in the high-road between London and Brightom When measured it was found to be sixty-one feet in circumference at the ground, its height being seventy feet. Its trunk was perforated from the top, and It measured thirty-five feet round, inside, at two' leet from the ground. In Warwickshire, a tree of 200 years old stood 150 feet in height, supposed to / I' (H' ■ t hiUti \ i '■"■"VM^MtjpMkMMnfM i I LARGE ELM-TREES. 201 be the loftiest tree in Enjrlanci (a good specimen of a ' Warwickshire weed,' jus tliese trees have been called), tlie diameter of its trunk being nine feet six inches ; wliile one at Strathfieldsaye measures 130 feet in lieiglit. As the elm rarely produces seed in England, it has been questioned whether tlie tree is indigenous to this country, but if not, it must have been intro- duced at a very early age. When the seeds do ripen, the flowers appear in the beginning of March, about three weeks before the leaves make their appearance, being small, of a reddisli colour, united in clusters. They are succeeded by oval-bordered capsules, which each contain a single, round, compressed seed, which ripens in May. It is a native of the south and middle of Europe, and the west of Asia, and in these geographical ranges it yields seed abundantly, in France especially, a great number of trees being raised from seed. Cultivation. — It is not usual to raise elms from seed in Great Britain, the trees being mostly propa- gated by layers from stools, or from suckers from old trees. The method of propagation by layers is the best one, a stool being formed by lopping over a plant that has become well estabhshed. During the following summer, the root produces a number of young shoots, and when these have finished their growth for the season, they are bent downwards to the depth of five or six inches into thr earth, and fixed in the ground, leaving their extremities clear above it, in an erect position. In tlie course of the f ^ 202 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTINQ. succeeding summer these layers become rooted, and another crop of young shoots is produced by the stool. The layers shoidd be removed any time during open weather, in either winter or spring, which will make room for the next crop of young shoots coming round, to be laid down in the same manner, the stool yielding a crop of plants every year succes- sively, so that one stool will bring numbers of young trees, especially if it be placed in good and suitable ground for the purpose, which should consist of a sandy, rich, friable soil. The young plants should be inserted into nursery lines for two years previously to being planted out where they are intended finally to stand. A soil of an intermediate description is best adapted for the growth of the young tree, with an open subsoil, but it will grow freely in soils of very opposite qualities to each other, as a moist clay, and a dry, sandy soil. As the young plant forms a fibrous, bushy root, it will allow of being transplanted at a size and age above the usual average of timber trees, upon fair soils attaining a height of twenty-five feet in ten years, seldom requiring pruning, and invariably as- suming an erect form. About twenty sorts are culti- vated by nurserymen, and as the genus is very confused, botanists are unable to determine which are species, and which varieties only, the tree being quite , remarkable for its propensity to produce seedling varieties, many of which are but of feeble growth, and of no value as timber trees. THE WYCII ELM. 203 The Wych Elm [U. montana). — The mountain, or wych elm, is of a slower growth, and yields a shorter bole than the English elm, but is more spreading in its habit, bolder in its ramifications, and altogether a more picturesque tree, its height being usually about fifty feet, but reaching a higher altitude when grown in company with other taller-growing trees. It does not yield suckers like the Enghsh elm, but produces seed freely. The blossoms make their appearance in April just before the leaves expand, the seeds usually get- ting ripe about the middle of June. When water stagnates near the surface of the soil, the growth of the tree becomes enfeebled, and this is invariably attested by the presence of lichen on the bark. The timber is useful for many agricultural purposes, as the handles of spades, forks, &c., though the wood is not considered so serviceable for general purposes as that of the common elm. At one time, at the ancient period of which we have before spoken, it used to be made into bows for archers. Cultivation. — The seeds should be gathered when they are ripe, about the middle of June, and sown at once in rich, clean, friable soil, in beds of the usual width of four feet, a bushel of seed being sufficient for a bed of twelve lineal yards. The germinating power of the seed is very unequal, half of it will perhaps turn out to be infertile, so that a certain degree of judgment needs to be exercised with respect to the quantity of seed sown ; the aim being to produce a 204 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE -PLANTING. seed-bed of plants which will stand about two inches apart. The seed should be covered with half an inch depth of soil ; in dry weather the beds require to be watered, and also shaded from the rays of the sun As seed strike quickly at this season of the year, the plants will often make their appearance in about a week after they have been sown, when the shading is discontmued, and no further care is necessary, be- yond keepmg the beds clear from weeds durincx the summer In the following winter, or early "next sprmg, they can be removed into nursery lines, but when they have come up but thinly in the seed-bed, they are often allowed to stand there for two summers before removal. The hues should be a foot and a half asunder, and the plants stand in tlie lines at a distance of six inches. They are usually kept thus for two years, and if allowed to stand much lonc^er without being disturbed, the roots are apt to get bare, so that when finally planted out, they are likely to get shooted. The tree will grow well, and yield heavy timber in a rich soil only, liking an open free subsoil and often producing large protuberances of gnarled wood, which gives it a picturesque appear- ance It is sometimes apt to ramify near the ground which, if allowed to go on unchecked, will cause it to' form only a very short trunk, when pruning may advantageously be resorted to, the best time for doing this being when the tree is from eic^ht to fourteen years of age. By shortening some'of 'the shoots, and curtaihng the strongest of the lateral VARIATION OF THE ELM. 205 branches, the trunk may by this means be lengthened, the need for doing this being chiefly when it is grown in open situations. The Huntingdon Elm [U. vegeta).—T\\is is a fast- growing variety, that has been in cultivation for rather more than a century, and produces fine timber. It is sometimes propagated by grafting upon the wych ?lm, but more commonly from layers. The Dutch Elm {U. suherosa).~~ll\ie Dutch elm was brought from Holland during the reign of William of Orange, who has been twitted by suc- ceeding generations for his affection for the formal Dutch style of gardening ; this variety being much used in the trimly clipped hedges that marked that period, having large thick leaves and a fungous bark, on which account it is sometimes called the cork- barked elm. The American Elm {U. Americana).— There are two kinds of American elms, white and red. The white has a greyish bark, deeply furrowed, while the red is of a reddish brown colour; both varieties rising to tlie height of what may be termed noble trees. Variation of the Elm.— The aptitude of the elm to vary in its character when raised from seed, and its propensity for producing seedling varieties before alluded to, causes the genus to be very much con- fused, and it has been conjectured that the Dutch elm, which is usually classed as a separate species, is merely the common elm debased by the humid soil, M;i 206 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. and climate of Holland, the tree being injured by too much humidity. The difference of vigour at the same age of various trees, may often be traced to this cause, for although many elms have attained to a large size, and have been long-lived, others have been comparatively short. An elm-tree that was planted by Henry IV. of France was standing in the Luxembourg at the commencement of the French Eevolution. One well- known tree that used to stand at the end of Church Lane, Chelsea, that was felled in 1745, was said to have been planted by Queen Elizabeth ; while Sir Francis Bacon's elms in Gray's-Inn walks, that were planted in 16C0, had fallen into a state of decay about 1720. The health of these, it is surmised, must have been injured from some cause or other, as too much moisture of the soil, or the smoky atmo- sphere of London. The beautiful Long Walk at Windsor was planted at the beginning of the last century, but most of the trees have evidently passed their prime ; and the most profitable age of elm-trees, both as regards the quahty, and quantity of their timber, has been conjectured to be about fifty or sixty years; and there can be no doubt but that both soil and situation exercise a most material influence upon the health, and prosperity of the elm. The Weeping Elm {U. pendida). —The weeping elm began to be cultivated about the close of the last century, and is, perhaps, the most ornamental and picturesque of the species. It seeds freely, and on *m m THE WEEPING ELM. 207 this account has been supposed to have originated from the wych elm, plants raised from seed being very apt to lose the distinguishing characteristics of the species. It is tlierefore found to be the best plan to propagate the variety by grafting on the stems of a common elm, as it grows freely when managed in this way, and forms a head of consider- able magnitude, which often assumes a rugged, and most diversified form when in the vigour of its youth, shooting out its branches in various directions — some horizontally, some upwards, some downwards, and others obliquely, often assuming an imposing appear- ance that is never met with in any other tree, re- sembling very much in picturesque effect the cedar. tm 208 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. CHAPTER X. BROAD-LKAVRlJ TREES— .{co fit). The MAP,.K-na,,„ral fe™ily ^,,™.«, p„/^,„„„.„ m-^o-a. of Lm„n.„s,_TI,ere are upwarcjs of twenty speoes of l,ardy maple cultivated in England, wl.ich Imve been imported at different times from Europe America, anan and India, w],ich n,igl,t,with advantage, be cultivated' .n th,s eount.y. the whole genus being remarkably handsome-of the twenty varieties which grow in England some attaining the full size of a timber tree whde others assume only the proportions of hand- some shrubs. Son,e of these are remarkable for growmg quickly at an early age ; while others are mterestmg on ac.onnt of their cominir early into flower ; others, again, are renni.-kable for the line texture of their elegantly ]„bed leaves, which i„ )) THE SYCAMORE. 209 autumn change into many gay hues, and exquisite shades of yellow and scarlet, which at that season of the year give to ornamental plantations a gay, and cheerful aspect. There are, however, two principal varieties that are common to Britain : the common maple, and the mock plane-tree, or sycamore, there being a great number of varieties which are too tender to endure the cUmate of Britain. The Great Maple, or Sycamore {Acer Pseudo^ platanus).-~The sycamore was introduced into Britain about the middle of the sixteenth century, and was amongst the earhest of our cultivated trees, being a native of Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland, where it is found growing with other trees in hilly situations, being the largest, but the least ornamental of the species. Few trees are so well adapted for standing singly in rough, and exposed situations, and It also endures tlie effect of sea-spray, which is in- jurious to most trees. It not only attains tlie dimensions of a large tim^ ber tree, but is also very long-lived. Althougirit has been proved to demonstration that, many trees have lived to a great age, being sometimes marked down on old county maps, there is a good deal of exaggera- tion mixed up with these accounts of venerable°trees, and the sycamore is not without its specimens of recorded long hfe ; for St. Hieron, who Uved in the fourth century of the Christian era, writes that he saw the same sycamore-tree on which Zaccheua climbed up for the purpose of seeing our Saviour 210 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. ride by in the course of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem ; a fact which our Lord brought again to the remembrance of Zaccheus upon a subsequent occa- sion- The timber of the sycamore is close and compact, not liable to warp, and is, therefore, of a very useful order for the purpose of being sawn up into boards ; sometimes being of a uniform colour throughout, and at others beautifully mottled. As it takes polish well, it is often used in the latter case for musical in- struments. The wood, containing none of those hard knots which are injurious to tools, and supporting the variations of heat and moisture well, is often ap- plied to the manufacture of saddle-trees, founders' patterns, and other items of furniture and machinery ; and, when such things were in use, was formerly em- ployed for making wooden dishes, bowls, cups, plates, and other articles of domestic use, which were con- verted into household vessels by the turners of a bygone age, when we used to import the greater part of our crockery ware from Delpht in Holland, the use of which has now been superseded by the improved earthenware, for which we are indebted to the exer- tions of Wedgwood and others. Cultivation. — The sycamore blossoms in spring, and the seeds become ripe in tlie following autumn, when they should be collected and mixed up in a pit, with twice their volume of sand, and sown in the succeeding spring. If sown in the autumn, when the seeds become ripe, the young plants spring up so early as seldom to escape the frosts, and are conse- quently often destroyed. ent occa- compact, ry useful > boards ; oughout, :es polish usical in- lose hard pporting )ften ap- founders' Lchinery ; erly em- s, plates, ^ere con- a bygone 't of our e use of mproved he exer- spring, autumn, in a pit, I in the i^hen the 1^ up so e conse- CULTIVATION OF THE SYCAMORE. 211 The seeds sl.ould be sown i„ beds of the usual form ma dry soil, that is. not too rich; but wZh should be n.ade fine. Very fertile, or 1 naoist s^l causes an excess of jrrovvth so f hnf ,hJ , ' iinaW»t„„ . f'""''"""" the young plants are and whnT ".:'""■ ''""' •""""« '^^ A™' --on ; and when this ,s the case, the frost will cut them olf but thts ts only likely to happen in the case of planl' of one year's growth. One bushel of seed ^rbe en ugh to plant a bed twenty-four feet lo„., o the ordmary w.dth of four feet, and the seeds sl^tdd be vered w,th soil half an inch deep. After standi '^ " "«> -ed-bed one season, they should be trans planted mto nursery lines, standing two feet Ipar " he plants being about eight inch:, asunder in' he' mes. After standing thus for two years, they a e l>en suitable for forest planting, and are usuallyftom four, to SIX feet liigli, <"'yirom A deep, soft, dry soil is the most congenial one to the sycamore, and in such, the trees will generll ly attaui a height of twenty feet at the age of ten year ^ and sometimes in twenty years, or less, that of fortv feet; but this will only happen in soil exactly applic able to Its growth, although it is a tree t^iat wiU grow m land of very different qnaUties. It comes into leaf early i„ the season ; i„ the month of May its foliage presenting a bright green and hvely appearance; but on account of its TeaveJ exuding a glutinous substance, it is not a good tree to plant by the roadside, as the dust, and every other impurity borne along by the wind, adiieres to theinl r 2 212 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. and as the foliage thus becomes dingy, it loses what natural attractiveness it possesses. The Common Maple {A. campesiris). — This is a smaller tree than the sycamore, having smaller-sized leaves, which are cordate and fine-lobed. The flower-buds begin to open about the comm.encement of April, and the leaves come out about the middle of the same month, or a little later, in the first fort- night of May the flowers being in full bloom. Although of smaller size, the timber of this tree is superior to that of the great maple, or sycamore, much of it being curiously marked, and passing under the name of 'Bird's-eye Maple,' and is extensively used for picture frames, and by cabinet-makers. It was noticed by the ancients, Pliny extolling the wood of the maples growing in different parts of the world for the fineness of their grain ; while Virgil describes Evander as sitting upon a maple throne. At one time the demand was so great for the finest specimens of curiously marked wood, when to be obtained in boards sufficiently large for the formation of tables, and large articles of furniture, that extravagant prices were obtained for them. One writer says that, in ancient times so great was the appreciation for curious portions of the wood, that in its veined aspect often formed the effigies of birds and various animals, that one table is said to have been purchased for ten hundred thousand sesterces, and another is spoken of that cost upwards of fifteen hundred thousand ! THE SUOAR MAPLE. 21S The Sugar Maple (A. mccharinum). ~Th\s tree was introduced into Britain about the middle of tl.e ast century, but in this country it .eldo.n reaches a height above that of forty feet, though in ita native distncts ,t often attains an altitude of from sixty to seventy feet; though the diameter of it, trunk is very s„.a]l in proportion to its height, generally vary- ing from twelve to eighteen inches. It grows in great abundance in Canada, Nova Scotm New Brunswick, the States of Vermont and New Hampshire, the upper parts of Penn,sylvania and the district of Maine, Genesee, and New York' In the middle and sonthern states of the Union it is almost unknown ; flourishing best in the mountanious Uistrict., where the soil is cold and moist, but fertile • growing along the whole of the chain of the' Alleghany Mountains. In its native habitat, it is chiefly prized for the juice which it exudes, which is converted into sugar by a very simple process. Sugar has been extracted from maple-trees in this country, and numerous samples of maple sugar were shown at the great Exhibition of 1851, when several prizes were awarded for ,t; but It is not bdieved that, in this country, it r, ^l r","'''^ "'"'™"''' • "'»"«'' i' i« "°torious that the English farmer is dreadftiUy backward in all matters that relate to what may be termed a^ricul- tural manufactarefi. '^ In America, the sugar is esteemed to be of excellent quality, but little inferior to that of the :i r^ 'I k I 'i ',,1 'V, lirt 214 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. sugar-cane. The sugar is commenced to l)e obtained in February, or the beginning of Marcli, wlien tlie cold is often intense and tlie ground covered with snow, when the sap commen(^es to rise, or about two months before tlie general revival of vegetation after the torpor of winter. The trees are perforated by an auger, three quarters of an inch in diameter, in an oblicjuely ascending direction, about a foot and a half from the ground, and sometimes a little more ; two holes being made about five inches asunder; care bemg taken that the auger does not penetrate the tree more than half an inch within the wood, experi- ence having shown that the most abundant flow of sap takes place at that depth. Small trouglis to receive the sap are made out of elder, or sumach, eight or ten inches in length, to correspond with the size of the auger, whidi are laid open for a part of their length ; tlie sap being conveyed into deposit troughs. One of these is placed on the ground at the foot of eacli tree, and the sap is every day collected, and temporarily poured into casks, from whence it is drawn out to fill boilers of a capacity of about eighteen gallons. The evaporation is kept up by a brisk fire, and the scum carefully skimmed off. Fresh sap is continually added, and the heat main- tained till the liquid is reduced to a syrup; after which it is left to cool, and ultimately strained through a blanket, or other woollen material, to separate the extraneous particles; moulds are pre- pared to receive the syrup when reduced to a proper MAPLE SUGAR. 215 consistency for being formed into cakes ; the process of evaporation being known to have proceeded far enough when, upon rubbing a little of tlie syrup between the fingers, it is sliown to be granular. Wlien the heat gets occasionally excessive, and there is danger of its boiling over, a small piece of butter or lard thrown into the boiler immediately calms down the ebullition. The molasses is drained off the moulds, and the sugar is then fit for use, its taste being as pleasant and as useful for culinary purposes as the ordinary West India sugar; but its use is, however, chiefly confined to the districts where it is produced, maple sugar being made in the greatest quantities in the United States, in the upper part of New Hampshire, in Vermont, and the State of New York, and other parts ; the fohners, after laying aside a sufficient quantity for their own use, sell the remainder to the shopkeepers in the small towns adjacent to them, who give them eight cents, per pound for it, and retail it to their customers at eleven cents. A good deal of maple sugar is also made in Upper Canada, in Nova Scotia, and the dis- trict of Maine. The Norway Maple {Acer platanoides). — This tree attains to a great size, and is quite hardy, its leaves being large, like those of the sycamore, and containing a bitter, milky juice, which prevents their being preyed on by insects; they are of a bright green colour. The rapidity of its growth exceeds that of the sycamore, when young, though I '!' 216 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. it does not ultimately attain the dimensions of the latter. It grows freely on the mountainous districts of Northern Europe, in some parts of Norway descend- mnr to the sea-shore, abounding in the North of Poland and Lithuania, and is, as well, common throughout Germany, Switzerland, and Savoy. The leaves assume a golden colour in autunm, which causes it to be a very ornamental tree, while in spring Its full, yellow blossoms give to it a very handsome appearance. Cultivation.~l^\iG Norway maple is propagated in the same way as the sycamore, preferring a deep, well-drained soil, the species including several varie- ties, amongst the most remarkable of which is the Cut-leaved, or Eagle's-claw Maple, which is very ornamental, and easily propagated by buds, or grafts upon the stock of the conunon sycamore. The Red or Scarlet Maple {A. ruhrum).~Thh is a pleasing variety, which produces red blossoms late in spring, or early in summer. It is a low-growing tree, a native of North America, and is difficult to'' raise from seed, and is, therefore, generally propagated by layers. It does best in a rich soil, and bears moisture better than any other species, succeeding in wet and swampy situations. It sometimes produces very valuable timber when it is old, owing to the beautiful graining of the wood. The Large-leaved Mrph '^A. macrophyllum).—T]n% variety is also a :..,tive of North America, bein^-r THE PLANE, 217 -This hardy, of rapid growtli, and often attaining a great size. It was introduced into Jiritain in 1812, and often yields timber of a very ornamental description. _ The Striped- Harked, or Snake-Barked Maple {Acer ,striatnin).~T\m tree is very oi-namental at all sea- sons, having a slender stem, with a smooth bark, that IS beautifully varied with green and white stripes, as well as black and white stripes ; the boughs being of a shining red in winter. It is a native of North America, and altliough sometimes propagated from imported seeds, it is mon^ commonly grafted upon stocks of the sycamore. It is a capital tree for orna- mental plantations, supplying a thick shade, and its wood is esteemed by the cabinet-maker. There are several other species of maple, as A. villomm, a hardy tree imported from the Himalayas, which attains a great size, and resembles in appear- ance the sycamore ; A. cirdnatum, also a hardy tree from Oregon, where it grows to a height varying from twenty, to forty feet, forming im])enetrable thickets. Its pendulous branches yield leaves which surpass the brilhancy of the finest scarlet oaks in autumn, and it IS on this account a highly decorative tree to blend with others of a more sober description of foliage. The Plane-tree {Plata?im), natural order Plata- nacew ; Moncecia ^wli/andria, of the Linna^an system. —This tree is entirely different from the Acer P.eudo- platanm, the mock plane, great maple, or sycamore, which is popularly called the plane in North Britain.' the genus comprehending only two species, the (i.i'j i II. If IIP III 218 ENGLISH TitEES AND TREE-PLANTING. Eastern and Western plane, which are cultivated in Britain on y as ornamental trees, there being none perhaps, which offers more haujsome foBage than the plane, which is generally considered to e.cel in beauty all the other broad-leaved deciduous trees that have become acclimatised in this country. The«reat drawback to their cultivation is that in early s^rin. a change of weather, when frost supervenes, is likely to destroy the leaves immediately after the expansion ot the buds ; and, unless upon an early soil, and in a warm situation, an ordinary English summer is not of sufficiently long duration to enable it to mature its young wood, so as to endure the frosts of winter The seeds of the plane are formed in round balls which are suspended from the branches by slender thread-like stalks, which form an attractive feature at all seasons of the year. I„ their native countries both species attain to a very large si.e, and even in England in warm situations, and under circumstances favourable to their growth, they are unsurpassed bv tJie linest of our native trees. The Eastern Plane (P. orientalis).—TVx^ species i« commonly met with on the banks of the rivulets in Greece the East of Europe generally, and on the coast of Asia Minor, and was introduced about the middle of the sixteenth century into Britain. The Groves of Academus, in which Plato dehvered his discourses, were formed of the plane-tree, as well as the Groves of Epicurus. The shady walks planted near the Gymnasium, around the schools of Athens M THE EASTERN PLANE. 219 and other public buildings, were all formed of the plane ; the enthusiasm of the Greeks and Eomans, it IS said, having been more excited in the cultivation of this tree than of any other. According to Hero- dotus and ^han, when Xerxes invaded Greece, he was so much struck with the appearance of a beau- tiful plane-tree in Lycia, that he caused it to be encircled with a collar of gold, and adorned it with jewels m a lavish manner, and confining it to the charge of one of the Ten Thousand, caused an effigy to be struck of it upon a gold medal, and by causing his whole army to encamp in its neighbourhood for days, by sucli means occasioned such delay as led to his defeat. On the banks of the Eosphorus some enormous plane-trees are to be seen, one particular tree in the meadow of Buynkdere being described by travellers as having a trunk which presents the appearance of seven or eight trees, which sprincrs, as It were, from a formation like that of a stool that has been lopped over ; some of the trunks proceed- ing from the surface, while others branch out at a heiglit of seven or eight feet ; the circumference at the base being 141 feet, the diameter of its branches being 130 feet, which, if regarded as a single tree would probably be one of the largest in Europe or Asia, De Candolle conjecturing it to be 2,000 vears old. -^ In Britain, it will attain a height of seventy, or eighty feet in favourable situations, and is generally of rapid growth in positions best adapted for its <'i • f^^f 220 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. existence. Its brandies range horizontally, and con- tain large masses of foliage, which, while by their arrangement are favourable to the admission of air, yet exclude both rain and sunshine ; while its large leaves are easily set in motion by the passing breeze ; its foliage, perhaps, being of a brighter gr'^en than almost any other tree of a large size. The leaves are five-lobed and palmate, and on healthy young shoots they are often ten inches long and twelve inches broad, but upon the old trees are only about half these dimensions. Cultimtion.—lt blossoms in May, and in favour- able seasons will ripen its seeds in October. The round balls which contain the seed should be broken, and the seed sifted, in order to separate them from the cottony fibre with which they are mixed, and sown in March. A very slight covering of soil is sufficient for them, but they should be pressed into the surface of the ground so as to be held firmly in their places and kept moist ; for which purpose a light covering of branches of evergreens will be appropriate. A quicker way, however, is to pro- pagate by layers in the manner that has been before described by lopping over a stool. It grows quickly, young plants being often four or five feet high when only one year transplanted from layers. A deep, rich, soft soil is necessary for them ; and it has been found that, where trees have attained a very large size, their roots have had access to water. It wants shelter, without confinement; succeeding best in THE WESTERN PLANE. 