2%*s^ Digitized by tine Internet Archive in 2010 witii funding from Researcii Library, Tine Getty Researcii Institute http://www.archive.org/details/sylvafloriferash02phil SYLVA FLORIFERA: THE SHRUBBERY HISTORICALLY AND BOTANICALLY TREATED. VOL. II. London : Printed by A. & R. Spottiswoode, New- Street- Square. A / / SYLVA FLORIFERA: THE g)l)rubberp HISTORICALLY AND BOTANIC ALLY TREATED; WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE FORMATION OF ORNAMENTAL PLANTATIONS, AND PICTURESQUE SCENERY. By henry PHILLIPS, F.H.S. AUTHOR OF POJIARIUJI BRITANNICUM, AND HISTORY OF CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. Sylva nemus non alta facit : tegit arbutus herbam : Rosmaris et lauri, nigraque myrtus olent. Nee densa; foliis buxi, fragilesque myrica;. Nee tenues cytisi, cultaque ptnus abcst. Ovid. Ais Am. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. LONDON: PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, KEES, ORME, AND BROWN, rATERNOSTER-KOW. 1823. SYLVA FLORIFERA. LABURNUM.— LABURNUM: CYTISUS. Natural oi^der, FapilionacecE, or LeguminoscB, A genus of the Diadelphia Decandria class. Laburnum, rich In streaming gold. Nor might she fear in beauty to excel, From whose fair head such golden tresses fell." This beautiful alpine tree was known to the Greeks under the name of 'Avdyvpfg, and its emetic qualities gave rise to their proverb, Anamn commovere^ " to work one's own woe. It is observed that the bees avoid the flowers of this tree, whose leaves are so agreeable to the goat. Theocritus, the poet, who flourished VOL. II. B Z SYLVA FLORIFERA, at Syracuse, in Sicily, about 282 years before the Christian era, remarks, that the wolf pur- sues the goat with as much eagerness as the goat hunts for the laburnum ; and Virgil has celebrated it for auGj-mentino- the milk of o-oats. Pliny tells us, that the laburnum belongs to the Alps, and that it was not commonly known in Italy when he wrote his Natural History. He says, the wood is white and hard; and that the bees would not even settle upon the blossoms of this tree.* The laburnum has long graced the British gardens, as we learn from Gerard that it flourished in Holborn in 1596. What would be the astonishment of this excellent old herbarist, could he be recalled, to see each avenue of his garden formed into streets ; houses erected on his parsley beds, and chimneys sprung up as thick as his aspara- gus ; churches occupying the site of his arbours, and his tool-house, perhaps, con- verted into the British Museum, where is safely housed the lasting memorial of his labours. In vain would he now seek wild plants in Mary-le-bone, where each blade of grass is transformed into granite, and every hawthorn hedge changed for piles of bricks : carriages rattling where snails were formerly * Book xvi. chap. 18. LABURNUM. crawling. His ear would be assailed by the shrill cry of " Milk below," and the deep tone of " Old clothes," where he had for- merly retired to listen to the melody of the early lark, or the plaintive tones of the night- ingale. A breath of unadulterated air, The glimpse of a green pasture, how they cheer The citizen, and brace his languid frame ! " Yet how careful have they been to keep it as distant as possiblefromthenarrowyardof our metropolitan church, which stands on one of the finest sites in the universe, as will be seen when the age arrives that will level the build- ings which obstruct the view of it from the Thames. Should the cathedral of Saint Paul's ever be seen forming the centre of a crescent, which would open to the south, and whose base would be washed by the noble but now obscured river, it would become the most splendid spot, and the most delightful pro- menade that the world could boast. What would not the citizens give for so fine and healthy a spot, where themselves and their families might breathe an air, scarce less healthy than that which they must now go many miles to enjoy ? AVhat wealthy citizen is there who would not contribute largely to see the finest church on the earth stand at the B 2 * SYLVA FI.ORIFERA. head of a lawn, which gradually ascends from the waves of his boasted river ; and what situ- ation could be so eligible for the erection of national galleries, libraries, and museums, as this would offer: — but let us return to the shrubbery ; for ** The statesman, lawyer, merchant, man of trade, Pants for the refuge of a peaceful shade." The laburnum was called Bean-trefoile tree in the time of Gerard, because the seeds are shaped like the bean, and the leaves like the trefoil. It had also the name of Peascod tree in that age, but which has long given way to that of the Latin Laburnum, which Haller says is evidently derived from the Alpine name, L'aubours. In French it is named Cytise des Alpes, Abours, and Faux ebenier, because the wood was often used as a substitute for ebony. The laburnum is a tree of the third height, and flowers in the shrubbery from eight or ten to twenty feet in height. As it is of the middle stature, so should it generally form a centrical situation. Dark evergreens, of the larger kind, form a good back ground to this cheerful, flowering, and graceful tree, whose yellow pendent blossoms shine more conspi- cuously by the contrast. Its extending branches should wave their golden treasures LABURNUM. 5 over the snowy balls of the guelder rose, or the delicate tints of the Persian lilac ; whilst the tall eastern lilac may dispute the prize of beauty with its gay neighbour from the Alps, and our native hawthorn's silvery petals shine not in vain ; for " Thus is Nature's vesture wrought To instruct our wand' ring thought ; Thus she dresses green and gay, To disperse our cai*es away." We have introduced no tree that is more ornamental to our plantations than the labur- num ; it relieves alike the gloomy clumps of mountain firs, and the borders of the forest shades ; it enlivens the holly hedgerow, and embellishes the cottage garden. It would also become a profitable timber, were we to plant it for that purpose ; for the wood is of a hard nature, and approaches near to green ebony. Mr. Boutcher tells us, that he saw a large table, and a dozen of chairs made of this wood, which were considered by judges of elegant furniture to be the finest they had ever seen. Its use for these purposes is com- mon in France, but it has seldom been suf- fered to stand long enough in this country to arrive at any size. Mr. Martyn says, he has seen trees of the laburnum, in old Scotch gar- dens, that were fit to cut down for the use of B 3 Q, SYLVA FLOIUFERA. the timber, being more than a yard in girth, at six feet from the ground ; and these had been broken and abused, otherwise might have been much larger. Tliis able writer tells us, in his edition of Miller's Gardener's Dictionary, that the laburnum grows very fast, and is extremely hardy, and is well worth propagating upon poor, shallow soils, and in exposed situations. His Grace the late Duke of Queensberry sowed a great quantity of the seeds of this tree upon the side of the downs, at his seat near Amesbury, in Wiltshire, where the situation was very much exposed, and the soil so shal- low, that few trees would grow there ; yet in this place the young trees were twelve feet high in four years' growth, and became a shelter to the other plantations, for which purpose they were designed. In neighbour- hoods where hares or rabbits abound, these trees will require protection, as they will otherwise bark them in the winter ; and hence it has been suggested, to plant laburnum seeds in plantations infested with these destructive animals, which will touch no other plant so long as a twig of laburnum remains* Though eaten to the ground in winter, it will spring again the next season j and thus constantly supply food for this kind of game. A small LABURNUM. ' sum laid out by a farmer in this seed, and judiciously sown in his hedges or coppices, would save his crops, as well as the planter's young trees. Laburnums are recommended to be plant- ed thick, for the purpose of drawing them up, to form hop poles, which are said to be more durable than those of most other wood. Matthiolus speaks of its being used for mak- ing the best bows. It is found to char re- markably well ; and the wood is esteemed also for making pegs, wedges, musical instru- ments, and a variety of purposes for which hard wood is required. The laburnum is easily propagated by seed, which it produces in great plenty. It is usu- ally sown in the month of March ; but young trees may generally be found in abundance where the trees have scattered their fruit. In forming plantations for poles or timber, the seeds should be sown where they are intended to remain ; but for the shrubbery, or orna- mental plantation, they should be removed, and their roots shortened, which will cause them to flower more abundantly. Children should be cautioned not to eat the seeds in the green state, which are violently emetic and dangerous. B 4: 8 LARCH. — PINUS LARIX. Natural orders ConifercB. A genus of the Moncecia Monadelphia class. " The swain, in barren deserts, with surprise Sees larch trees spring, and sudden verdure rise.' The face of our country has, within the last thirty years, been completely changed by the numerous plantations of larch that have sprung up on every barren spot of these king- doms, from the southern shores to the ex- tremity of the north, and from the Land's End to the mouth of the Thames. So great has been the demand for young trees of this species of pine, that one nurseryman in Edin- burgh raised above five millions of these trees in the year 1796. We have introduced no exotic tree that has so greatly embellished the country in general. Its pale and delicate green, so cheerfully enlivening the dark hue of the fir and pine, and its elegant spiral shape, contrasting with the broad spreading oak, is a no less happy contrast ; whilst its stars of fasciculate foliage are displayed to LARCH. 9 additional advantage, when neighbouring with the broad-leafed aesculus, the glossy holly, the drooping birch, or the tremulous asp. The larch seems created for society, as it shines with additional lustre amidst trees of every cast and character. " Like some enchantress, with her magic wand, In treasures new she decks the smihng land." The thanks of the present age, and the gra- titude of the next, are and will be given most sincerely to those noblemen and gen- tlemen who have so greatly contributed to the beauty of our rural scenes, and the profit of themselves and their heirs. These plant- ations display a most noble love of country, and generous provision for posterity ; and that these liberal minded planters may long live to enjoy the beauties they have created, and reap the harvest they have sown, must be the fervent wish of every good Briton. " Perhaps some sire, in hfe's decUning year, Those woods revisits, to his memory dear ; In infant days that planted by his hand. Now wave aloft, and decorate the land. For him the groves a smiling aspect wear. And fields and flowers his transport seem to share !" The larch was considered by the ancients as amongst the most valuable timber trees, 10 SYLVA FLORIFERA. particularly for the purpose of building, being almost imperishable, and less inflammable than any other wood ; and we read of no tree that exceeded it in height. Amongst the timber which was brought to Rome for the purpose of building the bridge called Nau- machiaria, about the 20tli year, a. d., was a larch that measured two feet square in thick- ness throughout, from end to end, and was of the extraordinary length of 120 feet ; the tree must therefore have been not less than from 130 to 150 feet in height. Tiberius Caesar would not allow this wonderful trunk to be used in the erecting of the bridge then building, but commanded it to be placed where all persons might see it as a curiosity ; and where it remained for about thirty years, until Nero employed it in building his vast Amphitheatre. Amongst the Romans, the larch was employed, in preference to every other kind of wood, in buildings where strength and durability were required.-^ Pliny tells us, that the larch was not found to decay in buildings like other pine timber ; and that it burnt more like a stone than wood, never causing flame. This quality of the larch was not unknown to Julis, as he calls it lignum igni wtpenctrahile. * Pliny, book xvi. ehap. 40. LARCH. 1 1 This timber seems to have been scarce in Rome during the Augustine age, as M. Vi- truvius Pollio, a celebrated architect of that period, attributes the sudden decay of build- ings erected in his time, in a great measure to the want of larch in the neighbourhood of Rome, it having been exhausted before his time ; and the expense of bringing it from a distance, in those early days, would have been too great for common purposes. The larch is a native of the south of Europe and of Siberia ; it grows abundantly in Swit- zerland and in Provence, &c. : and as it must naturally create considerable interest in the generation that is rising with it in these king- doms, we shall endeavour to point out the very spot on which it first took root, and the circumstance to which the larch owes its birth ; and should the veracit}' of our account be disputed by any critical reviewers, we will call up all our classical and antiquarian friends to defend a point of so much importance, as that of connecting a beautiful idea with a beautiful tree. Behold then, in the graceful larches, the affectionate sisters of the ambi- tious Phaeton, who were metamorphosed into these trees, whilst sorrowing round the tomb of Apollo's son on the borders of the Po. 12 SYLVA FLORIFERA. " And beat their naked bosoms, and complain, And call aloud for Phaeton, in vain : All the long night their mournful watch they keep. And all the day stand round the tomb and weep. Four times revolving the full moon return'd, So long the mother and the daughters mourn'd ; When now the eldest, Pha'ethusa, strove To rest her weary limbs, but could not move ; Lampetia would have help'd her, but she found Herself withheld, and rooted to the ground : A third in wild affliction, as she grieves, Would rend her hair, but fills her hands with leaves ; One sees her thighs transform'd, another views Her arms shot out, and branching into boughs. And now their legs, and breasts, and bodies stood Crusted with bark, and hard'ning into wood." As the poplar has been found so abundantly in the neighbourhood of the river Po, it has been conjectured by some that it was that tree into which the daughters of Clymene were transformed ; but in a medal of Publius Acco- leius Lariscolus, the three sisters are repre- sented as transformed into larches ; and it would certainly seem that Ovid rather meant the larch than the poplar, from the tears of the sorrowing trees, which agrees with the former, but not with the latter. Indejluunt laa^mce : stillataque sole rigescunt De ramis electra novis : qucB lucidus amnis Excipit^ et nuribus mittit gestanda Latinis. " The new-made trees in tears of amber run, Which, harden'd into value bv the sun, LARCH. 