CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



be neglected by the general planter, and should 

 have a place among others. Young plants are 

 raised from the seeds or stones, sown thickly on a 

 bed of good soil, either in autumn or in spring, 

 and afterwards rowed out to receive the ordinary 

 nursery treatment, until fit to be finally planted. 



The Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) is an inferior 

 forest-tree ; its timber, however, is remarkably 

 tough and durable, and consequently valuable to 

 the plough and cart wright It is a tortuous- 

 growing tree, unless pruned when young. 



The Birch (Betula alba) is another inferior tim- 

 ber-tree, but useful, as a coppice-plant, for many 

 rural purposes. It has a beautiful and elegant 

 contour, on which account it is introduced into 

 ornamental scenery, especially if water be in the 

 composition. Of the common birch there are 

 several varieties. Young plants are most con- 

 veniently raised from seeds. Wherever there are 

 poor thin-soiled stony heights, the birch may be 

 planted as a useful cover ; its timber is readily 

 bought up for gunpowder charcoal. 



The Holly (Ilex aquifoliuni) is a remarkably 

 hardy evergreen, with smooth shining leaves fur- 

 nished with prickly points. It is a native of 

 Britain, and attains a great age, but seldom reaches 

 a large size. Its timber is white and hard, which 

 renders it suitable for veneering and for making 

 mathematical instruments. Different varieties are 

 grown as ornamental shrubs. The holly hedges 

 of Tyninghame, in East-Lothian, have long been 

 famed, being n feet broad and from 1 8 to 25 feet 

 high. 



The Box (Buxus sempervirens) is generally 

 grown as an evergreen shrub, but when planted 

 out with a proper soil and climate, it attains a con- 

 siderable height. B. balearica grows to perfection 

 in Turkey, whence its timber is imported for use 

 in all cases in which exceedingly fine cross grain 

 is required. Sawn across and planed, its surface 

 is as smooth and fine as polished metal. Box- 

 blocks are on this account employed for wood- 

 engraving. 



3. Soft-wooded Trees. 



In this section may be included the horse-chest- 

 nut, lime, alder, poplar, and willow. 



The Horse-chestnut (^Esculus htppocastanum) 

 is only valued for the beauty of its flowers and the 

 majesty of the full-grown tree in park-scenery. 

 The timber is very inferior. There are several 

 other exotic species namely, the smooth, Ohio, 

 ruddy, and the pale-flowered, all of which are easily 

 raised from their large nuts. They require shelter 

 and good rich soil ; they grow rapidly under these 

 conditions, and soon form highly ornamental 

 objects. There is a nearly allied genus called 

 Pavia, or bucks-eye, the species of which have 

 round and smooth fruit. The flowers of some of 

 these last are magnificent, being of a glowing red, 

 and are most conspicuous in the spring or begin- 

 ning of summer. Avenues of these trees, as seen 

 in the neighbourhood of Geneva, present a gor- 

 geous appearance when in flower. The pavias are 

 often propagated by being grafted upon the com- 

 mon horse-chestnut. 



The Lime (Tilia Europtza) is a beautiful leafy 

 tree, grown chiefly for ornament, and very suitable 

 for avenues. There are several varieties, but as 

 all of them require a heavy soil and sheltered 

 situation, and their timber not being of much 



600 



value, they are seldom or never introduced into the 

 forest. The lime is the European tree which, in a 

 given time, appears capable of acquiring the 

 largest diameter. 



The Alder (Alnus glutinosa) requires a damp 

 bog-earth soil, and is only planted by streams, or 

 to occupy a spot where nothing better will grow. 

 It is most profitably kept as underwood, large 

 poles suitable for the turner or for piles or plank- 

 ing for bridges, fetching a high price. 



The Poplar (Populus). There are several 

 species as the common black poplar (Populus 

 nigra\ the aspen or trembling poplar (P. tremula), 

 the Lombardy poplar (P. fastigiata}, &c. They 

 grow rapidly, and the last-mentioned rises to a 

 great height, but narrow in mass, so as to be very 

 conspicuous in hedgerows and landscapes. The 

 timber is soft, but a good deal sought after ; and 

 where undrainable spots are wished to be deco- 

 rated with stately trees, no better kind can be 

 chosen. 



The Willow (Salix) is an extensive genus, com- 

 prehending those shrubby species, the osiers, used 

 for basket-work, as well as a few species which 

 attain to the height and character of trees, the best 

 of which, as yielding very good timber, is the 

 white or Huntingdon (S. alba). Another of the 

 tree-willows is that elegant plant the Babylonian 

 or weeping willow (S. Babylonica), which forms so 

 suitable an accompaniment to pieces of water, 

 whether artificial or natural. The common osier 

 is the sort mostly cultivated for the basket-maker, 

 and the annual crop of rods from established 

 stools pays the owner as well as any other crop 

 on the farm. All the kinds are easily propagated 

 by cuttings, and require to be grown in damp soil 



REARING OF TREES. 



Trees grow spontaneously in all countries in 

 which soil and climate will permit, and, as is well 

 known, form forests of many hundreds of miles in 

 extent on the North American continent. What- 

 ever be the peculiar nature of any species of tree, 

 it appears that the dimensions and form of all are 

 more or less affected by their relative situation. If 

 crowded, they have a tendency to grow tall and 

 slender ; if left abundance of space, they extend in 

 breadth. The comparative absence or presence of 

 air and light causes this. In a forest, each tree 

 struggles upwards ; whereas the tree in open 

 ground shoots out lateral branches nearly from the 

 bottom of the trunk, and attains a mass of foliage. 



All exposed trees have the largest roots ; being 

 liable to be blown over, they take a much firmer 

 hold of the ground than if they were sheltered on 

 all sides ; in other words, the action of the tree, 

 and the free air and light, induce the development 

 of numerous branches and a large breathing 

 apparatus of leaves, and the tree must have a 

 corresponding mass of roots for the supply of sap. 



Ornamental Plantations. 



Even on the smallest possessions, a sprinkling 

 of forest-trees in the hedges or corners of the 

 inclosures gives a dignity to the spot which other- 

 wise it would not possess. There cannot be a 

 more cheerless object in a landscape than a house 

 however substantially built standing naked 

 and alone, without a sheltering tree or bush to 