221 ! i in alluvial soils, along valleys, near the banks of streams, where it will put on its best appearance. The Western Plane (P. occ{de7italis). —The western plane was introduced into Britain about 1630, being a native of North America, commonly found in the fertile valleys on the banks of the Ohio and its tributary streams, as well as by the side of t]ie great rivers of Pennsylvania and Virginia. It resembles very much the Oriental species in its general appearance, its leaves being large, lobed, and somewhat downy underneath, while the seed-balls are smoother than those of the Eastern plane. It is very susceptible to frost, yet the best specimens to be seen in this country belong to this species, though it is a less hardy tree than the other : growing with great rapidity, its young shoots seldom become matured to their extremities, and, consequently, they die back to some extent from the effects of frost ; in cold weather, m May, assuming a scorched s )pearance, but upon the advent of continued fine weather in course of the summer, it gradually assumes a rich clothing of green, which causes it to be one of the handsomest of park ornaments. Cultivatum.~The Western plane may be readily propagated from cuttings, but it is more commonly grown from layers, the plan pursued in its cultivation being the same as that recommended for the other species, and it frequen)ly attains a height of thirty feet in from fifteen, to eighteen years. One tree, wiiich was planted at Lambeth Palace, whose roots had 222 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. access to a pond, reached the extraordinary height of eighty feet in twenty years ; one of the tallest of the species being in Chelsea Hospital Garden, about 115 feet high. Its roots extend towards the Thames, which doubtless explains the cause of this somewhat unusual vigour, so successfully emulated upon the opposite side of the river. The Hornbeam (Car/rmus), Natural order Ame?i- tacece, Monnecia polyandria of Linna3us. —There are three or four species of Hornbeam, all of which are deciduous trees, its leaves bearing a very close resem- blance to those of the beech, being often called the 'horse-beech' on this account by country people. The common hornbeam, C. betula, is a tree that thrives on cold, barren, and exposed hills, in situa- tions where few deciduous trees will succeed ; and on this account is well worthy of being cultivated to a greater extent than is the case in Britain, receiving less notice, perhaps, at the hands of tree-planters than almost any other hardy tree adapted to the climate of Britain. Its appearance is that of a tree somewhat between a beech and an elm, its leaves being destitute of that bright polish which characterises the beech ; in magnitude standing between the latter and the' birch, but is neither valual)le for timber nor as an ornamental tree, its chief recommendation being that it is by no means of slow growth ; and resisting the violence of the winds better than most trees, it is cal- culated to afford good shelter. Tiie leaves resemble those of the beech in hanging on thebranc^hes till the THE HORNBEAM AS A HEDGE PLANT. 223 young buds push them off in spring, which causes it to be a good hedge plant, and, as well, it endures pruning better, and is less subject to disease and atmospheric blight, when grown in a confined form As a hedge plant, it is also superior to beech in being less injurious to neighbouring crops, its roots deriving sustenance at a greater distance from the surface. " It succeeds well on common kinds of soil, and grows quickly on cold clay, according to Miller reaching seventy feet in height, with a large round stem, perrectly straight and sound when upon a stiff clay, which appears to be its natural soil. Its ordinary height is, however, considerably less than this, the trunks being often flat and of an irregular figure It readily springs when lopped over at the surface, or at any height from the root, and is a native of Encrland Ireland, the South of Scotland, and many parts of central Europe, avoiding temperatures of either ex- treme, heat or cold. Its wood is white, tough, and durable ; and has been extensively used in the manufacture of minor articles, particularly those in agricultural use, as handles for tools, yokes for cattle, wheelwright work milk vessels, and for other kinds of rural adaptation' Evelyn recommends it for milk vessels, but since his day, glazed earthenware, blocked tin, and glass milk dishes for the dairy have been extensively resorted to, while Linnteus observed that it is harder than hawthorn, and capable of supporting great weicrhts which Loudon confirms by giving a detailed account ( i ti' 224 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. of comparative experiments made with respect to its powers of resistance against other wood. Cultivation. — Tlie seeds of the hornbeam are formed in a small nut, which usually ripens by the end of autumn. If they are planted immediately upon becoming ripe, they spring up irregularly, a few making their appearance (Juring the first spring, but the principal part of the crop during the second year. It is, therefore, considered the better practice to sow them in spring, covering them with half an inch depth of soil, the seeds then remaining dormant for the first year after they have been sown, making their appearance in the following spring. The beds should be formed of the common width of four feet, which is found the most convenient width for a seed-bed, one bushel of seed being sufli- cient to plant a bed fifty yards long. If the crop rises thickly, the young plants should be thinned out, and transplanted when a year old. If they come up thin, however, and have sufficient space to stand in the bed as two-year-old seedlings, it is usual to allow them to remain in the bed. They should then be Hfted, and the ends of their roots pruned off, and afterwards be transplanted into nursery lines, about a foot and a half apart, the plants standing in the hnes a few inches asunder. After they have stood thus in nursery lines for two years, the plants are usually fit for hedges, but if they are allowed to remain longer without trans- plantation, and a greater space is allowed them, they THE SPANISH CHESNUT. 225 ai-e likely to become tall, and bare near the surface w Inch w,ll unfit then, for being good hedge plant ,' until they are cut down near the ground to make them grow bushy. While standing in nursery lines, t IS only necessary to keep the beds clear of weeds th^pl^n^tsbetng very hardy and requiring no other The other species of the hornbeam, as C. orientals and 6. Anerv^ana, do not attain the dimensions of a tnnber tree .„ this country, but the latter is a common one in the United States and the warmer parts of Canada. The trunk, like that of the European species, being obliquely and irregularly fluted, the bark smooth and spotted with white; the fertile flowers hanging in long pendulous leafy aments, the scales of the leaves which surround them containing at their ab7nd:„t!r' "™' --''^ -"'-' *^^^ ^-«fi- The Spanish Ches7iut {Castanea mm).-The sweet or Spanish, chesnut, called sweet to distinguish it from the horse-chesnut, the fruit of which is bitter, IS a splendid tree when seen at its best-growin<. to a great size, and enduring for ages. It is sail to derive its name from Kastanea, a city in Pontus, in Asia, by general reputation being considered to be a native of Asia, as it is there found in many inac- cessible situations where it could not well have been artificially planted. Eeport accredits the Emperor Tiberius with bringing it from Asia Minor to Europe It soon spreading over the warmer parts of this Q 226 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. li I continent, being found as a native tree very abun- dantly in the mountainous districts of southern Europe, as well as in North America, from New York to California. It has acquired the name of ' Spanisli ' on account of the best chcsnuts, which are used as an addition to dessert, beino- imported from Spain, tliouj^h there are numerous varieties of tlie chesnut to be found, especially in tlie south of Prance and Italy. In some provinces of France, as well as in Corsica, the fruit of the chesnut-tree constitutes no inconsiderable por- tion of the food of the peasantry. In Limousin, a province of France, where tlie chesnut trees are very abundant, the inhabitants have from time immemorial picpared them in a peculiar manner, which fits them for being converted into bread. In England the fruit that is grown is very inferior to that produced in the south of France and Spain, in some of the colder districts of Great Britain not ripening at all; but in Devonshire there are some varieties which ripen their fruit earlier than others. It has been thought probable that, the tree was introduced into Britain by the Eomans, and it is now one of the most ornamental of English trees, the diameter of the trunk being generally in proportion to that of the head, its leaves being broad and lomr, veined and serrated, of a dark glossy green, which change into a mellow yellow in autumn. As a park, or lawn tree, it is more tender than the oak, nor does it arrive at an equal height, or diameter, tiiough a LARGE CIIESNUT-TIiEi: ON MOUNT ETNA. 227 valuable tree for grouping and picturesque oflerf nor ,s the timber so valuable as tJiat of the oak' except for certain pur] OSes. ' One of the largest chesnut-trees in the world s ands, or used to stand, upon Mount Etna. Kircher about the year 1670, asserts tlutt an entire flock of sheep imght be contained within >s hollow trunk as in a fold, M. Houel, in his Vo„e en SkUe, finding It in a state of decay when lie visited it, having lost the greater part of its branches, and the trunk being quite hollow. A house had been nrran..ed in Its interior, in which a family were living; an oven having been fixed up in it, in which, according to the c.Kstom oi the country, ih.ey dried their ches- nuts, filberts, and other fruits which they wished to preserve for use during winter ; but they had so litt e respect for tlie tree itself, which gave them shelter, that, when they could get no other, tliey used It as iuel ; cutting t)ut pieces as they needed tliem hom tlie interior of tlie tree. Large Chesnut tree hi Mount Etna. —Bry done the traveller, gives a full account of this celebrated 'tree in his tour tlirough Si(.ily in 177 It has been pub- hshed several times before, but the particulars are wortliy of being again given, for symptoms of decay oil show tliemselves in chesnut-trees of httle more than a century old, w.acdi ought indeed to be taken as an evidence of unsuitable .n,l, or situation, rath than a proof of tlie chesnut being not a lon<-hved tree. The following is the account he furni.shrs :-_ Q 2 228 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. *Froin tliis place it is not loss than fiv-e or six miles to the great chesnut-trees, through forests growing out of the lava, in several places almost impassable. Of these trees there are many of an enormous size ; but the Castnipio di cento cavelli (chesnut of the hundred horses) is by much the most celebrated. I have even found it marked in an old map of Sicily, published nearly 100 years ago; and in all the maps of Etna and its environs it makes a very conspicuous figure. I own I was by no means struck with its appearance, as it does not seem to be one tree, but a bush of five large trees growing together. We complained to our guides of the imposition, when they unani- mously assured us that, by the universal tradition and even testimony of the country, all these were once united in one stem ; that their grandfathers remembered this, when it was looked upon as the glory of the forest, and visited from all quarters ; that for many years past it had been reduced to the venerable ruin we beheld. We began to examine it with more attention, and found that there is an appearance that these five trees were once united in one. The opening in the middle is at present prodigious, and it does, indeed, require faith to believe tlrit so vast a space was once occupied by solid timber. But there is no appearance of bark on the inside or any of the stumps, nor on the sides that are opposite to one another. Mr. Glover and I measured it separately, and brought it to exactly the LAKGE CIIESNUT-TREES. 229 same size-viz. two l.undred und four feet round li tins was once united in one solid stem, it must with justice indeed liave been looked upon as a very wonderful phenomenon in the vegetable world, and deservedly styled the glory of the forest. I have since been told by the Canonico Recupero, an in- genious ecclesiastic of this place, that he was at the expense of carrying up peasants with tools to dhr round the Castapio di cento cavelll, and he assures me, upon his honour, that he found all those stems united below ground in one root. I alleged that so extraordinary an object must have been celebrated by many of their writers ; he told me that it had, and produced several examples.' In England the oldest example of the chesnut tree is found in the Great Chesnut of Tortworth in Gloucestershire, which in 1150 was styled the ' Great Old Chesnut Tree.' It stands on a soft, loamy, clay soil, in a north-west declivity of a hill, and is said by Evelyn to have been remarkable for its magnitude in the reign of King Stephen (1135), being then called the Great Chesnut of Tortworth. In J 720 it measured fifty-one feet, but Lysons, in 1791, made it only forty-five feet three inches ; while Strutt, in his ^ylva Britamiica, in 1820, gives its measurement at live feet from the ground, to be fifty-two feet in cir- cumference, and its cubical contents, in accordance with the usual method followed in the measurement of timber, to be 1,965 feet. It bore fruit plentifully in 1788 ; tradition carryhig its origin as far back as 230 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. the days of the Saxon Egbert. Compared witli the age of tliese venerable trees, the duration of the period of man's hfe seems only as a span. Another tree has also been described as standing in Gloucestersliire, in whose hollows ' was a pretty wainscoted room properly furnished with windows and seats ' ; while Grose describes one of four ches- nuts that stood in the garden at Great Cranford Park, Dorset, that measured thirty-seven feet in circum- ference, Avhich, though shattered and decayed, still bore good crops of fruit. The chesnut succeeds best in a deep, sandy loam, or a rich gravelly soil, with an open, and dry subsoil. So situated, its progress during the first eight or ten years of its life, after being planted out from nursery lines, will be about three feet annually ; in close jilantations, in a mild climate, growing with an up- right trunk to the height of fifty or sixty feet. On exposed situations, however, on retentive and wet subsoils, its growth becomes more stunted, and it is seldom able to ripen its shoots sufficiently to resist frost. The value of chesnut timber deteriorates after sixty years of age, the wood being of a better quality when young than in its more advanced age, a circum- stance the direct opposite to the case of most trees. The value of the young wood consists in the sap, or outer wood, soon changing into heart-wood, whicli ciaises it to be valuable for such purposes as posts, fences, or any other application for insertion into the DURABILITY OF CHESNUT WOOD. 231 ground, or when it is alternately exposed to Avet and dry influences, which proves very trying to many descriptions of timber. This fact has been illustrated in an account contained in the Transactions of the Society of Arts for 1769, with respect to the compara- tive durability of oak and chesnut when used for posts. Some posts of chesnut, and otliers of oak, had been used at Wellington, in Somersetshire, previous to the year 1745. When undergoing repair, about 1763, the chesnut posts were found to be very little worn, while the oak ones were quite unserviceable. It is by the recording of such facts as these, that the true value, or worth of certain kinds of timber for special purposes, is determined, and in the instance quoted, tlie worn-out oak posts were replaced by new ones of the same material, and the old chesnut ones allowed to stand. In twenty-five years afterwards (1788), the chesnut posts, which had stood twice as long as the oak ones, were found to be in much better condition than tlie latter. Again, in 1772, a fence was made partly of oak posts and rails, and partly of chesnut, the trees made use of being the same age. In nineteen years the oak posts liad decayed so much at the surface as to need strenfftheninir by spurs, while the chesnut required no support of the kind. A gate post of chesnut, on which a gate had swung for fifty-two years, was found to be perfectly sound when taken up, and other instances are furnished of the same character, but we have quoted sufficient to illustrate the superior quality of 1 i u f ■! ', 232 ENGLISPt TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. ii'i ! .r-*5i» pf ■ Ifa chesnut timber for the purpose of these, and similar applications. On the other hand, aged chesnut timber is apt to become brittle and shaky ; the annual layers dividing from one another, and having a tendency to fall into laths ; and to be had at its best for many purposes, it should be felled before the trunks attain dimensions exceedmg a foot in diameter. (Mtwation.-Themit^ or seeds of the chesnut are frequently sown in October and November, preference bemg given to the best Enghsli seed that can be pro- cured, as foreign nuts are often kiln-dried to fit them for travelHng in packages, and tlieir vitality cannot be depended upon, the young plants rising in April. But as at that time of the year they are likely to re- ceive injury from frost, another practice is, to preserve the seeds during winter, and sow them early in sprmg. The plants by this means are delayed, and do not make their appearance before the middle or end of May, when they are more likely to be exempt from injury on this score. The seed is sown in drills a foot and a half asunder, standing in the rows three inches apart, and in a seed bed four feet wide, one bushel of seed is sufficient for a bed thirty yards lon. s and other articles; birch ropes being far more durable than ropes composed of hemp. I*, m |r-*f T' V 23(; I:N(}1.[SII TIIKIW AND THKl'M'I.ANTINa. It luiS Ik'CH HIlid iJlllt, l,ll(> lli^r|||„,„|,.|- i|, 1,1, OS,, (lis- trii'ts vvIm'i-c |>iii,> wood is not, lo |),> ||j„|, ri,||,s buck upon tlic liircli for ovcrylliinni-. '|'|„. ,st,roii), niid liis IinriicMs, jih well jim lop the iiHt's Mhovcniciilioncd. The hnislivvood i,s tiHcd in liu' loiniMlioM of wicker i'vuron lor prevent iiire destroyed in (his manner l)y the Hussian soKliery in th(« e(,nrse.)f their birch wine manufacliire. Tlie tree at times produces heautiruliy marked tind»er, niarl)led and veineii, which is capable of takinu- a very hiuh polish, while its bark is one of the most, ineorruiJtible of ve_oetabK> substances, being us(>(I for lannino;: and it is saiil thai, lisli enter the nets of lisheniien n>ore reatlily than when tiny have been preserved by any other nniterial, oivinir them a. degree of softness and elesticily that is to be obtained by no other iiienns. On the banks of the Garry, in (tlengarry, the wood of the bin-h is lar|)i,n.f,i(,M „r Hin.pl,. (Iy(>s, and in Kussia tl„. Indes wind, an, h„ l,ijr|,|y (,Ht(„!ni(,(l for [,in(lin^r |,„okH are prepared vvitli cnipynMunalic, „il „r tlio l.ircli, wlii(;l. <'«>nr.TH tl.e a^Mvcal.h, pcrAnnc that a«H-,(,n. panics ' liiiHsia-lcatlM-r.' Tho roots of tl.o bircf.-tree po.sHcss fiucl. extraordinary p„vv<.rH of pen(!trati„n, that, ^r.-ow- '"- "1**;" '••"''^■^ ^v'''<^'' <'PI>oar to the (-ye aln.oHt l)are, with an iiiHudicicnt coverin.^ of .soil even for the growtli of sniall plants, such is their power that, pi'Mvin^r throii^rh /i,s,sMres by ^rradual and sncumsive ed'orts, tluiy will separate stones several tons in weight to reach the soil. ('u/lw,if.wn.~--'VhG seeds of tlu; })ir(;h nsnally get ripe in September, when ti.ey are collected, and^o I)revent lernu-ntation tlu^y are spn^ad out thinly and t in dry weather. One bushel of seed is suflicuent for a bed of thirty lineal yards. If drought prevail in May and June, the beds should be shaded with lij-anches of evergreens. Plants of a year old will generally be about a foot high, when they should be transplanted into lines one foot apart the plants standing three or four inches asunder in' the lines, where, ai'ter remaining for two years, they ; I, 238 EiNQLISII TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. /ill Pi: : will crenorally be from two to three feet liicrji, and bo fit for plantinrr out. The birch in a capital nurse for timber trees of a difTeretit variety, as the oak, chesnut, &c., and roaches maturity at various ages accordincr to situation and soil, but seldom increasing after it is seventy years old. At a poar early in spring, possessing an aromatic fragran-- which they retain for a long time after being dried in a stove ; and although up to the present it has been very little resorted to, it is * a very suitable tree for planting in the valleys of the mountainous districts of Great Britain, as it yields large and most valuable timber. The Dwarf Birch {Betula ncma).~This dwarf THE WALNUT 239 variety is a low slirub, a ruitivo of Nortli Britain and some otlier European countries, and makes a very- pleasing variety wlicn associated witli other trees in positions suitable for its growth. The Walnut {Jufjlam) — The walnut, though generally regarded as a fruit-tree, and not a timber tree, yet furnishes very superior timber ; in the east of France, tlie south of Germany, and Switzerland being very abundant ; and in the plains of the Bergstrasse, whicli run parallel to the Rhine, between tlie Neckar and Mayn, there is hardly any other timber tree to be found. It belongs to the natural family Terebintacece, and to the Moncecia polyandria of the Linna^an system, the flowers of the genus being unisexual, and both sexes are produced by one plant, there being various species, all of large growth and yielding valuable timber. There are also several varieties of the common walnut, as the large, the thin-shelled, the thick-shelled, the late ripe, the double, and the French walnut. The Royal or Common Walnut {J. regia). A line of walnut-trees make a capital screen for an orchard of fruit-trees, but the course of treatment should be different according to the intended applica- tion, or purpose for which the tree is desirrned. If meant to stand for timber they should be sown in the place where tliey are intended to remain, in order that the tap root may be preserved intact, which, if once broken, the tree ceases its upward growth, and li! If: n k 31,' r h i ' : ■ i ' ' 1 ii 240 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. inclines to throw out side branches. Biif if meant for prodiioinpr fruit, the transplantation destroys the tap root, and renders the tree more fruitful; those trees which spread their roots nearest the surface havinnr the best-flavoured fruit, and in the largest quantity; while strong tap roots encourage "the growth of timber. Trees that have never been removed do not ripen their fruit so early in the season as those which have undergone removal, the vigorous tap root, when it has not received the check of transplantation, striking deeply into the ground, its propensity to do this being greater even than that of the oak, which causes it to be an exceed- ingly appropriate tree when the top soil happens to be thin and poor, but the subsoil of good quality. When its course has not been checked by removal, it will usually reach a height of twenty feet in twelve years, at which time it generally begins to yield fruit, and Its progress is slower. Striking its roots deeply into the ground, it makes a capital hedgerow plant, as It does not obstruct the cultivation of the neigh- bouring land, and on this account is well worthy^'of more attention than it receives at the hands of farmers and planters generally, of which cultivators of the soil in other countries of Europe have taken advantage, it being perhaps the most common hedge- row tree throughout the Continent. Trees of a great age are found in a late climate to ripen their fruit better than young trees in the same situation. Large quantities of walnuts are imported WALNUT WOOD, 241 f! irito England from France and Spain every year Ihe tree is of great duration in this count;- an ^ when L^rown by itself, and not crowded up by otiier J'"'"' . " "' ' ''"■ P'-^'^^nts a very picturesqu. !^^"'' '^' ' ^^^^"^ ^^eing somewhat similar to those of tin. oak. The light-coloured hue of its M 'e otlers a rich contrast to those of other trees the leaves, when pressed with the fingers, emitting an agreeable aromatic perfume, its flowers becinninrr to open about the middle of April, and are^'in fuS bloom by the r iddle of May, before which the leave, are fully ou. The latter are dropped early in autumn. The walnut is thought o have been introduced into England from Prance, and used to be called the Gaul-nut previous to the year 1562, but is supposed to be a native of Persia, and the south side of Mount Caucasus. It is the jmjlans, or nut of love of the Normans, and is probably the Persian nut mentioned by Theophrastus, being found growing wild in the northern parts of Persia. In many parts of the Continent the wood is exten- sively used for domestic articles of furniture, for which it is extremely appropriate, being stroncr' and tough in proportion to its weiglit, of suflicieiU size and very durable, and capable of taking a fine pohsh' The winter of 1709 was so fatr 1 to tlie walnut-trees throughout Europe, and occasioned so great a scarc- ity of its timber, that, in 1720, an act was passed m France to prevent its exportation, and its extensive R I i -f,'i] IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) m^.r 7jt 1.0 I.I ■^ IIIM |iO '""= t 1^ 12.0 25 iiii 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 -«« 6" ► V %. 0*/l Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STRfiET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (7^6) 87!2-4503 \ \ ,0^ \\ <5 ? - dundant growth down to the level of a very ordinary average. Notwithstanding this result, which causes trees to prove branchy, it has a. natural tendency to grow erect. It is after the age of ten, or twelve years, that it is seen at its best, when its white or yellowish racemes are very beautiful and fragrant, though it seldom blooms abundantly for a few years in succession, and CULTIVATION OF THE LOCUST-TREE. 247 liowever, ise of to ■ting tlie d fell off uS finely 3, sweet- lamental the sake ruptible of Sllffi- r minor ^th and ^ely for iurnery, throws w years res the t them, f young e a '^- rdina^y causes jncy to !iat it is acemes seldom )n, and being late in coming into leaf, unless in u very for- ward season, it wears a bare look, when many other trees are clothed in a bright livery of green. The seeds become ripe by the end of October, but it is best to make use of those that are imported from America, when they should be first soaked in water, and sown early in spring. A light, well-drained soil, where the seed-bed gets all the advantage it can pos- sibly obtain from sunshine, is the most appropriate, a very rich soil being only desirable where the chmate is of the best description, and the seeds should be sown about two inches apart, and covered with half an inch depth of soil. The plants will make their appearance early in the course of the summer, rising during the first season to eighteen inches and two feet in height, and seldom ripen their tops if they exceed this size. The young plants should be removed into nursery lines when one year old, the lines being two feet from each other, and the plants ten inches, or a foot asunder. They should be allowed to stand in these nursery lines for a year or two, when they will commonly get from five, to eight feet high, and are th-^n suitable for being estabhshed in their final desti- nations. Sometimes, when the seed-bed produces the plants thickly, they are occasionally thinned out, and the remainder left undisturbed, standing at a distance of six or eight inches apart, and left thus in the seed- bed till they are two or three years old, when they will be often found to measure five, to six feet high, and be fit for permanently planting out. I 1 ' 248 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. The trunks of the trees do not generally exceed a foot in diameter, but there are a few larger specimens dotted about the country ; one at Claremont stands seventy leet high, and has a trunk four feet in diame- ter, while another at Beaufort Castle, in North Britain IS about forty feet high, with a trunk that measures about two feet in diameter, at a distance of three feet from the surface ; even in its native districts not generally exceeding one foot in diameter. In some parts of France, where the cHmate is more suitable for Its growth than in England, it is cultivated in coppice, and in the form of pollards, that are cut every four years for vine props, in the same way that willow pollards are treated in this country, and the leaves and young shoots are there occasionally used ior feeding cattle. The Locust-tree of Scrijjture.— The Locust-tree of Scripture is generally thought to be the Carob-tree which bears a fruit called the Carob-bean, which is grown extensively in the South of Europe, more especially in some provinces of Spain, where the seeds are eaten, and called ' St. John's bread.' Professor Martin says that, ignorance of Eastern manners, and of natural history, have caused some persons to ima- gme that the locusts upon which John the Baptist fed were the tender shoots of plants, and that the wild honey was the pulp of the pod of the carob, whence It obtained the name of St. John's bread, and that there is better reason to suppose that the shells of the carob-pod might be the husks which the prodigal TIIE LOCUST-TREE OF SCRIPTURE. 249 son, in the tender, and touching parable of our Lord, desired to partake of in common with the swine. It ought also to be mentioned that, the locust-tree is sometimes raised from cuttings of the roots. nil 250 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. CHAPTER XII. FAST-GROWING AND SOFT-WOODED TREES, AFFECTING MOIST SITUATIONS. ^^^ir^L'ZT" ^«^^^«-^H"^AaAnOK-XH« WH... POPLAR- TUB ASPKlf-CtTLTIVAXION-rUB LOMBARDr POPLAR-BLACK ITALIAN B ™oT;" — -xok wxllow-xhb whit, or nllZZ DON WILLOW-THE GOAT-WILLOW-THE WEEPINQ-WILLOW-THE ALDER TZZTZT-'"^ HORS.0H.N.X-C.LX:VAXX0N-XH. ^^Z We now come to a different order of trees, wliich It will be most convenient to embrace under the headmg of fast-growing, and soft-wooded trees, which succeed best in moist situations, the principal varieties of this order being the willow, poplar, alder, horse- chesnut, and lime. Although these will often main- tain a fair show of vigour upon dry, and even sandy uplands during their early youth, if the soil has been well trenched previous to their being planted, yet, after a time, they will give unmistakable signs that they are not in their proper place, and wear quite a different aspect to trees of the same order that are planted near water. Many of these, as the weeping willow, are ex- tremely graceful objects, though the alder cannot exactly be called a good-looking tree ; while many FAST-G ROWING AND SOFT-WOODED TliEES. 