13 Distil for ever on the streams below : The limpid streams their radiant treasure show, Mix'd in the sand ; whence the rich drops convey'd, Shine in the dress of the bright Latian maid." The Greeks call the larch Aa'^/J, and the Latins after them Larix, from whence the Italian and Spanish name Larice, and the German Larchenbaum, from which we have evidently derived the English name. The French call it Meleze, The larch is known as the only tree whose foliage is deciduous, that produces cones, as all the other species of pines are evergreens. The larch sends out its leaves in the month of April, of a beautiful pale and yellowish green, shaped like the narrow leaf of grass, and in little clusters of about forty each, disposed like the hairs of a painter's brush, but which after- wards expand into rosettes or stars, which drop off" in the autumn. The flowers appear also in April, and generally are of a fine crimson colour, which at first gives them an appearance something like small strawberries ; but the male flowers extend in length as the pollen ripens. The female flowers are collected into egg-shaped obtuse cones, which when ma- tured are from one to two inches in length, and whose scales protect the seeds in the same manner as the cones of the fir and cedar, &c. 14 SYLVA FLORIFERA. The larch was cultivated in this country as early as 1629, as it is mentioned by Parkinson, in " TheCorollary tohis Orchard;" but so late as 1656, when the second edition was pub- lished, it was but little known ; and as the tree is now more generally distributed over the country since his account of it, we shall give his own words, which were dictated for, and dedicated to the Queen of the unfortunate Charles the First, to whom Parkinson was herbalist. This author says, " The larch t-ree, where it naturally groweth, riseth up to be as tall as the pine or firre tree ; but in our land being rare, and nursed up but with a few, and those only lovers of rarities, it groweth both slowly and becommeth not high, the bark hereof is very rugged and thick, the boughs and branches grow one above another in a very comely order, having divers small yellowish knobs or bunches set thereon, at several distances ; from whence do yearly shoot forth many small, long, and narrow smooth leaves together, both shorter and smaller, and not so sharp-pointed as either the pine or firre-tree leaves, which do not abide the winter as they do, but fall away every year, as other trees which shed their leaves and gain fresh every spring : the blossoms are very beautiful and delectable, being of an LARCH. 15 excellent fine crimson colour, which, standing among the green leaves, allure the eyes of the beholders to regard it with the more desire : it also beareth, in natural places, (but not in our land, that I could hear,) small soft cones or fruit, somewhat like unto cypresse nuts, when they are green and close." It was not likely that this tree should have been cultivated during the commonwealth, which was the age for destroying our forest timber; but at the Restoration of Charles the Second, Evelyn stood forth as the champion of the British Svlva, and tells the nation, that there had flourished not long since a larch tree near Chelmsford, in Essex, of good sta- ture, " which," says he, " sufficiently re- proaches our not cidtivating so useful a ma- terial for many purposes where lasting and substantial timber is required." Mr. Evelvn then tells us that the vouno; larch tree that he had brought up with much care in his garden, was supposed to be dead by his gardener when the leaves fell off, which proves how little the nature of the larch was known in England even at that time. Mr. Drummond had some larches planted in Scotland as long back as 1734; and two larches were planted on the lawn of the Duke of AthoU's seat at Dunkeld, in Perthshire, in 16 SYLVA FLOHIFERA. the year 1741, the largest of which, in 1796, measured, at one foot eight inches from the ground, eleven feet eleven inches in circum- ference, and at twelve feet from the ground, eight feet two inches, at twenty-four feet the circumference was seven feet seven inches ; at which time some of the younger larches mea- sured upwards of one hundred feet in height. These plants were originally sent from Lon- don in earthen pots, rather as a curiosity than from any expectation of their excellency; but they may now overlook whole forests of this timber, of which they have been the parent plant. The larch having been ascertained to be of a hardy nature and quick growth, thriving better on a poor hungry soil than in a rich earth, and the utility of the timber being uni- versally acknow^ledged, these considerations induced the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, at London, to offer both honorary and pecuniary rewards for the propagation of this tree ; and as long back as 1 788, three gold medals and a premium of thirty pounds had been be- stowed by the Society for planting larches, and giving an account of the wood ; and there is every prospect that the encouragement given by that Society will be the means of LARCH. 17 enriching these kingdoms in a few years, by saving the large sums which are annually sent out of the country for pine timber. Amongst the earliest planters of larch we notice the Duke of Atholl, who, we are told by Dr. An- derson, planted 200,000 every year ; and by an account which we have lately been favoured with, it appears that his Grace planted 1,102,367 in the winter of 1819 and the fol- lowing spring. They were planted on 556 acresj or 548 Scotch acres, at 2,000 per Scotch acre, at the rate of about 30,440 daily, for thirty-six days, being one day's labour for 1,054 men, or thirty men for the thirty-six days. The expence of planting was about five hun- dred and seventy pounds, or twelve shillings and sixpence per Scotch acre. The present Duke of Atholl has had the satisfaction of seeing a frigate of thirty-six guns built en- tirely of larch timber of his own planting, which we believe is more than any other indi- vidual in the universe can boast of. It was launched from the stocks at Woolwich, about three years back, being named the Atholl. At the same time a frigate, named the Niemer, was built of Riga fir ; and as they are both of the same size and form, and are destined to the same station, the government will have a fair trial of the comparative value of these VOL. n. c 18 SYLVA FLORIFERA. timbers. Too much praise cannot be bestowed on his Grace in surmounting the obstacles which were continually thrown in his way by contractors and other interested persons, who endeavoured to prevent this important expe- riment from being made. A brig, of 171 tons, called the Sarah, has also been built at Perth, of larch timber, from the forest of his Grace the Duke of Atholl. The Diana steam-boat, which plies between London and Richmond, is also composed of the same timber ; it was built by Evans of Rotherhithe. The Duke has some beautiful cabinets formed of this wood, in his house in Great George- street, Westminster ; and we have lately ^een a table made from one of his Grace's larches, which, in point of beauty and closeness of grain, is nearly equal to those formed from the root of the yew-tree. In 1 787, and the following year, the Bishop of Llandaff planted 48,500 larches on the high grounds near Ambleside, in Westmoreland. John Sneyd, Esq., of Belmont, in Staffordshire, planted 13,000 larches between the years 1784 and 1786, and 11,000 more in 1795, W. Mellersh, Esq., of Blyth, planted 47,500, Joseph Cowlishaw, of Hodsock Park, Esq., planted 27,400. Richard Slater Milnes, Esq., of Foyston, near Ferrybridge, in Yorkshire, LARCH. 19 planted 200,000, about four years old plants. In the same county, Mr. George Wright planted at Gildingwells 11,573. Thomas White, Esq., of West Retford, in Notting- hamshire, planted 1.3,000 about the year 1789. The late Earl of Fife planted 181,813 in the county of Moray, in Scotland. In 1791, the Rev. T. Dunham Whitaker, at Holme, in Claviger, in the county of Lancaster, planted 64,135 ; and in the same year Thomas Gait- skell, Esq., of Little Braithwait, in Cumber- land, planted 43,300, on fifteen acres of high land. The same spirit for planting the larch has continued down to the present time, and extended to all parts of the country where the land has not been thought more valuable for other purposes. In 1820, the London Society for promoting Arts, &c., presented the gold medal to his Grace the Duke of Devonshire, for planting 1,981,065 forest trees, 980,128 of which were larch. The larch-tree is now found to ripen its seed perfectly in England. The cones should be gathered about the end of November, and kept in a dry place till the spring ; when, if spread on a cloth, and exposed to the sun, or laid before the fire, the scales will open and emit their seeds. These seeds should be sown on a border exposed to the east, where c 2 20 SYLVA FLORIFERA. the morning sun only conies on it, as the plants do not prosper so well where the sun lies much on them. The young plants may be pricked out into other beds in the autumn as soon as their leaves have fallen off, and the distance of six inches each way is the space recommended between them. In two years they will be ready to plant where they are in- tended to stand. When the young trees are planted out for good, they need not be more than eight or ten feet distant from each other ; but they must be planted closer on exposed situations ; and it is recommended not to dig the ground between young larches ; therefore the weeds should be drawn by the hand, or cut down by the hoe, whilst the plantation is young. Plants which are intended for exposed situations should not be taken from warm sheltered beds, which naturally cause them to be more tender. It has been proved that those larches planted in the worst soil, and in bleak places, have thriven the best ; for where trees of equal size have been planted in good earth at the same time, the others on cold stiff land have in twelve years been twice the height of those planted in good ground. The Bishop of Llandaff informs us, that from many experiments made by himself, and col- LARCH. 21 lected from others, he finds the annual in- crease in circumference of the larch, at six feet from the ground, to be one inch and a half, on an average of several years ; and that this inference has been drawn from the actual admeasurement of larches in different parts of England and Scotland, and of different ages, from ten years old to fifty. Mr. Hart says, the larch grows slowly the first four years ; but in twenty years it will exceed the fir-tree, both in height and circumference, that is double its aa;e. Eic^ht trees beino^ measured in the spring and autumn of the year 1794, the average of their increase in height was nearly three feet nine inches and a quarter; and one of them increased three inches in circum- ference at two feet above the ground. In another plantation, the trees at eight years* growth measured above twenty feet in height on an average: the trees were from six to nine inches high when planted. At twelve years old they measured, on an average, from thirty- four to thirty-six feet in height ; and this in- crease is continued until the timber is nearly ready to be felled. In the Memoirs of the Royal Society of Agriculture at Paris for 1787, there is an ac- count of some birch-trees in some parts of c 3 22 SYLVA FLORIFERA. Dauphine, and in the forest of Baye, in Pro- vence, which two men could not grasp. Of the qualities of the larch wood we have so much to add to what we have already stated, that should any one read our account who has plantations of this timber, and is not yet acquainted with its valuable properties, he will naturally seem to increase in riches as he proceeds from line to line. Dr. Anderson says it is possessed of so many valuable qualities, that to enumerate the whole would appear extravagant hyper- bole. We have already noticed what the ancients have said of this timber's resisting the flames ; in addition to which Mr. Hart observes, that there is perhaps no instance of the cottages in Carniola being set on fire, although their roofs are covered with boards of this wood, and they are so careless as to throw flaming firebrands on them. Matthiolus notices the incombustibility of this wood ; but says, un- willing as it is to take fire, yet it is nowise difficult to burn it in kilns, glass-houses, and furnaces belonging to iron-works, when once the inside of these receptacles is rendered intensely hot. Such is the practice in the iron-works of Stiria and the bishopric of LARCH. 2S Trent, where this wood is of singular use, when there is heat sufficiently fierce and strong to penetrate it forcibly. It is known that the larch timber will re- sist water in a still stronger degree than it is able to endure the fire, as when employed under water, it remains almost to eternity without rotting. The piles of this timber on which the houses of Venice were built many hundred years ago, are still found as fresh as when first put in. Stakes of it have been tried in the decoys of Lincolnshire, which, between wind and water, have already worn out two or three sets of oak stakes, and do not yet discover any symptoms of decay. Dr. Pallas, in his survey of the Russian dominions in Asia, observed several tumuli in Kamtschatka, reared at a period so remote, that none of the present inhabitants had any tradition respecting their origin. The plat- form was covered by larch wood, over which the mound of earth was raised ; and the wood was found to be un corrupted. It is said that planks of larch are superior to those of oak for many purposes in ship- building. At Archangel, ships of the line are built of this timber ; and at Venice it is also employed in naval architecture, especi- ally in the lighter parts of the upper works, c 4 24 SYLVA FLORIFERA. but not where massy pieces of timber are re- quired, on account of its weight. It resists the intemperature of the air more than any wood known in that country, and therefore is much used for outer gates, poles, &c. In some of the old palaces at Venice there are beams of larch as sound as when placed. Mons. le President de la Tour d' Aigues says, in 1787, " I have in my castle of Tour d' Aigues beams of twenty inches square, which are sound, though upwards of two hundred years old." We are assured that when used for hop- poles, one set of these would outlast two or three sets of ash ; and as it will bear so great a weight, it is particularly adapted for the supporting the roofs in mines, &g. There is not a branch or twig of the larch, says Dr. Anderson, that may not be put to some useful purpose. The larger branches may be employed in fencing, and the smaller brush for filling drains, and for fuel. In drains it is more durable than any other wood ; and though the timber will not rea- dily burn, yet the brush is found to make a fire almost equal to the billets of many other trees. The Italians use it for picture-frames, because no other wood gives gilding such force, brightness, and, as it were, a sort of LARCH. 