C Y T 



XI. CytiscS (Cnyan) racemis axilfanbus creclls, folio- 

 lis lubknccolatis tomcntofis, inter ucdio !ongiu3 pe- 

 tiolato. Flor. Zcyl. 357. Cytifus 'St^Uh cre5f /pikes of 

 fozvers proceeding from the fides of the branches, and 

 Jpear-fhaped haves ivhich are woolly, the foot -flalk of the 

 middle one being thelongeft. Cytilus arborcfccns, fruc- 

 tu eduli albo. Plum. Cat, 19. Co-mmonly called Pidgeon 



Pea in America, 



The firflfortis ciie common broad-leaved Laburnum, 



which was formerly in greater plenty in the; Englifli 



. gardens than atpreicnt i for fince the fecond fort hath 



been introduced, it has almoft turned this out ; the 



ipikes of flowers being much longer, they make a 



finer appearance when they are in flower, which has 



occafioned their being more generally cultivated j but 



the firft grows to be the largeft tree, and the wood of 



'. it is very hard, of a fine colour, and \yill polifh very 



well ; it approaches near to green Ebony, lb is by the 



French titled Ebony of the Alps, and is there ufed 



for many kinds of furniture ; but in England there 



. are few of thefe trees which have been Uifi'ered to 



■ fiand long enough to arrive to any confiderablc fize^ 

 for as they Have been only conlldercd as an ornamen- 

 tal treei the frequent alterations which moft of the 

 gardens in England have undergone, Have occafioned 

 their being rooted out wherever they wete growing ; 

 but in feme of the old gardens in Scotland^ where 



■ they have been permitted to ftand, there are large 

 trees of this kind, which are fit to cUrdown for the 

 ufe of the tiii^ber, .1 have feen ty/^^pld treses' of it in 



■. gardens, which were more than a yard in girt, at fix 

 feet from the ground, and thefe had been broken and 

 abufed, otherwife might have been much larger: they 

 grow very faft, and are extremely hardy, fo may be 

 well worth propagating upon poor Shallow foils, and 



. in expofed fituations. His Grace tlie Duke of Queerif- 



. berry fowed agreat quantity of the feeds of this tree, 

 upon the fide of the downs, at his feat near Amcf- 



- bury, in Wikfliire, where the fituation was very much 

 expofed, and the foil fo fhallow,: as that few trees 

 would grow there ; yet in this place the young trees 

 were twelve feet high in four years growth, fo Be- 

 •came a fhelter to, the other plantations, for which 



\ purpofe they were defigncd ; but the hares and rab- 



* bits are great enemies to thefe trees, by barking them 

 . in winter, fo that where thefe trees are cultivated, 



they Ihould be fenced from thefe animals. .-. 

 Both thefe forts are eafily propagated by feeds, which 

 the trees produce in great plenty. If thefe arc fown 

 upon a common bed iii March, the plants will appear 

 by the middle or end of April, and will require no 



• other care but to be kept clean from weeds during 

 the following fummer ; and if the plants are too clofe 



, together, they may be tranfplanted the autumn fol- 

 lowing, either into a nurfery, where they may grow 



' a year or two to get fl:rength, or into the places where 

 they are defigned to remain.: where people would 

 cultivate them for their wood. It will be the befl; way 

 to fow the feeds upon the fpot where they are intend- 



. cd to grow, becaufe thefe trees fend out long, thick, 

 flefliy roots to a great diftance, which will penetrate 

 gravel or rocks •, and if thefe roots are cut or broken, 

 it greatly retards their growth ; therefore* when they 



, arc not fown upon the intended fpot, they fhould be 



. tranfplanted thither young, otherwife they will not 



: grow to near the fize •, thgugh where they are only 



. defigned for ornament, the removing the plants twice 



will fl:op their growth, and caufe them to be more pro- 



dutflive of flowers ; but all trees intended for timber, 



are much better fown on the ground where they are 



»' defigned to (land, than if they are tranfplanted. 



. If the feeds of thefe trees are permitted to fcatter in 



■ winter, the' plants will rife in great plenty the follov/- 



. ing fpring, fo that a few trees will foon fupply any 



perlbn with a fufficicnt number of the plants. 