251 persons have a great objeotioii to the pophir, wliich often, indeed, in some varieties, has an ngly, bare trunk in old age, but are all extremely pretty during their youth, and on this account are capital trees for producing an immediate effect in situations that are naturally bare of trees, where these can always be planted with advantage, even if they are cut down after having performed the office for which they were designed. The goat-willow {Saliv caprea) is a fast-growing tree, which throws out a number of beautiful yellow catkins during the latter end of March, when the bloom of trees and flowers is by no means plentiful. It is not frequently the case that, regular plantations are made of this order of trees, save in the case of willows or osiers for basket-making, which for the most part become valuable, and are grown on ground that could not be made available for any other crop. Upon strips of land by the side of open ditches, by streams, and around pools, the banks of canals and canalised rivers, and scattered over extensive meadows, the willow tribe can be made highly ornamental and useful, as well as being made serviceable for fixing the banks of rivers, and for preventing the washing away of the soil by the water, which often makes great inroads upon the embankments of streams that are unprotected, and subject to the visits of periodical floods. The poplar, though not a favourite with many, particularly those whose eyes have been accustomed 252 EN3LISH TREES AND TREE-PLAxXTIXG. to look upon the monotonous rows of poplars that are seen in Franne, and other parts of the Continent, which they have learned to dislike when abroad, and have sigjied for the umbrageous shade of the trees peculiar to Britain, is yet a tall, graceful-growing tree, and orms a capital contrast when planted amongst round-headed trees, the aspen especially, with its nuttenng leaves, giving an air of life and motion that will be found very agreeable when it occupies a space upon which trees have never grown before • and It IS to this order that late planters are very much indebted, who sigh for that complete sylvan hnish to some modern retreat, which the presence of trees can alone furnish. The Poplar {Fopuks), natural family Amentacece • I)^csc^a octandria of Linn^us.-The poplar is said to derive its name from the public places in ancient Rome being planted with rows of this tree, whence it came to be called arbor populi. The genus is com- posed of deciduous trees which produce unisexual flowers, those of the two sexes being placed on separate plants. There are many species which have come to us from all quarters of the globe ; several of which are very diversified in foliage and form; nearly all being of remarkably quick growth, and on this account a very valuable order of trees for giving an immediate effect. . ^ In favourable situations some of the poplars will make shoots sixteen feet long in a single season, and three inches in diameter ; though this, of course, is a J lii THE CRAY POPLAR. 253 very unusual growtli. The small-leaved white poplar 18 found in most European countries, and some httle doubt exists whether or no this, and the large-leaved one, the abele, is a native of Great Britain ; some little doubt existing on this head from the fact that, most of the plants of it in the seventeenth century were imported from Flanders. Th.re are about sixteen species of the family of populus, most of them being tall, straight trees, with branches rising up perpendi- cularly, instead of spreading out horizontally, as is the case with the great majority of trees. The Gray Poplar {P. candescens).~K native of Britain, the gray poplar is a fast-growing, somewhat spreading tree, which flowers in April, making a conspicuous show of large catkins that measure °wo or three inches long. It grows most rapidly in moist soils, and produces strong lateral shoots that are nearly equal in strength to those of the top shoot, and on this account is often made use of, and associ- ated with other trees, with a view of its removal after more valuable kinds have become established, and is thus a very useful agent in the hands of the planter who requires sylvan decoration at once, in a naked situation, the ordinary growth of this species being thirty, to forty feet in ten years. When established by itself in a rich, moist soil, it rises with a clean bole, and attains a considerable size, producing a large amount of timber in a very short time. The timber, however, is soft and light, and is seldom grown profitably after a period of forty years, or, at the 254 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. outside, fifty years ; after which its trunk commonly begms to rot in the centre, when its value as timber i^ destroyed. The wood is chiefly used for packing- cases, though on account of its being less hable to catch fire than pinewood, or fir, it is sometimes used ae flooring near to fireplaces ; and as it does not warp, is found useful for making doors, boardings for carts, and barrows ; timber for carvers, and similar purposes where a soft wood that is easily worked is wanted. Propagation.— Although it can be raised from seed, whic\ generally gets ripe in June, it is most readily propagated by layers in the way described for the elm ; when cut down at an early age formincr a stool quickly. After being one year transplanted, the plants are often five, or six feet in height, and are fit for being planted out. At an advanced period it springs freely from the roots, and on this account is often considered objectionable for some situations, as It fills the adjoining land with suckers. The White Poplar {P. alba).— The White Poplar bears a close resemblance to the preceding, and although not so vigorous a tree is a finer one. (A variety with larger leaves is called tlie Abek poplar.) The upper surface of the leaves is of a darker shade of green tJian P. canescens, while the under portion is downy, and of a clearer, brighter, white hue, which gives It a much more r^onspicuous appearance when agitated by the wind ; the most beautiful variety being known as the white Egyptian poplar, which THE ASPEN. 255 excels in the possession of leaves of the darkest hue of green above, and the brightest white beneath, of any of the species ; it is, however, not such a strong vigorous tree as the common variety. The whito poplar has a straight trunk, covered with a smooth whitish bark, and it has suffered of late years from an atmospheric disease in many districts, from which the gray poplar has been exempt, even when grown m Its company, blighs generally being contagious. It IS a good tree for producing an ornamental effect on the margins of lakes and ponds, on islands, and in similar situations, growing vigorously near water ; and also forms good plantations in moist situations. The Aspen, or Tremhling-leaved Poplar (P. tremulo) -This is a beautiful tree of stately appearance, which derives its name from its leaves, which are roundish and broadly toothed, smooth on both sides, with long slender, compressed leaf-stalks, which move with the' least breath of wind. It is a native of Britain, and is common in moun- tainous situations in Europe and Asia, being tall in proportion to its girth, with a round head, extremely hardy, and of rapid growth, attaining a considerable altitude in almost any description of land, growing freely when young, in dry sandy soils, as well as in wet and strong land, which is better adapted for its subsequent career. Upon soils of an average quality, the aspen will grow at the rate of three feet annually during the first ten years of its life, and when standinrr alone m 256 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. H meadow, or upon a lawn, will assume a pendulous habit. It is a tree that is very serviceable in the hands of a landscape gardener for picturesque effect, for disposal on sloping hillsides, the margin of planta- tions, or in clumps or groups, as its foliage forms a contrast to that of other trees during the summer, being of a beautiful green, which after being touched by the first frosts of autumn, change into a more mellow hue, and ultimately turn into a bright yallow ; while the quivering of the leaves is perceptibly heard, as well as seen, during comparatively calm weather. The timber, like that of the other poplars, is but of poor quality, though appropriate for special uses, the trunk being of an ash colour in trees of developed growth. Cultivation. — The seeds get ripe in summer, and may be sown at once, but the best method of propa- gation is by suckers, or layers, which is the most speedy way of obtaining trees ; cuttings from the roots will strike freely, but not cuttings from the branches, hke many other poplars, which take root readily when merely stuck in the ground. It is, therefore, the best plan to lop a stool over in the manner before described, one- or two-year-old trans- planted layers being usually from five, to six feet high, wheix they are fit for planting out. The roots of the aspen spread over the surface of the ground, and when the vigour of. the young tree subsides, and all its strength is not principally directed to the matur- ing of its trunk and branches, in many sit.uations it THE BALSAM POPLAR. 257 has an objectionable tendency to produce suckers from the roots, which causes a kind of jungle to form around the tree in neglected grounds, though it offers an opportunity to those desirous of obtaining a stock of young plants, and may be kept down by proper care and attention, by those who do not require thorn The Balsam Poplar (P. balsamifera).-JIhe Balsam Poplar IS a native of Siberia and North America, and derives its name from the fact that the buds of the tree, from autumn to the following leafing season, are covered with a glutinous, yellow balsam, which often forms into drops, and is collected for medicinal use • the balsam being exported from Canada in shells. In North America it rises to a height of eighty feet, but in Britain it is a much lower tree, growing vigorously only for a few years when quite young being only fit for ornamental purposes, and not to be grown as a timber-tree. In the spring, its opening leaves are of a pale yellow colour, which emit a rich balsamic fragrance, which is diffused in the surround- ing air, eventually becoming of a fine, dark green hue the young wood being of a rich chesnut colour. The balsam which is imported into this country from Canada is of a smooth, even texture, yellow in colour, with a fragrant smell, its flavour being some- what similar to that of Tulu balsam. It is said that grouse and other game birds, which are in the habit of feeding upon the buds of the balsam-tree during wmter, acquire a recherche i^^^i^ when served at table, which is much relished by epicures. s I 258 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. R Tlie Lomhardy Poplar, or Fnstifjiate {P. fastigiata). — This well-known tree is distinguished by its upright growth, its lateral branches growing close to the stem, rising upwards in a tapering form, and is a native of Italy, being frequently met with, more especially on the banks of the Po in Lombardy. It was introduced into this country about the middle of the eighteenth century, and soon became a common tree, being easily increased to any extent by cuttings. It is an excellent variety for standing in towns and cities, as it bears the effect of smoke better than almost any other tree, and will flourish in a narrow space. When young it will grow rapidly in almost any soil, but in order to be developed to its fullest size it requires a rich, deep soil, in a situation where its roots can have access to water. A tree is recorded to have grown on the banks of a canal in the neigh- bourhood of Brussels that in fifteen years grew to the height of eighty feet, its trunk being from seven to eight feet in circumference. At an advanced age the bole becomes very furrowed, and is often con- sidered unsightly, but is not. apt to produce under- growths. There are other trees which will yield a greater amount of timber, but none will rise so liigli in the space of twenty years as the Lombardy poplar. Fences are commonly formed of the fastigiate on the Continent, the method of doing this being to insert two year old plants in the ground about six inches apart in straight lines, when they will be six or seven feet high. These are connected by a hori- i. istigiata). s upright the stem, native of cially on bout the became a 3xtent by mding in ke better a narrow n almost ts fullest )n where recorded le neigh- grew to )m seven need age ften con- e under- 1 yield a e so liigli y poplar. Hgiate on being to ibout six ill be six J a hori- I Mack Jihf\iat a( ^my /' 6dmmd deu.v Jins, and after having pourud out his heart to the beloved serves^ up THE ALDEK. 267 the same disli rechauffe to a friend, is m\ very much in earnest ubout Ids loves, however mucli he may be in Ills piques and vanities wlien his impertinence gets its due.' The Alder {Alum (/lutirma).— The alder belongs to the same natural family as tlie bircli, but is not nearly so good-looking, being by no means an orna- mental tree, its numner of gi-owth being somewhat uninteresting and gloomy, being altogether a plain kind of tree. It is a native of almost every country of Europe, and thrives best in nuirshy situations, and may be regarded as the most aquatic tree indigenous to Ih-itain. Although in some situations it may be seen growing more in the form of a large shrub than a tree, yet in others, when planted in a congenial soil in danq) situations, or on the edge of rivers, it some- times attains to the height of sixty feet. As it reaches its ])rime when fifty or sixty years old, where timber is the object it should then be felled. When of con- siderable size, the timber of one of the varieties, of which there are several, is of a reddish colour, and often very finely veined, being sometimes locally called ' Scotch mahogany,' bearing some resemblance to mahogany when polished, though of a duller colour. The bark of the alder contains a good deal of taniun, and if cut in spring the shoots dye a cinna- mon colour, and the catkins of the fiowers a green, and for this purpose is resorted to by dyers in county l-il lii* i5 i. 1 1.1 268 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. districts, and especially in the highlands of Scotland. The largest trees that have been recorded is one that stood near the village of Haverland, in Norfolk, which measured, at the time its dimensions were taken, sixty- five feet in height, and the bole, at a foot from the ground, twelve feet in circumference; and another, which stood in the Bishop of Durham's park at Bishop Auckland, was somewhat smaller. The twigs of the alder are brittle, as well as the stem when green, but its uses are very varied and considerable. The shade does not injure the grass, and coppices of it are very useful for wintering out- door stock on mountain grazings ; and it supplies a large quantity of faggot-wood, and wood for making hurdles. The timber is used by last-makers, cabinet" makers, turners, and others who require a soft wood to work upon. In fenny districts, where other varieties of trees refuse to grow, the alder makes a capital hedge plant ; and also is found to be a free grower for several years on many soils of an opposite character, if the land has been well trenched. It is, therefore, a good tree in the hands of the planter who is desirous of making an immediaie show round newly erected buildings, which lack the finish and adornment that trees are able to afford ; while it is a good nurse for other sorts of a more valuable description that are sought to be established by the sea-side, where, without such shelter, they would refuse to grow. As a reclaimer, however, of low-lying meadow PROPAGATION OF THE ALDER. 269 land which is subject to being partially or continually- flooded, the alder can be made to play a very im- portant part. This is effected by ridging up the soil where the trees are intended to stand in summer time, and planting the young trees upon it in the spring. After they have stood for a few years, the continual droppings of the leaves, and by the growth and fixing of the roots in the soil, the land becomes eventually dry and firm, and the mtruding water kept off the adjoining land. By the edges of rivers, or in damp, low-lying situations, in planting the alder the soil requires no other preparation beyond digging ; the best times for planting being November and March, when the plants should be inserted in holes nine inches deep, made with a common garden spade, the distance at which the plants should stand from each other being four feet, and afterwards cut out as they increase in size, and thinned according to the vigour of the plantation. Propagation. — The alder is best propagated by sowing the seeds, though it may be increased by suckchS, or layers, the seeds being contained in small cones, which are generally fit for gathering in the last fortnight in October. Thc'-^e, when collected, should be spread on a dry floor to the depth of six inches, when there is no chance of their getting mouldy ; as over a harness-room, where there is a fire often kept up, and where the warmth beneath can reach the cones spread above ; and here they should be allowed to remain till the first fortnisht in 270 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE- PLANTING. April (the cones being turned over frequently in the meantime), ^^-!len they should be thrashed, sifted, and cleaned, and slightly moistened for twenty-four hours, milk and water being recommended for this purpose.' The best site for a seed-bed is that of a moist meadow, which, after being dug over evenly, and finely (but not raked), should be marked out in beds four feet wide, with an alley of a foot width between the beds. The seed should be sprinkled upon the beds almost as thickly as it can lie without touching, and should then be carefully trodden in by the feet, until the soil becomes flat and even, and the seeds become blinded, as it is technically called ; for they require no other covering. In moist meadow land, which is the best adapted for the purpose, the young plants will be nine inches high by November, or perhaps even higher ; and they should then be trans- planted into lines a foot and a half apart, the plants standing in the rows about six inches from one another. After standing thus for a couple of years they will be fit for being planted out permanently. At one time it was customary to propagate alders by planting truncheons, or good-sized stakes which were lopped from off a pollard tree, the same being also done with willows ; l)ut this plan has been abandoned in favour of the one by raising plants from seed, which is the more reliable method ; and nurserynien now make the raising of young trees such a prominent part of their business that the young plants can be bought very cheaply, and if THE HORSE-CHESNUT. 271 y in ths ted, and r hours, purpose, a moist ily, and in beds between pon the )uching, he feet, e seeds or they y land, ! young ber, or 3 trans- ! plants m one f years itly. ! alders which being i been plants I; and J trees at the and if purchased from those who made this branch their special study, the young trees will be in a reliable condition for planting out, each having been treated according to its special requirements, which the preceding pages will to a great extent have ex- plained. In some parts of the country the bark of the alder is stripped off a year before it is felled, but this looks unsightly, and may as well be done immediately after it is cut down, which is done in winter time. As the wood is' subject to the attack of insects, where there is an opportunity of doing so it has been re- commended to immerse the finer portions, immedi- ately after felling, in a pit of water dug in a peat bog ; the water of the pit being impregnated with a bushel or more of lime. It is not everybody that has a peat bog at their command to resort to, but in some districts where these abound, the wood so prepared will be more valuable, it is affirmed, for the purposes of the cabinet-maker in the manufacture of tables, or other articles of furniture. Alder, from the ease with which it can be perforated when green, and from its freedom of liability to split, is well adapted for wooden pipes ; and is useful as timber in moist situa- tions, such as for foundation piles, &c. The Ilor.'^e-chesnut {^.^ cuius hippocastanum) . Natural family Hippocastatiece ; heptandria, monogynia of Linnajus. This beautiful tree is a native of Asia, and was introduced into Europe about the middle of the sixteenth century, finding its way, it is said, in the first 272 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. ] li '■• ■It 1 II place, from parts of Northern Asia to Constantinople, and from thence to Vienna; afterwards to Paris, where the first tree is recoi led to have been planted in 1815. It is the largest ornamental tree we have, and may now be regarded as one of the best of English trees for the purposes of embellishment; producing a profusion of rich and beautiful blossoms, which individually form pyramids of large white flowers, delicately marked with red and yellow (the scarlet flowering horse-chesnut being a smaller variety), growing very rapidly, its branches assuming the form of a paraboloid, closely clothed with op- posite digitated leaves of a deep-green colour. It is a splendid tree for the formation of avenues, one of the finest we have in this country being that of Bushey Park at Hampton Court, when the trees are in full blossom attracting crowds of visitors from London to see them, the flower-stalks emerging above the leaves, and the blossoms being generally expanded by the end of May. The horse-chesnut attains a large size when standing alone in a somewhat moist meadow ; and it is a beautiful object as a lawn tree, particularly suited to those somewhat damp soils in the neighbourhood of water where many other kinds of trees would not flourish. It is remarkable for the rapidity with which it forms the whole season's growth, which is usually completed in three or four weeks, which, as it gives the young wood an opportunity of being matured early in the season, causes the tree to be THE FRUIT OF TIIE HOESE-CHESNCT. 273 situations, though as a high degree of temperature is n eosary to expand the blossoms, and ca'use t to put on ,ts most attractive form, it is only in warm atntr '""""' ''-' ' '-'-- ^'— suitat^'toT'T "" 'r' '"" '"^*"*^<^ - being su table to the horse-chesnut, some of a favourable nature,as the ' giant's nosegay,' the ' gigantic kyZT' while another of an unfavourable deseriptioif iix'e i't as an emblem of ostentation, in reference to the gay appearance of its blossoms, and the profusion with which they are scattered on the grass, with the com- parative uselessness of its timber, and the worthless- ness of Its fruit, which is put to no useful purpose 1 ts country ; but although even hogs reLc'to e ^ tt^em who e while, it is said, poultry will do so when boiled ; while the Turks are accredited with the food of their horses, from which, according to some ^ he derivation of the name. Starch is ako said to have been made from them upon the Continent, where they are grown in considerable numbers in some places. and s therefore but of httle value ; its chief reeom nieiidation being that, as its fibrous roots pei^^: t "f t being removed with safety when of a Wger i.e than most trees wiU allow of transplantation, partic" T 274 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PL ANTING. larly after being frequently transplanted, this ex- cellent qualification causes it to be fit for producing an immediate effect in forming lines and avenues, which slower-growing trees would take several years to equal, and altogether being a most valuable tree for the purpose of decorating lawn or park scenery. Cultivation. — The nuts become ripe about the end of October, and they can be sown any time during the winter, a rich deep soil being the best for them to grow in, although they will strike freely in almost any description of land. Large and sound nuts should be chosen, as the size and vigour of the young plants are a good deal regulated by the quahty of the nuts. A bed twenty yards long, of the usual width of four feet, will take about a bushel of nuts. These should be laid on the seed bed, and beaten down with the back of a spade, to keep them in their places, and should have about an inch and a half depth of soil spread over them. Either at the ages of one or two years, the seedhngs should be trans- planted into nursery lines, about a couple of feet asunder, standing in the rows from eight inches to a foot apart, and afterwards again removed every two or three years, when plants of large size are wanted, in order to maintain that bushiness of root and fibrous nature which is essential to their future prosperity. There are several of the smooth-fruited kinds with yellow blossoms, known as the genus pavia^ the nut not being inclosed in a prickly shell, as is the I'HE LIME, 276 this ex- oducing ivenues, al years ble tree enery. the end 1 during or them 1 almost nd nuts e young .lahty of le usual of nuts. I beaten in their I a half the ages )e trans- of feet ;hes to a ^ery two wanted, ■oot and r future id kinds aiiia, the LS is the »«„ ,,""« ^""•''y '» a very liandsome dwarf r;; It '"'""" ''^ """^^ *' - -=«'- age inan tiie common one nnfl i-a ^f ^ ' ^^ ^^ 01 very ornampntnl ^a^„^.,e„..„dea„U,o.Uer.L,.:— mnicua. There are several species and varieties of tins tree. wh,cl, differ from one another ehiefly Lthe .e and 3 ape of their respective leaves; the I " ful of the range, and the one most commonly met n h of gI " "T°". "'"^' ^' '^ ^ -'-e o'f tl upon the A "';"'' '"' ^"^''^"' ^"'^ '» '°--^ upon the Alps m Switzerland, in Spain, in Portugal t Sr ::c T' ''"' ^"•'"^' ™^''"S ™ ^>^^ teristcs according to soil or climate; in the colder ones .s fragrant blossoms not expanding to th^ £ extent. It has been said by some writers to be nd^enous to Britain, having been found grolin. v«ld m Kent and Essex-; but as it does not shelitt seeds and spring up in uncultivated ground aftlr tie us» ma „, ^^ ^^^^^ 2 most prX 12 J -T °' "™ '^^"""■y' ">°»gh mention I e'irv ;'"T"° '"^ " -^"'^ ^ "- -'eenth century. Though not usually a very large-growin. tree, there are enormous hme-trees to be seel: ™and and Germany, and one is menLr; b^ bir Ihomas Brown growing in Norfolk as bein-r ninety feet high, wuh a trunk forty-eight feet in °ci™2 I 2 276 ENGLISH TRIIES ANB TREE-PLANTING. ference at a foot and a half from the surface of the ground. The lime bears the smoke of cities well, and on this account is a good deal used for forming u enues in the cities on the Continent, more especially in Germany, where it is planted in lines along the streets and pubHc promenades. The blossoms expand in July, and are extremely fragrant in hot weather, the heat reflected by the pavement and buildings appear- ing to strengthen their agreeable odour. It hkes a good climate, and a rich alluvial or loamy soil, being imsuitable either for bleak situations or dry poor soils, and in this country the seeds are only ripened in the best seasons, and upon trees that are the most favourably situated ; and when this is the case, when several lime-trees of different kinds stand together, and blossom at the same time, the seeds become hybridised, and produce various sorts, even although they are gathered from one tree ; and this causes it often to be a difficult matter to perpetuate the same tree from seed. Occupying the best situations suited to its growth, it becomes a lofty tree with branches depending doAvnwards, displaying a great mass of foliage, of fine form and texture, which causes it to present a very complete and handsome appearance, particularly refreshing to the eye and senses when met with in a crowded city. The following passage respecting the lime-tree occurs in Landor's Convermtions : — 'Old trees in their living state are the only things that OBLTIVATION OF THE LBffi. 277 money cannot commana. Kivers leave their bed, run into cities, and traverse mountains for it ; obelisks and arches palaces and temples, amphithe;tres and pyramids nse up like exhalations at its biddin. • even the free spirit of man, the only thing great ^n earth, crouches and cowers in its prLnce": ?,, passe! away and vanishes before venerable trees. What a sweet odour is there I Whence comes it? Sweeter It appears to me, and stronger than the pine itself T .magme, said he. from the linden. Yes, certainly. Oh, Don Pepmo, cried I, the French, who abhor what- ever IS old, and whatever is great, have spared it. The Austrians, who sell their fortresses and their armies, nay, sometimes their daughters, have not sold It. Must it fall? Oh, who upon earth would ever cut down a linden ? ' Though destitute of the picturesque character which distinguishes the oak and some other trees, it IS well balanced, and of an easy habit, having a great number of lateral branches, which often adorn the cultivated grounds or park-hke meadows in which it IS planted ; and on suitable land it often attains a great size in a short period. Cultivation.