lOS NEOUNDO FRAXINIFOLIUM. 



importance. It arrives at niaturily in lilU'cu or twenty years, and lias been 

 known to attain a height ol' forty or lifty I'eet, when cultivated under favoura- 

 ble circumstances. 



Projicrfirs and Uses. The wood of tlie Negiuido fraxiiiifolium has a fine, 

 even izrain. and is sallVon-eoloured, slightly nnxed with violet, but is rather 

 tender. The proportion of the alburnum to the heart-wood is large, except in 

 very old trees, in which the heart-wood is variegated witli bluish and rose-col- 

 oured veins. In America, it is seldom emjiloyed for any oilier ])iirj)Os('. than that 

 of fuel; but in l']uro])e, it is used in cabinet-making, })ariicularly for inlaying. 

 It works well, is clastic and sonorous. It has been stated that sugar has been 

 extracted from the sap of this tree, but this is denied by Michaux. He suggesis 

 that, iVom its rapid growth, after being cut down to the ground, it might form a 

 valuable underwood, to be cut every three or four years, for fuel, charcoal, and 

 other purposes. But this has been tried in France ; and, unless the soil be kept 

 constantly humid, the stool is found to decay in a few years. In England, it is 

 solely to be considered as an ornamental tree ; and there, as well as in the United 

 estates, it merits the attention of cultivators and amateurs, in situations where 

 immediate effect is the object ; for it is rapid in its growth, showy in its appear- 

 ance, by the fine green of its shoots, its large, pinnate leaves which move by 

 the slightest breeze, and its wide-spreading summit. It also merits attention 

 from its faculty of grcwmg m almost any kind of soil. 



