FARMER'S ASSISTANT. 199 



qualities of the locust, it may be accounted the most profit- 

 able which the Farmer can cultivate. 



See FORESTS, for an easy method of cultivating this 

 tree. 



It is said that immersing the seeds of this tree for half a 

 minute in boiling-hot water, and then cooling them before 

 planting, will make them sprout very suddenly, and grow 

 two feet high the first year. 



LOMBARDY POPLAR (Pofiulus ) This tree acquires 

 its full size in about twenty years-, by which time it will 

 contain half a cord of wood. It is grown at present merely 

 for ornament ; but, when firewood becomes necessary to be 

 planted, probably this tree may be thought worth cultivating 

 for fuel. It will not, indeed, make fuel equal in quality to 

 that of the locust ; but, as it grows faster, its inferiority of 

 quality may perhaps be compensated by the rapidity of its 

 growth. It must, however, be dried before it will be fit for 

 fuel, as in its green state it will not burn to any advantage. 

 It is easily raised from slips or cutings, and will grow on 

 almost any soil. 



In France and Italy, this tree is cultivated and trimed up 

 for beams and other timber for buildings; but probably it 

 will grow larger in those countries than in this State, as 

 the climate there is more friendly to its growth. 



LUCERNE. See GRASSES. 



M. 



^ MADDER (Rubia Tinctorium.) The following direc- 

 tions for raising this plant are copied from 4 The Emporium 

 of Arts? 



This plant may be propagated, either by offsets or 

 seeds. If the latter method is pretered, the seed should 

 be of the true Turkish kind, which is called tizari, in the 

 Levant. On a light thin soil, the culture cannot be car- 

 ried on to any great profit. The soil in which the plant 

 delights is a rich sandy loam, being three feet in depth or 

 more. 



' The ground, being first made smooth, is divided into 

 beds four feet wide, with alternate alleys half as wide again 

 as the beds. The reason of this extraordinary breadth of 

 the alleys will appear presently, In each alley is to be a 