^^he seeds are ripe in autumn, and may be sown in winter or early in spring; but trees are seldom raised from seed, which it is often difficult to obtain fully ripe, and plants are usually procured from layers, a plant being lopped over at the surface of the ground, which is easily formed into a stool In wmter, or early spring, the young shoots are bent ill {■■1 iv 278 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. down into the ground to the depth of three or four inclies, with their extremities placed in an upright position, which forms the future tree. The plants become rooted, and can be removed by November, the laying down of the shoots being performed in the winter, or early spring previously. Wlien these are taken away, the shoots, the produce of the preceding summer, should be bent down in the same way as the preceding ones. The shoots sometimes require to be manured, and on account of the silex which it con- tains, it is well to mix a little sharp sand with it, where the land upon which the shoot stands is deficient in that element. After the third year, a healthy shoot will furnish as many as sixty or seventy plants every year, which on their removiJ generally average about two feet high. They should then be set out into nursery Hues, about two and a half feet apart, the plants standing in the lines about fifteen inches from each other. When they have stood thus for two years in the nursery hues, they will generally be about six feet high, and fit for planting out in the situations they are intended to finally occupy. The young tree can, however, be made to attain a larger size than this, and be fitted for removal, if it is trans- planted every second year, which causes the roots to become bushy, or fibrous ; the allotted width in the lines being increased upon each removal, so as to permit of the shapely development of the plant as it increases in size. It stands pruning well, and although THE TIMBER OF TIIE LIME. 279 bare of foliage in the winter time, it grows twiggy, and forms a good screen where one is desired. In rich, sheltered soil it will grow at the rate of two feet yearly in stature, for the first fifteen or twenty years ; after which its progress becomes the most marked, where there is sufficient space for its lateral branches, while the diameter of the trunk is being increased, eighty feet being usually the maxi- mum height it attains in Britain, though Strutt describes a hme-tree growing at Moor Park in Hert- fordshire nearly 100 feet high ; while one is recorded at Cobham Hall in Kent, the seat of the Earl of Cobham, with a trunk nine feet in diameter, and ninety-seven feet high. The timber of the lime, although soft and weak, is yet useful for many purposes, being delicately white, and of a uniform colour throughout, on this account being very appropriate for all light work that requires to be partially painted, and then varnished over. All the exquisite carvings which Grindley Gibbons executed for so many palaces and churches in England, at the time of Charles H., were executed in timber from the Hme. Being close in the grain, it is a good timber to work upon, re- sembHng the maple in its quahty of not beuig subject to warp, which has caused it to be called the * carver's tree,' carvers and gilders using it for most parts of their wooden ornaments, having a clear smooth surface, which blunts the tool less than any other timber in the hands of the carver; and on ..^. 280 ENGLISH THEES AND TREE-PLANTING. account of its not being likely to warp, it is used for cutting-boards, and for the keys of musical instru- ments. As the trunk of the tree is tall, and free from knots, it admits of the bark being stripped off it in long lengths, which are macerated in water till the fibrous layrrs separate, which are then divided into narrow strips. This is called hast, and in northern Europe it is worked into mats, and plaited into ropes ; the mats which are imported from the Russian ports in the Baltic, in which flax and hemp are packed, being made from the bark of the lime-tree in this way, and which is familiar to gardeners from the use they make of them in covering up dehcate plants in the winter, as also in detached pieces for tying them up. As well as mats, ropes, nets, and coarse cloth are made from the inner bark, and in Russia the outside bark is frequently used instead of tiles for covering houses. The honey, the produce of the bees which feed on the blossoms of the hme, is con- sidered to be of the finest quality that can be pro- cured. Loudan points out this fact, and its remark- able dehcacy, which causes it to sell at three or four times the price of common honey, being exclusively used in the preparation for medicine and in the manufacture of hqueurs, and procurable only at the little town of Kowno, on the river Niemen, in Lithuania, where there are large forests chiefly com- posed of this tree, THE AMERICAN LIME. 281 I The leading varieties of the Tilia Europcea are the broad-leaved platyphjlla ; the small-leaved micro- phylla ; the red-twigged rubra ; the cut-leaved laciiiiata ; tlie yellow-twigged aurea ; and the white- leaved alba. The American Lime {T. Americana).— There are several varieties of the American lime, which very nearly resemble the European species, but are hardier, and the leaves vary in size according to the different varieties, being finely serrated at the edges, and ending in acute points, the under surface being of a paler green than the upper one, the large-leaved being the finest sort, and this kind varies from the others also, in having a dark brown-coloured bark. In this country it is a montli later in expanding its blossoms than the other, and its branches commonly take a wider range while young. In its native habitat, on the borders of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, it attains a height of eiglity feet, but it has not been cultivated to any considerable extent in England. Its properties resemble those of the European species, and it is made use of in America for the figure-heads of ships on account of its fitness for the purpose of the carver. The lime is not at all a suitable tree for bleak and exposed lands, and although we liave included it under the heading of these trees which thrive best m a moist situation, it must not be understood to be such as are thoroughly saturated with water, in f "7' 1 tf 282 ENGLISH TEEES AND TKEE-PLANTING. which trees of the willow tribe advance so success- fully ; the moisture needing to be associated with a certain degree of warmth, thriving best in a rich loam, where it will attain to a considerable size. W Licoess- with a a rich 283 CHAPTEE Xm. THE FORMATION OP PLANTATIONS. PLANTATIONS AND PLANTING — TKAVELLTNG SEEDS OF WEEDS — THE TRANSPLANTATION OP LABSE TREES — SIB HENRY STEWART'S METHOD — TRANSPLANTING MACHINE — RELATIVE VALUE OP TIMBER PLANTA- TIONS AND ARABLE LAND — USUAL METHODS OF FORMING PLANTATIONS — NOTCH, OR SLIT-PLANTING— CROSS-CUT PLANTING— PIT-PLANTING— TRENCHED GROUND FOR PLANTING — VARIOUS DESCRIPTIONS OP SOILS ALL SUITED FOR PARTICULAR TREES — ADVANTAGES OP INTERSPERSING CONIFERiE IN BROAD-LEAVED PLANTATIONS — PERMANENCY OP HARD- WOODED PLANTATIONS. 1. The Formation of Plantations. — As plantations are formed with widely different objects, and under totally different circumstances, we will allude to each department under separate headings, which may briefly be said to comprise the planting of coniferous or deciduous timber-trees for the improvement of estates, either for the sake of their timber or the shelter they afford, comprising such trees as the oak, ash, sycamore, native Scotch pine, spruce-fir, beech, birch, Scotch elm, larch, willow, and poplar, which we will consider under the head of plantations. 2nd. Ornamental planting, for which deciduous trees of low growth are adapted, as lilac, laburnum, acacia, several varieties of flowerincr thorn, moiintniTi ash, spindle-tree, elder, willow, service-tree ; varieties »(£ !>1 284 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. which make a pleasing change by their blossoms and fruit respectively ; alder, almond, hazel, wild cherry, apple, &c., including ornamental hardy trees amongst evergreens, calculated to furnish shelter and seclu- sion, such as the varieties of holly, evergreen-oak, laurel, yew, juniper, arborvita), and cedar, of which some are weU adapted to grow as underwood, under the shade of the taller trees, as the holly, yew, box, privet, common juniper, &c. 3rd. Osier beds. 4th. Coppice, consisting of trees which are cropped, or cut down periodically before they attain the size of timber-trees. 5th. Sea-side planting, by which tracts of unpro- fitable land may be made productive and valuable. Plantations and Planting .—'When it is intended to form plantations on a large scale, upon an extensive tract of land, the soil will be found to vary a good deal in most instances, and while loose, deep earth will grow trees of any description, in the low-lying portions which may be moist, trees of the willow, poplar, and alder tribe should be fixed upon, to stand in such situations ; a clayey soil, or a deep clayey gravel, being suitable for the oak, which 'it will be best to plant in^ terspersed with larch, the latter being a surface-root- mg plant, and the former deriving its sustenance from a greater depth ; and as the larch plants will grow much more quickly than the oak, they are the means of afibrding valuable shelter to the young oak-plants PLANTA'nONS AND PLANTING. 285 in a very short period ; even when all are inserted at the same time. But it is generally usual, when it is intended to form an oak plantation in exposed situations, to plant Scotch pines and larch for shelter beforehand ; the oak plants being inserted a few years afterwards, when the other trees, intended to act as nurses, have made a certain amount of progress. In low situations, in alluvial soil, silver-fir attains to a large size, and as this tree succeeds best for the first ten years of its life, when somewhat shaded and confined, faster-growing trees, such as larch and willow, should be planted amongst tlie silver-fir, which admits of being planted very closely when grown alone. On account of the young silver-fir succeeding under shade, it forms an excellent tree for filling up vacancies in woods when they occur, A mixture of other trees, such as those mentioned, re- lieve the monotony of appearance which, without their aid, plantations present that are composed solely of deciduous trees. On the contrary, beech is more profitably grown alone than when mixed with other trees, for having a tendency to grow branchy and become bare-headed, while the timber is only valuable when the trunks are grown tall and clean, these results are best attained when this species stands by itself, for otherwise it is apt to prevail over its associates, and grow in an unprofitable form. Upon poor, dry, gravelly, or chalky soils, beech, ■I 286 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. birch, and the family of pines succeed the best. A good deep soil, that may not be quite fitted for some kinds of trees, will often grow Scotch elm and ash, associated together, very well : the latter inclining to land that has a tendency to moisture, both being about equally hardy trees. In g^' • r 1 that is quite swampy, the larger tree-willows, c ne species of poplars will be found the best, aua those in such situations will be found to advance very rapidly. Trees of a hardy character are needed for high altitudes, and of the broad-leaved varieties the best kinds for forming plantations will be found to consist of the mountain-ash, goat-willow, Scotch elm, ash, birch, service-tree, trembhng poplar, sycamore, and alder, the latter being especially fit for the moister portions in such situations. When narrow belts are planted to give shelter to agricultural land in exposed situations, they should be always one chain in width, and it will be found advisable to introduce underwood in these, which will grow beneath the taller-standing trees, as holly, yew, juniper, hazel, &c. It may readily be seen what mistakes are likely to be committed by the inexperienced planter, who does not sufficiently take into consideration these dif- ferent characteristics and necessities ; or the loss that must invariably ensue from ignorance of the subject, and from mtiking choice of trees that arc unfitted for the positions they are intended to occupy, and, per- haps, more ignorance exists upon the subject of tree- planting amongst farmers than in any other branch of k :. JUDICIOUS PLANTING. 287 quite high husbandry, and yet there is scarcely a farm in En improved by the judicious land that mi^ht not be planting of a few trees. This want of knowledge could often be supplemented by the expenditure of a few shilhngs in the purchase of a good book upon the subject ; but the EngHsh farmer has been twitted with not belonging to a book-buying class ; upon the approach of bad times, when it becomes necessary to economise and cut down expenses, the first item that is fixed upon being generally the discontinuance of the subscription for the agricultural journal ; which would often afford him most valuable information in difficult times, by which he might often either save or make money ; but it is expected that the exigencies of modern agriculture in Great Britain will raise up a class of agriculturists who are not likely to overlook such useful auxiliaries as practical works that are able to give them vahiable assistance in the daily business of their lives. Before plantations upon a large scale are formed, the land should first be carefully gone over, and the sites of future roads be mapped out, so as to afford easy access to the timber. The surface of the ground is better seen when it is bare than after it is planted ; and these hues may either be formed and left vacant, or planted with a species of trees which are useful at an early age, and may be cut down when the sites need to be used for roads. Larch, willows, and pop- lars are best adapted for this purpose, and when felled become of value for poles, pit-timber, props. 288 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. sheep-hurdles, and many other uses as well that they can be applied to on a farm ; and the expense, which we will refer to again, is often comparatively trifling. Many districts that at one time possessed a memor- able notoriety for their bleakness and steriHty have been converted into profitable land by the shelter which trees have afforded, through increasing the warmth and fertility of a district, to which must be added the productive value of plantations of timber. It has been suggested that belts of trees act as a kind of filter to the winds, that otherwise often waft the spawn of licliens and mosses, and cover what would otherwise be fertile land with a noxious vegetation. This view of the subject has not received as yet, from the hands of those who are quahfied to make the investigation, the amount of attention which the importance of the subject deserves. In many districts it may be seen that the trees which are placed next to a marshy heath have been so fully covered with lichen on the outside, that no part of the bark was visible to the eye : while the inner trees which com- pose the belt, away from the immediate contact of the barren picture, are perfectly free from these parasites, and after the plantation has attained sufficient size, the land has become fxt for cereal crops, which with- out their aid could never have been e and 3wan,p, must l.avc been standLT days of tl,e fatl,ors of tl.e Mia ,st , " '" "'"' <'nd,w,,ej:::;X :l^:::^'r^''^«-- m"st only coppice alon, M k " "^'"' °'' "' arms of the 11!° ^ T °' ""^ '"^''^ - "le sea, there are found in the soil ^f ,\, giowin^r, for ,n some of the wild and .!„. . • «iUe glens that are difficult of l„"n l '""''''" trunks still lie neglected moulf-'"'"^ '""•«« steady effluxion of °time ' "° ''''' ''^ ">« 17 •> U L> 292 ENGLISH TREE3 AND TREE-l'LANTINQ. I II tion of large trees as follows : — ' Veterem arborem transplantare, to transport an old grove, was said of a difficult enterprise. Yet, before we take leave of this subject, let us show what it '> possible to be effected in this kind with cost and industry. Comte Maurice, the late Governor of Brazil for the Hol- landers, planted a grove near his delicious paradise of Friburgh, containing six hundred cocoa-trees of eighty- years' growth, and fifty feet high to the nearest bough. These he wafted upon floats and engines four miles long, and planted them so luckily that they bore abundantly the very first year, as Gaspar BarljEus hath related in his elegant description of that prince's expedition. Nor hath this succeeded in the Indies alone ; Monsieur de Fiat, one of the raareschala of France, hath with huge oaks done the Hke at Fiat. Shall I yet bring you nearer home ? A great person in Devon planted oaks as big as twelve oxen could draw, to supply some defect in an avenue to one of his houses, as the Right Honourable the Lord Fitz- harding, late treasurer of his Majesty's household, assured me, who had himself likewise practised the removing of great oaks, by a particular address, ex- tremely ingenious, and worthy the communication. Choose a tree as big as your thigh, remove the earth from about it, cut through all the collateral roots till, with a competent strength, you can enforce it down on one side, so as to come with your axe at the tap root ; cut that off*, redress your tree, and so let it stand covered about with the mould you loosened NOTICE BY PLINY. 293 from it, till the next year, or longer, if you think good, then take it up at a fit season ; it will likely have drawn new tender roots, apt to take, and suffi cient for the tree wheresoever you shall transplant it. Some are for laying bare the whole root, and then dividing it into four parts, in form of a cross, to cut away the interjacent rootlings, leaving only the cross and master roots that were spared to support the tree; then covering the pit with fresh mould, as above, after a year or two, when it ha? put forth and furnished the interstices you left between the cross roots with plants of new fibres and tender shoots, you may safely remove tlie tree itself, so soon as you have loosened and reduced the four decapitated roots, and shortened the tap roots ; and this operation is done without stooping or bending the tree at all. And if, in removing it, you preserve as much of the clod about the new roots as possible, it would be much the better. ' Plmy notes it as a common thing to re-establish huge trees that have been blown down, part of their roots torn up, and the body prostrate. To facilitate the removal of such monstrous trees for the adorn- ment of some particular place, or for the rarity of the plant, there is this further expedient. A little before the hardest frosts surprise you, make a square trench about your tree, at such distance from the stem as you may judge sufficient for the root ; dig this of competent depth, so as almost quite to under- mine it, by placing blocks and quarters of wood to ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTINO. sustain the eartii ; this clone, cast in as mucl, water as may fill the trench, or at least sufficiently wet it, unless the ground were very moist before. Thus let it stand, till some very hard frosts do bind it firmly to the roots, and tlien convey it to tlie pit prepared for Its new station, which you may preserve from freezincr by laymg stores of warm litter in it, and so close the mould the better to tlie straggling fibres, placing what you take out about your new guest, to preserve It m temper. But in case the mould about it be so ponderous as not to be removed by an ordinary force you may then raise it with a crane, or pulley, hangin<^ between a triangle, made of tliree strong and tall limbs united at tlie top, where a pulley is fastened, as the cables are to be under the quarters which bear the earth about the roots, for by tliis means you may weigh up and place the whole weighty clod upon a trundle, sledge, or otlier carriage, to be conveyed and replanted where you please, being let down perpendi- cularly into the place by tlie lielp of the foresaid en- gine. And by tliis address you may transplant trees of a wonderful stature without the least disorder and many times without toi)ping or diminution of the' Lead, which is of great importance when this is practised to supply a defect, or remove a curiosity.' Sir Henri/ Stewart's Method.—Siv Henry Stewart of AlHnton, in 1816, introduced an improved method of transplanting grown timber, by wliich not a root was broken, the trees being prepared beforehand for removal, his plan consisting of cutting all the roots SIR HENRY STEWART'S METHOD. 295 at some distance from the tree, which in ordinary gardening operations is known to be very often ad- vantageous to growing trees, for when the long lateral roots are cut, the stumps, if not docked too short, throw out a large quantity of young fibres, which nourish the tree more effectually than the long tap roots, upon the principle that these various roots, branching out in now directions, tap, as it were, new sources of supplies of nourishment from earth that has not been previously taxed and drawn upon for the support of the tree during the period of its growth. According to the plan pursued by his method, handsome, thriving trees are first chosen, that are hkely to stand the operation with the least risk of damage by the operation, and the lateral roots are divided. They are then left for two or three years, in order to give them time to make fresh roots. When this has been done, the tree will then bear re- moval without the necessity of cutting off the top, or mutilating it. The pits for the reception of the trees have, in the mean time, been got ready ; for trees about thirty feet, with trunks a!>out a foot in diame- ter, a pit with a diameter of eighteen feet will be necessary. The earth at the bottom of the pits is trenched to the depth of two feet, in the course of the trenching being well mixed with a compost of a different nature to that of the soil, the ground thus prepared being all the better for lying a year or more, so as to allow the soil to become mellowed by il ■f[rlM i II ImIi HI^HB i HpfV < Ki ■ 11 29G ENGLISH TREES AM) TREE-PLANTING. time. The planting is then managed by moving the earth to a proper depth, and placing the tree in the space formed, arranging the roots as nearly as can be done in their natural position, and covering them over with the earth, and if this is well done they will stand much more firmly than might be commonly supposed. By the system followed by Sir Henry Stewart, he was enabled during the course of five years to con- vert a cold, naked field into a well-arranged, well- ordered park, containing objects of sylvan beauty ; lie gives the following account of its conversion in his ' Planter's Guide ' :— « There was in this park originally no water, and scarcely a tree or a bush on the banks and promontories of tlio present lake and river, for the water partakes of botli these characters. During the summer of 1820 the water was intro- duced ; and in that and the following year the grounds immediately adjoining were abundantly covered with wood, by means of the transplanting macliine. Groups and single trees, grove and underwood, were introduced in every style of disposition which the subject seemed to admit. Where the turf recedes from, or approaches, the water, the ground is some- what bold and irregular, although without striking features of any sort; yet the profusion of wood, scat*"- tered over a surface of moderate hinits,in every form and variety, gave it an intricacy and an expression which it liad never possessed before. By tlio autumn of Mie third year only, after the TRANSPLANTING MACIUNE. 297 execution, namely, 1823, when tlie Committee of tlie Highland Society honoured the place with their in- spection, the different parts seemed to harmonise with one another, and the intended effects were nearly pro- duced. What it was wished to bring forward appeared already prominent— what was to be concealed, or thrown into the background, began to assume that sta- tion. The foreground trees, the best that could be pro- cured, placed on the eastern bank, above the water, broke it into parts with their spreading branches, and formed combinations which were extremely pleasing. The copse of underwood, which covers an island in the lake, and two promontories, as also an adjoining bank tliat terminates the distance, was seen coming down nearly to the water's edge. What was the most important of all, both trees and underwood had obtained a full and deep-coloured leaf, and health and vigour were restored to them. In a word, the wliole appeared like a spot at least forty years planted.' Tramplanting Machine — Mention is made in tlie foregoing of the use of the ' transplanting machine,' an invention made since the time of Evelyn, by which trees of considerable size are enabled to be removed without much diflficulty ; but, by the ordinary method of using it, which Sir Henry Stewart improved upon, the trees were subjected to a good deal of mutilation, whicli it took a long time to recover from. This ma- chine was invented by Brown, the celebrated landscape gardener, about sixty years after Evelyn's time, and consisted of two very higli wheels, an axle, and a 'f'l 1:! n 7C i.i»}fl i: ill 298 ENGLISri TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. pole ; and upon those occasions when the trees were very large, a truck-wheel was used at the end of the pole. After the tree was considerably lopped, and the earth loosened from its roots, the pole was set up erect, and lashed to the stem of the tree, and a pur- chase being made to tlie upper part of the pole, the whole was pulled up at once, by sheer force, and after- wards drawn horizontally along to the place where the tree was to stand. In Scotland and Ireland, it cannot be doubted but that the extinction of forests and the cutting down of timber have often been productive of varied climatic and other changes, as well as in connection with the nngration of birds and animals. In a recent work by Mr. J. A. Harvey Brown upon the Capercaillie in Scotland, more commonly called the capercailzie, the history of the extinction and restoration of this fine bird is given, which was once one of the commonest birds in Scotland, and became extinct about 1762, when it was last seen in the poli- cies of Kirkmichael, Banffshire. Eeference is made to the many theories which have been started as to the cause of its extinction, the author giving the one now most generally adopted, attributing the most likely features in the extirpation of the bird to be the destruction of great forests by tracks of fire, their being cut down by man as late as the days of Crom- well, their wasting away from natural ^causes, and their conversion into bogs; all resulting in the decrease and change of the food of the species, tlie RESTORATION OF CAPERCAILLE INTO SCOTLAND. 299 loss of this wood having now been chiefly siippUed by the rephinting whicli began at the beginning of the eighteenth century, which, altliougli coming too late to revive the dying species, has aided most materially in its restoration. To lovers of sport, it may be interesting to add that the first attempts to restore the capercaillie into the sister kingdom appear to have been made in 1827, when a male bird was safely brought from Sweden, followed by a cock and hen in 1829 ; since then the work has gone on steadily, the largest im- portation being that which arrived in Taymouth in 1837-38, when, according to some accounts, there were forty-eight, and to others fifty-four, full-grown capercaillie received ahve ; since then the extension of the range of the bird has considerably increased, having been seen as far north as Blair Athole ; as far east as Brechin ; as far south as Falkirk ; and west- wards as far as Dalmally, the most considerable extension having taken place eastwards along the valley of the Tay. Relative Value of Timber Plantations and Arable Land. — At this particular time, when these hues are being written (at the end of the year 1879), there is a great discussion going on as to the unprofitable nature of arable land in some districts, and in these cases the planting of trees to a great extent has been suggested by some, A calculation was made some years ago with reference to a plantation of ash, and it was found \ 4 ^^^^^^H •■llw ^-i ^ ^^■Iv^S M^rab HH mi'^ H i II i hHR 300 KNGLISII TREES AND TIlEE-rLANTINO. that, it took tliirty-soven yoars to produce a load of timber coiitaiiiiii^' forty oubic. IW't, wliicli at l.v. hi. ])or foot, roalisiHl 2/. lO.v. Ninety trees per acre at tliis rate i)rotbieed 225/., the i)riee yielded by the brushwood, hop-|)oles, and thiiu»in«rs at various times payiujr the cost of lookiu'; after the youii«^^ trees, and the linal expense of fflliufr, \c. The land mijrht have been let at 21. per aere, \vhi(ai for thirty-seven years, at live ])er cent, compound interest, wouhl have realised about 203/., so that the «,^a,in was rather in favour of the trees. Umal Mt'thodn of formimj Plantations.— On ac- count t)f dillerenee of situation, diflerence of soil, and the herba<,'e which overs])rea(ls it, the methods of formind wiien they stand about a dozen feet asunder, or at the rate oi' 800 trees, or rather more, to the acre. We have mentioned forty years • •, period when broad-leaved trees will have attamod a con- siderable size, but the tree-willows and poplars will niake as i -li progress in twenty years, in a rich, soft, moist soil, a> the hard-\\ ooded varieti(^s do in forty years. Beech is a tree that -hould not be made use of, to intersperse amongst other trees in a plantation, but s) ould be planted in groups by itself, ii :H ' u I* II i' w>l 320 ENQLISII TREES AND TKEE-PLANTING. where the object is the obtaining of good timber. Althougli luxuriously in a dee}), rich, dry soil, it succeeds better than any other hard-wooded tree in dry soils of inferior qualities, being especially well adapted for cultivation in calcareous soils. Planted singly, the beech is apt to ramify near the ground, and although, when in this form, its appearance is very ornamental as a park or lawn tree, its timber is only valuable when produced in great lengths ; and when planted somewhat thickly together, beech-trees may be grown fifty to sixty feet in height, with a clean trunk ; the entire height of such trees beuig 100 feet, when they have been kept close enough during their early progress, to prevent the spreading of their lateral branches. At the age of forty years, an acre of elm, ash, or sycamore is generally found to contain from 2,500 to 3,000 cubical feet of timber ; but at the age of sixty years the amount of measurable timber will be doubled. The ash is more commonly grown in the soutJiern counties of England than either elm (Scotch) or sycamore, which are more commonly found in North Britain. The oak grows at a slower rate than the three kinds mentioned, but as it springs from the stools of trees that have been felled, and thus forms excellent coppice, its growth and yield on the whole may be said to equal that of the other varieties. It will be as well to remark here, that when oak-trees are felled, or any other kind of tree which springs from the root, the top of the stools PERMANENCY OF IIARD-WOODED PLANTATIONS. 