CHAP. XLI. LEGUMINA'CE-S. ROBi'n/^. 617 



trees were decidedly preferred, at any cost, to Miller's robinias. A notice of 

 Cobbett's nursery, and of the various trees that he cultivated in it, will be 

 found in his Woodlands, and in the Gardener's Magazine, vol. iii. p. 363. At 

 present, the rage for planting the locust has altogether subsided ; but the great 

 importance of the tree in ship-building, and for supplying fuel, hop-poles, 

 sticks for peas, and similar purposes, is about to be illustrated by an enthu- 

 siastic admirer of it, W. Withers, Esq., of Holt, Norfolk, author of a Memoir 

 addressed to the Society of Arts, on the Planting and Rearing of Forest TreeSy 

 &c. &c. This gentleman has liberally and kindly sent us the proof sheets, 

 as far as printed (to p. 320.), of his Treatise on the Growth, Qualities, and Uses of 

 the Acacia Tree, &c., with liberty to make whatever use of them we choose. 

 Mr. Withers commences by giving a translation of the Lettre snr le Robinier, 

 &c.,of M. Francois de Neufchateau,( i2mo, Paris, 1803,) before-mentioned; and 

 abstracts from the Pieces relatives a la Culture et aux Usages de cet Arbre, 

 which M. Francois had appended to his work. He then gives extracts from 

 the writings of MM. F. C. Medicus and Andre Michaux on the subject ; and, 

 next, notices on the acacia by British writers. These form the first part of his 

 work. The second consists of original communications, comprising various 

 letters from noblemen and gentlemen in different parts of the country, who 

 have planted the locust, who have large trees of it, or who have applied it to 

 different purposes. The facts collected in this part of the work are confirm- 

 atory of the rapid growth of the tree in favourable soils and situations ; and 

 of the suitableness and durability of its timber for trenails, posts, and fencing, 

 and also for axletrees of timber carriages ; but they aiford no evidence either 

 of the tree producing a great bulk of timber, or of its timber being appli- 

 cable to the general purposes of construction. Only one of the writers 

 mentions acacia boards or planks ; and, though some of them recommend the 

 wood for hop-poles, there is no evidence given of the length of time that 

 these poles will last. Some useful experiments, by different contributors, are 

 detailed, showing the rate of growth of the tree, and the strength and elas- 

 ticity of the timber, which will be hereafter noticed. 



In France and the south of Germany, we are informed by Baudrillart, in 

 the Dictionnaire des Eaux et des Forets, the locust was at first received with 

 enthusiasm as an ornamental tree ; but was afterwards rejected, because it 

 was discovered that its leaves appeared late in the season, its branches were 

 brittle, its prickles disagreeable ; and, above all, that it would not bear the 

 shears. It was for a long time almost forgotten, till after the introduction of 

 the modern style of gardening, when a reaction in its favour took place, and 

 it was preferred to all other trees on account of the rapidity of its growth, 

 and was found, also, to be a useful tree, particularly for fuel. In France, 

 Baudrillart continues, many authors have written on the locust, and most 

 of them have greatly exaggerated its merits. Among those who have de- 

 termined its real merits best, he thinks, are M. Bosc, Professor of Natu- 

 ralisation in the Jardin des Plantes; M. Mallet, Conservator of Forests at 

 Poitiers; and the younger Michaux. These authors, he continues, while 

 they pointed out the advantages of cultivating the locust, have, at the same 

 time, shown the evils that must arise from exaggerating its merits. Thus, 

 he says that M. Francois wrote in favour of planting this tree in parti- 

 cular soils and situations ; but others recommended it to be planted every 

 where ; and, in consequence of its not succeeding in unsuitable soils, a third 

 class of writers recommend the planting of the tree to be discontinued 

 altogether. As an example of want of success in cultivating the locust, he 

 refers to the heaths of Gondreville, where the tree has been planted exten- 

 sively in a white sand, in which, though the Pinus maritima and sylvestris 

 and the bu'ch thrive, it failed altogether, except on the banks of ditches. M. 

 Baudrillart mentions several other cases, in which large tracts of country have 

 been ploughed, and sown broad-cast with locust seed ; and where the seeds 

 came up, but the plants never did any good, owing to the lightness and sterility 

 of the soil. Even in the Bois de Boulogne, where locust trees, when planted 



