UNITED STATES. 141 
subsequently cleared up and continued generally fine during the 
remainder of my first sojourn in this wonderful city. 
Most of the streets in New York are planted with single rows 
of trees, a practice universal in American cities of recent date, and 
very conducive to health and coolness during the warm summers 
of the country. Here, (as in most of the States to the southward, 
as far as the Gulf of Mexico,) the favourite trees are the Chinese 
Sumach or Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus glandulosa), and the Paper 
Mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera), both of which attain large 
dimensions, but are objectionable from the abundant suckers sent 
up from the roots, which insinuate themselves beneath and loosen 
the pavement, as well as encroach to a troublesome extent upon 
the areas of the houses. The fetid smell of the leaves and flowers 
_ Of the former is another objection to its use in the thoroughfares 
of a populous city. The Catalpa (C. cordifolia) is likewise 
frequent, and appears to resist the winters here as well as at 
Philadelphia, but does not reach quite such ample dimensions as 
to the southward of Pennsylvania. At Brooklyn, a large and 
flourishing offset of New York, on the opposite shores of Long Island, 
and where many of the principal merchants of the city have sump- 
tuous residences, I remarked Catalpas of very large growth, much 
exceeding in girth any individuals I know of in England: many 
were profusely laden with their half-ripe pods, like capsules, 
nearly a foot in length. In the public squares and gardens of 
New York, the Weeping Willow (Saliv Babylonica) attains à — — 
magnificent height and bulk; whilst the noble bushes of Althea - 
Frutex (Hibiscus Syriacus), with single and double flowers of 
great size and variety of colour, ornament. the fronts and areas of 
the houses. If Syria be, as is alleged, the true native country of 
this shrub, it must surely inhabit its lofty mountain ranges; its 
power of resisting cold being such, that it endures even the winters 
of Boston without protection. 1 suspect that both this and the 
Weeping Willow are of more eastern origin ; and that their migra- 
tion westward will be ultimately traced from the colder elevated - 
regions of central Asia, and perhaps the northern provinces of 
China, the trees and shrubs of which latter country adapt them- - 
VOL. VII. Fe eA 