321 «ho,.ld be formed into a convex shape by the axe in order to prevent the surface from retaining water which 18 otherwise calculated to injure it Pe.rmanency of Hard-wooded Plantation. ^Vhnta- tions of hard-wooded trees are generally permanent; "P to eighty years the spaces being gradually widened, to allow of the proper development of the largest trees. But long before this period is reached plantations of broad-leaved trees become very irre' gular as regards the size of the timber, and in the re ative distances which the trees occupy to each other, which is caused by the growth of stools that produce saplings which occupy degrees of space proportionate to their size and strength, upon all sides young trees being in the course of springin.. up that will ultimately be able to take the place o"f the larger trees that are felled from time to time • in this respect differing from larch or pine woods' which are gradually felled, and cleared entirely away' at successive stages of their growth. The selection of the varieties of trees, however, to form plantations IS seldom a matter of choice, but becomes one of expediency, or necessity, when the best possible results are sought to be obtained in a course of tree- planting managed in accordance with the best known principles for insuring the largest amount of profit ■hi I 4r-t i *■ ihi 322 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-riANTING. Ill CHAPTER XIV ORNAMENTAL PLANTING. LILAC — LABURNUM: CULTIVATION — ALMOND: CULTIVATION — THE LAROR- FRUITED ALMOND — THE HAZEL: CULTIVATION — UNPROFITABLE FIL- BERT PLANTATION MADE PROFITABLE— CONSTANTINOrLE HAZEL — THE HAWTHORN : CULTIVATION. In the formation of ornamental plantations it is, of course, desirable to produce an immediate effect, and this can be obtained by making use of trees tliat have been frequently transplanted into nursery lines, by which the bushiness of the roots (repeatedly referred to before), essential for tlieir successful establishment, has been encouraged and developed ; some trees, as the horse-chesnut, admitting of removal when of con- siderable size, if these precautions have been taken beforeliand. This is one very important point, and another consists of making choice of trees which are suited for the aspect, soil, and shelter they will have to endure. Some kinds of trees are well adapted to furnish shelter to others in the form of narrow, outside belts, as several varieties of holly, evergreen-oak, yew, juniper, laurel, arbor vita;, cedar, &c. ; and in situa- tions of great exposure, where there arc natural difficulties to be overcome before trees can be sue- -THE LARfiK- 'ITABtE Fir,- HAZEL — THE i it is, of ffect, and til at have lines, by J referred •lishment, trees, as in of con- !en taken )oint, and vhich are will have 0 furnish ide belts, ak, yew, in situa- ! natural 1 be siic- ORNAMENTAL PLANTING. 323 cessfully planted, the common and scarlet elder mountam ash, Scotch nir^o ' vicetrcP 1,K ^ ' ^'P^"' «yca^nore, ser- vice-tree, laburnnm-with its graceful clusters of droopmg yellow flowers^beecirand birch te a appropriate. ' ^^^ !" "■"fo™ of underwood, box, yew, privet, holly and m.per, wh.ch are all evergreen,, ,o that here'need ZstfZ " "'""= """ '■>'' •"'^'^ «-» foliage o no t of these eause, a plantation to wear an a^ of ecl„s.o„and shelter, which could not be give, by tions that are of an ornamental description, such a, many varieties of thorn, which are very pi asinl to the eye both in the season of blosso'm tdl t acaca laburnum, lilac (the two latter formin. In agreeable contrast of colour in their blossoms ^hen assorted together), almond, elder, hazel, cherry spmme-tree, willow, apple, maple, service-tr«, & '' When a perfect effect is sought for, i„ warm situations upon an open border, a great finish is ob- tained by making use of some of the plants of the natural family Solane^, ^ ^j,;,,, j,,^ ' « tomata, and the egg-plant belong. Though the yo^n,. plants require to be forwarded in a hot-bed, they may be made to produce fruit in warm and sheltered borders. The tomata is too well known to need description, but both the round and the long variety of the white egg-piant (tlie Solmmm md,m,,n,n of Linnaeus) are #'t Lu •' >i'' i I 324 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. cultivated in the garden of the Horticultural Society, the plants, whicli are annuah', l)eing first raised to tlie height of nine or ten inches in the stove, and then planted in the borders in tlie open air, wliere they grow to the heiglit of two or three feet. The fruits of both kinds are large, that of tlie long sometimes measuring eight inches in lengtli. To this tribe, it may incidentally be remarked, belongs the Solanum Sodomeuin, or Dead Sea apple — Dead Sea fruits, that tempt the eye, But turn to ashes on the lips — which has been so celebrated in fabulous history, and perplexing in true, that is found upon the borders of the Dead Sea, whose desolation causes it to be a fit locality for the exercise of superstitious terrors in connection with the dreadful judgment visited upon the cities of the plain recorded in Biblical history. Of these apples Josephus, the Jewish historian, says : — ' They have a fair colour, as if they were fit to be eaten ; but if you pluck them with your hand, tliey vanish into smoke and ashes.' The Solanum Sodomeum is, indeed, a purple egg- plant, with large, handsome fruit ; a species of cynips sometimes attacking and puncturing the rind, upon whicji tlie inside gangrenes, and is changed into a substance like ashes, the outside continuing to pre- serve its beautiful appearance. Henry Teongc, a chaplain in the English fleet, states that he saw these ' apples ' in 1675, and gives a G. DEAD SEA FRUIT. 325 l1 Society, ied to the and then here they Che fruits ionietimes 'emarked, a apple — itory, and 3 borders it to be a ^errors in ted uj)on istory. historian, were fit nir hand, I'ple egg- of cynips ind, upon k1 into a y to pre- lish fleet, d cives a correct description of their decayed condition. The country about the Dead Sea, says he, ' is altogether unfruitfull, being all over full of stones, which look just like burnt syndurs. And on some low shrubbs there grow small round things, which are called apples, but no witt like them. They are somewhat fayre to look at, but touch them and they moulder all to black ashes, like soote, boath for looks and smell.' Pocock, a later traveller, though he makes men- tion of the Dead Sea fruit, and alludes to their popular description, says, ' I saw nothing of them ; but, from the testimony we have, something of the kind has been produced. But I imagine they may be pomegranates, which, having a tough, hard rind, the inside may be dried to dust, and the outside remain firm.' Other travellers also, upon whom the account of these ' apples ' had made a deep impression, and tried to procure some specimens, met with disappointment, as in the case of Marati, who writes — 'No person could point out to me in the neighbourhood that species of fruit called the apples of Sodom, which, being fresh and of a beautiful colour in appearance, fall to dust as soon as they are touched.' These apples, associated with the mysterious Dead Sea, in whose bitter waters no fish can five, with bitumen, and sometimes, as it has been reported, with smoke issuing from its surface, have piqued the in- terest of many writers and travellers ; but Hasselquist I ';>* . 32G ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. not only found the apples, but pointed out the cause of the disease. Milton refers to these apples as adding to the anguish of the fallen angels after their transformation upon Satan's return Ironi the temptation of Eve. There stood A grove hard by, . . liul.en with fair fruit, like that Which grow in Paradise, the bait of Eve, Us'd by the Tempter : on that prospect strange Their earnest eyes they fix'd, imagining, For one forbidden tree, a multitude. The fruitiige fair to sight, like that which grew Near that bituminous lake, where Sodom placed ; This more delusive, not the touch but taste Deceives ; they fondly thinking to allay Th(n:r thirst with gust, instead of fruit Chew'd bitter ashes, which the offended taste With sputtering noise i-ejected. Although not coming exactly under the heading of tree-planting, being allied to gai'dening operations, those who are desirous of doing so, may raise plants of the Solanuni Sodomeum. by sowing the seeds in a rich hot-bed, which, about the middle of May, will produce plants fit to be transplanted to a warm sunny border ; and, if properly cared for, the fruit will ripen in August. When trees are required of great size, for pai-k decoration or similar positions, the common and pur- ple beech, British and scarlet American oaks, plane- tree of various kinds, Indian cedar, the cedar of Lebanon, lime-tree, elms of different kinds, and the cause ig to the sforniation Eve. igo iced ; i heading perations, ise plants seeds in a May, will irm sunny will ripen , for park and pur- s and the great cob nut, and as an ornament is one of the best deciduous trees for underwood, the male catkins making their appearance in September, on the previous year's shoots, but are not fully expanded till the succeeding season, the female flowers appear- ing about February, and in April are in full blow, being small, and of a beautiful red colour. Few plants retain their leaves longer after being touched by the frost, which changes their foliage into a rich yellow colour, which sometimes causes the tree to remain an ornamental object for some months, till the leaves are finally shed adding richness and seclusion to clumps and narrow belts of trees. When trained as a standard, it forms a very ornamental tree, often showing a profuse display of catkins, which commonly continue in bloom during I * 1 J, -i ' , ) . I \ ■I 1 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) i.O S» L! 1.25 »M 40 2.5 2.2 2.0 U ill 1.6 % ^ ^. /] s^ v: . ^c- > ^> V ^3^ Opj. /A PhotograpMc Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 a\ WrS iqiw " 1 1 i , H 1 Aji 334 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. winter and spring, at a season when such objects are most appreciated. It is said the hazel was originally imported into Italy from Pontus, and known among the Romans by the name of Nux Pontica, eventually changed into that of Nux Avellana, from Avellino, a city of the kingdom of Naples. The filbert, which is not a distinct species, but merely a variety of the common hazel nut, owes its name to the corruption of the original English name for it, 'full-heard,' descriptive of the large fringed husk, which distinguishes it from the common hazel nut, though Gower, the old English poet, adapts to it the classical legend we have quoted of Phyllis and the almond-tree : PhiUis Was shape into a niitte-tree, Tliat all men it might see ; And after PhiUis, Philberd This tree was 'cleped. There are several kinds of filberts ; white, red, frizzled, and cosford being considered the best ; the cob nut being an excellent keeper, and growing in a more upright form than the other vaneties. Cultivation. — The hazel is readily propagated by nuts, which ripen at the end of autumn and beginning of winter, according to climate and situation ; and as the size and vigour of the seedling plants will be in proportion to the size of the nuts employed for seed, the largest only should be used. The nuts should be sown in winter or early spring, in light, sandy soil, UNPROFITABLE FILBERTS MADE PROFITABLE. 335 the covering being an inch in depth. One bushel of seed is sufficient for a bed of thirty lineal yards four feet in width. The plants break through the ground towards the .-lose of May, and require no further care than being kept clear of weeds during the course of the summer. If the plants com°e up strongly, they should be removed into nursery lines at a year old, but if somewhat weakly, they should be allowed to remain in the seed-bed for two years. The plants should stand in nursery lines a couple of feet asunder, and ten or twelve inches apart in the lines, from whence, after remaining two years, they are removed to their final destinations. Unprofitable Filbert Plantation made Profitable— An interesting account has been pubhshed of a gentleman (the Eev. G. Swayne) who, having a plan- tation of filbert-trees, which for the firrt twenty years of their existence produced but very little fruit, at last suspected the cause to arise from a want of male blossoms. He therefore procured a number of cat- kins from the common hazel, and suspended them over the scarlet blossoms of his filberts, the result being that, the first year of the experiment, he had more filberts than during the twenty preceding ones. In order to make sure that this result was owing to the farina of the male blossoms, he made the experi- ment of some with and some without such assistance, and found that fruit was produced only upon those trees where the male blossoms had been applied. He communicated his method to a neighbouring farmer's ft! It' I' I 886 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-ri.ANTING. wife, who had a row of barren trees, who tried the experiment with the like success, and to evince her gratitude the next season sent the reverend gentleman half-a-dozen pounds of very fine filberts, from four stunted old trees that had not borne any fruit for a great number of years. Constantinople Hazel {Corylus colurna). — This is the only species of the genus which attains to the si7:e of a timber-tree. The distinguished gardener L'Ecluse is said to have brought the nuts of this tree from Constantinople in 1582, and Linnasus describes a fine tree, growing in the Botanical Garden at Leyden, of this species that had been planted by L'Ecluse. It was first cultivated in England by Ray, in 1666, and has been mostly grown in the neigh- bourhood of London, having made but httle progress in any other part of the kingdom, although it may be readily propagated by nuts, as well as by grafting on the common hazel. It has a white bark and horizontal branches, being quite hardy, and orna- mental in appearance, and will attain to the average height of our ordinary timber trees, and seems, some- how, to have been unaccountably overlooked and neglected by English tree-planters. A fine specimen may be seen at Sion House standing upwards of sixty feet in height. The Hawthorn {Cratcegus). — The hawthorn makes the best hedge plant that is to be found in the shape of the sharp-spined or common hawthorn (C. oxy- cantha), the family being composed of hard- wooded Isl CULTIVATION OF THE HAWTHORN. 337 trees some of the varieties being very ornamental and beautiful when in full bloom ; the flowers ap- . pearmg m the month of May, from which it derives Its popular name of « May,' or ' May blossom ' Al- though It grows quickly when young, when it attains the height of a tree, it makes wood very slowly, and lives to a great age ; the trunk of an old hawthorn having a gnarled, picturesque effect, supporting a broad and full crown of branches that is full, at the proper season, with countless blossoms. The timber IS exceedingly hard and durable, the trunks beincr sometimes split into two or three divisions. " There are several distinct species, a. well as many varieties, the scarlet blossomed hawthorn being very handsome, as well as the fruit and white hybrids The double flowering is one of the most ornamental for shrubberies. One variety, the celebrated Glastonbury thorn, m favourable situations, flowers as early as Christmas' (to which the monks of the dark ages attached a popular legend), and ordinarily in January or February. Cultivation.-~JIhe seeds, or ^ haws, as they are called, should be gathered in October, and they do not vegetate the first year. After being gathered they require to be laid in a heap to rot, but not in sufficient bulk to allow them to heat, and afterwards to be mixed with about a third of their bulk of sand, and the heap covered over with soil, from three to' six inches thick (in the same way that roots are z ■■ 338 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. h ! * ■ ! i. covered), and are kept in this way till the following October and November. The seed should be sown in beds, formed of a rich light hazel loam, though they will grow in almost all soils that are not too retentive ; a moder- ately damp soil agreeing with the young trees better than a dry one ; light, gravelly, sandy soils not suit- ing a seedling crop, as they are apt to get burnt up before they are strong enough to resist the influence of the sun. As soon as the young plants show them- selves, a hoe should be drawn along the rows, the drills in seed furrows standing sixteen inches asunder ; it being the best method to sow the seed in drills from an inch to an inch and a half deep. When the plants are large enough, they require to be hand- weeded, and too much care cannot be bestowed in keeping the young plants clear of weeds. The Mountain Ash [Pyrus aucuparia). — Natural family RosacecB ; icosandria, dipentagynia of Linnasus. This is not only a highly ornamental tree in a plan- tation, but a very useful one, for although it never attains to a great size, yet it grows very fast aring the first eight or ten years of its life, and is well adapted for giving shelter to slower-growing trees, for although of a deciduous order, the closeness of its branches soon affords shelter. It admits of being planted at a great height, where many other trees would not grow at all, and is the means of giving e valuable amount of shelter in bleak and exposed situations. THK MOUNTAIN ASH. 339 It rises m an upright manner when voung, and afterwards forms a well-shaped head, its habit of growth not being influenced by prevaihng winds. In Scotland it may be frequently seen growing m great perfection amidst Highland scenery, when It IS locaUy called the ' rowan tree ' and ' quickbeam.' The stems are covered with a smooth grey bark, the branches being of a purplish hue when young In the months of May and June it produces highly fragrant white blossoms, which change into a pro- fusion of scarlet berries that become ripe m October which causes the terminal shoots to bend down with their weight, and ghsten amongst the many varied tmts of autumn fohage. The buds begin to expand about the beginning of April. When loaded with Its clusters of red berries, it has a very rich effect in shrubberies and ornamental plantations, but is not nearly so much appUed in England as it deserves to be for this purpose, when it would be found a most useful tree, both as affording shelter and for decora- tive purposes, the blossoms being produced in large bunches, and composed of fine spreading petals, somethmg like those of the pear-tree, but smaller. Cultivation.— The berries become ripe in autumn, when they should be collected, and placed in a pit mixed with sand, and be turned over regularly every two or three months, in order to allow them to be- come regularly decomposed. They should be sown m the ordinary seed-beds early in the second spring after they have been collected, or during the second z 2 m nmmm» ^nr II 340 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-rLANTINO. winter, the seeds being spread on the surface, and properly regulated witli a rake with such a pro- portionate distribution as will permit of the plants springing up about two inches apart. When two years old, the young plants should be removed into nursery lines, the rows standing two feet apart, and the plants about six inches from each other in the rows. When lifted from the seed-bed, however, be- fore being transplanted, their straggHng roots should be cut off. The young trees will generally attain a height of four or five feet after standing for two years in the nursery lines, when they will be fit for permanently planting out. If plants of a larger size are required, they should be again transplanted, of course allowing more space for their greater develop- ment, and they will then be in a condition to furnish an immediate effect when it is wanted. As a hedge- row tree to give shelter, the mountain ash has no superior, while it also forms excellent coppice. There are many cultivated varieties, besides the common mountain ash, all of which are highly orna- mental in appearance, and valuable for decorative planting, none more so perhaps than the weeping variety, which may be easily propagated by grafting upon stocks of the common sort of service-tree. Some of the varieties are distinguished by having larger leaves than ordinarily, while others have larger fruit. There is also a yellow-berried variety which is very handsome, and forms an excellent contrast when blended with others. Although these all pro- THE SERVICE-TREE. 341 duce seed abundantly, tliey cannot be relied upon to reproduce the same variety, which in all cases must be done by grafting, and none attain to the size of timber-trees, their chief value consisting in being useful additions to the ornamental belt of trees that may be planted to afford shelter, or to stand in ornamental plantations. Some fine specimens of the mountain ash are to be seen growing in Inverness-shire, which are forty feet high, the trunks being two feet in diameter, but this is an unusually large size. It attains to an age of several centuries in a cool and moist climate, the timber being strong and elastic, and valued for sub- sidiary purposes, as for those of the wheelwright and turner. It is seldom attacked by disease, and the bark is possessed of a valuable tanning principle. The Service-tree {Pyrus arm).— The mountain ash is sometimes erroneously called the service-tree, but although classed by botanists in the same genus,' it is a different tree, its leaves being entire, light green above and downy underneath, which give to it a bright and lively appearance when its foliage is agitated by the wind. This also is a hardy tree of great duration, and very closely resembles the mountain ash in almost every particular, except that it very seldom reaches a height of forty feet, its stature being very diversi- fied, and depending for its full development upon the most favourable conditions of soil and climate suited to its habit. It is inagenous to most of the hilly ' -In w 342 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. ^it ■ [4-t districts on the continent of Europe, and grows very freely for the first six or eight years of its hfe, after which it is apt to inchne to a bushy habit, and its upward growtli becomes very slow. Wild Cherry [Cerasus). — This is another genus, comprehending several varieties, which deserves to be much more extensively employed in ornamental planting than at present falls to its lot. The wild cherry, or (jean, as it is called in Scotland, can be included amongst our timber-trees, foi- it may be seen growing in Highland glens at a height of from forty to fifty feet, with a trunk two feet in diameter. The numerous members of this family are indigenous throughout Europe, and differ a good deal in the size and colour of the leaves, the size and quality of their fruit, their rapidity of growth, and ultimate height and bulk, which are necessary considerations in ornamental planting; the Portugal and common laurel belong to the same family. The common cornel cherry blossoms early, and bears handsome berries, which used to be used as fruit for pies and puddings when the cultivated fruit was not so easily obtainable as at present. The common and Blue-berried cornels have red twigs, and make an excellent appearance in an ornamental shrubbery. The wood of the commdn cornel is very hard, and was spoken of by Virgil as a material in use for weapons of warfare, bona bello cornus. The dwarf species {succica) may also be seen commonly growing in the Highlands of Scotland, and in alpine THE WILD CHERRY. 343 districts on the European continent, the berries being considered to possess stomachic properties. The wild cherry will do very well in almost any kind of soil, so that it is not composed of pure clay, and is dry ; a sandy loam lying upon an open subsoil being the most congenial to its growth, succeeding well also upon chalk and rocky positions, when the surface soil may consist only of a thin layer ; but although it is very hardy, and will grow at a consider- able height, it will only develop itself to the full extent of which it is capable of attaining on low and sheltered land. In alpine situations it may be seen growing in the clefts of rocks, forming a picturesque object during the whole season, from spring time, when it throws out its pure, rich blossoms, to autumn, when it dis- plays the brilliant tints of its foliage. When grown as a timber-tree, it generally attains its full size in sixty years. Its wood is of a reddish colour, some- thing resembhng mahogany, being close-grained and cspable of taking a fine polish, and on this account is useful and valuable for cabinet-making purposes. It assumes ?. fuller and handsomer shade of colour after having been steeped in lime water, and this process as well prevents it from fading when exposed to sun- shine, and can be profitably grown as a timber-tree. The stocks are generally used by nurserymen on which to graft all the cultivated kinds of cherries that are valued for the sake of their fruit. Cultivation. — The ripe fruit is collected when in- jHl F i i 11 ii 344 ENGLISH TREES AND TIIKE-PLANTLNO. tended for the purpose of seed, and is mixed with doii- ])le its quantity of sand, in tlio same way as previously described with other berries, and they can be sown any time from November till February, in beds of the usual size, the covering of soil being one inch deep. Some of the plants commonly make their appear- ance towards the end of spring, but in the case of others, owing to the stones not having decayed so as to permit of the earth's influence upoa the kernel, they lie dormant until the second spring, wlien the principal crop will be seen. At the end of their first year's growth, the plants should be lifted from the seed-bed, and tran planted in the usual manner into lines at a distance of six or eight inches apart from one another, the hues being a couple of feet asunder. After standing thus for two years, they will generally be five or six feet high, and be ready for planting out, growing quickly in almost any dry soil. The perfumed cherry (C. mahaleb), which is com- monly seen growing in France and the South of Germany, is quite hardy, and is a very ornamental shrub, and will grow in any kind of soil, however poor, if it be only dry. It reaches a height of about twenty feet, its wood being hard, brown, and capable of taking a high pohsh, and, when of sufficient size, is on this account valuable, emitting an agreeable fragrance, and being appreciated by cabinet-makers. In France the branches, both in a green and dry state, are liked for fuel on account of their fragrance THi. SPINDLE-TREE. 846 wliile burning, and tlie kernel of the nut is used by perfumers for sttenting soap. This species has many seedling varieties, all of whi-,h will stand in exposed situations. The Virginian Bird Cherry {C. Vireing about fifteen inches long, which are ])lanted at various distances, according to the quality of the soil. Wliere the soil is light and the supf)ly of moisture imperfect, and likely to be interrupted, and the shoots of the plant are likely in consequence to be fewer and shorter, it is usual to j)lace them in rows about a foot and a half apart, standing about fifteen inches from each other in the rows, the sets being inserted in the ground about luilf their Icjigth S! :i ml ei^i hi 3 374 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. in such soils and situations, the hghtor kinds tliat are used for niakino' small baskets answering best. If they were not jjlanted so thickly as this, instead of drawing one anotJier up straight and slender, they would be apt to grow branchy and crooked, and thick and clubby next the stools. In stronger and j'icher soils, the rows should stand two feet apart, and the plants a foot and a half asunder in the rows, for the strong plants vvill attain a height of ten or a dozen, or even thirteen feet ; and if the same plan of closer plantin I 376 ENGLISH TKEES AND TREE-PLANTING. for packing-baskets ; but where the subsoil of blue London clay crops up, when the roots of the osiers come in contact with it, they invariably die off. Osiers, to be most profitably grown, require a strong staple, witli a compact subsoil that will retain the moisture which is necessary to the plants during the period of their growtli, but they will riot succeed upon strong clayey land tliat in summer time be- comes hard, dry, and full of crocks, througli which the moisture evaporates. Varieties of Soil—CerUim kinds of osiers will, however, grow and do very well upon hght lands, if the subsoil is moist with springs, as is often the case, for which sucli kinds as tlie Spaniard, tlie French, and the New Kind are best adapted ; but the crop will always be found to be smaller, sJiorter, and less bulky than when grown in strong loam, the best situations for osier beds being in low situations, when the water drained from the higher lands keeps them constantly supplied with moisture, although they may be grown on elevations where the land is springy, as well as on slopes, yet not so successfully. Duration of Osier Plantatiojis.— J] i^on land best suited for their growtli and development, osier beds will last for a very long time, with a little occasional mending where the standing crop lias become defec- tive. Seventy or eighty years is no uncommon period for a good osier bed to last ; but where they are grown upon the lighter soils, or in those situations that are only imperfectly supplied with moisture, MENDING OSIER PLANTATIONS. 