CHAP. XLi. legumina'ce^. robi'n/^. 623 



admirers of Cobbett, and appear very reluctant to give any evidence that may 

 impugn his statements. Most of them will be found included in an article 

 entitled, " Results of a Correspondence to ascertain the Durability of Locust 

 Hop-poles," in the 12th volume of the Gardener^s Magaz'me. 



The locust, though it may be grown as copse-wood, for being cut over 

 every 5 or more years, or in a close wood, lor being cut down or rooted 

 up, at the end of 30 or 40 years, for its timber, can never be grow n for under- 

 growth under any circumstances, for it will not endure the shade and drip of 

 other trees. As an ornamental tree, it well deserves a place in every park, 

 lawn, or shrubbery ; but not in any quantity, because it is not calculated to 

 produce effect in masses, but rather singly, in rows, or in small groups. 



Poetical and Legendary Allusions. Perhaps no tree possesses more mate- 

 rials for poetry than the locust, and yet has been less noticed by poets. The 

 poetical ideas connected with it arise from its being, when planted in shrub- 

 beries, the favourite resort of the nightingale, which probably chooses it 

 for building its nest from an instinctive feeling of the protection afforded by 

 its thorns. {Syl. Flor., vol. i. p. 4-0.) In its native country, we are told that 

 the American Indians make a declaration of love, by presenting a branch of 

 the locust tree in blossom to the object of their attachment. {Le Langnge des 

 Fleiirs, p. 1 14.) This tree is less injurious than any other to plants growing 

 under its drip, from a singularity in the habit of its pinnated leaves ; the 

 leaflets of which fold over each other in wet weather, leaving the tree ap- 

 parently stripped of half its foliage. The leaflets also fold up at night; and 

 Philips mentions an instance of a child, who had observed this peculiarity 

 in the tree, saying that " it was not bed-time, for the acacia tree had not 

 begun its prayers." (»%/. Flor., vol i. p. 47.) 



Soil and Situation. A sandy loam, rich rather than poor, is generally 

 allowed to be the best soil for the robinia. Lord King truly observes tliat it 

 requires a good garden soil to attain any size ; though Mr. Blackie of Holkham 

 says that there are innumerable locust trees growing at Holkham, upon " infe- 

 rior sandy soils, where other forest trees barely exist." He adds, however, 

 " The}', no doubt, thrive best upon good land, and so do other trees ; but they 

 are inestimable in the quality of thriving where other trees will not grow." 

 {Withers' s Treatise, p. 283. and 233.) Their quality of thriving on poor soils 

 is, no doubt, owing to their power of rapidly abstracting whatever nourishment 

 such soils may contain, by their running roots ; but, for the same reason, on 

 such soils, they would soon become stunted, and good for little as timber trees. 

 The only trees that will thrive, and ultimately become timber, on poor shallow 

 soils, are the resiniferous needle-leaved kinds ; such as the pine, the fir, the 

 cedar, and the larch. In rich soils, the plants will produce shoots (i ft. or 8 ft. 

 long, for several years after planting; while in wet or poor soils they will not 

 produce shoots above a fourth of that length. The situation ought to be at 

 once airy and sheltered; as the tree is not fitted for being employed in 

 exposed places, or as a screen for protection against wind. In general, it 

 looks best planted singly on a lawn, or in small groups in a shrubbery, or on 

 the margin of a plantation, where it is allowed to spread out its branches 

 freely on evei-y side, and to assume its own peculiar shape ; featheiing, as 

 Gilpin says, to the ground. 



Propagation and Culture. The locust may, with difficulty, be propagated by 

 cuttings of the branches; but with great facility by cuttings of the roots, and 

 also by large truncheons, and by suckers, as the latter are thrown out in great 

 numbers, and to a great distance round the trees ; but, in general, the simplest 

 and best mode is by seed, which is procured in abundance, either i'rom 

 America, or from trees grown in England or France. The seed is ripe in 

 October, and, being gathered, if not sown immediately, should be kept in 

 the pods till the following spring. When sown in the autumn or s|)ring 

 it comes up the following summer; and the plants, at the end of the season, 

 will be fit either for transplanting where they are finally to remain, or into 

 nursery lines. The seeds, if exi'.osed to the air, as we have already observed, 



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