592 ARBORETUM AND FRU'TICETUM, PART III. 
colour is a sort of greenish black. It is in much demand among turners and 
cabinet-makers ; and Sang observes, in 1820, that it was the most valuable and 
the highest-priced timber that was grown at that time in Scotland. There was, 
he says, “‘a considerable quantity of it sold at Brechin Castle and Panmure, in 
November, 1809, by public sale, at half a guineaa foot. It was all bought by 
cabinetmakers, who were as anxious to get the small and middle-sized trees 
as they were to have the large ones.” (Plant. Kal., p. 91.) The variety which 
produced the timber referred to by Mr. Sang was the C. (L.) alpinus, there 
called the tree laburnum. The ordinary use of the wood in the north of Scot- 
land, as we have already observed (p. 497.), is to form alternate staves with the 
wood of the holly, or the spindle tree, in making small noggins, or bickers ; but 
it is also used for the bowls of punch-ladles; for flutes, and other musical instru- 
ments ; for knife handles, pegs, and wedges ; and for pulleys and blocks : and, in 
France, Switzerland, and Germany, it is much employed by the cabinet-makers, 
turners, and toy-makers; also for musical instruments, handles to knives, 
snuff boxes, poles for sedan chairs, and oars: and the young trees split up, 
make excellent hoops. Mr. Boutcher tells us that he has seen in Scotland 
a large table, and a dozen of chairs, “ that were considered by judges of ele- 
gant furniture to be the finest they had ever seen,” having been made from 
trees of the laburnum, grown in Scotland, which were a yard in girt, at 6 ft. 
from the ground. At present, the art of imitating every kind of wood by 
staining is brought to so high a degree of perfection, that the value of all 
coloured woods, as far as mere colour is concerned, is very much less than 
what it was formerly. 
In Plantations, the laburnum is valuable on some soils, and in some situa- 
tions, as a shelter for other trees: a quantity are said to have been planted 
near Amesbury, in Wiltshire, where the situation is very much exposed, and 
the soil so shallow, that few trees will grow there; yet in this place the 
young laburnums attained the height of 12 ft. in 4 years after planting, and 
became a shelter to other trees. Hares and rabbits being remarkably fond of 
the bark of the laburnum, it has been suggested to sow laburnum seeds, in 
order to produce an undergrowth in plantations liable to be infested -with 
these animals; for, though the plants are eaten to the ground every winter, 
yet they will spring up again the next season, and thus yield a regular supply 
of winter’s food for these kinds of game. Miller recommends planting the 
laburnum thick, for the purpose of drawing up the plants tall and straight 
for hop-poles, which are said, when formed of laburnum, to be more durable 
than those of almost any other kind of wood. Sang observes that the labur- 
num, planted together in masses or groves, attains a timber-like size in a 
short time, and, if properly pruned, has a straight clean trunk. Medicinally, 
the whole tree is very bitter, and acts both as an aperient and an emetic. The 
seeds, in a green state, are very violent in their action, and are justly esteemed 
poisonous. There are various instances of children having died from eating 
them. 
As an ornamental tree, the laburnum has few rivals. The shape of the 
head is irregular and picturesque ; its foliage is of a smooth, shining, and beau- 
tiful green ; and, what is a great recommendation to every ornamental plant, 
it is not liable to be preyed on by insects. It produces a profusion of blos- 
soms, which, in the C. Labiurnum, begin to appear in the first week in May, 
and in the C. (Z.) alpinus continue till the first week in July. The purple 
and white lilac, the Judas tree, the perfumed cherry, the Guelder rose, the 
birdcherry, the white and the scarlet hawthorn, and the Pyrus coronaria, which 
blossom about the same period, form fine compositions in connexion with 
the laburnum. In the north of Germany, and in the Highlands of Scotland, 
the C. Labirnum forms a most ornamental tree when trained against a wall. 
In Italy, the mountains are so richlyadorned with the flowers of the laburnum 
in the month of May, as to obtain for it the name of Maggio, in the same 
way as we give the name of May to the hawthorn. 
Soil and Situation. Though the laburnum will grow in a very indifferent 
soil, it requires a deep fertile sandy loam to attain a large size. In regard to 
