XXIX. THE COMMON LOCUST TREE. 461 



are straight and parallel like the teeth of a comb. The prickles 

 are at the base of the leaves, short, somewhat triangular, di- 

 lated at base, sharp, dark purple, adhering only to the bark, but 

 persistent. 



The root is not large, but throws out numerous fibres which 

 creep extensively in every direction, just below the surface, the 

 smaller ones often forming little tubercles. Searching thus for 

 nutriment where it is most abundantly to be found, the tree is 

 of remarkably rapid growth while young. In ten years, it will 

 reach the height of twenty or thirty feet. After that, however, 

 except in exceedingly rich soil, its growth is comparatively 

 slow. It would be natural to suppose that a tree, whose roots 

 run so near the surface, should be exhausting to the soil, and so 

 it is often considered. I am assured, however, by many gentle- 

 men, that few trees are less injurious to the grass of pastures, 

 and several persons have recommended that it should be planted 

 on the borders of pasture land in preference to any other tree. 

 The leaves are sweet and nutritious to cattle, and the droppings 

 of the tree and its flowers are thought to have a favorable effect 

 on the growth of grass. 



The locust is not known to be, nor is it generally considered, 

 a native of the State or of New England ; and it is doubtful 

 whether it grew naturally in the northern part of the Middle 

 States. Michaux says it first occurs growing naturally between 

 Lancaster and Harrisburg, in Pennsylvania, in the latitude of 

 40° 20', but that, west of the mountains, it is found two or three 

 degrees further north ; and that it abounds most in the valleys 

 amongst the chains of the Alleghany Mountains. It does not 

 grow spontaneously near the sea-coast, even in the Southern 

 States. It is common in all the Western States, and attains 

 its perfection in Kentucky and Tennessee, where, in a fertile 

 soil, it sometimes exceeds four feet in diameter and a height of 

 seventy or eighty feet. 



The wood of the locust is of a remarkably compact, close and 

 fine grain, the medullary rays or plates of silver grain being 

 closer and more numerous than in almost any other tree. It 

 varies in color in different varieties. In that which commonly 

 grows in Massachusetts, it is of a yellowish white or straw color. 