25 natural burnish ; and this is said to be the grand secret why their gilding on wood is so much better than ours. On account of its bitter nature worms will not attack it, and it is not subject to warp like most other panels of wood ; and, being ex- tremely solid, it admits of a fine polish or smooth firmness, and is therefore particularly adapted for artists to paint on, as it throws forth the colouring better than any other wood. It is the wood which the incompar- able Raphael chose to bear the strokes of his pencil, and his celebrated picture of the Trans- figuration was painted on panels of this tim- ber; and let us hope that we have British Raphaels growing up with our British larches, who will, by their enchanting art, show us that they can metamorphose this wood into beautiful figures, as easily as Ovid transform- ed the sisters of Phaeton into these trees. The artist not only finds his palette and panel in the larch, but this tree also bleeds freely to furnish him with turpentine and varnish for his paint, and lends its assistance also in furnishing a material for the frame. It is the larch which produces the turpen- tine known by the name of Venetian turpen- tine, which is obtained by making incisions in the trunk of the tree, at about three feet 26 SYLVA FLORIFERA. from the ground: narrow troughs of about twenty inches long are fixed in the incisions, to convey this hquid into receivers below. The principal season for collecting this resin- ous juice is from the end of May to Septem- ber. As our larch-trees become aged, we may fairly calculate on saving much money to the country by using turpentine extracted from our own woods. It is only after the tree has attained the thickness of ten or twelve inches in diameter, that it is thought worth while to collect the turpentine ; and from that time, during 40 or 50 years, if it continue in vigorous growth, the tree will continue to yield annually from seven to eight pounds of turpentine. Martyn calculates that an English acre will contain 682 trees, at the distance of eight feet from each other. Suppose the annual produce to be six pounds a tree, on an average, and the price to be no more than two-pence the pound, the value of the produce would be Si. 4s. 2d. the acre. 1 1 was from old larch-trees that the ancients crathered the agarick, so celebrated by their medical writers ; but this fungous substance is now fallen into total disuse as a medicine in this country, though it is still used in northern countries as an emetic in intermitting fevers. LARCH. 27 The Tunguses use it to dye the hah* of the rein-deer ; and the women, in some parts of Siberia, wash themselves, and even their Hnen with it, as it is found to be of a saponaceous quahty. It is now calculated that the Highlands of Scotland will in the next age be able to furnish the whole commerce of the island with tim- ber for its shipping ; and it is still to be re- gretted that so much barren land should be suffered to remain unplanted with this and other timber as we find in the counties of Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire ; all of which being connected with some dock-yard, ought not to lie useless to the community when the soil could be so advantageously employed. Plantations that are formed exclusively of larch destroy the heath and all other vegeta- tion ; but, after a few years, a fine grass springs up, that is so valuable for grazing, that it has been let from ten shillings to five pounds per acre for this purpose, which, previous to its being planted, would not bring as many pence. Sir John Hay, Bart., and the Duke of Atholl, have had extraordinary instances of this ad- vantage ; but it is observed, that when Scotch firs, or other trees, are mixed in the plant- ations, this benefit is not derived. 28 COMMON LAUREL.— PRUNUS LAURO- CERASUS. Natural order, PomacecB ; RosacecE, Juss. A genus of the Icosandria Monogynia class. " In various hues ; but chiefly thee, gay green ! Thou smiUnar nature's universal robe ! United Ught and shade ; where the sight dwells With growing strength, and ever new delight." Thomson's Spri?ig. This eastern evergreen, which exhibits its large glossy leaves in all our shrubberies, and contributes so considerably to the vernal ap- pearance of our winter walks, seems to have escaped the notice of the ancient Greek and Roman naturalists, although it is a native of the same latitude and longitude from whence Lucullus procured the cherry-tree, which was thought worthy to be placed in the most con- spicuous situation amongst the Armenian treasures which he exhibited in his triumphal entry into Rome. The common laurel came into Europe with the name of Trebezon curmasi, which means the plum or date of Trebisond ; and as its LAUREL. 29 leaf sometliing resembled the ancient laurus or bay, it was supposed to be a species of that plant ; and as the fruit bears resemblance to our small black cherry, it was called the Bay cherry, and Laurocerasus, Laurel cherry. As it now seldom has any name added to that of laurel, many persons mistake this shrub for the laurel so celebrated of old for crowning both the victor and the poet ; and this error is more frequent, from our having changed the name of the laurus into bay. The common laurel was first made known to this part of the world by His Excellency David Ungnad, who, whilst ambassador from the Emperor of Germany at Constan- tinople, sent, in the year 1576, a collection of rare shrubs and trees to Clusius, the cele- brated botanist, at Vienna; but owino- to the severity of the weather whilst on their journey, and the carelessness of those who brought them, they all perished, excepting the horse-chesnut and the laurel, and Clusius relates that the latter was almost dead when it arrived. He put it into a stove in the same state as it arrived, and in the same tub of earth. The following spring he took it out, cut off the dead and withered branches, and set it in a shady place. In the autumn it began to shoot from the root ; and he then 30 SYLVA FLORIFERA. removed the living part into another tub, and attended it with great care. As it advanced he laid down the branches which took root, and he distributed the plants amongst his friends and men of eminence. Thus the laurel became known throughout Europe. Clusius's plant died without flowering ; but another which he gave to Aicholt? flowered in May 1583 ; and also another a few years afterwards with Joachim Camerarius at Nu- remberg. * The laurel is not mentioned by Gerard in 1597, and we may therefore conclude that it was not then known in England. Parkinson says, in his '^ Garden of Pleasant Flowers," which was published in 1629, that it grew in the garden of Master James Cole at Highgate, where it had blossomed and ripened fruit, and that it was preserved by throwing a blan- ket over it every winter. Cole was a mer- chant in London, who appears to have be- stowed much pains and expense in collecting rare plants. Gerard calls him his "loving friend," on which account we conclude he had not received the laurel when he published his Herbal ; yet we find that Cole, as well as Gerard, was in friendly correspondence with * Clus. Hist. LAUREL. 31 Clusius, and we cannot well account for the length of intervening time before tliey re- ceived plants of the laurel. Clusius died in April 1609 ; and, as Parkinson says, in 1629, Cole's laurel had then " flowered divers times, and borne ripe fruit also," he must have re- ceived it early in the seventeenth century. Parkinson tells us, that he had procured the laurel from Master Cole, and that he had also received its seed from Italy, under the title of Laurus regia^ the " King's bay ;" but it having no affinity with the bay, Bellonius named it LauroceramSi " and I should," says Parkinson, " have placed it in my orchard amongst the sorts of cherries ; but the beau- tifulnesse of the plant caused me rather to insert it here, in the Garden of Pleasant Flowers."' Evelyn says, that he was told by a noble personage, that the laurel was first brought to England by the Countess of Arundel, wife to Thomas Earl of Arundel and Surry, to whom this country is indebted for the Arundelian Marbles. In referring to the history of this ancient family, we find that the Countess of Arundel set out for Italy in 1614, for the purpose of accompanying her two sons to England. It is, therefore, probable that this evergreen 32 SYLVA FLORIFERA. might have been introduced by her at that time, as it is noticed that wherever she passed she was treated with honours that had never been before paid to an Enghsh subject. The laurel was become common in this country in 1664, as Evelyn observes, that " from the use we commonly put the lauro- cerasus, the cherry bay, to, it seems as if it had been only destined for hedges, and to cover bare walls." i^ay, in 1688, relates, that it was then very common in English gardens and plantations ; that it flowered and fruited very well ; was very patient of cold, and braved our winters even in an exposed si- tuation. This evergreen grows naturally on the east- ern borders of the Black Sea, particularly in the vicinity of Trebisond, as also on the Caucasian mountains, which extend from the Black to the Caspian Sea. It grows also on some mountains in Persia, and in Crimea. It seems to love a moist soil, and to thrive in our atmosphere much better than in most parts of the Continent. At the present time it is even rare in the gardens around Paris ; and a very small plant of it at the tomb of Delille is all we observed at Pere la Chaise. It is the Cerasus lauro-cerasus of M. Jussieu, the celebrated botanist ; but it is commonly LAURFX. 33 known in France by the name of Laurie?'- amandier, Almond-laurel, because the leaves give the flavour of bitter almonds : and it is also called Lmirier-au-lait, Milk-laurel, from its being used to flavour milk. It was for- merly much used in this country to give a flavour to puddings and custards, &c. ; but this practice is much less frequent since it has been ascertained to be a deadly poison. We should therefore caution all persons against its use, and particularly cooks ; for in case of accident, they would be trie^ for the murder of the suflerer as much as if thev had used any other poisonous drug. Dr. Darwin says, " The distilled water from laurel leaves is, perhaps, the most sudden poison we are ac- quainted with in this country. I have seen about two spoonfuls of it destroy a large pointer dog in less than ten minutes. In a small dose it is said to promote intoxication. On this account there is reason to believe it acts in the same manner as opium and vinous spirit ; but that the dose is not so well ascer- tained." As our shrubbery is meant to amuse, we forbear mentioning the dreadful conse- quences that have ensued from the baneful juice of this leaf; but we feel it a duty to caution those who may have been in the habit of using it, particularly as custards and piid-- VOL. II. D 34 SYLVA FLORIFERA. dings are generally eaten by children, whose constitutions may suffer through life from the injury done them by this mode of giving a relish to their diet. The laurel is rather a heavy than a grace- ful shrub, but the beauty of its green leaves will always ensure it a situation in orna- mental plantations. The foliage is of the most agreeable yellow green, being brighter than that of either the orange or lemon ; and as the greater number of evergreen plants are of a dark or bluish green, and many of them with a tint of reddish brown, nothing in point of colour can therefore be more desirable than the laurel to relieve the sameness which would otherwise too often predominate in our winter greens. The common laurel has flowers in April and May, and although small ; their appearing in clusters has a good effect, particularly when the trees have acquired age, so as to produce their white petals in abund- ance. The laurel, when trained as a tree with one stem, has a very superior appearance to the common bush, particularly when it can be carried to a considerable height before it branches out ; and to obtain this effect more speedily, it is recommended to graft the laurel on a common cherry stock, or upon 9 LAUREL. 25 that of the Cornish cherry, which it generally unites better with than the former. The laurel should not advance too near the foreground in the shrubberj^, but the plants should be sufficiently numerous to give a cheerful contrast in the winter months, and it is well adapted to shut out the appearance of disagreeable objects. It forms the most beautiful foreground to large plantations, when planted by the hand of taste ; but we condemn the mode of bor- dering clumps and groups with it, which give the idea of a frame to the landscape. It should sometimes intermix with, and some- times advance from the plantation, so as to avoid the idea of a fence ; the grouping must also depend on the formation of the ground, and the situations where we wish to sive lisht or shade. Where holly abounds naturally, or is cul- tivated, a mixture of laurel gives great relief; and as it is a shrub of such easy propagation, it ought to be found in considerable abun- dance in all woodland scenes. At Woburn Abbey, the seat of his Grace the Duke of Bedford, there is a hill covered entirely with laurels, which are grown to a considerable size; and in the plantations of the D 2 S6 SYLVA FLORIFERA. Ear] of Chichester at Stanmore,near Brighton, we have seen a hedge of laurel about 220 yards in length, where they have grown to the height of thirtv feet, and some of the principal trunks measure three feet in cir- cumference, at about two feet and a half from the ground. These trees have been planted about fifty years, and have never been injured by the frost. The laurel approaches so near in appear- ance to the orange tree, that when planted in the shrubbery as a screen for defending the citrus tribe, and a fev/ standard laurels inter- spersed, a ver}^ inconsiderable number of these tender trees may be made to give the effect of a plantation of orange trees, at the season when they can be removed from the orangery, or the conservatory. It will generally be found that the laurels raised from seed produce the finest plants, particularly for standards, as those obtained from cuttings or layers incline more to a ho- rizontal growth, and produce a greater num- ber of lateral branches, but which are also desirable for some situations in the shrubbery. The berries are seldom perfectly ripe before October, when they should be immediately sown in a dry soil, at about two inches deep, LAUREL. 37 and the bed should be guarded from frost by any light litter, such as pease, haulm, &c. being thrown over it. The young plants will appear in the spring, and may be transplanted in the following autumn. ; Cuttings should be planted as soon as the ground has been moistened bythe autumnal rains, which generally happens in the month of September. The cuttings must be the same year's shoots, with a small part of the former year's wood at the bottom ; a soft loamy soil is recommended, and they should be planted about six inches deep, and the earth should be pressed tight to the plants. The common laurel is not without advo- cates for its medicinal properties; but on ac- count of its known poisonous quality, we strongly decry the use of it, excepting by the advice of those whose time has been devoted to the study of medicine ; and with them it is well known that the most beneficial effects are often produced by means of plants which would prove the most baneful in the hands of the ignorant. Linnaeus informs us, that this plant is commonly and successfully used in Switzerland for pulmonary complaints. Lan- guish mentions its efficacy in agues. Baylies found that it possessed a remarkable D 3 38 SYLVA FLOKIFERA. power of diluting the blood ; and from expe- rience recommended it in all cases of disease supposed to proceed from too dense a state of that fluid, adducing particular instances of its efficacy in rheumatism, asthma, and schir- rous affections. 