377 of blue le osiers ff. iquire a 11 retain 3 durinj; succeed ime be- i which ;rs will, lands, if he case, French, le crop md less he best s, when s them h they pringy, id best r beds asional dofec- )mmon e they lations islure, their duration will only be for fifteen or twenty years, and to cause them to yield the most profit they will then need to be tlirown up and laid down afresh. But by the banks of rivers, in those situa- tions where there is an abundant supply of moisture, their duration is considerably greater. Mending Osier Plantations.— A. few of the stools in an osier plantation die off every year, and in some seasons this happens to a considerable extent, but they can be mended very easily, the chief casualties occurring when the winters, having been very mild, are succeeded by severe weather in March and April. In these unfavourable seasons it is by no means un- common for two-thirds of the crop to die off, and stout shoots are found to make no effort to jDush out in the spring, this kind of weather being very fatal to osier plants. When mending has to be performed, the largest and smoothest rods are chosen of the kind required, and their butt ends are cut in a slanting direction, and they are inserted into the ground to the depth of nine inches or so, by the side of the dead stools, the rod being inserted whole, and not cut into the form of a set, as in the case of making a fresh planta- tion. The object of doing this is to prevent their being smothered by the older stools, which would happen if they were cut ; but being left of their full height, they enjoy the benefit of light and sun for a great portion of the summer, before the others can grow high enough to interfere with them, but after mt • i" 378 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. two years they are cut back to the heiglit of the other stools. Cutting Omrs. — Osiers for l)asket-niaking are cut every year, and a clear profit of 20/. per acre is estimated to be obtained from good osier beds. The proper time for cutting is b'-^-vpen the lall of the leaf and the rising of the sap - ng. If the (!rop IS cut late in the spring, it tendi. to weaken its future production ; and although osiers are sometimes cut before and after the period named, it is well to avoid this in general practice. Those who make a business of growing osiers for basket-making sort them, after they are cut, according to their diflerent sorts and sizes, separating the long and thick from the short and small ones, and the rough from the smooth osiers. The stock that is intended for the manufac- ture of brown baskets is then dried and stacked, care being taken in drying them not to lay them too closely together, or they will heat, Uke a hay crop that has been insufficiently made, and they Avill then be useless for the purpose of basket-making, as the heated parts decay and become rotten, and the same consequence will arise if, after the osiers have been dried and stacked, rain penetrates the stack, which it is therefore highly necessary to exclude. The Preparation of Rods for White Baskets.— Osiers that are intended to be made use of in the manufacture of white baskets need to have the bark stripped from off them. In order to effect this, after they have been j)roperly .sorted, th(?y .ure placed in PREPARATION OF OSIERS. 379 wide and sluillow trenches in an upright position, with their butt-ends restin«{ in water, which should not be less tlian four inches deep. A rivul-'i with a gravelly bottom, where such is to be found, answers the same purpose equally well, and they are placed in an upright position, and secured there by posts and rails. When the sap rises in the spring, they will begin to bud and blossom, much in tlie same way as if plantetl in the ground, and will be in fvU leaf about the beginning, or the second week in May, at the same time throwing out spangioles or rootlets, about an inch in length. When these results take place, the sap is then sufficiently raised to admit of the bark being removed, and this is effected by drawing the rod briskly through an instrument called a breaks which, pressing the bark, causes it to burst and sepa- rate from the rod. Couching. — When, however, the weather is un- seasonably cold, which will sometimes happen to be the case, a difficulty is experienced in stripping off the bark thoroughly, a thin underlay er remaining attached to the rod, which is caused by the cold checking the flow of sap, so that the bark cannot be taken cleanly away. To remedy this, recourse is had to a method called couching^ wliich is occasionally obliged to be resorted to, for otherwise the rods will present a brown and discoloured appearance, which will very much reduce their commercial value. This process consists of laying down the rods in a sheltered i^ 380 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE- PLANTING. it position that is yvcU watered, and over thickly with straw will tl night's time they will shoot in tl covering them or any other covering that loroughly exclude the external uir. In a fort- 10 same way that barley does under the process of malting, and will spire, as it is technically called, all over, when the bark will be found to separate freely. After this has been done, they must be placed in an upright position against some railings, where the air can piss thoroughly through them, and be carefully dried ; after which they must be stacked away in some' building where they will be perfectly dry, and to which no moisture can have access. If they are stored away in a damp condition, or any water get to them afterwards, they will become damaged. Varieties of Osiers.— The leading varieties of osiers not before fully mentioned may be briefly enumerated as follows : The Spaniard, or Spaniard Rod There are several varieties of this kind, some of a very excellent and useful quality, while others are of a very inferior description. The Blark-budded is a useful variety, that is made use of for finishing the rims and handles,' and also the bottoms of certain kinds of baskets,' while the Gray Spaniard is used for coarse brown packing-baskets, and is considered a tolerably good variety for such purposes, as well as the ^ Bmum Spaniard ; but the Horse Spaniard is of very inferior quality. The New Ki?id {Sali.v forbyana).-inie new kind VAKIETIES OF OSIERS. 381 kind somewliat resembles tlie Spaniard in its characteristic of strength, being equally strong, wiiile it is more pliable and easier to work. The Gelster. — Tiie Gelster is also very similar to the Spaniard in its main qualities, and is of more tapering form, but the butt-end grows very thick. The Green-leaved Onier. — The Green-leaved Osier, or Ornard {Saliv rubra), is considered an excellent and tough variety when the bark is left on, and is . thought tlie best kind to make use of in the manu- facture of carboy baskets used by drysalters. The Brown Rod, JSrownard, or Silver Osier {Salix Ilojjmanniana). — This is a somewliat short species of osier, but of a iirm quality, and good for certain purposes, as for eel weels, or baskets, and is silvery on the under side of tlie leaf The French, French Rod, or Real French. — This variety is a good deal grown for small fancy ])asket- work, and in France is much used by wine-coopers, for twigs for l)inding on the numerous wooden hoops that are placed round Frencli wine casks. It is grown to a somewhat large extent in France, and derives its name from the fact of being almost uni- versally used in that country. The Hollander. — The Hollander, which takes its name from having been brought originally from the Dutch coast, where it may be seen growing in large quantities, veiy much resembles the new kind in quahty, tliough it differs from it in appearance. The Bitter Ornard [Salix purpurea). — This variety 1.1 ''i t ' • t II r I i i!f--e« - ■ ..1 J 382 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. assumes a slender form, and is tough, and well adapted, like all the other ornards, to grow in wet land that is commonly covered with water. The Blunt-leaved Ornard {Salia; Lambertiana) is an inferior variety, as well as the Eose Ornard {SalLx Helix), and the' Bastard French : these are all of a poor kind, and fit only for making the commonest hampers and fish baskets, being brittle, whicli causes them to break in the working, the snapped ends projecting outwards and inwards in an unsatisfactory manner. The Stone (hier.—TlhQ stone osier is another variety well adapted for fine basket-making, and is a good deal grown along the banks of the Kennet, where it is considered to be a very good soil. In France, where the niceties of osier-growing are more attended to than in England, on Account of a greater demand for the small fancy baskets that are sold in large quantities, they Jiave a system in some parts of the country, where very fine, slender osier shoots are required, of cutting rods up into short pieces, and tlien laying them in drills a short distance apart from each other, the result being that the roots strike from several points of the buried surface, producing a .umber of slender shoots, an upright shoot springing from almost every eye. In England, bulk and quantity are more generally aimed at, and a coarser trade in basket-making is followed to a greater extent. Osier growing is well worthy the attention of those who have land adjoining streams that is either OSIER-GROWING SITES. 383 periodically flooded, or naturally of too wet a de- scription to produce ordinary agricultural crops. Many such waste tracts are to be seen in diflerent parts of the country, wliere nothing will grow save sub-aquatic plants that are of little or no value, that might be profitably appropriated to the production of osiers. .'* = ! " » 384 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. CHAPTER XVII. IIEDGK-ROW TIMBER. EXCESSm QUANTITIEa OF HEDOE-HOW TIMBER-MOST SUITABLE TREES rOR nEUGE-ROWS— ORNAMENTAI- HEDGE-ROWS— MANAGEMENT OV HBDGE-ROW TIMBER. Bedge-row 7 wiber. —AMhoii^h the quantity of timber jjrown along tlie divisions of fields by tlie road sides, and to mark tlie boundaries of estates, at fh'st sight may not a])pear so very g]-eat, ex(;ept in a few counties, as Warwicksliire, that are remarkable for the great number of trees dotted all over the face of the country, it is supposed to be greater in ' its entirety than the whole bulk wliicli is produ(;ed in close woods and forests. The importance of hedge-row timber is, therefore, much greater than is commonly supposed ; and although in some districts these may be overcrowded, yet in numy districts the want of trees -auses the landscape to appear bare and uninteresting, and in many ])arts of North Britain the (^rops often suffer from that want of shelter which trees could be made the means of affording. Both extremes are, however, to be avoided, for while on the one hand excess of shelter exhausts the EXCESSIVE QUANTITY OF HEDGE-ROW TIMBER. 385 soil, and impoverishes the crops, and often exercises an unwholesome efTect during liumid autumn seasons ; on the other, in exposed situations, from an absence of shelter, not only pasture land, but crops of every kind are retarded, more particularly in the spring of the season, when it is very necessary that young crops should have a good start. As the season further advances tlie unchecked winds damage the stems of the growing cereal plants during summer, while in autumn the damage they cause in shedding the grain is often very considerable ; and where high winds prevail in some parts of North Britain that are destitute of shelter, the gales which frequently occur towards the end of June or beginning of July not only frequently disturb and injure the plants, but are sometimes known to actually drift them away ; this happening most frequently when rough weather comes after turnips hav(> been singled out, which are more particularly liable to sufier from high winds. In windy situations, plants should be employed that are stout in proportion to. their height ; some trees which have been already described being better calculated to give shelter than others; and where single trees are not sufficient, a screen should be formed of shelter-giving varieties. Excesdve Quantities of Bedge-ww Timber. — It is in these situations that hedge-row timber becomes most valuable, and it is, as well, a great improver of the natural scenery of a district where trees are somewhat scarce ; but, without doubt, there are many locaEties c c II 11 ii. 386 ENGLISH TUBES AND TREE-PLANTING. M' Ml \t \% i I ft * that suffer from too large an amount of hedge-row tim^ber, where they exclude the dayhght and harbour vermin. On this account many farmers object to trees, and would gladly see them all felled, although it would materially injure the beauty of the rural scenery of a district ; and no doubt an excessive quantity of hedge-row timber has an injurious effect very often, not only in the exclusion of dayhght, but does positive injury to crops where the wrong kind is made use of, as the ash, which is ruinous to grain- crops within the influence of its roots ; and yet it is a tree that maybe commonly seen adopted for this purpose. Most suitable Trees for Hedge-row Timber.— One of the best trees for a hedge-row is the Enghsh Elm {U. campestris), and it is the one most generally pre- ferred in England. It admits of being placed in the position it is intended to occupy when it is compara- tively of a large size as a plant, owing to its bushy roots, which allow of its removal beyond the size of most young trees, which is a very important matter, as b'^dge trees are apt to be injured by vermin. Its figure is tall and erect, the spread of its branches not being very great, and by proper management bome valuable timber may be produced. The elm makes a useful pollard, and will allow of being frequently lopped, furnishing a good deal of timber in a comparatively short space of time. There is, however, one objection to it, which is found in the num^.er or suckers it throws up from the root, dge-Tow harbour bject to ilthough [le rural xcessive lis effect ght, but ng kind 0 grain- et it is a for this r. — One ish Elm illy pre- i in the )mpara" 8 bushy ! size of matter, in. Its ranches Lgement 'he elm being timber tiere is, in the e root, SUITABLE TREES FOR HEDGE-ROW TIMBER. 387 though this ceases to be an objection if young trees are wanted. The various kinds of oak all make good hedge- row trees, for although not standing so erect as the English elm (which is less spreading in its habit than U. montana), the roots of the oak strike deeply down into the earth, having a strong tap root, and in con- sequence is not injurious to the crops in its vicinity, being less dependent upon the surface soil for its support than many other trees. Also, it breaks out into leaf later than most other trees, and thus does not intercept the influence of the sun's rays upon the young growing crops at a time when warmth and light are of the most service to them. Hedgfi-row trees very often fail when planted, and this commonly arises from the fact, that the young trees have been allowed to grow to a com- paratively large size without repeated removals into nursery Unes, a necessity which has been repeatedly brought before the reader's notice in the present work, by which the roots become far better adapted for transplantation, and estabhshing themselves in a new situation. At other times they are not sufli- ciently protected from the damage that is likely to ensue from cattle ; while the exposure, and nature of the ground, is not sufficiently taken into considera- tion very often. In situations that are too windy and exposed for many of the broad-leaved varieties of trees, that might otherwise be chosen, the mountain-ash, service- c 0 2 388 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. I I 1 ) ■ <, t m tree, sycamore, Scotch elm, beech, and the hoary- poplar {Populus canescens), are the most likely kinds to succeed ; the mountain-ash, service-tree, and syca- more being the most unyielding to the influence of rough winds, keeping well balanced heads and a proper form ; while others would get dwarfed, and bent in the prevaihng direction of the wind, the three kinds named growing erect even at great elevations, and preserving shapely heads. When evergreen trees are desired, the holly, though slow growing, makes a good hedge-row tree, as well as the evergreen oak, the tallest being Turner's evergreen, while the Fulham oak, a sub-evergreen, is also a valuable kind for this purpose. For the formation of rows of trees, not intended to be interspersed amongst general agricultural crops, but as objects of ornament or shade, for avenues of approach, or to mark the boundaries of any tract near a residence, where embowering shade and seclu- sion are required, the horse-chesnut is one of the most suitable trees, its beautiful blossoms in the spring presenting a rich appearance at that particular season, while at all others its full foliage and hand- some shape causes it to be a very useful tree for the purpose. The hme, with its large umbrageous head, coupled with its sweetly smelling blossoms, has perhaps no superior. The plane is also a very suitable tree, as well as the sycamore, Scotch elm, Spanish chesnut, and beech ; wiiich are all of a spreading habit of ORNAMENTAL HEDGE-ROW TREES. 389 3 hoary- ;ly kinds nd syca- uence of 3 and a fed, and he three ovations, e holly, ow tree, Turner's ergreen, ntended il crops, mues of ly tract d seclu- 1 of the in the Tticular i hand- for the coupled laps no tree, as jhesnut, labit of growth, which causes them to be very appropriate for this purpose ; and for the formation of a stately avenue, or an approach to a mansion, the tall Enghsh elm is a very imposing object, and is frequently made use of on this account. Ornamental Hedge-row Trees. — ^When ornament is desired in hedge-rows, there are various flowering plants that may be had recourse to, the laburnum and scarlet horse-chesnut being extremely well adapted for this purpose. An ordinary hawthorn hedge may be considerably beautified and improved by selecting some of the strongest and most vigor- ous stems that are making their way upwards, and grafting upon them the handsomest varieties that are most attractive when in flower, as the scarlet and double red, the most ornamental kinds for blossom and habit of growth being Cratwgiis macra- cantha, C. glandulosa, C. prunifolia, C. punctata, C. coccinea, and C. aronia. Holly hedges may be so trained as to allow the strongest stems at regular intervals to run upwards, when in time they will assufne the dimensions of moderate sized timber, and the top be trained in any shape that may be considered desirable, when grown in a somewhat round form, and covered with scarlet berries, pre- senting a very handsome and attractive appearance. Ivy adds greatly to the appearance of trees when ornamentation is desired, but this is very often shunned under the supposition that it impedes the wtli of the tree. But ivv does no harm in climb- ,i,t i i gro ivy 390 ■ni 1 i I I ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. ing over trees, when it creeps gradually upwards, though if perchance it completely twines round a branch, it would undoubtedly act as a ligature, and prevent the descent of sap, and so in time destroy the branch above it ; but as ivy is a creeping plant, and not a twining )ne, this circumstance will but very rarely occur. Management of Hedge-row Trees In planting trees in hedges, their roots should not be sunk beneath the surface below their natural depth, the object being so to place the upper fibres as that they may obtain the advantage of every shower that falls. For the first few years after the young plant has been placed in its position, the vigour of its growth will be much promoted if the surface of the ground is kept loosened, and free from the herbage, '.specially matted grass, and other natural vegetation, to an extent which will correspond with the range of its roots. The method of pruning hedge-row trees is another point of great importance. Many persons are in the habit of clearing the trunk of all the lateral brahchos to a considerable height, and allow the top ones to take just what form they please. The result of this course of treatment is, that the tree has a tendency to spread, and form a large head ; and in some kinds, as the oak, these will ramify to sucii ;,i> extent as to produce limbs of nearly equal magnitude to the trunk, and in the case of all trees it will have the efTect of retarding the height and increasing the LOPPING AND PRUNING HEDGE-ROW TREES. 391 ipwards, round a ure, and itroy the ant, and •ut very- planting 36 sunk pth, the lat they lat falls, ant has growth ground pecially , to an 3 of its another e in the rahclios ones to of this mdeney ; kinds, lit as to to the ive the ng the breadth of the tree, which is just the opposite result, perhaps, it may have been intended to produce. When the production of useful timber in the hedge- row is sought for, the treatment should be very different, attention being mostly required to be directed to the top, or leading shoot, and the, branches nearest to it, with the view of continuing the upward growth of the trunk, and preventing it from getting cleft and divided into forks. To carry this out effectually, the leading shoot needs to be preserved, and the competing ones shortened to about half their length, which bear any proportionate size to the main one, the same principle being carried out with all the side branches that grow too luxu- riantly, which will check their progress more or les3 in proportion to the distance they are cut from their extremities ; which will cause the principal flow of sap to be directed to the main shoot, or stem, which will be greatly increased in height in consequence, and the remaining portions of the branches can be removed in future years at a period when the bole will have attained such dimensions as not to cause their removal close to the trunk to blemish the timber as they continue of small diameter. If large boughs are removed at any time, and the timber is made coarse with large knots, its value will be decreased at least one-third. September is the best time for lopping trees, as the wounds are immediately healed by the descending sap ; and if licdge-row trees are carefully treated. "f iM 392 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. their timber will be found invariably hard and good, and as well clean grown. When in the forest, the' thick planting which is natural to trees in such a situation supersedes the necessity of much pruning ; but when they stand singly, trees have a tendency to ramify, and if the pruning is done early and skil- fully, tliere will be no necessity for the removal of any very large branches, by which the value of the timber becomes greatly deteriorated, and this part of their management is very important. In many very exposed situations, the broad-leaved varieties of timber-trees, save those of an exception- ally hardy nature, cannot be got to grow singly in hedge-rows, without the shelter of plantations. For this purpose belts of coniferous trees are well adapted, and these may afterwards be felled, when single lines of trees have been successfully raised through the instrumentality of the protection they have afforded. The hedge-row trees when fully estabhshed wiU not only continue the shelter from field to field, and so equaHse the cHmate throughout the year, but com- bine utiHty with greatly enhanced beauty of the rural scenery, which is naturally a point of much considera- tion with most landowners desirous of the improve- ment of their estates. CHmate has everything to do with the kind of trees that are planted, but it is impossible to compute the extent to which even climate may be modided by judicious planting of the forerunners of all our broad- leaved varieties, the Drincinal of wlii^^h '-,'-^ ^h^ ^ OOlii eh 1 THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE ON TREES. 393 pine, larch, and spruce-fir ; by the use of these, the area of our broad-leaved trees may be much extended, both as regards latitude and elevation. The larch is seldom found growing as a hedge-row tree in highly cultivated districts where there is a good climate, yet, nevertheless, it might be much oftener made use of, and is a very suitable tree for the purpose, and would offer a pleasing variety to those more univer- sally resorted to. It grows quickly, is less subject to disease in isolated positions than when standing in masses ; no other tree is less injurious to grain crops, while its deciduous habit enriches the soil by the annual falling of its leaves : planted singly, how- ever, in rough situations, it is apt to become unsightly, and bent by prevaiUng winds. .1 '.fli*i 394 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. \ H I CHAPTEB. XVIII. COPSE-WOOD. USES OP COPPICE-WOOD -VARIETIES OP COPSE-WOOD - C0P8I-W00I) OR TJNDEEffOOD-MASTAGEMENT OP COPPICE-MAKINO CHARCOAl. Copse-wood, or coppice, is cultivated very often for widely different reasons, and often with distinct ob- jects in view, and consists of trees which, unlike the coniferous order, spring freely from the root when they are cut down periodically, before they attain the size of timber trees, or, as in the case of the oak, after the timber has been felled. There are many situations in rural scenery when copse-wood possesses greater powers of embellish- ment than standing timber even, softening the out- line, and producing an agreeable vista in the forest that is often highly desirable, in such positions where taller trees would cramp and exclude a distant prospect. By the margins of lakes and rivers, on islands, in various odd corners and bare situations, a clump of coppice becomes a capital cover and finish ; in narrow belts it forms an excellent screen fence ; and in a variety of ways is often a very im- portant section of tree-planting, especially when a profitable return is aimed at. USES OF COPPICE- WOOD. 395 Uses of Coppice-wood. — The product of copse- wood is applied to a great many uses. Oak and beech are chiefly raised on account of their bark, and are allowed to attain a larger size for this reason than most other trees, being lopped over at various times, which is regulated by the soil and climate at different periods, ranging between fifteen and five- and-twenty years, the felling of the trees for the sake )f their bark being executed at the end of spring, the bark being harvested in early summer. There are many situations in which the oak, as well as other trees (but more especially the oak, on account of the long tap root which it sends down to a great depth in the soil), makes no perceptible progress after thirty years, which is commonly due to a subsoil that is unsuitable to its growth or habit, and in such positions to grow coppice pays better than timber, whatever the want of progress may arise from, which will sometimes be caused from the effects of a bad climate, the oak becoming dwarfed and stunted when growing at a great elevatibn, or in too cold situations. The root-ends of oak coppice are used by the wheelwright for making wheel spokes, and after the bark is stripped off, the wood is sold for charcoal and other purposes, the ordinary product of oak coppice at the age of twenty-five years being generally estimated at from 30/. to 35/. per acre, after all previous and current expenses have been paid, or somewhere about twenty-five shillings per acre annually, after interest, &c., has been de- 111 H a f 1 iU 896 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. ducted. The rule observed in the management of coppice is, that wlienever at any period of its gi ^wth the yearly increase does not amount to the interest of the money, as a low rent for the land, to cut it down; sometimes even when quite young, oak coppice may be seen without any vigorous shoots at the extremity of the branches, the spray termi- nating in a feeble and curled manner, this being a sign that its vigorous progress has become arrested, when it should be lopped over, a common result being that in many situations a far greater bulk of timber as well as value is ensured when coppice has been cut two or three times in fifty years than if the trees had been allowed to stand for the same number of years. Beech is less valuable than oak as coppice, but the same stunted habit of growth will distinguish it in certain situations, and dead twigs be seen towards the top occasionally, when it should be cut down, and both it and the oak after this has been done will produce shoots from their stools equally as vigorous as upon land that is capable of producing better native timber. The common uses to which other coppice-wood is put are for poles of various kinds, handles to implements, hoops, hurdles, charcoal, firewood, &c. Varieties of Copse-wood — Besides oak and beech, which are chiefly valuable for the sake of their bark, there are other kinds more specially fitted for par- ticular aoils and situations. Thus in a dam^) sc ?oil m VARIETIES OF COPPICE. 397 low-lying situations the different varieties of the willow may be profitably cultivated. Besides the dwarf willows for basket making, of which we have spoken at length under the heading of osier beds, which are cut down yearly, there are other varieties more particularly fitted for coppice, which are gene- rally cut every five, six, or seven years, the produce being mostly applied and used for poles, hurdles, scythe and rake handles, and for making crates, &c. ; the goat sallows (aS. caprea) being an excellent variety of willow for these purposes, in soil best suited to its growth, making shoots eight to ten feet in length in the course of a single season, and in bad soil even producing a profitable crop where nothing else could be grown that would pay nearly as well. Although willows like moisture, stmjnant water is not beneficial to them, and a greater yield is obtained from land that is drained and relieved of stagnant water to within a few feet of the surface, even in th£ case of willow coppice. Hazel makes good copse-wood, liking a dry soil, and although it does not attain a very large size it yields an early return, which in some districts is very paying, being sometimes cut every second or third year, and for some purposes, as that of hoops for barrels, it is considered of equal quality to oak, and when intended for this application is generally allowed to stand for five years ; but hazel, as a rule, is not as much grown in the form of coppice as of underwood. 