190 BURSERA GUMMIFERA. 



dry, rocky soil, covered with a rich, vegetable mould or peat; but it will grow 

 in any situation whore the sugar-cane will succeed. It may be readily propa- 

 gated t'roin seeds, or by cuttings, but the latter mode is far preferable where a 

 large growth is soon required. When employed for live fences, it is only neces- 

 sary to cut truncheons of any size, at the commencement of the rainy season, 

 ancl plant tluMU in a continuous row, ten or twelve inches apart, with the but- 

 ends downward, buried from a foot to a foot and a half deep. For ordinary fence 

 they may not be cut more than six or eight feet in length, and three or four inches 

 in diameter. When thus planted, they immediately take root, and in a short time 

 become a durable barrier. This tree is of a rapid growth, and consequently will 

 not live to a great age. 



Properties and Uses. The wood of the Bursera gummifera is white, soft, full 

 of juices, and rapidly decays. It is appropriated to no particular use, except in 

 forming live fences iii the countries where it abounds, for which it answers an 

 admirable purpose. The fruit, when cut, discharges a clear balsamic fluid, 

 esteemed in Jamaica as a good vulnerary, particularly for horses. On wound- 

 ing the bark, a thick, milky liquor, of a peculiar odour, is obtained, which con- 

 cretes into a resin, not materially different from gum-elemi. The bark of the 

 root is very bitter, and is said to possess the same properties as quassia. The 

 inner bark of the trunk and branches is yellow, and has been employed on the 

 island of Cuba in the manufacture of muscovado sugar. When boiled in the 

 syrup of cane it imparts to the sugar a yellowish tinge. 