39 LAURESTINE; or, LAURUSTINUS. — VIBURNUM TINUS. Natural order, Dumosce ; Caprifolia, Juss. A genus of the Pentandria Trigynia class. ** Now, all amid the rigours of the year. In the wild depth of winter, while without The ceaseless winds blow ire" Flora garnishes the cymes of the laures- tine with hardy and modest flowers, which seem to say, " I'll tarry with you till your friends return, and cheer the scene with my pale pink buds and pure white petals," with which it ornaments the shrubbery from November's dreary month to the time that Boreas lends to March his strongest breath. We know not how this pretty winter flower stands in the Oral language of the Turks, but we find it emblematical of those British fair who desert the brighter scenes of society to cheer the sorrowing day of the lone widow, or cause the bereft parent to mourn his lost hope with less anguish. We will welcome D 4 40 SYLVA FLORIFERA. thee, therefore, little laurus, in the shrubbery, even when the queen of flowers displays her blushing and odorous petals to the sun ; be- cause we know thou wilt come with all thy charms to make our winter walks more gay : and much it must be regretted, that thy mild charms could not detain the great Napoleon to thy native Elba ; then many a widow- hood would have been prevented, and the name of Waterloo happily never know^n to the fatherless child of many a sorrowing mother. The laurestine grows naturally also in many parts of the south of Europe, Spain, Portugal, and it is likewise found wild in Barbary. Old authors give it the name of Laurustinus, from a supposition that it was a smaller species of the bay, laurus ; they therefore added the word TwogfOY Tuvvcg, tine, or tiny, small. The Greeks called it Au(pv'.i dy^iu. Cato names it Laurus sylvatica; but Pliny says it was thought not to be a laurel in his time. We are not able to state the exact time when it was first introduced to this country, but Gerard says, in 1 596, that it then grew and prospered very well in his garden at Hol- born. He calls it the " Wilde baie tree," iand " Laurus tinus.^'' The Italians call it Lauro salvaticoy the LAURESTINE. 41 Spaniards and Portuguese Una de perro, FoU lado, and DurillOi the French Laurier sauvage, the Dutch Laurus boom^ and the Germans, Lorbeerhaum. We have several varieties of this winter- flowering shrub, all of which are desirable in the shrubberv, as the branches are sent out close to the earth, and take off the naked ap- pearance which w^ould be otherwise con- spicuous in the winter months. Where it is desirable to form clumps of evergreens, on lawns, this is a desirable plant, as it com- pletely obscures the bare trunks of taller growing plants, and blossoms so abundantly when all other shrubs have done flowering. It mixes well with the common laurel, as its leaves are of so different a tint. It has been frequently noticed, that those trees which are raised from seed are hardier than others that are propagated by layers ; but where it is intended to cover the ground beneath tall trees, we should recommend the plants raised by layers, as they will run on the earth in such situations like the ivy^ and take root as they run. We found this shrub propagating itself in this way to a consider- able extent in a plantation near Ryde, in the Isle of Wight, and we have often noticed its fondness for the sea air. 42 SYLVA FLORIFERA. The autumn is the best time for laying down the branches, which will be well-rooted, and ready to transplant by the following autumn. Although the blossoms are the most hardy of any plant we introduce into the shrubbery, yet the laurestine is often injured by the severity of the weather, particularly when it is trained up with a naked stem ; for as the sap must naturally rise when the tree is in the active state of forming its flowers and seed, it is naturally more susceptible of the frost, and those shrubs of this kind, which have their principal stem protected by branches and leaves, suffer less; and even when the great severity of the winter has killed the branches, we often find vigorous shoots sent forth from the stem when the old wood has been removed. The berries of the laurestine arevery hot, and inflame the fauces violently ; yet we find the starlings frequent this shrub, and devour the berries with as much aviditv as the black- bird and thrush do those of the mezereon, which are of a similar nature. 43 LILAC — SYRINGA. Natural order, Sepiarice ; JasminecE, Juss. A o-enus of the Diandria Monogynia class. ** The lilac, various in array, now white. Now sanguine, and her beauteous head now set With purple spikes pyramidal, as if Studious of ornament, yet unresolved Which hue she most approved, she chose them all." COWPER. The delightful sensation which the lovely tints of this elegant flower, and its fragrance, produce on us in the month of May, has been compared to the first emotions of love, for nature seems to have ordained that mortals should not be permitted to see the one or feel the other with indifference ; for who can behold the flexible and modest, yet dignified clusters of this charming flower, whose colours vary at every movement, and so sweetly de- scend from the finest violet down to the silvery white, without regretting the short duration of so divine a gift. Perhaps we have no flower that gives, or an imagination strong enough to conceive^ 44 SYLVA FLORIFERA. greater harmony than is afforded in the happy gradation of colour from the purple bud to the almost colourless flower of these charming groups, around which the light plays and dis- solves itself into a thousand shades, which all blending in the same tint, form that incom- parable combination that rivets the attention of the most indifferent observer, and throws the painter into despair. We are told Spaen- donk himself dropped his pencil before a bunch of lilac; for Flora seems to have de- signed the thyrsi of the iilac to please the artist by their delicacy, and to tantalize him by their varying tints. The harmony of colours is so complete in the lilac, that when we place a bunch of the white flowers on a branch of the purple va- riety, an offensive harshness is instantly ob- served ; nor will the more delicate green of the first kind assimilate with the purple tyrus of the latter, without displeasing the eye. In the Floral language of the East, where this flowering shrub is a native, and where spontaneously " the lilac hangs to view Its bursting gems in clusters blue," they have made it an emblem of the forsaJien, because it is the flower that loveri> offer their ]0 LILAC. 45 mistresses when they quit them ; but in this climate, where the charm of the fair is as powerful as this flower is agreeable, the swain is kept in constant fear o£ receiving the lilac. However ungallant the Persian beaux may be in giving the lilac, they are not deficient in complimenting the fair in their language, as their expression for a fine woman and a beautiful flower is the same. Lilac, or lilag, is a Persian word, which simply signifies a flower, but which Europe has given to the shrub it has taken from the ancient Elamites; and from the flower we have given name to one of our most delicate compound colours. That a plant of the tropical climes should be so hardy as to stand the severest winters of the greater part of Europe is admirable in the lilac. Its easy propagation, and speedy growth,are no less conspicuous than its beauty, and which have contributed to its rapid dis- tribution throughout not only the temperate but even some of the colder parts of Europe ; for it has naturalized itself in Scotland and in the mountains of Switzerland, and it is now found in the forests of Germany, although it was unknown in this quarter of the globe be- fore the year 1562, when Angerius de Busbeke obtained it from the East, and transported it from Constantinople to Vienna, whence he 46 SYLVA FLORIFERA. had been sent ambassador from the Emperor Ferdinand I. to the Sultan Soliman. The generic name of this plant, Syringa, is derived from the Greek Su^ CI o nature are but feebly and rarely sung in these days of refinement. The religion of the ancients consisted greatly in national and public praise and thanksgiving, which must appear on reflection equally desirable with public prayer, since we know not what to ask for our good ; but we may always be assured that our joyful expres- sions of gratitude must be acceptable to the Giver of all i^ood thino-s. It is related, that Alexander the Great, whilst at Babylon, amused himself in a boat on the waters of the Euphrates, which ran through that city j and that as the boat passed * Ltvit. xxiii. 40. sVlLLOW. beneath a willow which hung over the river, his crown was taken from his head by the projecting brandies, and fell into the water, but was immediately recovered by an expert diver, who happened to be in attendance. This event was considered as the omen of his premature dissolution. Delille says, in a note in " Vhomme des Champs;' " Tournefort is the first that made us acquainted with the willow with branches inclined, called the weeping willow. It is even probable that Europe is indebted to this naturalist for it." It has been stated that we owe the v^eep- ing willow to Pope ; and this idea was strengthened by a paragraph which appeared in the St. James's Chronicle, August 25 to 27. 1801, that says, " The famous and admired weeping willow, planted by Pope, which has lately been felled to the ground, came from Spain, enclosing a present to the late Lady Suffolk. Mr. Pope was in company when the covering was taken off; he observed, that the pieces of stick appeared as if they had some vegetation, and added, " perhaps tliey may produce something we have not in England." Under this idea he planted it in his garden, and it produced the willow-tree that has given birth to so many others." s 4 264 SYLVA FLORIFERA. Madame de Genlis mentions, in a little work on natural history, that the two finest weeping willows in England, are at Twicken- ham, in the garden of Pope, standing on a terrace that is watered by the Thames. These two willows, she adds, are equally remarkable for their bulk, and for the surprising extent of their branches, which form two large groves. The Hortus Kewensis informs us that the Babylonian willow was planted in this coun- try as early as 1692, at which time Pope was only four years of age; therefore those planted by him at Twickenham, could not have been the first known in this country. The celebrated Dr. Samuel Johnson planted a willow of this species in his childhood, near the cathedral in the city of Litchfield, his native place, which has long been shoAvn as a curiosity, both on accoimt of its enormous size, and the popularity of this writer. The very name of this elegant tree is suf- ficient to inspire a degree of sadness which is not lessened by the numerous melancholy sonnets that have been written on it, until we scarcely behold a weeping willow without expecting to meet with a sepulchral monu- ment of " Poor Mary Anne," or some other slighted lover, over whom this emblem of WILLOW. '265 grief waves its dishevelled hair in silent sor- row. Lovers formerly made their garlands of this willow, the branches of which are very pliable. This species of willow grows spontaneously on the coast of Persia, and is planted every where in the Chersonesus Taurica. It is also frequent in China, where we may suppose it is a favourite tree, from the frequent repre- sentations the people give of it on tlieir China ware. It is also cultivated in Cochin- china. The weeping willow is pictured in a view of the village of Tonnau, drawn by John Niev- hoff, July 3. i655, in his way to Pekin, with the embassy which the Dutch sent to the Emperor of China in that and the following year ; but there is no name given, or parti- cular remark made on this tree : he merely says, " This empire doth also very much abound with trees ; not only such as grow in Europe, but several others of a more strange nature, not known in our parts of the world." Of all the aquatic trees the weeping willow is the most ornamental, when planted in its natural situation. It gives a kind of polish to the scenery, where either natural or artificial lakes are admitted, and, when accompanied by a clump of three or four poplars, its 266 SYLVA FLOlllFEKA. effect is greatly heightened by the contrast. This tree is not calculated for what is termed rural or woodland scenery ; its softness of tint, and peculiar gracefulness of growth, seem to make it a proper plant for refined or em- bellished landscapes. It is an excellent tree to plant by the side of fish-ponds, as it is generally found to lean over the water, and by this means afford shade to the fishes, which are frequently killed by the rays of the sun in hot summers, wdiere there is no shade on the water ; and the smaller the pool, the greater is the necessity to give it shade. This tree also affords an agreeable canopy to the angler. ''■ Beneath the quivering shiide, When cooUng vapours breathe along the mead, The patient fisher takes his silent stand, Intent, his angle trembling in his hand : With looks unmoved, he hopes tlie scaly breed, And eves the dancino; cork and bendin<>- reed. Our plenteous streams a various race supply, The bright-eyed perch with fins of Tyrian dye, The silver eel, in shining volumes roll'd. The yellow carp, in scales bedropp'd with gold, 8wift trouts, diversified with crimson stains, And pikes, the tyrants of the watery plains." Pope. The v/eeping willow is one of the first trees that gives out its leaves in the spring, and it retains them longer than most other deciduous trees. We have frequently seen it in the depth AVILLOW. 26*7 of winter exhibiting; its oracefiil brandies, co- vered with hoarj frost, forming the most magnificent spectacle imaginable, at one mo- ment reminding ns of a tree sculptured from the purest alabaster, and the next repre- senting a superb chandelier of glass. The French distinguish this species of willoAv by the name of the Grand Signior\s or Babylonian Parasol. The generic name of the willow, Salix, is derived from salire (to leap), because, as the herbalists observe, " It groweth with that speed that it seemeth to leap ;" and the Greeks called it Irec^, for the same reason — The latest edition of the Hortus Kewensis enumerates sixty-five distinct species of wil- low; and the British Botanist of 1820 names fifty-six species of this plant, as natives of our soil. In tlie terribly superstitious time of the Druids, idols were formed of the branches of these trees, which were woven into baskets, of sufficient size to hold a great number of per- sons, who were consumed together, for the purpose of impressing the ignorant with awe, that they might with greater facility continue their horrid impositions. Herodotus tells us, that the Scytliians had 268 SYLVA FLOllIFEllA. diviners, who made their conjuratians and divinations with wands of willow. We have already so frequently noticed the religious cheats and the abominable rites of the Pagan priests, that we have nothing left but to ex- press our gratitude that we are permitted to live in the blessed days of Christianity. " Willows in twigs are fruitful." Virgil. " On willow twigs employ thy weaving care." lb. The pliant twigs of these trees appear to have been employed for domestic purposes from the earliest ages. The shields of the ancients were woven with wicker-work, and covered with the hides of oxen. " And bending osiers into baskets weaved." Virgil. The ancient Britons served up their meats in osier baskets and dishes ; and so expert were they in this kind of wicker-work, that their baskets were objects of great admiration to the Romans, which we learn from the fol- lowing epigram of Martial : Barbara depictis veni bascauda Briiaufiis, Scd me jam viavtdt dicere Roma suam. Lib. xiv. Ep. 99. " A basket I, by painted Britons wi-ought, And now to Rome's imperial city brought." Osier baskets were the first manufactured articles that were exported from these king- WILLOW. 