398 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-rLANTING. ■■I, ■M The Spanish Chesniit is a good variety of coppice- wood, springing freely after being lopped over, and making good hop-poles, &c., making the best stakes, or for any purpose where it comes into actual con- tact with the soil, the amount of leaves wliich it sheds being of especial value, in sandy districts, in forming a top soil. Ash coppice is useful for many agricultural pur- poses, as hop-poles, hurdles, handles of implements, as well as for many uses where strength and elasticity are needed. Besides the kinds named, the elm, maple and alder will all spring freely from stools, but are not so generally cultivated for coppice, the revenue from copse-wood being a good deal influenced by local demand, as, for instance, the hazel is much in demand in the vicinity of potteries, for making crates in which earthenware is packed, being fit to be lopped for this purpose every second or third year. Copse-wood as Underwood.—Copse-wood when grown beneath trees takes the form of underwood, the hazel being a good deal used for this purpose,' especially on the borders of plantations, or woods, where it also acts as a screen fence, but when grown beneath the shade of other trees, the quahty of cop- pice is likely to be deteriorated, and its yield les- sened, unless in exposed situations where shelter may be desirable. When coppice is interspersed with timber trees, the oak is the best for it to accompany or grow with,' as it comes into leaf late in the season and does not il MANAGEMENT OF COPI'ICE. 399 give that deep shade which some trees would cause ; as well as for the reason stated before, on account of its tap root providing sustenance for the tree at a gre^t depth downwards, and not taking the resources of the surface soil. Although the larch cannot be strictly spoken of as a coppice-tree, inasmuch as it does not spring from the roots when lopped over, yet it is a very appro- priate one to grow interspersed with timber, filUng up the vacant places in the same way that copse- wood generally stands, for it rises with an upright figure, and soon becomes valuable, and as its roots spread near the surface of the soil other trees gene- rally do very well in its vicinity, and in the case of the oak especially, when associated with it, all the re- sources of the soil are called into requisition, the top part being appropriated by the larch and the lower by the oak. Management of Coppice. — In cutting down copse- wood it has to be borne in mind that, as a future crop will be expected at a certain period, the stools require to be cut clean and smooth, so that water may not find a lodgement, and so close to the ground that the shoots which are to form the subsequent crop may spring close to the roots and not at some dis- tance above them, in which case they are likely to be injured and blown off by the wind, a bill-hook being the best instrument for cutting ordinary coppice ; but in the case of oak coppice, which has been allowed to attam consiuerabiC size, it is the common practice to 400 ENGLISH. TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. •! f 1 saw all the stems which exceed four inches in di- ameter, and cut the smaller ones with a bill-hook, or an adze, and by cutting them upwards the stools are left unblemished. After oak timber has been felled with a view of allowing the stools to form subsequent coppice, the top of each stool should be cut upwards in a convex form, so as not to hold water, taking care to avoid injury to the bark that remains, in the operation, which will protect the stool from any parasitic fun- goid growth that might otherwise infect it. As the stools of large trees are frequently more difficult and reluctant to yield a young growth than smaller ones, it is often necessary to clear away the sur- face herbage around them, which causes them to spring forth much more freely. The second year after the timber has been taken away, the shoots should all be carefully inspected, and the supernumerary ones re- moved out of the way, the number left depending upon the judgment of the forester, according to the space occupied by the stool, and the purpose for which the springing coppice is destined. In the instance of oak coppice that may be intended to stand for fifteen or twenty years, it is generally usual to allow more stools to remain than it is ultimately intended there should be, and afterwards thin the smallest ones out, and bark them when about eight or ten years of age. Oak forms the only exception in this respect, all other copse-wood being cleared off .-'t once, any other method being calculated to do MANAGEMENT OF COPPICE. 401 harm to the growing crop of other species. Oak and birch are felled at the time we have specified, on account of its being most suitable for bark ; but all other sorts of coppice-wood should be cut down between the middle of autumn and the middle of spring. In forming coppice of oak, chesnut, or willow, they should be planted at distances of five or six feet apart from one another, with larch interspersed, to act as nurses. In the case of oak plantations, larch or Scotch pine are generally first planted on the site, and the young oak trees inserted after the firs have got to be a certain height, a few years afterwards, and these are cut down after having performed their allotted task as nurses. Stout plants of larch, as they grow quickly, do well when planted at the same time as other copse-wood, on account of the shelter which they afford. Hazel, and the trees which are only needed to acquire a comparatively small size, should be planted at distances of four or five feet. The inroads of cattle and sheep are very de- structive to young copse-wood, and these should be carefully guarded against ; but in the case of some plantations, as of larch, when the trees have ac- quired a certain size, and cannot very easily be in- jured, a good bite of tender grass i^ often to be had, and, under proper supervision, they may be made useful and available for young stock, though the practice of turning them into plantations is not D D f ' El :! 402 ENOTjail TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. generally looked upon with any dogi-ee of favour, and its use demands proper care .'ind atteulion. Where copse-wood is cultivated to any consider- able extent, it is advantageous so to manage matters as to cause a portion to come on in perpetual rotation, which may be cleared and })ut to profitable use yearly. By this means not only will an annual re- turn be made in the shape of income, but the hands employed upon the cultivation, and who are con- stantly kept at work in thinning, cutting, barking, A:c., will do their work in a more tliorough maimer from constant practice, which will cause the planta- tions to be managed in a superior form, and succeed better from the details being more eftectiuilly per- formed than when done by hands that are only oc- casionally employed, especially where charcoal is con- stantly made. Making Charcoal. — Cliarcoal in some districts finds a ready sale, and is always more or less a marketable commodity, and is formed by tlie refuse, or waste parts of coppice-wood that cannot be profitably used or sold, after being (nit in suitable lengths, being placed in a heap, and covered over with a slight covering of earth, and then set fire to. Where wood is covered up, so that it cannot feel the full action of the atmosphere, it burns with a smothered flame, and the volatile parts are driven off by the lieat, so that there remains behind the residuum in the exact form of the original woody substance, even in its distinct layers, the woody form alone resisting the action of CFIARCOAL. 403 the heat. All parts of the plant, whether solid or fluid, make charcoal; and from a number of experi- ments that have been made upon different plants and their various parts, it is shown that the green parts contain a greater proportion of charcoal than the rest, the proportion diminishing in autumn, when the green parts begin to be deprived of their glutinous and extractive juice. The quantity of charcoal, however, differs in various plants, as well as in different parts of the same plant : the proportion in the plants examined by Proust of wood charred being represented as follows : — Black ash 0-25 Guiacum 0'a4 Pine 0-20 Green oak 0*20 Heart of oak 0*19 Wild ash 0-17 White ash 0*17 Chemists regard charcoal as consisting of a triple compound, the ingredients being carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. 1) » 2 404 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. 'M III CHAPTER XIX. SEASIDE PLANTING. PIANTATIONS ON THE COAST OP NORFOLK— PINEA8TER FORESTS AT THE GULP OP GA8C0NT — MANAGEMENT — VARIETIES OP TREES BEST SUITED FOR SEASIDE PLANTING. Seaside Planting. — Seaside planting in England is comparatively a new thing, very little having been done till towards the close of the first half of the present century, when some very n:.teworthy instances arrested the attention of planters, and created a good deal of interest upon the subject, trees having been success- fully established upon soil of apparently the poorest de- scription in the close neighbourhood of the sea, which used to be regarded as totally unfit for vegetation. The influence of the sea spray is felt for a con- siderable distance over many tracts of land in close proximity to the sea, and that which has been done of late years proves to demonstration that these otherwise barren districts can be made fertile, by establishing upon them forest trees. These trees in such situations are not only valuable on their own account in the production of timber, but they afford a shelter which was never enjoyed before by adjoin- ing lands, the fertihty of which is, in consequence, considerably increased. PLANTATIONS ON THE COAST OF NORFOLK. 405 Plantations on the Coast of Norfolk. — In 1840, and the three following years, some plantations were formed on the estate of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, on the cliffs on the northern extremity of the county of Norfolk, close to the Yarmouth Eoads, the surface of the soil being poor for the most part, and the sub- soil consisting of a hard, ferruginous gravel, ranging from 200 to 300 feet above the level of the sea, em- bracing a space of about 114 acres. Several kinds of trees were used in the formation of these plantations, the goat willow, and the pine- aster especially, having been found to succeed well, both these kinds standing sea-exposure. An account of the formation of these plantations was furnished to the Highland Agricultural Society by the late Mr. Grigor, of Norwich, to whom the Society awarded their gold medal. The success of these plantations was attributed to several circumstances, and details of managei._ient : the land, in the first place, having been carefully trenched to the depth of a foot and a half; next to the erection of screens, six feet in height, composed of furze, brushwood, and similar materials ; to mak- ing use of plants of the best description two or three years of age that had been transplanted a year in nursery lines before their permanent removal, by which a bushiness of root was encouraged which enabled the young plants to establish themselves, being closely inserted at the time of planting, stand- ing about two and a half to three feet apart in the 406 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. first instance ; and to carefully hoeing the land for two years after it had been planted, during which period remunerative root crops were obtained from amongst the young plants, the whole expense being — trenching, Ql. per acre ; fencing, plants, and plant- ing, rather more than 4/. per acre ; making the total cost upwards of 10^. per acre, exclusive of the hoe- ing, the cost of which did not reach to more than a fourth part of the value of the crops of parsnips, carrots, and ether roots that were raised ; the result being achieved in the face of many discouragements, and forebodings of total failure on the part of neigh- bouring planter?, who would not beheve the plan could ever be made to succeed, which is now evi- denced by their close approach to the sides of the German Ocean, what was formerly an unproductive tract of land now being clothed with thriving plan- tations, from which large quantities of thinnings have been obtained. The same was also successfully done in 1840-42 by Mr. Grant, of Glenmorriston and Moy, N.B., who formed several hundred acres of thriving plantations; and, as well, plantations of considerable extent were formed on the sands of Culbin, which occupy several thousand acres of the north-west corner of the county of Moray, N.B., and are composed of small hills of sand, varying from twenty to a hundred feet in height, the surface of which is continually shifting through the influence o^ the wind. Ill the case of Mr. Grant's plantations, the land is ill PINEASTER FORESTS IN THE GULF OF GASCONY. 407 elevated from twelve to thirty feet above high-water mark, and is one mile inland, the plantations consist- ing of native Scotch pine and larch, so that little or no fencing was required, the leading feature in this instance being that the plantation was bounded by a vast expanse of undulating sand, with a surface given up entirely to abandonment, marked only by the wavy ripples caused by the wind, and upon which nothing ever arose in the form of vegetation, except a clump or two of bent _rass here and there. The plants established themselves successfully, except in a few instances where the drifting sand mastered them a short time after their insertion ; and upon examining some of the roots six years after they had been planted, it was found they had ex- tended themselves to an almost incredible distance, some of the roots being upwards of twenty feet in length, to which numerous fibres were attached, developed by the fine particles of sand, which, pene- trating in so many directions, caused the trees not to suffer from drought ; while the hold or grip they had on the land, after they had taken root for a few years, enabled them successfully to resist the influence of the wind, which offers a very lively illustration of the advantages to be derived from planting upon a loose soil with a clean surface, whether the land may happen to be either poor or rich. Pineaster Forests at the Gulf of Gascony. — But although seaside planting in Great Britain is but of comparatively modern date, a very remarkable i ! ( > 11 hit ff Mi i4 s ; 408 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. example was furnished in France by M. Bremontier of the Administration of Forests, in 1789, who planted pineaster trees at the Gulf of Gascony, upon downs perpetually shifted by the wind, which, before he commenced his operations, consisted only of a mono- tonous succession of sandy hillocks, entirely destitute of vegetation. A commission was appointed by the French Government in 1811, to report upon the result of this undertaking, which reported that 12,500 acres of downs had been covered with thriving plan- tations by means of sowing pineaster seeds, by a method which was as remarkable for its simplicity as its success. The plan consisted of sowing two pounds of pineaster seed in conjunction with four to five pounds of broom seed per acre, and immediately the sowing was done, covering it with branches of pine or other trees, beginning at the side next the sea, or from the quarter from whence the wind most com- monly prevailed ; the sowing being done in narrow zones, in a direction at right angles to that of the wind, the first sown zone being shielded by a line of hurdles, this zone protecting the second, the second the third, and the third the fourth, and so on con- tinuously. After the sowing was done, the ground was immediately thatched with branches overlopped to protect the seed, with the hurdle fence that had been placed to intercept the course of the sand wherever seed was sown ; the surface of the sand being immediately thatched. Sea-weed, reeds, and METHOD OF PLANTING ON THE SEA-SHORE. 409 rushes were also used, as well as branches with the leaves on for thatching, and were found to answer equally as well. The broom made its appearance first, the plants having reached a height of six inches in two months or less, attaining three or four times that altitude before the close of the first season. The pineaster plants only reached a height of three or four inches during the course of the first season, and it takes seven or eight years for them to overtop the broom, which in those downs will sometimes reach twelve or fifteen feet, during which time they will perform the duty of nurses to the young pineaster trees. At the age of ten or twelve years, the pines will get the mastery of, and extirpate the furze, at which age they will be thinned out, and the thinnings used for the purpose of thatching the downs not yet re- covered. Such is the method that was followed in the formation of these extensive plantations, which, to- gether with others in the sands of Bordeaux, which lie between that city and Bayonne, are the chief support of a great proportion of the inhabitants, who prepare resin and tar from these pineaster forests. Management — The best method of management that can be pursued in those places where it is desirable to form a seaside plantation where the land is much exposed to the influence of the sea, is to raise a screen fence, composed either of turf, brushwood, hurdles, or of any materials that can be most conveniently 410 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. obtained. The higher this screen fence can be raised, the more efT . liiully it will answer its intended purpose, and extend hn influence over a wider sur- face. The most difficult site near the seaside upon which to estabhsh a plantation is that which is exposed to the effects of a rough sea, and is only a few feet above hign-water )aurk, sloping gradually upwards from the sea, without any undulating for- mation which is able- to confer a certain amount of shelter. Lines of screen-fences in these situations should be erected successively every twenty, forty, fifty, or up to one hundred yards apart, according to the degree of exposure to which the land is sub- ject. When the area is sufficiently elevated above the sea level, it will not feel the influence of the sea spray to such a damaging extent, and numerous fences will be unnecessary ; but in very exposed situations, a cover of brushwood spread over the seeds, in addition to the screen fences, is advisable to ensure success. Light sandy soil in close contiguity to the sea is sometimes found covered with a matted coating of the coarser kinds of native g. asses, the roots of which have a very adverse influence upon the growth of young trees, and act as a great impediment to their first establishment ; and any soil that produces herbage of this objectionable nature is difficult to cover with healthy plantations, and this difficulty is only to be overcome by trenching, which is best done a few months before the young plants are in- TREKS SUITED FOR SEASIDE PLANTiNO. 41 J serted, so as to allow sufficient time for the buried herbage to get decomposed. Varieties of Trees best suited foi Seaside Plant- ing.— The pineaster, as shown in the instance of the pineaster forests in the Gulf of Gascony, endures the influence of the sea uncommonly well ; and it consists of several varieties, all of which do well in sand or in poor soils, not really thriving so "well in eitlier wet or fertile soil, for in these the shoots are more succulent, and do not get thoroughly matured, and are thus less able to bear the severe weather than louse vigorous shoots, the product of a dry, poor soil, < of sand, being particularly well adapted to grow in the latter, , )ssessing long bare roots which do not admit of its being transplanted so successfully as other varieties whose roots are improved by transpi.mtation, a two-year old seedling plant seldom taking root when removed ; the best plants to \ e bemg those that have stood in the seed-bed lor one year only, and one jear more in nursery Unes, which brings th jui up to two vears of age, this very peculiarity specially adapting t lem for growing in sand, in which they are able natu ally to throw out numerous fibres of their own ai (3ord, which they won^l be unable to do in a more reten- tive soil. The ioiig root strikes down to a great depth, and thus in a measure the tree becomes iisde- pendent of drought and the casualties ari iig from a shifting surface, which would be fatal to many other varieties. 412 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. In pure, shifting, dry sand, as well as the pine- aster, the native Scotcli pine, the Black pine of Austria, and the Corsica pine will all do well ; and if the site is not too close to the sea, but removed somewhat from its influence, larch interspersed among these will also answer, and if these are employed, one-year seedlings, one year transplanted, or two- year old seedUngs, one year transplanted, should be used. In very dry situations the firs should be planted in September, and the larch at the end of October, or all may be planted during open weather m wmter, or early spring, the plants being placed two to three feet apart ; and an open cover of brush- wood spread over the surface will be found a great protection and help to the young plants. If the ground is not very dry, and a good deal exposed to the influence of the sea, the best time for transplanting the plants will be in the month of April, and pines are specially well adapted for sandy situations. In a heavier description of soil, which is sometimes found near the sea-shore, there are other trees suitable for maritime situations, as the goat-willow, the Huntingdon willow, and the Bedford willow, all of which will stand a sea-exposure very well, the variety of willows being very considerable. The common alder and beech may often be em- ployed, as well as the common sycamore, the Norway and scarlet maple. The grey poplar m^y also be used, but none of the other varieties of poplar. As living screen fences the black elder, as well as the scarlet elder, are very efficacious, and these will stand Yl III SHRUBS FOR SEA -EXPOSURE. 413 the first brunt of the sea breeze, and temper the wind to the more valuable trees that follow in rotation. It may be commonly seen in maritime situations in the case of plantations of trees, that the outer ones exposed to the influence of the wind are disfigured in shape, and bent in accordance with its prevailing current, as well as being dwarfed and stunted ; but as the plantation advances, the trees become taller, and of better figure, so that a sloping hue might be drawn of gradually ascending trees, as they are farther removed from the influence of the sea-expo- sure. An outer belt of elder trees — a tree of very humble pretensions in the ordinary way will thus be found to render effectual service as a nurse to the more valuable varieties. Among the low growing shrubs which stand sea- exposure well will be found the sea-buckthorn {Hippophce rhamnoides), the snowberry {Symphori- carpos racemosm), the evergreen barberry {Mahonia aquifolia), and the German tamarisk [Myricaria Ger- ?nanica). The latter makes a capital hedge, and although not generally attaining any considerable size, the stems will sometimes arrive at the dimensions of a tree. One of these may be seen growing ao-ainst the side of the small inn called the Captain Digby, which stands at the edge of the 'cliff at Kingsgate, in the Isle of Thanet, near the North Foreland Hcrht- house, that has a stem the thickness of a man's thigh, and in many seaside places the German tamarisk may be seen forming a pretty green hedge of a highly ornamental character. I' S ! 414 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. CHAPTER XX. HEDGES. OtD-FASHIOHBD KNGLISH HEDGES- -VAHIETIE8 OP HEDGE PLANTS THE HAWTHORN— PLANTING THE ' QUICKS '—PRUNING— THE CRAB TREE— THE BUCKTHORN— BEECH HEDGES: CULTIVATION— THE HORNBEAM —THE MAPLE— HEDGES FOR WET OR B03GT LAND— HOLLT HEDGES — FURZE HEDGES — ASCENT OF THE SAP IN TREES. The old-fashioned English hedge-row, lofty and wide-spreading, and frequently occupying about a quarter of the field it was originally planted to enclose, was often a picturesque object at various seasons of the year, gay with the wild rose at one time, and at another nearly smothered with the white blossoms of the hawthorn ; but these are fast disap- pearing in many parts of Great Britain, the exigencies of modern husbandry not permitting their existence any longer in the form they used commonly to be met with, when the soil was less valuable than at present. Although a certain pang of regret is sometimes felt at the gradual disappearance of these ancient hedges, whose lot it is to be sacrificed to the neces- sities of the age, and the progress of improved husbandry, it must be confessed that, in addition to the waste of valuable land they occasioned, they VARIETIES OF HEDGE PLANTS. 415 were great harbourers of vermin, and for these old- fashioned, wide-spreading hedges the neatly trimmed one about a quarter their size has now to be substituted in those situations where hedges are required for shelter, which will interpose no obstacle to the free action of sun and air upon the growth and in- gathering of the crops. Varieties of Hedge Plants.— The plants most suitable for the formation of hedges are, first the hawthorn, which, from its quick growth, long hfe, rigid habit, and stubborn character, as well as its readily adapting itself to most kinds of soils, has recommended itself to the notice of most planters throughout England ; next the crab-tree, which used to be a favourite hedge-plant with the two or three last generations of English farmers that have passed away ; the blackthorn, still more extensively used, the sour fruit of which {sloes) country children were in the habit of gathering and eating ; the beech, which, on account of the shelter it will afford, is well wortliy of being more extensively used than it is by planters, for hedges of beech can easily be trained to stand in a comparatively narrow space from fifteen to five-and-twenty feet high, retaining their leaves during the winter in a withered condition ; the horn- beam, which was also a favourite hedge-plant with our ancestors, also retaining its foUage, but not for so long a time as the beech ; and the maple, which will conclude the list of deciduous hedge-plants that are commonly used in this country. if I Hi I 416 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. The evergreen hedges comprise the holly, which is first in importance ; the furze, which, although re- garded as a very inferior hedge-plant, is made use of in some locahties. and is a handsome object with its rich, gold -coloured blossoms, which are displayed throughout a great portion of the year ; and the pri- vet, which latter stands the smoke of cities well, and also the drip of trees. Other trees are occasionally made use of for hedges, as the yew and box, but they are not sufficiently free growing to be in general request. The Hawthorn {Cratcegus 0.vycantha).—k descrip- tion of the method of raising hawthorn plants has been given before, and these vary very much in size after one seasoji's growth, from six to nine inches being generally considered a fair height fbr the haw- thorn to attain ; but by good management in a soil particularly well adapted for them, they will some- times rise a couple of feet high during the first season, after which they take the name of ' quicks,' or ' quicksets.' Planting the Quicks.— The ground should be trenched two spits deep along the site of the intended hedge, three or four feet wide, and some well rotted farm- yard manure forked in, which should be done some little time previous to plantintr. The tops of the plants should be cut off two or three inches above the soil-mark, which will be readily perceived upon the stem, and the top roots should be shortened, but none of the fibrous roots fLANTiNO QUICKS. 417 ly, which louprh re- de use of t with its displayed 1 the pri- well, and asionally box, but I general descrip- ants has h in size e inches ;he haw- in a soil II some- he first quicks,' mid be ntended il rotted be done two or will be p roots s roots cut away. The plants should then be inserted in the trench made for their reception, standing six inches apart, the soil being drawn towards their roots to keep them in their places without force or pres- sure being used to squeeze in the roots. For the first four or five years the health and vigour of the hedge will mainly depend on the proper preparation of the soil, and its being kept olear of weeds. Hedges or fences are commonly associated with ditches and banks in accordance with the various re- quiremeurs of different localities, and are often pro- tected with posts and rails, and other contrivances during the early period of their growth ; but wc need make no mention of these, which usually are in- cluded under the heading of farm operations ; but after the quicks have been planted, and the weeds appear, both sides of the young hedge should be carefully hoed over, for the double purpose of kilHng the weeds, and smoothing over any irregularities of the soil, as well as loosening it, so that it may enjoy the advantages of the rain and dews that fall ; and this hoeing should not be deferred, but done early in the season, about April, and repeated during the summer, as well as in autumn. If the weeds are allowed to grow large, they will deprive the young hedge of a great part of the nourishment it oug^i. to receive, as well as calhng for a heavier stroke iron, the labourer performing the work, and the risking of a stray blow or two falling upon, and injuring, the hedge-plants. The early re- E E 418 ENGLISH O'REES AND TREE -PLANTING. kl moval of weeds in the season, and following it up afterwards during the summer and autumn, as recom- mended, will be found of great ultimate benefit. A variety of methods of practice prevail as to the pruning of hedges ; some people cutting them during the first year of their growth, while others defer it till the second, third, fourth, or even fifth year, but it will be found the best plan not to cut them during the first season, unless they have grown more than a foot high. If they exceed this, how- ever, it nvdy be desirable to cut oif their tops to the height of a foot or eighteen inches. If pruned too immoderately, early pruning is without doubt likely to be injurious ; but if, on the other hand, it is deferred too long, the hedge is apt to grow naked at the b ..om. At the end of the second year's growth matters will have assumed a more definite form, and the hedge should then be trimmed so as to stand a foot or eighteen inches above the previous year's growth, and any of the lateral side shoots which ex- tend more than fifteen or eighteen inches from the stems of the plants should have their tops cut off. This will have both the efiect of thickening the hedge in its natural growth, and will prevent the accidents wliich often arise from the heavy weight of snow which sometimes falls upon them, which they are unable to bear ; and the same practice should be followed the third year, the hedge being cut with a smart stroke of the bill upwards, so as to shape it somewhat in the form of a cone, gradually narrow- PRUNING HEDGES. 