436 BUXUS Sn.MPKKVIUKNS. 



grave. The commdii box is tlio badge of the Highland clan M'lntosh; and the 

 varit>gat(>d kind, ol'ihrclan .M IMiorson. 



PropdiTitiion (ind Culture. Tlie box may be jiropagated from seeds, by cnt- 

 tings, and layers. When allowed to grow freely, this tree prodnces an abnn- 

 dance of seeds ; bnt where it is closely clijjped in, they seldom arrive at matnrity. 

 They should be gathered as soon as llic ca])snl(\s appear ready fo open, and 

 should be sown innuediately in light, rich earth, consisting ehielly of vegetable 

 mould, which is well drained. Autumn is the proper time f(;r planting cuttings, 

 which may be from four to six inches in length. They should be set in a sandy 

 soil, and a shaded situation, and in a year after they will be lit to transjilant into 

 luu-sery lines, liayers may be niade either in the spring or aulunui, both of the 

 young and the old wood. The dwarf box used for edgings is best propagated in 

 the spring, by being taken up, divided, and replanted. They may be clTpped at 

 almost any season except in mid- winter; but June is considered as the most 

 appropriate time for this operation, as well as that of hedges or other ornaments, 

 when the plants have nearly completed their year's growth; because they will 

 afterwards make shoots of half of an inch to an inch in length, or, at all events, 

 put forth a {aw le\vves, and thus, in a few weeks, will conceal all appearance of 

 the use of the shears. When this practice is followed, it is necessary to go over 

 the edgings or hedges in July, in order to cut neatly off, with the knife, any shoots 

 that may have been protruded too far, taking care not to cut the leaves. Box 

 edgings, when kept low, if they are wanted to endure many years, require occa- 

 sionally to be cut in, ahnost to the ground; and this operation should only be 

 performed on one side of the edging in one year, and not on the other side till two 

 years after. When treated in this way, both edgings and hedges will, on good, 

 loamy soil, endure for a long time ; whereas, if they be continually clipped on the 

 surface only, a network of shoots is formed there, which, by excluding the air 

 from the stem within, occasions decay, and the edging or hedge becomes unsightly 

 and naked below. The form of the cross section of a box edging or hedge, should 

 always be that of a truncated triangle, with the broadest end next to the ground. 

 In the case of edgings to walks, or to flower-beds, their breadth at the ground 

 may be three inches, their height four inches, and their width at the top two 

 inches ; or one half of these dimensions may be adopted. In every case, both of 

 edgings and hedges, the base ought always to be broader than the summit, in 

 order that the rain may fall on the sides, and the light of the sun strike on them 

 with more force. In clipping the box into artificial forms, it is usual to enclose 

 the tree in a slight frame of wirework of the intended form; and, for the sake of 

 durability, the wire should be of copper, and painted green, which would also 

 render it less conspicuous. 



Properties and Uses. The wood of the box is remarkably heavy, weighing, 

 when newly cut, nearly eighty pounds and a half to a cubic foot, and when per- 

 fectly dry, sixty-eight and three-fourths pounds; being the only European wood 

 that will sink, in that state, in water. It is of a yellowish colour, of a very hard, 

 compact grain, and is susceptible of a fine polish ; and, when well sea.'='oned, it 

 expands and contracts, by heat and cold, moisture and dryness, less than any 

 other kind of wood. Hence, it was formerly much used in England, in cabinet- 

 making and inlaying, as it still is in France; and also, in most countries in 

 Europe and America, for musical and mathematical instruments, combs, and 

 various articles of turnery. But one of the principal uses to which this wood is 

 applied, is, for wood-engraving : and for this purpose, it forms an important arti- 

 cle of commerce. 



In France, the box-wood used by cabinet-makers and turners, is chiefly that 

 of the root. The town of St. Claude, near which there is one of the largest box- 

 groves in Europe, is almost entirely inhabited by turners, who make snuft-boxes 



