198 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



As a timber tree of the very first class, the locust has 

 but few rivals. It is found to be stronger and more dura- 

 ble than the best oak or Red cedar ; while it is lighter and 

 equally durable with the Live oak of the south. Its excel- 

 lency for ship-building is therefore unsurpassed ; and as 

 much of the timber as can be procured of sufficient size, 

 commands a high price for that purpose. Great use is also 

 made of it in tree-nails (the wooden pins which fasten the 

 side planks to the ship's frame), and it is now extensively 

 substituted for the iron ones formerly used for that purpose ; 

 a considerable quantity of the wood is now even exported 

 to England for this purpose. For posts it is more durable 

 than the Red cedar, and is therefore in high estimation for 

 fencing. In France, where the tree was introduced by 

 Jean Robin, herbalist to Henry IV. (whence the name 

 Robinia), it is much cultivated for the poles used in support- 

 ing the grapes in vineyards. It has the remarkable pro- 

 perty, says Michaux, of beginning from the third year to 

 convert its sap into perfect wood ; which is not done by 

 the elm, oak, beech, or chestnut, until after the tenth oi 

 fifteenth year. Hence excellent and durable timber can 

 be obtained from this tree in a shorter period than from 

 any other.* 



Fishkill Landing, on the banks of the Hudson, New York. Some specimens 

 there measure 90 feet, which is higher than Michaux saw on the deep alluviak 

 m Kentucky, where they are natives. The finest single tree is one standing in 

 front of the mansion at Clermont, on the Hudson, which is four feet in 

 diameter. 



* Cobbett, who, en passant, though a most remarkable man, was as great a 

 quack in gardening as the famous pill-dealers now are in mcdicme, carried over 

 from this country when he returned to England, a great quantity of seeds of the 

 locust, which he reared and sold m immense quantities. In his " Woodlands," 

 which appeared about that time, he praised its value and utility in the most ex- 

 aggerated terms, affirming •' that no man in America will pretend to say he 