419 ng it up IS recom- efit. ail as to Liig them le others ven fifth Dt to cut ^e grown his, how- ps to the uned too bt likely nd, it is naked at s growth brm, and 0 stand a Lis year's T^hich ex- from the ! cut off. ning the vent the Areight of lich they hould be it with a 8hape it narrow- ing towards the top, which will be the strongest form it can be made to assume. Pruning — By treating the hedge after this fashion, it will be closer at the bottom, and have fewer gaps in it, tlian if the pruning is deferred till three, four, or even five years, wliich some writers insist upon. It is true that the stems will not run uj) so tall by this method, but the development of growtli in the shape of a tall stem means a thin bottom to the hedge; the naked stems having no side branches. When the object is to raise an occasional tree at certain distances in the hedge, the proper course doubtless to ensure this end would be to leave the top alone, and treat it in the same manner as would be followed in developing the growth of any other tree, which then becomes no longer a hedge-plant. Where these gaps occur in the lower part of a hedo-e, liares and rabbits, dogs, pigs, and other depredators wliicli have the chance, force their way through tliem, and the liedge, for purposes of chief utility, is destroyed ; a thorough good hedge requiring to be dense and bushy at bottom, capable of iestraining the attempts of intruders to force a way througli. By tliis method of treatment, a fence of hawthorn, at five years of age, will keep back any kind of cattle ; but after three years of age, an annual trim- ming will be required to keep it in proper bounds and shape, the best time for cutting being either October or March, the wood being softer and more easily cut in the latter month than in tlie former. T) E 2 fKi 420 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. As the hawthorn will in time assume the dimen- sions of a tree, and if not prevented, shed its bottom limbs, and spread out its upper bran(;hes, and form the ordinary spreading head that trees assume, it is found necessary after certain intervals of time, ac- cording to the quality of the soil, to cut it down, the period varying from ten to fifteen years, either partly or wholly. Hedges are also cut down or reduced to three feet and a half to four feet at times, wliicli operation is called breasting ; and also entirely to the surface of the ground, in order to renew them, which is an effectual way of doing so where the roots stand sufficiently thick together to send up young shoots enough to form a complete fence. Laying and plashing are also performed, with a view of renewing hedges, as well as other methods of treatment which scarcely come within our province to allude to, forming, as it does, a part of farm routine or labour, which we do not profess to speak of upon this occasion. The Crab Tree {P^itts malus). — The crab-tree is generally considered to follow next in point of use- fulness to the hawthorn, but it does not make nearly so impervious a fence. It is more subject also to disease, as the attacks of American blight, as well as those from various aphides, caterpillars, &c., which in some seasons will entirely spoil the appearance of a hedge. Where plants are required to be reared for the formation of hedges, the crabs or fruit require to be gathered in October, when they become ripe, CRAB-TREE HEDGES. 421 and laid in a heap nil throiigli tlie winter to rot, for the purpose of separating the pidp from the pips, or seeds, the heap being turned over three or four times in the course of the winter to cause the pulp to become thoroughly decayed. By March this will have become effected, when the proper time for sowing will have arrived. Drills should be drawn for the reception of the seed, and some sand mixed up with the rotten mass to separate the seed from it, which is best done by rubbing it through the hands, so that it may be equally dis- tributed along the drills ; the same course of culture being followed in the preparation of the ground, hoeing, &c., as prescribed for the hawthorn. When planted in rows in nursery lines, they should stand fifteen inches apart, and tlie plants be two or three inches from one another in the rows : the stoutest will be strong enough to be planted out after having stood in nursery- lines for one year, but the weakest will have to remahi for two or three years ; they require to be grown witli a free iirowtli, and not be allowed to assume a stunted habit, from which there will always be a great diffi- culty in recovering them. They need to be planted in the hedge entire, without cutting, until they have established themselves for a year in their permanent situations ; they will then throw out numerous shoots, and be stout and strong in proportion, and frequently reach the height of four feet in the course of the first year, being proportionately bushy. .1 422 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-VLANTrNG. The seeds of the apple slioiilcl not be used for raising hedge-plants, for although tlie fruit will only be crabs, they never grow with the vigour of the wild stock. Nurserymen use these to graft apples upon, on account of their making dwarf standards upon which to graft the cultivated apple, a large number of these seeds being produced in Hereford- shire and other cyder districts that have escaped the crushing of the cyder seed, and are sold to nursery- men to raise stocks from. These stocks can be readily recognised by their large leaves, and from their being almost witliout spines. The Blackthorn {Primus spinosa). — Tlie black- thorn was extensively used as a hedge-plant at one time, as may be seen from the numerous remains of old hedges all over the country ; but its sprays are neither so numerous, nor so sharp as those of the hawthorn, and is consequently very inferior, except in certain situations, for, being of free growth and very hardy, it answers well in positions of great exposure, and also in a damp soil when hawthorn would not succeed so well. It is a useful plant to employ in filling up the gaps in old hedges ; but if made use of for this purpose, plants that have been raised from seed should be used, as they are less hable to throw out suckers than suckers themselves, the tendency of the blackthorn to throw-out these being one of the principal objections to its use, as they prove in- jurious to the neighbouring crops. i^reat BEECH HI DOES. 423 The ^s ge' ripe in October, wlien they should be g; iiced and put up into a heap to rot, and allow remain until the spring, being turned over a lew Limes in tiiu i' ^rvnl The early part of May is generally considerc ■> est time for sowing the seeds, but the sowing shoulJ not be deferred later than the e of May. The same method of treatment is pursued with the young plants as fol- lowed in the case of the hawthorn ; but as they grow stronger than the hawthorn, and have long tap roots, they should not be allowec^ to remain in the seed- bed for two years, on acco it of its root, which is likely to get damaged in the course of remt il after it has attained a certain size, which lay be the occasion of killing the plant. They should, there- fore, be transplanted into nursery lines after they have completed the first season's growth, the plants being moved as carefully as possible, so as not to disturb the ground, which should be afterwards made smooth with a rake, as a second crop of plants will often make their appearance as good as the first. The blackthorn may often be made use of when associated with other trees, forming excellent cover, its spines being useful to repel intruders, but as a hedge-plant, pure and simple, it is very inferior to the hawthorn. Beech Hedges.— The beech {Fagus sylvatica). When a tall hedge is wanted, capable of giving shelter to farm buildings, or indeed anywhere where it may be required, the beech is a tree well worthy of being iaS> ^..^rO^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. fe &?• 6?,- ^6r * ^ 1.0 II 11.25 2.C 1.8 LA. 11 1.6 ^ <^ /; -*? Phot)giBphic Sciences Corpomtion ^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 .V ^ i^f" wj> « 0 ^ , I ( i . I 1 ii 424 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. more extensively made use of than obtains at present It IS nearly as good as an evergreen, from the fact of Its retammg the leaves upon its branches in a withered state ; and it may be trained to any height — thirty feet, if necessary. Upon the Continent, beech heuges are often formed m the shape of trelhs-work. the young trees being planted about eight inches apart, in a slanting direc- tion, crosswise, at an angle of forty-five degrees. Sometimes the bark is peeled off at the parts of con- tact, and the two are thus inarched together ; being kept in proper position in the first place by tL- withies with which they are tied ; thus forming a hedge of a most interesting as well as an useful de- scription. Beech hedges require to be well trimmed, and not allowed to run wild ; the best season for trimming or cutting them being the summer ; though this is opposed to the notions of a good many people who thmk that it causes bleeding; but if cut in the month of July, the plants will throw out numerous buds and slioots, which will give greater density to the hedge. Any awkward side-shoots that make their appearance should be cut off. The beech-mast gets ripe in November, and it is generally gathered after it falls from the trees The seed should be sown in drills, and covered with soil about the thickness of an inch in February or March which IS the best time for sowing. In the succeed- ing winter, the seedhngs must be transplanted into THE HORNBEAM. 425 nursery lines, which stand about a foot and a half asunder, the plants standing three or four inches from each other in the rows. They should remain in nursery lines for a couple of years, when they will mostly have iittained a height of eighteen inches to two feet, when they will be ready for permanently planting out ; but another transplantation into wider nursery hnes will improve them considerably and add to the strength of their roots, and they may remain two or three years longer without injury to their final transplantation, as would be the case in the instance of some trees, and by using forward plants a larger hedge can be more readily obtained. While the young trees are in the seed-bed, they should be kept clear of weeds in the usual way. In fixing a site for a permanent hedge, the land should be dug for a width of three feet, and sufficiently deep to permit of the roots being laid down without injury, the roots not to be pruned after the first year. Tite Hornbeam {Carpinus betulus). — The horn- beam also makes a capital hedge in exposed situa- tions, being able to endure rough winds ; but it will not thrive on many soils, loams and clay suiting it best, but not succeeding in chalk, where the horn- beam refuses to grow, the beech often growing luxu- riantly. The foliage is not so long retained as the beech, but it stands pruning well ; and while it will form as large a hedge as beech, it will not be so strong, nor afford the same amount of shelter. The seeds when gathered ripe in October require 426 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE PLANTING. to be laiil in a heap to rot for twelve months, being sown in the same way as beech-mast, but with a smaller amount of cover, half an inch depth of soil being sufficient. When the young plants make their appearance, the treatment needed is the same as that required for the beech. The Maple {Acer campestre) — The maple, although occasionally used as a fence, is very inferior to those which have been previously mentioned, as it affords comparatively little shelter, and the leaves do not re- main attached to the branches in a withered state. Hedges for wet or boggy land.— Where the land is wet or boggy, the plants to have recourse to for the formation of hedges are the willow, birch, alder, and elder. All of these will grow readily from cuttings, except the alder, nothing more being required than taking off the shoots, and dividing them into lengths of about twelve inches long, and inserting them in the ground in a straight hue, or in the form the in- tended fence is required to assume. A willow fence is easily made by cutting off good shoots three or four feet in length and inserting the cuttings in the ground, lattice fashion, in the same way as described for the beech, with horizontal rods fastened along the top to keep it firmly in its place, which will require a good deal of trimming to keep it shapely ; but this the willows will bear remarkably well, and can be done at any time, no cutting appearing to injure its vitality to any appreciable extent. Holly Hedges.— The holly {Ilex aquifolium) has HOLLY HEDGES. 427 been before described, and allusion made to holly- hedges, but a few more details are necessary with respect to planting, pruning, &c., which it will be de- sirable to f'lrnish. Good holly hedges are sometimes injured by being cut at the wrong time of the year, many persons performing this operation at the begin- ning of winter, which, by removing the foUage, ex- poses the stems of the plants to the frost ; the best time for cutting evergreen hedges of all kinds being in the course of the spring, after the frosts have gone, or during summer. Whenever the hedge is trimmed it is impossible to use the shears without in some degree injuring its appearance, as the leaves must necessarily be cut ; but if this is C.ne in the summer time about midsummer, or even a little later, the aftergrowth covers over the cut leaves and bare ends of twig, and the hedge in consequence wears a smoother and handsomer appearance, it being neces- sary to use shears, and not a bill-hook in trimming a holly-hedge, as the leaves are so tough and thick as to resist the hook ordinarily used in cutting hedges. After the seeds are sown in the seed-bed in March or April, a few branches of evergreens laid over them, to protect the rising plants both against frosts and the influence of the sun, will be found advan- tageous. It is generally supposed, as a matter of course, that it is the best plan to remove the shad- ing materials during a fine sunny day, so that the young plants may receive benefit, but the heat of the 428 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE- PLANTING. ) 1 I ' I sun is injurious to holly plants that are just emerging from the ground. They require to stand in the seed-bed for two years, and then be planted out into nursery Unes, twelve inches asunder, the plants standing in the rows two or three inches from one another. The holly re- quires to be transplanted either in the month of May or August and September. If planted earher in the year than May, there is a great chance of their not succeeding; and if planted later than September there is also equal risk, failures during the winter months being very common with the holly. After standing in the nursery lines for two years (they may be allowed to remain for four years, but not longer, without transplantation) they must be again placed out into nursery Lines, standing a foot apart from each other in the rows, the spaces between the rows being proportionately wider. They will be about fifteen to eighteen inches higli about this time, the holly growing but slowly, but the transplantation will give them bushy, fibrous roots which are highly necessary for their future welfare. The ground should be well trenched and manured ready for the reception of the young plants, along the site of the intended hedge, in the same way as prepared for the hawthorn, and a dull or rainy day be chosen for setting the plants. A garden Hne should be stretched along, and a hole dug with a spade, large enougli for the roots of the firs^ plant to be laid in it without being cramped, and a second YOUNG HOLLY PLANTS. 429 merging for two ry lines, the rows ioUy re- of May ;r in the heir not ptember ! winter After ley may longer, placed rt from he rows i about nie, the mtation ! highly lanured 3, along way as iny day en line with a ^ plant second hole should be dug farther on, a foot apart, the labourer working backwards ; the soil from the second hole filling up the first one, the third the second, and so on till the whole row is completed, the soil being made firm before it is put round thg roots of each plant. They should afterwards be trodden down firm with the feet, each plant being held in the hands while this is being done, to keep it in an upright position. The young trees must be kept free of weeds, and the ground well hoed, the holly well repaying all the attention that can be bestowed upon it. The young hedge will not require any pruning for the first two seasons ; but af;;erwards the side shoots will require a little trimming, so as to direct the growing hedge in a shapely form, the most suitable being generally considered to be with a rounded top, and not a flat one, of about a foot in width, the bottom being three feet wide in a mature hedge. If the plants receive a severe check in planting — which will sometimes be the case if transplanted in dry weather, when it becomes advisable to dip the roots in water before planting them — they will assume a stunted appearance, and it will be the best course then to cut them down in the beginning of April, which is the only safe time in which to perform the operation, care being taken not to cut the stems lower down than the ground-mark. The cutting will cause the plants to throw out strong healthy shoots, and the hedge will progress faster than if left to 1 ' 430 ENGLISH TREES AND IREE-PLANTINQ. » Si' recover itself without such treatment. If this needs to be done, at the same time the soil should be dug over between the plants, and made thoroughly clean, and freed from weeds, if there are any. When the ground is poor also, manure will be of great assist- ance to the plants, and cause them to grow stronger ; holly growing in almost every soil tolerably well, excepting wet ones, but it takes eight to ten years to make a hedge four to five feet high, which is a draw- back, but it makes one of the handsomest and best of h'ldges, and is an object of beauty at all times, with its evergreen fohage, particularly appropriate for gardens and pleasure grounds. Furze Hedges. — The furze {Uiea; Europea). Very few people would think of making use of a furze hedge from choice, yet in sandy and other positions where there is a great difficulty in establishing trees, the furze hedge is not to be despised, and is often really a very ornamental and handsome object, being covered with a profusion of yellow blossoms throuo-h- out the greater part of the year. Upon a raised bank, covered with ivy which can be made to grow, the furze hedge looks remarkably well, and becomes sufficiently ornamental for the neighbourhood of dwelHng-houses that have been fixed in these situa- tions for the sake of a healthy site, good drainage, or high position. A bank should be thrown up two and a half or three feet high, made flat on the top, along which a drill should be drawn, in which the seeds should be FURZE HEDGES. 481 sown in March or the beginning of April. During the first year tlie plants will reach a height of nine inches or a foot ; and they require no attention till the second year, when their tops need cutting over with the shears, the best time for doing this being the months of April or May, and this operation should be repeated every year afterwards, at any time during the summer months, but the hedge should not be cut in the winter, as frost frequently kills furze. The constant Fummer cutting will pre- vent the furze from getting bare at the bottom, or wearing that dead appearance which is otherwise a great drawback to its good looks. Tf furze-plants are used instead of seed, they should be planted nine inches apart. The presence of evergreens in the form of trees, no matter how employed, is a great finish and adorn- ment to any landscape, especially in those of circum- scribed dimensions, which lack the grandeur that mere space often confers. It was at one time a com- mon error that evergreens never parted with their leaves^ which may be traced back to the mythology of the Greeks ; and thus Theophrastus relates that, in the country of Cortynia, in Crete, a plane tree was stated to be growing by a fountain, which never shed its leaves, beneath the shade of which Jupiter was said to have had his interview with Europa. Yet it has been remarked before by writers that Theophras- tus was himself acquainted with the fact of the fall of the leaves vf evergreens, as every accurate ob- I'!' 432 ENGLISH TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. server of nature must be, though they do not actually fall till the young leaves havo begun to appear ; so that trees of this sort are never left wholly without leaves, and by a mixture of evergreens with de- ciduous trees, we are certainly in this country enabled to obtain the most delightful arboricultural results. In Darwin's 'Natural History of a Voyage to South America ' it is said that—' In South America, Australia, and the Cape of Good Hope, the trees are all evergreens. The inhabitants of these, and the intertropical regions generally, thus lose, perhaps, one of the most glorious, though to our eyes common spectacles in the world, the first bursting into full foHage of the leafless tree. They may, however, say that we pay dearly for our spectacle by having the land covered with mere naked skeletons for so many months. This is true, but our senses thus acquire a keen relish for the exquisite green of the spring, which the eyes of those Hving within the tropics, sated during the long year with the gorgeous productions of those glowing climates, can never experience.' It has been observed that, generally speaking, the trees whose leaves are expanded soonest are those which lose them earliest, as may be seen in the hme, horse-chesnut, and some other trees ; the rule, how- ever, having its exception in the case of the elder, its leaves appearing early in the season and falling very late ; while the common ash is peculiar on ac- count of coming late into leaf, and the leaves falling from the tree at the end of summer. ASCENT OF SAP. 433 A.v'cnt of the Sap in Treen. — The Ictivon of most (lociduous trees fall ui)on the approach of winter ; l)ut cold is not considered tlie princi])al cause of this natural ])honoinenon, but is to be attributed ju-in- ci pally to the course of the sap being interrupted, when the vessels of the leaf dry up and contract, and soon after fall. The physioh)gists of i)ast fienerations were very much in doubt through what part of the stem the ascent of sap was annually made, some sup- posing that it took place through the bark, and others that it passed through the pith. But experi- ment and observation showed that the progress of the sap was not arrested in trees that had been de- prived of their bark, while in the case of some hollow trees the sap regularly as(;ended, and certain boughs were annually covered with leafy verdure. It is now, however, fully understood that the course of the sap lies through the woody layers; and in such trees as have only a small cyhnder oi' woody layer left, the sap will perform its allotted course without interruption. Coulon discovered this fact through an accidental circumstance while having a row of large poplar trees cut down, in one tree which had been circularly sawn, that had fallen, but which still held to its stump by its centre, he saw bubbles of Uquid and air rising upwards from, the inner fibres, and giving out a distinct sound. This led him to try vario\is experiments on those trees which still remained. to be felled, and upon boring them with a large auger, he discovered that the frag- V F M' •': 454 ENQLISn TREES ANU TUEE-PLANTING. mcnts which were taken from the outer layers of the wood were ahiiost dry, but tliey became more moist as the auger penetrated more deeply ; and when it arrived at the centre of the stem, the sap began to flow out at the surface, thus proving that the ascent of the sap takes place in the woody layers, its course l)eing mostly developed in those which He the nearest to the medullary canal. The result of these experi- ments was communicated to the Academy of Sciences, and they were repeated by Desfo;itaines and Thouin, who confirmed its accuracy, and thus, according to Longfellow — From the earth's loosened moukl The saplj >g draws its sustenance and thrives ; Though fa., icken to the heart with winter's cold, The drooping tree revives. The softly warbled song Comes from the pleiisant woods, and coloured wings Glance quick in tlie bright sun, that moves along The forest openings. When the bright sunset fills The silver woods with light, the green slope throws Its shadows in the hollows of the hills, And wide the upland glows. LONDON 1 rniSTRI) BY- SPOTTlSWOOnK AND to., NKrt -STIIKKT SyuABB AND PABUAME:;! iirUKKT / SMITH, ELDER, & CO.'S rUBnCATIOM Under the Sanction of Her Majesty the Queen. In Five Volumes, demy 8vo. price 18«. each. THE LIFE OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE CONSORT. By SIR THEODORE MARTIN, K.C.B. With Portraits, a FacsimilOi and an Index. 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'Books nnsw-passed in power of observation and sympathy witk natural objects l>ij anything that has appeared since the days of Gilbert White.'— Daii^y Nkws. Large crown 8vo. 10«. 6d. THE GAMEKEEPER AT HOME; OR, SKETCHES OF NATURAL HISTORY, POACHING, AND RURAL LIFli A beautifully ILLUSTRATED EDITION, with 41 IllusWations specially drawn for the work by Charles Whympeis. * «' J^° ^"^ "PT", °* " The Gamekeeper at Home." as of its companions. Is that tliey are eminently trutliful and practical, as well as delightfully descriptive. The library of good hooks oi, the country w not so large but that aivv addiuuu; -jre exceedingly welcome ; and since Wliito wrott; liis " Kntural "w^J^T?. ?«"«>">«" we have had roihing more deliglitful tlian " The Camekeeper at Home" and Willi Life in a Sonthem County." They are cheap enough to be within tho reach of all ; thcv are portable enough to be carried in the pocket; yet they contain a great variety of information , given in a ideasant though gossipy style, and are the very books to bo on tlie shelves of the country gentle- man among those that he treasures for constant reference.'— EDinnnuGH Kbvihw. *,^* Also, the THIRB EDITION, witJmit Illustrations, crown 8w. 5s, WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. SECOND EDITION. Crown 8vo. Is. 6d. WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. ' Even a •■_ we delightful book than " Xhe Gamekeeper at Home." It is diffionU to give more tlmii the vaguest .ea of a volume so full of interesting matter. It mnPt be defined as -i miillnm. in piirro encyclopa:dla of country sights and country matters, The author is nt once the closest and tlie most catholic of observers. Nothing escapes him in the animate creation ; he is also intensely interested in the phenomena of the atmosphere and tlie weather; and he has mncli to tell about ^he habits of the country people and their odd and primitive ways of thinking. Open the book where vou may you cannot fail to find something attractive; and as it is impossible to do it reasonable jua'tice iu 'u review, we can only recommend our readers to procure it,' — « I'frTi.i, . »7 ti^,,,,,,,. -Satuuday Review, Crown 8vo. 5s. THE AMATEUR POACHER. ; More enjoyable than its predecessors. We have the most delicate painting of the minutest details of our rural landscapes, with realistic sketches ii eloquent language of the changing scenery of JMghsh seasons. It is full, too, of the lively autobiographical reminiscences which always give truth and colour to a book. We advise all lovers of the country to get " The Amateur Poacher " and read it for themselves.'— Satubuay ReviiSW. Crown Svo. 7s. 6d. GREENE FERNE FARM. By RICHARD JEFFERIES, ' Mr. Jefferies is as fascinating as ever. Nothing can be more true to tlie life than his mintito descriptions of rural scenery, or of the Hiosynciacics, manners, mid talk of the rustics in a .xecliiiled parish under the slopes of the Downs. . . . Having all the merits and charms of the author's peculiar style, the book makes as enjoyable reading as any of his other volumes.'— The Times. Two vols, crown Svo. 12s. HODGE AND HIS MASTERS. Ly RICHARD JEFFERIES, Author of ' The Gamekeeper at Home ' &e. ' Two pleasant volumes Delightful peeps are here and there obtained of waving wheat fields, or an old-fashioned fann-housn, as momin-=, » - • " I Loudon: SMITJf, ELDEK, & CO., M W. iUOllOl' riucc. «--t^t*. JNjKI'M. 7/ objcvls It II 8. lAL LIFE Bciiilly are eminently 1. the country ! liig " Nntiiriil it Home" and all ; they arc Illation , f,'iven juntry gentle- I OS. NTY. ive more tliini illnm in pnrro uKCHt and tlic sely interested t '^he habits of 'here you may te justice iu a the minutest ingin<; scenery ;h always give i'oacber " and \\\ his minuto s in a sechided ' the author's T1MK8. g wheat fields, ihere of art we ?Ar>KiMV. population of !i of rural life is last worlc of ng 80 good has so»sps a charm )f infiirniiitiDii ice, and of the :o. h