2G9 doms. These baskets were of very elegant workmanship, and bore a high price in Italy, Juvenal notices them among the extravagant and expensive furniture of the Roman tables in his time. Adde et hascaudas, et mille escaria. Sat. xii. v. 46. " Add baskets, and a thousand other dislies," In early days, the Britons, as well as the inhabitants of other countries, for want of proper tools for sawing large trees into planks, formed their vessels or boats of osiers, and the flexible branches of trees interwoven as close as possible, and covered with skins. * It was in such slender vessels as these, probably, that some bold adventurers first launched out from the nearest coast of Gaul, and passing the narrow sea that flows between, landed in an auspicious moment on the shores of this inviting island ; and being followed by others of both sexes in their successful attempt, began to people the country which they had discovered. This much at ieast is certain, from the concurring testimony of many authors, that the most ancient Britons made use of boats of this construction for several ages. • Cses. de Bel. Civ. 1. i. c. 54. 270 SYLVA FLORIFERA. PJiny tells us, that Timaeus, a very ancient historian, whose works are now lost, had related that the people of Britain used to sail to an island, at the distance of six days' sailing, in boats made of wattles, and covered with skins. These kinds of boats were still in use here in Caesar's time, who acquaints us that he transported his army over a river in Spain, in boats made in imitation of those that he had seen in Britain, v>'hich he thus describes : " Their keels and ribs were made of slender pieces of wood, and their bodies woven with wattles, and covered with skins." These ancient British vessels are also de- scribed by Lucan and Festus Avienus : " Priinum cana salix, madefacto viniine, parum Texitur in puppiin, ca?.soque inducta juvenco Victoris patiens, tumidum circumnatat amnem. 8ic Venetus stagnante Pado, fiisoque Britaunus Navigat oceano." Luc. Phars. " Rei ad miraculum Navigia junctis semper aptant pellibus, Corioque vastum saepe percurrunt salum." Fest. Avienus in Oris. Marit. Solinus gives the same account of the boats in which the ancient inhabitants of Ireland and Caledonia used to pass the sea which di- vides these two countries : " The sea which ^ws between Britain and Ireland is so unquiet WILLOW. 271 and stormy, that it is only navigable in sum- mer, when tiie people of these countries pass and repass it in small boats made of wattles, and covered carefully with hides of oxen." Gibbon observes, that " if the fact were not established by the most unquestionable evidence, we should appear to abuse the cre- dulity of our readers by the description of the vessels in which the Saxon pirates ventured to sport in the waves of the German Ocean, the British Channel, and tlie Bay of Biscay. The keel of their large flat-bottomed boats was formed of light timber, but the sides and upper works consisted only of wicker, with a covering of strong hides. These boats drew so little water, that they could easily proceed fourscore or an hundred miles up the great rivers; tlieir weight was so inconsiderable, that they were transported on waggons from one river to another ; and the pirates wlio had entered the mouth of the Seine, or the Rliine, might descend with the rapid stream of the Rhone into the Mediterranean." In Herodotus * we meet with a curious description of the vessels in which the Arme- nians navigated the Euphrates. These vessels were quite flat and round like a shield, com- posed of willow, covered with hides or skins. * Lib. i. c. 19t. 272 SYLVA FLORIFEKA. They were laden generally with palm wine and worked by two men, and on board there was carried one live ass or more ac- cording to the size of the raft, which was various. When these vessels arrived at Ba- bylon, which was always their destination, the owners, after having disposed of their cargoes, put up the wicker-work of their boats to sale, and loading the asses they had brought with them with the hides, returned again to their country by land, to perform a similar journey in a similar manner. The impetuosity of the current of the Euphrates made it impossible for them to return by water. The willow also Ibrmed a defence from the unhallowed tread of man over the mouldering corpse of liis friends and ancestors. " Those graves with bending osier bound, Tliat nameless heave the crumbled ground." Parnell. The uses of the willow are perhaps equal to those of any other species of our native trees. Scopoli observes that it supports the banks of rivers, dries marshy soil, supplies bands or withes, feeds a great variety of in- sects, rejoices the bees, yields abundance of fire-wood, affords nourishment to cattle with its leaves, and yields a succedaneum to Je- WILLOW. 273 suit's bark. To which the venerable Evelyn adds, " all kinds of basket work, pill-boxes? cart saddle trees, gunstocks, and half pikes, harrows, shoemaker's lasts, heels, clogs for pattens, forks, rakes, perches, rafters for hovels, ladders, poles for hop vines, hurdles, sieves, lattices for the turner in making tops, platters, small casks and vessels, especially to preserve verjuice in ; pales, dorsers, fruit baskets, cans, hives, trenchers, trays," &c. &c., to which we may add cricket bats, and nume- rous Other articles where lightness and tough- ness of wood are desirable. The wood of the willow although tender, has the property of whetting knives like a whetstone; therefore all knife boards should be formed of this tree in preference to any other. The bark of the common white willow will tan leather and dye yarn of a cinnamon colour. The Arabs distil their celebrated calaf water from the catkins of any species in which they are fragrant. They use this water as a cooling beverage, or as a febrifuge. In Persia they obtain one of their most esteemed perfumes from the flowers of several kinds of willow. The downy substance that covers the seeds VOL. II. T 274 SYLVA FLORIFERA. of several species of willow, particularly the bay-leaved, Salix pentandria, forms the soft and warm lining of the nests of the goldfinch and some other birds, from whom we have learnt to collect it as a substitute for cotton in stuffing mattresses and chair cushions, &c., and when mixed with a third part of cotton, it has been advantageously used for candle- wick and many other similar purposes. The Germans collect it for the purpose of making wadding, so much used in ladies winter dresses, and a useful ordinary paper may be formed of this cottony substance. The dry husks of these trees remaining after the flowers and seeds are fallen, are wholesome as food, people in times of famine having lived upon them boiled in water. Some of the kinds of willow, particularly the white willow, will grow to large and lofty trees ; they have been seen nine feet in diameter, or twenty-seven feet in circum- ference, and when perfectly hollow, will give vigorous shoots and flowers by means of the bark. The crack willow, Salix fragiliSi grows to be one of the largest trees of this genus. The osier, Salix viminalis, is much cultivated in osierholts, for making hoops and the larger sorts of baskets, hampers, cradles, bird-cages, &c. Putcheons and weels for catching eels 9 WILLOW. 275 are formed from the twigs of this tree, whilst its trunk prevents the banks of rivers from being washed away by the force of the cm- rent. The basket osier, Salix Jlssa, is principally propagated in the fens, and is preferred to all other willows or osiers for basket-work. The great round-leaved sallow, Salix caprea, delights in a dry rather than a moist soil ; it is generally used for hurdles, and the trunk is admirable for many purposes with the turner. This tree is known by its round or rather oval leaves, which are rough and waved, in- dented at the top and woolly underneath. The catkins are very large, and white, and appear early in the spring, on which account they are much resorted to by the bees, on their first coming out of their hives at that early season, when few other flowers are ex- panded, and the quantities of pollen which the numerous anthers of this plant give, enable them to obtain both food and wax in abun- dance. All the sorts of willows are easily propa- gated by planting cuttings or sets either in the spring or autumn, but the spring is found to be the most favourable time for this purpose ; and as they are quick growing trees, they should oftener invite the attention of those 276 SYLVA FLORIFERA. who have lands suitable to their cultivation, for as they make almost immediate profit, it must be desirable to attend to their propaga- tion, particularly in those tracts of lands fit only for this purpose, and which at present produce little to the owners ; but if planted with osiers and willows of different kinds, would turn to as good account as the best corn land. Martyn says the best time for planting these cuttings in the osier grounds is February, for if they are planted sooner, they are apt to peel, if it proves hard frost, which greatly injures them. These plants are cut every year, and if the soil be suitable they will produce a great crop, so that the yearly produce of one acre has often been sold for fifteen pounds, but ten pounds is a common price, which at the present time is much better than corn land can be made to pay. In extensive shrubberies several kinds of willows may be admitted, both for ornament and variety, particularly the triandrous, or long-leaved, three-stamened willow, Salix tri- andra^ which gives out such abundance of catkins in the months of April and May ; which, by their bright yellow colour greatly enliven the scene, and at the same time ren- der the air agreeable, by the scent which they exhale. WILLOW. 277 The male tree should be selected for this purpose, because the female tree quickly sheds its catkins. The silver-leaved willow, alba serica, should be planted for the contrast it forms with dark evergreen shrubs, and the rosemary-leaved species may also be intermixed with great ad- vantage in many situations. These species of trees are very interesting to the botanist. In the Linnean system they are ranged in the 22d class, called Dicecia^ from the Greek, meaning two houses, because this class includes the unisexual plants, viz. the male and female flowers being produced on dif- ferent roots or distinct trees. This class, there- fore, in some respects, assimilates the animal and vegetable economy ; for in the plants which are perfectly dioecious, it is known that the female plants produce no fertile seed, without the proximity of the male plant when in flower. For some curious instances of this fact we refer the reader to our history of the date-bearing palm-tree in the Pomarium Bri- tannicum. The galls on the leaves of willows are usually of a roundish or oblong figure, and equally protuberant on each side of the leaf, and of a pale green at first ; but afterwards of a yellowish, and finally of a red colour. T 3 278 SYLVA FLORIFERA. When these galls are opened, there is found in them a worm, resembling a caterpillar in figure, with about twenty legs. This creature, when the gall is young, is blue ; it afterwards becomes greenish ; and finally, when the gall becomes red, it is white. This insect seems to eat in its prison more voraciously than any other gall insect whatever ; for while the gall increases in size, it becomes also thinner in every part, so that the creature, at the proper time, has but little difficulty to get out. When the time of the last change of this insect draws nigh, it leaves the tree, and descends to the earth, where it makes its way into a proper place, and then becomes a nymph, out of which at a proper time issues a four-winged fly, which in its turn lodges its eggs in the leaves of the willow, from whence spring thousands of in- sects, which become the food of birds, who, in their turn are devoured by man. Thus the willow assists to convert particles of earth and mineral substances, first into vegetable, and then into animal substance, for the sub- sistence and nourishment of the human frame, which in its turn is swallowed by the hungry grave, '* Where toil and poverty repose." 