34 T^he Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



and for this reason it is successfully used to cover railway and road embankments 

 in France. It will not grow well on compact clay or on chalky or absolutely poor 

 soils. In England it has only been planted as an ornamental tree, and it is very 

 suitable for planting in towns, as it is not injured by smoke and is free from insect 

 attacks and fungous diseases. Though it suckers freely, this is no objection in streets, 

 where the pavements or wheel traffic prevents them from making an appearance. 

 The young shoots are often killed by frost, but this only serves to keep the tree 

 within bounds without the use of the pruning knife. The Ailanthus only makes 

 one shoot annually, late in the spring, which continues to grow till October or 

 November, and this is the reason why it is spring tender, as the tips of the shoots 

 do not become properly lignified. The tree, however, bears the greatest cold in 

 winter, and was not injured by the severe frost of 1879. 



The tree produces flowers in England when it is about 40 feet high ; and it 

 fruits pretty frequently, but the seeds are often infertile. 



When the Ailanthus is cut back annually, it grows rapidly and produces foliage 

 of enormous size, suitable for the so-called tropical garden. Leaves of plants so 

 treated have measured as much as 4 feet long and 15 inches wide. 



The Ailanthus succeeds in a great variety of climates, and is planted in regions 

 so diverse as Northern India, the United States, France, Germany, and Italy. 

 In France it has not been successful as a forest tree, as it is not a social species, 

 and is speedily dominated by native trees, if it survives the seedling stage, when it 

 is sensitive to spring frosts. In warmer climates it easily regenerates by seed, and 

 in consequence has become naturalised in many parts of Europe (as on the arid 

 slopes of Mount Vesuvius, where it stands very well the drought), and in the United 

 States,^ where it often runs wild in old fields. American writers praise the tree for 

 the value of its wood and the rapidity of its growth, as it is said to make timber 

 faster than any of the native trees that are used for firewood. 



The wood is yellowish or yellowish green, and is not clearly distinguishable into 

 well-marked heart and sap woods, though in old trees the centre of the stem becomes 

 deeper in colour. The wood has a specific gravity of 0.6, and is easily worked, 

 taking a good polish. It rives easily. It is used by wheelwrights as a substitute for 

 elm and ash ; but is inferior to these, as it does not possess their elasticity or 

 their capability of resistance to fracture. It is said, however, to bear well 

 alternations of dry and wet. 



Mr. J. A. Weale of Liverpool, who has paid great attention to the study of 

 timbers, and knows more about them than any one in the trade in this country, 

 writes to us that this wood resembles that of the ash so closely in structure, that the 

 only real difference between the two is in the large cellular compound pores which 

 are formed in the Ailanthus, as shown in the microscopical section which he enclosed. 



Elwes is assured by Prof. C. S. Sargent that it makes nice furniture, and he has a 

 specimen from a large tree which was cut down in the Palace Gardens at Wells, 

 Somerset, of which the timber was bought by Mr. Halliday, a cabinetmaker, 

 for %. 



' Also in Southern Ontario. See Britton and Brown, loc. cil. 



