EUROPEAN LIME-TREE. 43 



These young shoots, in process of time, partook the character of trees tlicm- 

 selves, and, in turn, stretched out their branches, rested them on the ground, and 

 threw up a second circle of trees, which, in 1S20, were twenty or thirty feet in 

 height. This tree is said to stand in a lawn in an ancient geometrical garden, 

 and must be, at least, two hundred years old. . 



In the cemetery of the hospital at Annaberg, in Saxony, a man planted a linden- 

 tree, and was afterwards buried under its shade, who left a smn of money to 

 have a sermon preached every Trinity Sunday, under it. This tree is said to have 

 grown to an enormous size, and was planted in a reversed position, with its head 

 downwards. 



Mythological and Legendary Allusions. In Prussia, near Konigsberg, two 

 large lindens were grown on a grassy bank, beneath which, it is said, were buried, 

 in one grave, a bride, who died on her wedding-day, and her husband, who did 

 not long survive her loss. The tree was ever afterwards a favourite retreat for 

 sorrowful lovers. 



In the churchyard, at Seidlitz, in Bohemia, it is said there are some old lime- 

 trees, the leaves of which are hooded ; and the peasants affirm that they have 

 ever been so since some monks from a neighbouring convent were hanged on their 

 boughs. 



Ovid tells us in his " Metamorphoses," that Baucis, when Jupiter and Mer- 

 cury, after they had partaken of her hospitality, offered to grant any request she 

 might make, only asked to die on the same day as her husband ; that the gods, 

 granting her prayer, when she and Philemon had both attained a good old age, 

 she was changed into a lime-tree, and her husband into an oak. While the 

 transformation was taking place, they continued speaking affectionately to each 

 other, till the bark had closed quite round them ; and that, even when they had 

 become trees, they entwined then* branches closely together. 



Soil and Situation. A deep, and rather light soil is recommended by Du 

 Hamel, for the lime-tree, or an argillaceous soil, inclining somewhat to sand, and 

 rather moist ; but the largest trees are generally found in a good, loamy soil, or 

 in the alluvial deposites of low-lying meadows, along the margins of lakes, riv- 

 ers, (fee. In Lithuania, where this tree abounds, the soil is rather a clayey than 

 a sandy loam. 



In dry situations, it never attains a large size, and it loses its leaves, perhaps, 

 earlier than any other tree. Being an inhabitant of the plains, rather than of 

 the mountains, it does not appear suitable for exposed surfaces ; but it requires a 

 pure air, rather than otherwise ; for, it is found in abundance in many of the 

 cities of continental Europe, but sparingly so in the British cities, where more 

 mineral coal is consumed, which appears to be more injurious to the lime than to 

 the elm, the plane, or some other trees. 



Propagation and Culture. This tree is seldom propagated otherwise than by 

 layers, which are made, in the nurseries, in autumn, or winter, and which be- 

 come rooted, so as to be separated from the parent stock, in a year. Du Hamel 

 says that the lime-tree may be raised from seeds, which ought to be sown imme- 

 diately after being gathered ; because, if they are preserved dry till the following 

 spring, they will not often come up till the second year. If, however, the seeds 

 are mixed with sand, or with soil, not too dry, and kept in that state during the 

 winter, they will generally spring up the first year. Owing to the slowness of 

 the growth of plants raised from seeds, the French and Belgian gardeners cut off 

 the stock of an old tree, close to the surface of the ground, which soon sends up 

 a great number of young shoots ; among these they throw a quantity of soil, 

 which they allow to remain one, two, or three years, after which, they find the 

 shoots well rooted, and of a sufficient height and strength to be planted at once 

 where they are finally to remain. The lime-tree bears transplanting when of a 

 considerable size : bnt. when it is grown in the nurseries for this purpose, it ought 