279 YEW-TREE. — TAXUS. Natural order. Conifer ce. A genus of the Dicecia Monadelphia class. The sacred yew, so fear'd in war." " And the tougher yew Receives the bending figure of a bow." Virgil- " Th' elastic yew, whose distant wound With England's rivals heap'd the ground." On beholding this sable evergreen, the tnind is naturally carried back to the times of bows and arrows, when the yew was as cele- brated for causing death and devastation in the field of battle, as the modern engine is at present, which levels rank and file by the dreadful balls that are vomited from its sul- phureous mouth. The Persians, who in the Scripture are called Elamites, were the most expert archers in the world ; and Homer thus speaks of the ancient inhabitants of Crete, " Cydonians, dreadful with the bended yew." T 4 280 SYLVA FLORIFERA. Virgil notices the elasticity of this wood in the iEneis. " This foul reproach Ascanius could not hear With patience, nor a vow'd revenge forbear ; At the full stretch of both his hands, he drew, And almost join'd, the horns of the tough yew." Of all the European nations, the English are generally allowed to have been the best archers ; " Skill'd in fight, their crooked bows they bend : ' and to their dexterity in the use of this weapon, is ascribed many signal victories, par- ticularly those of Cressy, Poictiers, and Agin- court, over the French ; and that of Hamildon over the Scots. And long before these famous battles were fought, Henry the Second had succeeded in the enterprise of conquering Ireland, chiefly by the use of the long bow, with which the Irish were at that period (1172) entirely unacquainted. The reputation of the English as skilful archers does not pass unnoticed by Tasso ; " Maggior alquanto e lo squadron Britanno : Guglielmo il regge, al re mmor figliuolo, Sono gV Inglesi sagittarj." Canto I. Stanza 44. YEW. 281 The yew, however, proved fatal to three of our kings. Harold was killed by an arrow at the battle of Hastings, in Sussex. William the Second was slain by an arrow in the New Forest, Hampshire ; " Lo, Rufus, tugging at the deadly dart, Bleeds in the forest like a wounded hart." Pope. and Richard Coeur de Lion received his death wound from the same weapon, at the siege of the castle of Chains, near Limoges, in the department of Upper Vienne, in France. The Cheshire men are supposed to have been the most expert in the exercise of the bow, as it is related that in the year 1397, in the reign of Richard the Second, Westmin- ster-hall being in an extremely ruinous state, that monarch built a temporary room for his parliament, formed with wood and covered with tiles. It was open on all sides, that the constituents might see every thing that was said and done ; and to secure freedom of de- bate, he surrounded the house with four thousand Cheshire archers, with bows bent and arrows knocked ready to shoot. This fully answered the intent, for every sacrifice was made to the royal pleasure. * * Pennant's London, p. 39, .3d edition- 282 SYLVA FLORIFERA. In Switzerland the yew-tree is only found on the Hatemberg, and the inhabitants of these mountains hold it in great veneration, because formerly they made their cross-bows and wooden lances from it, and then it was forbidden under the most severe penalties, to cut it for other purposes. These simple mountaineers still call it William's tree, in memory of their expert archer William Tell. Various have been the reasons assigned for planting these trees in our churchyards. The most probable cause seems to us to have originated in the scarcity of this wood, which would naturally be the case as agriculture spread itself over the country, for no farmer could be safe in turning his cattle into fields, where this baleful evergreen offered its poisonous foliage to their bite. And as it appeared necessary to retain this tree for the sake of its assistance in warfare, it is probable that every parish was obliged to plant a cer- tain number of them in their respective churchyards, where they would be secure from the cattle ; for had it been merely planted there for the purpose of decorating our churches at Christmas and other festival days, we should have seen the holly planted for the same purpose, which is still more in use for that purpose. YKW. 283 From what we learn respecting the age ot* these trees in general, they appear to have been planted about the time of the conquest, 1066 ; and the same custom seems to have been attended to in Normandy at that period, as Bernardin de Saint Pierre says, " I have seen in Lower Normandy, in a village church- yard, an aged yew planted in the time of William the Conqueror ; it is still crowned with verdure, though its trunk cavernous, and through and through to the day, resem- bles the staves of an old cask." That our ancestors relied on the yew-tree as a basis of their strength, in the same man- ner as we now rest on the oak for defence, is too well authenticated to admit a doubt. " Of it," says Mr. Gilpin, " The old English yeoman made his long-bow, which he vaunt- ed, nobody but an Englishman could bend. In shooting he did not, as in other nations, keep his left hand steady, and draw his bow with his right : but keeping his right at rest upon the nerve, he pressed the whole weight of his body into the horns of his bow. Hence arose the English phrase of bending a bow ; and the French of drawing one." In the days of archery, England could not supply its bowyers with a sufficient quantity of yew, and they were obliged by statute to 284 SYLVA FLORIFERA. import staves of it for making bows, and sometimes at very high prices. All Vene- tian ships with every butt of Malmsey or Tyre wine, were to import ten bow staves, as the price had risen from two to eight pounds per hundred. By one of the ancient statutes, a bow of foreign yew may be sold for no more than, six shillings. By the fifth of Edward the Fourth, it was directed that every Englishman in Ireland, and Irishman dwelling in with Englishmen, shall have an English bow of his own height made of yew, wych, hazel, ash, or auburn (supposed to be alder). But " as for brasell (says Roger Ascham) elme, wych, and ashe, experience doth prove them to be but mean for bowes, and so to conclude, ewe of all other things is that, whereof perfite shootinge would have a bowe made." The thirty-third of Henry Eighth, c. 9., recites the great price of yew bows made of elke (probably elbe) yew ; and reduces it to three shillings and fourpence. From the end, however, of Henry the Eighth's time, archery seems to have been chiefly considered as a pastime. Yet by the eighth of Elizabeth, c. 10., the price of bows is regulated; and thirteenth of Elizabeth, YEW. 285 c. 14., enacts, that bow staves shall be brought into the realm from the Hanse towns and the eastward. The comparative value of a yew with other trees, in former times, may be seen from the following table, taken from the ancient laws of Wales. A consecrated yew, its value is a pound. An oak, its value is six score pence. A mistletoe branch, its value is three score pence. Thirty pence is the value of every principal branch in the oak. Three score pence is the value of every sweet apple-tree. Thirty pence is the value of a sour apple-tree. Fifteen pence is the value of a wood yew-tree. Seven pence half-penny is the value of a thorn-tree. Four pence is the value of every tree after that. The great value set upon a consecrated yew, in the above table, in comparison with a com- mon tree of the same kind, induces me, says Mr. Martyn, among other reasons to think, that the yew was commonly planted in churchyards, rather from motives of super- stition, than on account of its utility in mak- ^86 SYLVA FLORIFERA. ing bows, as many have supposed, for a single tree would have afforded a very scanty sup- ply for this purpose. We might have been induced to have formed the same conclusion, had we found but one tree of this kind in each churchyard, but even at the present time it is not unfrequent to see several. In the churchyard at Aberystwith there are eleven yew-trees, the largest of which is twenty-four feet in circumference ; and in Mamkilad churchyard there are twelve fine yew-trees ; which proves that it was not con- fined to the planting of a single tree. It is very natural that the yew should be considered a funeral tree from its having so long occupied a place in our cemeteries, and our fore-fathers seem to have been particu- larly careful in preserving this tree, sacred, the branches of which they carried in solemn procession to the grave, and afterwards de- posited under the bodies of their departed friends. ** Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs ; Make dust our paper, and with rainy eyes, Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth, Let's choose executors, and talk of wiUs." Shakspeare. " Now from yon black and funeral yew, That bathes the charnel house with dew." Par NELL. YEW. 287 Our learned Ray says, that our ancestors planted the yew in churchyards, because it was an evergreen tree, as a symbol of that immortality which they hoped and expected for the persons there deposited. For the same reason this and other evergreen trees are even yet carried in funerals, and thrown into the grave with the corpse in some parts of England and Wales. But we are persuaded that this custom was taken from the Romans, and may be traced back even before their ex- istence, or before the doctrine of the immor- tality of the soul was preached or made known. The custom of carrying fragrant herbs and branches of such shrubs or trees as would prevent infection, is of great anti- quity, as well as considerable utility ; and of this ancient custom we have frequently spoken in our history of cultivated vegetables ; and Statins tells us, that garlands of yew were usually carried at funerals. " Beneath , that yew-tree's shade, Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap, Each in his narrow cell for ever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep." Gray. " The grave, dread thing, Men shiver when thou'rt named, ***** Well do I know thee by thy trusty yew. 288 SYLVA FLORIFERA. Cheerless, unsocial plant ! that lov'st to dwell Midst skulls and coffins, epitaphs and worms ; Where light heel'd ghosts, and visionary shades Beneath the wan cold moon (as fame reports) Embodied thick, perform their mystic rounds. No other merriment, dull tree ! is thine." Blair. The dark foliage of the yew-tree seems well calculated to give a solemnity to the vil- lage churchyard, and its wide extending branches offer their shade to the rustic Sun- day politicians, until the treble bell anounces the time of prayer. *' On Sunday, at the old yew-tree. Which canopies the churchyard stile. Forced from his master's company. The faithful Trim would mope awhile ; For then his master's only care Was the loud psalm, or fervent prayer ; And, 'till the throng the church-yard path retrod. The shepherd's patient guard lay silent on the sod. . Mrs. M. Robinson. All nations agree in making this tree the emblem of sorrow, and our poets are not backward in condemnincf and addino; to the revolting character of a tree, whose wood was dedicated to war, and its shade to the dead. " Where sheds the sickly yew O'er many a mouldering bone its nightly dew." Dak WIN. YEW. 289 The baleful influence of this tree has been greatly exaggerated, and its beauties trans- formed into objects of disgust and terror. It is unjustly accused of destroying all vegeta- tion by its blast, whilst its beautiful berries have been compared to drops of blood. The yew is not more remarkable for its toughness and elasticity, than for the fine colour and beautiful grain of its wood. " Whilst the distinguish'd yew is ever seen, Unchanged his bx'anch, and permanent his green." This tree is still to be found in some of our old gardens, and it is common in most of the gardens in Holland, where the art of an- cient clipping and cutting is still preserved in all its gloomy stateliness and formal regularity. Vases, pyramids, or globes of yew, are the finish of each angle, whilst in other places, monstrous birds, dragons, and bears, are shaped and modelled out of these trees, as if instead of showing its natural beauties, it was intended to represent the ancient guardian of the garden as recommended by Columella of old, who says, " Chuse the trunk of some huge antient tree ; Rough hew it, use no art ; Priapus make. Him, in the middle of the garden, place, VOL. II. U 290 SYLVA FLORIFERA. And to him, as its guai'dian, homage pay, That from your ripenmg fruits he may deter The plundering boy ; and with his threatening scythe. The robber from intended rapine keep." Lib. 10. That the yew-leaves are a deadly poison is now too well known to require our reciting the opinions of Dioscorides, Galen, Pliny, and other ancient authors ; and that its effects are as baneful to man as they are to beasts, we feel it a duty to state, since many fatal acci- dents have arisen from its juice being admi- nistered to children for the purpose of destroy- ing worms. In an age when the affluent have so munificently established dispensaries throuohout the kingdom for distributing; me- dicines to the poor, there can be no excuse for the ignorant dabbling with dangerous herbs, and they should be as particularly cautioned to avoid hungry quacks, as one would the advice of needy lawyers. Unfortunately the quacks try their arts on the simple, and the attornies on the needy, Johnson says truly, " Their ambush here relentless ruffians lay, And here the fell attorney prowls for prey." The profession of medicine has always abounded in men of the greatest liberality and philanthropy. YEW. 291 " Patient in all their trials, they sustain The starts of passion, the reproach of pain; With hearts affected, but with looks serene, Intent they wait through all the solemn scene ; Glad if a hope should rise from nature's strife, To aid their skill and save the lingering life ; But this must virtue's generous effort be. And springs from nobler motives than a fee." Crabbe. As few people would in this age be able to plead ignorance of the poisonous nature of yew-leaves, it is a doubt whether their admi- nistering this fatal juice to children against worms would not subject them to a trial for murder, in case of accident. Julius Caesar, in his Commentaries, says that Cativulces, king of the Eburones, poisoned himself with the juice of the yew. Aubrey relates a case of two women who died from a drink of it ; and Dr. Percival of Manchester mentions another of three children, who were killed by a spoonful of the green leaves, which was given them for worms ; they died with- out agony, or any of the usual symptoms of vegetable poisons. The same quantity of the dried leaves had been given the day before without effect. A clergyman, who was curate in Sussex, informed me (says Dr. Martyn), that a young lady and her servant, his parishioners, being seized with an ague, were advised to take a u 2 292 SYLVA FLORIFF.RA. decoction of rue, which they unhappily mis- taking for yew, sent to the churchyard, where a large old tree grew, and gathered a quantity of the leaves, of which they made a decoction, and drank it upon going to bed. The next morning they were both found dead. This was Sunday; on the Thursday following, the clergyman was called upon to bury them ; he performed the office on the servant, but the young lady had so fine a bloom on her countenance, that they entertained hopes of her being in a state of suspended animation, and accordingly tried the experiments usual in such cases, but without success ; they de- termined, however, not to bury her at that time, but kept her until the ensuing Saturday, and even then the corpse remained totally unchanged. What made it more remarkable was, that the accident happened in Novem- ber, and the weather was of that damp murky kind in which flesh keeps the worst. We shall point out the pernicious effects of yew on animals in general, that those who possess this tree may take the proper precau- tions to keep their cattle from it; and we shall also advise such as have yew-hedges in their gardens, to direct their gardeners to burn or bury the clippings, for when thrown care- lessly away, serious accidents have frequently YEW. 293 occurred by their having been eaten by some animal. In August 1822, a valuable riding horse belonging to E. Nicholas, Esq., of Ring- mer, in Sussex, was turned into a close where some sprigs of yew-tree (which had been clipped off in the course of the day by the gardener,) were thrown with other rubbish. The horse ate of the yew-tree clippings, and afterwards drank at a pond, which caused the animals almost immediate death. It frequently happens that due caution is not taken to secure these trees, because we do not recollect their having been the cause of accident, and we observe generally an an- tipathy in animals to them j yet these very animals may, under various circumstances, be induced to eat of it, when least expected, as happened at Chelmsford, in Kent, in January 1823 ; when Messrs. Woodward and Co. of that town, turned three of their valuable horses into a small close, adjoining which was a yew- tree. The snow then lay so thick upon the ground as to hide every other vegetable ; the yew-tree therefore, by its tempting verdure, became irresistible. In about three hours from the time that the horses were turned out in perfect healthy and full of play, two of them were found dead. Veterinary surgeons were sent for, who soon discovered that these u 3 294 SYLVA FLORIFERA. animals had eaten of the poisonous tree, and a great quantity of it was found in their stomachs. It appeared that these horses had died without even a struggle. A filly nine months old, which had been turned in at the same time, although some- what affected, was saved by the prompt ad- ministration of proper antidotes. Martyn says, in his edition of Miller, " the twigs and leaves of yew, eaten in a very small quantity, are certain death to horses and cows, and that in a few minutes. A horse tied to a yew-hedge, or to a faggot-stack of dead yew, shall be found dead before the owner can be aware that any danger is at hand : the writer has been several times a sorrowful witness to losses of this kind among his friends ; and in the isle of Ely had once the mortification to see nine young steers or bullocks of his own all lying dead in an heap, from browzing a little on an hedge of yew, in an old garden, into which they had broken in snowy weather. Even the clippings of a yew-hedge have de- stroyed a whole dairy of cows, when thrown inadvertently into a yard." Linnaeus says, horses and cows refuse the yew, but sheep and goats eat it with impu- nity ; but in this instance the learned botanist is in error, at least as far as relates to sheep. YEW. 295 Some years back Mr. Stiibbs, a farmer at Lancing, near Worthing, bought a flock of sheep at a west-country fair, which arriving home late in the evening, were turned into a- little grass court at the front of his house, in which were some yew-hedges, on which the sheep browzed, and in the morning, the greater part of the flock were dead. It is true that the yew-trees in the sheep- walks on the Surrey hills, and other places, appear to have had their lower branches browzed on by these animals ; but it is also true that a sheep is frequently found dead, and that it is passed over without enquiring into the cause. Martyn mentions a circumstance where six or eight sheep perished by browzing on this tree. Of the friiit of this tree Theophrastus says, it is eaten by some persons, being sweet, and considered harmless; butDioscorides says, the berries bring on a dysentery. However, like most other boys, I have frequently eaten them in my youth, without inconvenience ; and old Gerard tells us, in his usual quaint style, that when he was young, and went to school, he and divers of his school-fellows did eat their fills of the berries of this tree. In Kensing- u 4 296 SYLVA FLORIFERA. ton gardens, the author of this work observed a middle-aged man gathering these berries, and on enquiring for what purpose they were intended, he was informed that they were esteemed good for a cough, and that he, as well as all his family, had frequently eaten quantities of them for that purpose with success. Mr. White, in his History of Selborne, says, In a yard, in the midst of a street, till very lately grew a middle-sized female yew-tree, which commonly bore great crops of berries. By the high winds usually prevailing about the autumnal equinox, these berries, when ripe, were blown down into the road, where the hogs ate them. It was remarkable, that though barrow hogs and young sows found no inconvenience from this food, yet milch sows often died after such a repast ; a circumstance that can be accounted for only by supposing that the latter, being much exhausted and hungry, devoured a larger quantity." It is probable that this injury was caused by the swallowing of a great quantity of the black stones which contain the seed, and not from the mucilaginous pulp which surrounds them, as we observe the wasps are very fond of this fruit, and it will be observed that they YEW. 297 touch no poisonous berry, and are generally attracted by the most delicious and nourishing fruits. The fruit of this tree is of a singular nature, having only that of the Gualtheria similar to it, and we are of opinion that it should rather have been called an open drupe than a berry. In its early state it resembles an acorn in miniature, but in the ripe state the cup be- comes of a coral colour, and of a glutinous nature, enclosed in an exceeding fine trans- parent skin, in which the seed is set, covered by a shell that becomes black as it reaches maturity. We have frequently observed this fruit on the trees as late as the middle of November, and we noticed them in full flower on the 20th February 1822, in Kensington gardens. The flowers come out from the side of the branches in clusters ; the male flowers having many stamina, are more conspicuous than the female ; these are generally upon different trees, as the class Dioscia, in which it is placed, denotes ; but we meet with some of these trees that have both male and female flowers on the same tree. The pollen of these flowers is said to be injurious to bees. The yew-tree is still found growing in the wild state in many parts of the Surrey hills, 298 SYLVA FLORIFERA. particularly near Reigate, but more abun- dantly in the vicinity of Dorking. Evelyn notices it in the latter place in the time of Charles the Second : he says in his Silva, " He that in winter should behold some of our highest hills in Surrey clad with whole woods of these trees, and box, for divers miles in circuit (as those delicious groves of them, belonging to the honourable, my noble friend, the late Sir Adam Brown, of Bech worth-castle), from Box-hill, might, without the least vio- lence to his imagination, easily fancy himself transported into some new or enchanted country ; for, if in any spot in England, Hie ver assiduum^ atque alienis mensibus ccstas. Virgil. • " 'Tis here Eternal spring and summer all the year." Mr. Pennant says the yew is to be found wild upon the hills that bound the waters of the Winander, and on the face of many pre- cipices of different places in this kingdom. Mr. Lightfoot says, that it is found here and there in the Highlands of Scotland in a truly wild state ; and that at Glenure, near Glen- creran, in Upper Lorn, there are the remains of an old wood of yew. In some parts of Buckinghamshire, it comes up in great abundance from the berries spon- taneously. YEW. 299 In Ireland it was evidently, says Mr. Tem- pleton, very plentiful in former times, being at present common in a fossil state ; but it is not now found there, except in cultivation. Caesar mentions the yew as very common in Gaul and Germany, and it has been found in North America and Japan. Its natural situation is in mountainous woods, or more particularly the clefts of high calcareous mountains. We do not remember a single instance of having met with any young yew-trees being planted in churchyards ; and, as many of the old ones are fast approaching to the age of Methusalem, we cannot expect to retain them many ages longer. We shall, therefore, notice some of the most celebrated that are now in existence, and hope soon to be able to record the planting of others ; for although we ac- knowledge there is no actual necessity for these trees occupying a space in the cemetery, yet we have a veneration for the old customs of our ancestors, when they are void of harm, and stripped of superstition j and it must be confessed that no other tree is so well calcu- lated to cast that solemnity over the burial- ground as the tree we have ever been accustomed to behold in this situation. The yew-tree may be safely transplanted at any 300 SYLVA FLORIFERA. moderate age, and although it is not of very quick growth, it arrives at a great bulk, and endures perhaps as long as any tree known. In the church-yard of Aldworth, in Berk- shire, is a yew-tree of prodigious bulk, the trunk measuring nine yards in circumference at upwards of four feet from the ground. The shape is very regular, of an urn-like form ; the branches spread to a considerable distance, and rise to a great height. All re- collection of its age is entirely lost. There is one of an extraordinary size at Petersham : and another at Lord Newberry's, in the old palace garden at Richmond, plant- ed three days before the birth of Queen Elizabeth. Mr. Lyson mentions one in the church- yard at Totteridge, the girth of which, at three feet from the ground, is twenty-six feet : and another in Woodford churchyard, which girths at the same heif^ht eleven feet nine inches ; and at four feet and a half from the ground, fourteen feet three inches. The spread of its boughs forms a circumference of about one hundred and eighty feet. Evelyn notices a yew-tree in the church- yard of Crowhurst, in Surry, which was ten yards in compass. " Another in Braburne churchyard, not far from Scotshall, in Kent, YEW. 301 which being fiftv-eier, for different purposes, for thirty years ; and as yet, he says, he has met with no instance to induce him to depart from the opinion, — that larch is the most valuable acquisition, in point of useful timber, that has ever been introduced into Scotland ; and he states, that he has cut and used larch from fifty to sixty years'' growth, and that the small larch which were thinned out of plantations, were used for ADDEND.] THE LARCH. 319 upright paling, rails, and hurdles. Those fit for sawing, were sawn through the middle ; the smaller used round, with the bark on, and proved more durable than oak copse- wood of twenty-four years' growth. Boats built of the larger timber have been found sound, when the ribs, made of oak forty years old, were decayed ; and we find that the Duke has for some years past had all his ferry and fishing-boats built of larch. In mill-work, and especially in mill-axles (where oak only used formerly to be em- ployed), larch has been substituted with the best effect. In cutting up an old decayed mill-wheel, in 1818, those parts of the water- cogs, &c., which had been repaired with larch about twenty years before, though black on the surface, on the hatchet being applied, were found as sound and fresh as when put up. There is not a sufficient quantity of larch, of fit growth, to bring that v/ood into general use for common purposes ; but such as has been cut and sold, has brouoht two shillino^s per foot ; in some instances more. In the year 1812, the Duke of Athol sold a larch-tree, of fifty years' growth, for twelve guineas ; and at the same time he was offered twenty pounds for another, which he declined cutting. In 1818, he cut twenty larch-trees from a clump 320 SVLVA FLORIFERA. [ ADDEND. where they stood too thick, but left the finest trees standing ; for these twenty trees his Grace received one hundred guineas, being at the rate of two shillings per foot. The largest of the twenty trees measured one hundred and five feet in length, five feet eleven inches in girth, at four feet from the ground, and contained ninety-four square feet of timber. One of the trees measured one hundred and nine feet in length ; but being drawn up by standing too close, did not contain so much solid wood as the first. The lower range of the Grampian Hills, which extend to Dunkeld, are in altitude from one thousand to one thousand seven hundred feet above the level of the sea ; and a range of mountains, one thousand two hun- dred feet above the level of the sea, is now planted with larch. They are in general barren and rocky, composed of mountain schist, slate, and ironstone. Up to the height of twelve hundred feet, larches are planted, and grow luxuriantly ; where the Scotch fir, formerly considered the hardiest tree of the north, cannot rear its head. In considerable tracts where fragments of shivered rocks are strewed so thick that vegetation scarcely meets the eye, the larch puts out as strong and vi-, gorous shoots as are to be found in the valleys below, or in the most sheltered situations. ADDEND.] THE LARCH. 321 The Duke of Atholl had planted about a thousand Scotch acres on similar mountains, in 1819, and which has been continued since, placing Scotch fir only in the wet grounds, where larch will not grow, and mixing spruce on the highest points, finding from experi- ence that that tree is next in value to the larch, and thrives in alpine situations almost equally well. We are informed by his Grace, that of all the larch he has had cut, he has never met with one instance of decay. But that he has seen larch cut in wet situations and tilly soil, on low moors, which, at forty years of age, were decaying at the heart. The larch is certainly an alpine tree, and does not thrive in wet situations. The comparative value of larch and Scotch fir is such, that when the Duke of Atholl sold a larch of fifty years' growth for twelve gui- neas, a fir of the same age, and in the same soil, brought only fifteen shillings. The larch, from being a deciduous tree, is never broken by snow, and very seldom torn by the winds ; whilst a heavy fall of snow will destroy, in one night, and break down sometimes more than a third of a fir plantation. VOL. II. Y 322 SYLVA FLORIFERA. [addend. -« ■« R K O a ^ ^ on V. O CO 1— t V. [^ w ^ »> •:S .& .« ft5 3 « cc o tx X H ^, 0 IM t- o JS tS _^ « P I J3 2 -^ |^ o fl us >o 10 IT «o '^ . o }? « O 10 00 (C t» o « glflws ;§ VO »0 »0 >0 t- v> «- . Ol C^ CM OJ CN OJ •azjs .^ >» V V V "5 ja J^ X 5^ •S 05 (M Ol 0> X X CM g» ^ O O O O o o sj •qiSnai Q *- ^Jlj^C 0) /-»->-*-\ ^ 72 --^ « 3 a* 3 a» OWOffi -s III (S 0^ g 0 g!> 2 •qDJB'X c; «<1 S c i2 ) o § c 2^ £. «** -4 Qr*1 1^ 05 M ti-S 00 t- O ■S S3 ^- o o 0) o C S S O e « 2 S "J S a s 2 bo s 9"< ADDEND.] THE LARCH. 323 Results of Experiments, 07i the transverse Strength of Timber-y made at Mr. Atkinson's, Grove End, St. John's Wood, on Thursday, March \1th, 1818. The pieces were each an inch square, except No. 3., which was only 8-lOths of an inch in breadth. The numbers in the Table show the weights it would have borne if it had been an inch square ; the pieces were supported at each end, and were loaded by putting 5 lbs. at a time into a scale suspended from the middle ; — the distance between the supports 30 inches. Description of Timber. Compar. stiiFness — " or the weight that I bent each piece I half an inch No. 1. Meniel Timber. 145 lbs. Compar. strength — " or the weight that broke each piece Compar. extensibi-") lity — or the space | through which the S middle had bent at ] the time of fracture J Weight of a cubic foot of each kind of timber in the )■ nearestwhole num- ber Remarks. 212 lbs. 2*25inch No. 2. Red Larch. 80 lbs. 253 lbs. 3 inches. No. 3. Red Larch, old and very dry. 93 lbs. 295 lbs. No. 4. English Oak. 60 lbs. No. 5. English Oak. 65 lbs. No. 6. Riga Timber. 222 lbs. 231 lbs. 2 '7 5 inch. 2 '5 inches 34 lbs. Broke short. 40 lbs. Splin- tered. 31 lbs. Broke short. 41 lbs. Broke short. 