X. 2. THE HACK BERRY. 309 



used, in the south of France, for making hay-forks. In that 

 country, plantations of it, for that purpose, are common. In 

 the department of Gard, seven acres of rocky land, unfit for 

 any other use, planted with nettle trees, yield, annually, five 

 thousand dozen of hay-forks, giving a revenue of five thousand 

 dollars yearly. When cut close to the ground, the stem sends up 

 numerous vigorous shoots, of great flexibility. Planted close, in 

 masses, they rise to considerable height, without much thick- 

 ness, furnishing admirable handles for coach-whips, ramrods 

 for muskets, and walking-sticks. And so highly are they val- 

 ued that, according to Baudrillart, all the coachmen in Europe 

 are supplied from plantations on rich soil in Narbonne, which 

 are made expressly for this purpose. It is also used for the 

 shafts and axletrees of carriages, the naves of wheels, and for 

 musical instruments. The root is used for dyeing yellow ; the 

 bark for tanning ; and an oil is expressed from the stones of the 

 fruit. — Loudorfs Arb.^ 1415. 



Sp. 2. The Hack Berry. C. crdssifolia. 



Leaves and fruit represented (incorrectly) in Michaux, Sylva, III, Plate 115. 



Michaux assigned the banks of the Delaware as the north- 

 eastern limit of the hack berry. I find,' however, that it grows 

 in Massachusetts, on the banks of the Connecticut. Specimens 

 of the leaves, which I had gathered as those of the nettle tree, 

 turn out, on careful examination, to belong to this tree. I have 

 found it in only two places : — in Springfield, on the east side of 

 the Connecticut River, and in West Springfield, on the west. 

 Some of the trees are, I hope, still standing. The most remark- 

 able one has been destroyed. It grew a few rods north of the 

 Hampden House, in the broad county road, in Springfield. 

 When I measured it, in September, 1838, its girth, at three feet 

 from the ground, was sixteen feet ten inches ; at four, it was 

 fourteen feet three inches ; at six, thirteen feet. It had gnarled, 

 projecting roots, putting out on every side till nearly three feet 

 from the surface. It diminished, gradually, to the height of 

 twelve or fifteen feet, and there had several broad, irregular pro- 

 tuberances, where it had lost large limbs. Above this it tapered 