- Thefe trees flower in May, at which time they make 



a fine appearance, their branches being generally 



. loaded with long firings of yrllow flowers, which 



. hang down from every part. 'The feeds grow,in, long 



pods, wliich ripen in autumn. There ji a variety of 



thefe tires with variegated leaves, which fom- 



,. -i^t*' I t»- . 



ly fjLuci Lii.v.o, xv^i vvii«-n- V \-i |-'iaiic4i.iu]is are 



tiicv are not well fecurcd from animals, thev 

 anfv/er the defigiii of the planters. ' '.i";]' 



s 



1 



r 



belli 



perfons are fond of cultivating -, but this is oaly to be 

 done by cuttings or layers, for the feeds of thefe wilj 

 produce plants with green leaves : the cuttings fliould 

 be planted in autumn, when the leaves begin to fall 

 and the plants muft have a poor foil, for in good 

 ground they are apt to become plain. 

 If the firfl: fort comes to be confidered as a ufeful 

 wood, which there is no reafon to doubt it may be, it 

 may be planted in large clumps in parks, where they 

 will be very ornamental-, and I am certain, from long 

 experience, that this tree will thrive upcn many foils, 

 and in fuch fituations as few other trees will make any 

 progrefs •, the objection to fencing is the fame here, 

 as for any other trees, for wherever plaiitations are 

 made, if 



will not an „ ^ ■ <t 



The fecond fort differs from the firft, in having nar- 

 rower leav'eS, tohger,.bunches of flowers, and the trees 

 do not grow fo^ large and flrong-, this difference I 

 find is conftant'from feed. /There is another fort 

 mentioned by T^urnefort,^ with ftiprter bunches of 

 flowers than either of thefe, one tree of which kind I 

 thought I had found in a garden j the bunches of the 

 flowers upon this tree were clofe and almoft round, 

 butT Towed the feeds of it, and the plants proved to 

 be only the common fort. ' ■ y y-, ■' ' 



The third fort grows ' Aaturally in Auftria, m Italy 

 and Spain,' and at prefent is pretty rarejn the Englifli 

 gardens •, it was formerly in fome of the curious gar- 

 dens here, but had been long loft, till a few years 

 ■ago, when I procured the feeds from abroad, which 

 :^fucc?ede4 in the Chelfea gardens, where the plants 

 have flowered and produced ripe feeds, which have 

 ibeen communicated to feveral curious perfons. ; 

 'This (hrub feldom rjfes more th^ three or four feet 

 _'high in England; it naturally puts out many lateral 

 ^^ branches near the ground, which fpreaS out on every 

 fide, fo as to form a low flirubby bulh, fo is with dif- 

 ficulty raifed to a fl;em : the branches are very flendcr, 

 and their ends are frequently killed if the winter is 

 fevere -, thefe are garniftied with oblong oval leaves, 

 growing by threes on each foot-ftalk ; they are cqijal 

 in fize, and of a dark green colour •, the branches 

 grow ereft, and are terminated by fpikes of yellow 

 flowers, about four' or five inches in length, fl:anding 

 upright ; and as all the branches are thus terminated, 

 Jo when the flirubs are in flower, they make a fine 

 appearance •, it flowers in July, after moll of the other 

 forts are paft, and the feeds ripen in autumn, .;This 

 is propagated by feeds, which fliould be fown upon 

 a bed of light earth in March, covering them about 

 one third of an inch with fine fcreened mould ; in 

 the beginning of May the plants will appear, when 

 they muft be carefully weeded, and during the fol- 

 lowing fummer they muft conftantly be kept clean, 

 wliich is all the culture they require till autumn, 

 when it will be very proper to arch the bed over with 



that in froftv weather the olants may be 



hoops. 





\- 



covered with mats, to prevent their tender Ihoots 

 from being killed ; for as thefe young plants are apt 

 to continue growing later in the autumn thap. thofc 

 which are become woody, fo they are much more 

 fufceptible of cold ; therefore where there Is not fame 

 care taken to cover them, if the winter ftiould prove 

 fevere, many of them may be entirely deftroyecf, and 

 the others killed to the ground. The fpring fol- 

 lowing, after the danger of hard froft is over, the 

 plants fhould be carefully taken up, and planted out 

 at the diftance of one foot, row from row, and fix 

 inches afunder in the rows j this flaould be in a (hel- 

 tered fituation, and as thefe plants do not ftioot till 

 late in the fpring, fo they need not be tranfplanted 

 before the end of March, or the beginning of April ; 

 and if the feafon fliould then prove warm and dry, ic 

 will be proper to give the plants fome water to fettle 

 the earth to their roots ; and if the drought continue, 

 and the waterings are three times repeated at a week s 

 interval from each, it will be of fervice to the plants. 



After they have taken new root, they will require 



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