1 -4 inch. 46 lbs. SpHn- tere d 125 lbs. 212 lbs. 1 -3 inch. 30 lbs. Broke short. As the strength of small pieces depends much on the positioa of the annual rings, the pieces were placed as nearly alike in this respect as possible. When the pieces were in the position in. which they were broke, the dark lines or portions of the annual rings that appear in the section of a piece were vertical. — ■ From the results exhibited in the preceding Table, it appears very clearly, that Larch is best adapted to resist the force of a body in motion ; — but to leave no doubts in this respect the following experiments were made. y 2 324 SYLVA FLORIFERA. [aDDEND. Experiments on the Resilience of Timber. The pieces were each an inch in depth, and laid upon supports thirty inches apart. The weight fell between two vertical guides (similar to a pile engine), upon the middle of the piece. Xo. of Erper. Description of Timber. Breadth of the Piece. Weight. Height from which the Weight fell. Ejects. No. 7. Oak, same kind") as No. 4. J I inch. 7 lbs. 48 inches. Broke. No. 8. Larch, same kind ) as No. 2. J The same The same The same The same The same , convex ") side upwards J The same 1 inch. 7 lbs. 48 do. 54 do. 60 do. 66 do. 72 do. 72 do. 42 do. No effect. No effect. Set to a slight curve. A little more curved. C Curved about an I inch. { Curved the con- l trary way. Broke. 14 lbs. No. 9. Larch, same kind ) as No. 3. 3 The same 0*8 inch. 7 lbs. 48 do. 54 do. No effect. Broke. No. 10. Oak, same kind") as No. 5. J The same 1 inch. 7 lbs. 48 do. 54 do. No effect. Broke. No. 11. English Oak The same 1 inch. 7 lbs. 54 do. 60 do. No effect. Broke. No. 1 1 was a dark-coloured and apparently very strong piece of wood ; specific gravity 0.872 or 54^ lbs. per cubic foot. * On the whole, then, it appears, that Larch is superior to oak in stiffness, in strength, and in the power of resisting a body in motion (called resilience) : and it is inferior to Memel or Riga timbet in stiffness only. I am, Sir, yours, &c. THOMAS TREDGOLD. Grove End, March 16, 1818. * These experiments were made in the presence of His Grace the Duke of Atholl, Lord Prudhoe, Lord James IMurray, John Deas Thomson, Esq., William Adair, Esq., Mr. Geo. Bullock, and Mr. Atkinson, architect to the Ordnance. INDEX. Acacia, i. 39. By whom inti'oduced, 42. Use of the timber, 44. Where to be planted, 45. How propagated, 47. Age, old, the emblem of, i. 259. Alder, i. 60. Its ancient use, 61. Where to be planted, 63. 65. Use of the timber, 64. 66. Medicinal properties, 67. How propagated, 68. Alexander the Great, anecdote of, ii. 262. America, the importance of the discovery, ii. 64. Its effect on the system of botany, i. 41. Amiability, the emblem of, i. 309. Apollo's temple by whom robbed, i. 1 10. Arbor vitae, i. 51. Great quantity at Pere la Chaise, 54. Use of the wood, 56. Medicinal properties, 57. How propa- gated, 58. Arbutus, i. 69. Its ancient name, 70. Its flowers adapted to the season, 73. Soil, 74. How propagated, 75. 77. Archers, ancient, ii. 279. Ash, i. 79. Fabulous account of, 80. Used for spears, ib. Serpents will not approach it, 82. Superstition respecting the ash, 83. Situation, 84. Profit of the wood, 86. Of great size, 89. Used for fodder, 91. How propagated, 95. • weeping, i. 95. manna, i. 96. Aspen, i. 102. Its tremulous nature accounted for, il/. Superstition respecting, 103. Use of the timber, 104. Atholl, the Duke of, his plantation of larch, ii. 17. y 3 326 INDEX. Bachelor, the origin of the name of, i. 114. Bay, !• 106. Why named laurus, 107. Superstition respect- ing, 108. Thought to purify the air, ib. Why named nobilis, 113. Used to crown poets, 114. Its early use in England, 116. ■ tree at Virgil's tomb, 117. Situation, 118. How pro- pagated, 121. Beauty, the emblem of, ii. 14-9. Birch, i. 123. Origin of the name, 124. -Natural climate, 125. Ancient use of the bark, 126. Reflections caused by this tree, 128. Situation and use of the timber, 131. ■ wine, 130. Bird cherry, i. 134. Use of the fruit, 136. Bladder senna, i. 138. Good to fatten sheep, 140. Medicinal quality, ib. Native soil, 141. Bond of love, the emblem of, i. 294. Botany, the pleasure of this study, i. 72. 271. Box-tree, i. 144. Native soil, 145. Use of the wood, 146. Used to colour hair, 148. Soil and situation, 150. Broom, i. 151. Situation, 153. Uses of, 156. Medicinal properties, 159. Use in veneering, 160. Butcher's broom, ii. 309. Natural history of, 310. Qualities, 311. Cassine, evergreen, i. 291. Cedar of Lebanon, i. 162. Planted by the Jews, 164. An- tiquity of its use, 165. DurabiUty of, 167. Used to pre- serve writings, ib. Character of, 168. When introduced, 169. Remaining at Libanus, 172. Natural history of, 175. Thought to purify the air, and inspire religious thoughts, 176. Soil and situation, ib. Chaste love, the emblem of, i. 41. Churches, why decorated with holly at Christmas, i. 281. Clematis. See Virgin's Bower. Clipping of trees, by whom introduced, i. 302. , by whom ridiculed, i. 304. Cornel, i. 179. Ancient and modern use of, 182.184. Si- tuation, 185. Cornelian cherry, i. 185. The fruit described, 187. INDEX. 327 Coquetry, the emblem of, ii. 75. Cypress, i. 188. Fabulous account of, 189. Why planted by the Turks, 190. Singular use of a cypress-tree, 191. Native soil and durability, 192. Ancient use in building ships, 194. Where first noticed in England, 196. Where to be planted, 199. 201. How propagated, 203. Danger, the emblem of, ii. 207. Daphnephoria, origin of the festival, i. 111. Darius, anecdote of, i. 227. Diana, the origin of her temple, i. 229. Dogwood, i. 179. Edda of Woden, allegory from, i. 81. Eglantine, ii. 169. Elegance, the emblem of, i. 48. Elm, i. 205. Thought not to be a native, 207. Ancient use of, 209. Why planted in the church-yards of France, 211. Forms the principal boulevards of France and Spain, 211. Great size of, 213. 216. When planted in St. James's Park, 215. Beauty of, 216. Varieties of, 219. Use of the tim- ber, 220. Evaporation of leaves, i. 98. Evergreens, remarks on planting, i. 198. Fashion, her influence in planting, ii. 53. Fir, i. 225. Natural history of, 226. To whom dedicated, 228. 231. Native soil, 233. \Miy named fir, 234. Not to be pruned, 236. Situation, 237. Use of the timber, ib. Good for fodder, 239. silver, i. 241. hemlock, i. 246. balm of Gilead, i. 245. -— spruce, ii. 211. Flowers, how doubled, i. 258. , the delight of all ages, i. 10. Banish grief, 9. , the drawing of, recommended as the proper study for females, i. 11. Forsaken, the, the emblem of, ii. 44. Foresight, the emblem of, i. 280. Friendship, the emblem of, i. 326. y 4 32 INDEX. Furze, i. 274. Native climate, 248. Planted for effect, 249, Its use, 251. Game-laws, remarks on, i. 253. Gardens, their delight, i. 10. ■■ of the ancients, i. 12. of Babylon, i. 13. — of England, the ancient, i. 16. Gardening, the modern taste introduced, i. 17. German flutes, observations on, i. 148. Gorse, i. 247. Gray's Inn Gardens, by whom planted, i. 214. Groves, sacred, i. 231. Guelder rose, i. 256. Derivation of the name, 258. Soil, ib. Situation, 26. Gum cistus, ii. 312. Natural history of, 313. Situation, 316. Halifax, why so named, ii. 306. Hawthorn, i. 260. Ancient use of the flowers, 261. Super- stition respecting, 263. Use in rural economy, 268. Seeds how to be sown, ib. Where to be planted, 270. 272. ■■ with double flowers, i. 267. ■ with yellow berries, i. 270. Heath, i. 274. Situation of, 276. Species, 277. Use in do- mestic economy, 278. Holly, i. 280. Why used to decorate churches, 281. Deriv- ation of the name, 282. Superstition respecting, ib. Va- rieties of, 285. Recommended for hedges, 286. Situation and soil, 288. Use of the wood, 289. Natural history, and how propagated, ib. Honey, how procured in ancient times, i. 158. Honey-dew, i. 98. Honey-suckle, i. 293. Derivation of the name, 295. Varie- ties of, 297- Soil and situation, 298. Hope, the emblem of, i. 261. Hornbeam, i. 301. Soil and situation, 306. Hospitality, the emblem of, 281. Ivy, i. 323. Greatly regarded by the ancients, 324. Crowns of, by whom worn, 324. 326. Its supposed antipathy to the vine accounted for, 328. INDEX. 329 Ivy, not a parasitical plant, 330. Its effects on timber, 331. On houses, 332. Natural history, 334-. How propagated, 336. Use of the root, 335. Jasmine, i- 309. Tuscantale respecting, 311. Recommended for cottage-gardens, 315. How propagated, ib. > yellow, when introduced, i. 316. Judas-tree, i. 318. Description of, 320. How propagated, 321. Laburnum, ii. 1. Where to be planted, 4. Use of the wood, 5. 7. Hares and rabbits, their fondness for, 6. How propagated, 7. Ladauum, how obtained, ii. 314. Larch, ii. 8. Esteemed by the ancients, 9. Great size of a tree seen at Rome, 10. Native place, 11. Fabulous origin of, ib. Natural history of, 13. When first planted in this country, 14. The planting encouraged, 16. Frigate built of, 17. 19. Extensive plantations of, 17. 317. Its beauty in furniture, 18. Its increase, 20. It resists the flames, 10. 22. Durability, 23. Used by artists, 25. Improves the ground, 27. Size and value of those cut by the Duke of AthoU, 319. At what altitude planted in Scot- land, 320. Comparative value with the Scotch fir, 321. Ex- periments on the strength of the timber, 323. Laurel, ii. 28. When known in Europe, 29. Native place, 32. Poisonous quality, 33. A hill planted with, 35. How propagated, 36. Medicinal properties, 37. ■ , of great size at Stanmer, ii. 36. Laurestine, ii. 39. Native place, 40. Where to be planted, 41. Lilac, ii. 43. Hardy nature, 45. Why named syringa, 46. When introduced into Europe, 45. Where to be planted, 50. How propagated, 52. , Persian, ii. 50. , Chinese, ii. 51. Lime or linden, ii. 53. The bark used to write on, 54. Na- tive soil, 55. Great size of, 57. Use of the timber, 59. How propagated, 63. Louis XIV., anecdote of, i. 120. 330 INDEX. Love, the emblem of, ii. 88. Magnolia, ii. 64'. Why so named, 67. Description of, 65. When introduced, 67. Fine trees at Goodwood, 68. Spe- cies of, 69. Manna-ash, where indigenous, i. 96. Manna, its nature, i. 97. How gathered, 99. Why so called, 101. Maple, ii. 71. The wood esteemed by the ancients, 72. May-day, festival of, i. 264. Melancholy, the emblem of, ii. 261. Memory, the emblem of, ii. 228. Mezereon, ii. 75. Native place, 77. Medicinal properties, 80. Mock orange, ii. 228. Mountain-ash, ii. 83. Ancient use of, 84. Use of the fruit, 86. Myrtle, ii. 88. Ancient use of, 89. Wreath of, when first worn, 91. Used as spice, 92. Native climate, 92. Fabu- lous account of, 88. 92. When introduced, 94. Of great age in England, 95. Loves the sea air, 96. Soil and propagation, 98. Nectary of flowers, its use, i. 295. Nettle, greatly esteemed in Egypt, i. 55. Ornamental plantations, their advantage, ii. 110. Osier, ii. 274. Propagation and situation, 275. Parks, antiquity of, i. 18. Passion-flower, ii, 100. Superstition respecting, 101. How propagated, 106. Its fruit, ib. Pfere la Chaise, noticed, i. 199., and ii. 159. Perfumes, noxious to animals, i. 167. Peter the Great, anecdote of, i. 286. Pheasants, their native place, i. 139. Pine, ii. 108. Prospers in poor soil, 109. , Weymouth, when introduced, ii. 111. Where to be planted for ornament, 112. Law made respecting, ib. Soil, 113. Pine garlands, to whom awarded, i. 230. INDEX. 331 Plane, ii. 114. Regarded by the ancients, 115. Great size of, 117. When introduced, 119. Not subject to blight, 121. Endures the smoke of London, 122. Soil, 123. Plantations, remarks on, i. 20. 35. — of larch, ii. 17. Planting commendable, ii. 213. Plants, native, love of, i. 8. . • growing in singular situations, i. 331. their various means of climbing, i. 25. Pleasure-gardens, beneficial to health, i. 2. Poet-laureat, vphy so called, i. 114. Poplar, ii. 124. Garlands of, by vi^hom worn, 125. Native soil, 127. Po, or Lombardy, when introduced, 129. Planted by the peasants in Naples, 130. Use of the wood, 131. Quick growth, 133. Portugal broom, i. 155. ■ laurel, ii. 136. Fruit good for ^pheasants, 138, Hardy nature, 140. Hbw propagated, ib. Privet, ii. 142. Situation, 143. 147. Use of the fruit, 144. 146, 147. Thrives in the smoke of London, 143. Profit obtained by planting ash-trees, i. 86. . ■■ oaks, i. 88 firs, i. 238. 245. Ptolemy Philopater, anecdote of, i. 327. Quicksets, i. 268. Rhododendron, ii. 202. Poisons honey, 203. When intro- duced, 204. How propagated, 207. Richard the Second, anecdote of, ii. 281. Rogation-week, why so called, i. 133. Rose, ii. 148. Noticed by oriental poets, 152. Otto of, how discovered, 153. Fabulous account of, 154. Etymology of its name, 157. Why used as a symbol of silence, 156. Greatly used by the ancients, 157. Planted on graves, 158. Used in religious worship, 161. Consecrated rose sent to Henry the Eighth, 162. Superstition respecting, 164. Use in floral language, 166. Formerly precious in France, 167. Number of varieties, 168. Native species, 169. 332 INDEX. Rose, dog, why so named, ii. 170. Used to graft on, 171. white, 173. Why used by the house of York, ib. Province, 177. Native place, 178. When introduced, 179. Varieties of, ib. moss, 180. Poetical account of, 182. How propagated, 184-. hundred-leaved, 184'. Native place, 185. Varieties of, 186. ' cinnamon, or May rose, 187. musk, 188. yellow, 189. China, 192. Lady Banks's, 194-. Rose-trees, observations on planting, 195. Mode of retarding the flowers, 196. Kinds recommended for forcing, 197. Rose, its medicinal properties, ii. 200. ., blight and insects that injure these plants, 198. Rose, acacia, i. 48. How propagated, 50. Sacred woods of the ancients, i. 181. Sea-coast, what trees recommended for, i. 84. Shrubbery, ii. 251. Origin of, i. 1. Its utility, 2. Remarks on planting, 26. How embellished, 29. Silver fir, i. 241. Wlien introduced, 242. Soil, 243. Solitude, the emblem of, i. 275. Sorrow, the emblem of, i. 188., and ii. 288. Spanish broom, i. 153. Spiraea frutex, ii. 208, Spruce fir, ii. 211. Early cultivation, 212. Purifies the air, 215. • American, ii. 215. ■ beer, how made, ii. 216. Strawberry tree. See Arbutus. Sumach, ii. 217. When introduced, 218. How propagated, 224. Sweet briar, ii. 169. Swiss peasants, their summer-emigration, i. 158. Sycamore, ii. 221. Noticed by Chaucer, 223. The sap used in beer, 224. Of great size, 225. How propagated, 226. 10 INDEX. 333 Syringa, ii. 228. Domestic use of, 229. Situation, 230. How propagated, 232. Tamarisk, ii. 247. Superstition respecting, 24'9. Situation, 251. Terrific, the general love of, i. 4. Tiberius, his dread of lightning, i. 108. Traveller's joy, ii. 233. Trees, distinguish remarkable spots, i. 171. Correct a putrid air, 195. Trumpet-flower, ii. 236.' Tulip-tree, ii. 240. Great size of, 241. When introduced, 243. Under the rose, origin of the saying, ii. 156. Versailles, the garden of, 302. Vessels or boats, of what anciently composed, i. 61. ii. 269. Villa, why so called, i. 46. Virgil, pretended dream of his mother, i. 117. Virgin's bower, ii. 257. How propagated, 259. Situation, 260. wild,ii. 233. Virginian creeper, ii. 253. Medicinal properties, 256. Voluptuous love, the emblem of, ii. 182. White thorn, i. 260. Willow, ii. 261. Species of, 267. Ancient use of, ib. Uti- lity of, 272. ■ ■ , weeping, by whom introduced, ii. 263. Situation, 265. , natural history of, 277- boats of great antiquity, ii. 269. Wood, when sold by weight, ii. 212. Woodbine. See Honey-suckle. Yew, ii. 279. Why planted in church-yards, 282. 285. Laws respecting this wood, 284. Why considered a funeral tree, 286. Poisonous nature, 290. Fatal to cattle, 293. Natural history, 297. Where found wild, lb. Remarkable yew-trees, 300. Derivation of the name, 305. How pro- pagated, 306. Use of the wood, 307. THE END. London : Printed by A. & R. Spottiswoode, New- Street- Square.