190 BURSERA GUMMIFERA. 
dry, rocky soil, covered with a rich, vegetable mould or peat ; but it will grow 
in any situation where the sugar-cane will succeed. It may be readily propa- 
gated from seeds, or by cuttings, but the latter mode is far preferable where a 
large growth is soon required. When employed for live fences, it is only neces- 
sary to cut truncheons of any size, at the commencement of the rainy season, 
and plant them in a continuous row, ten or twelve inches apart, with the but- 
ends downward, buried from a foot to a foot and a half deep. For ordinary fence 
they may not be cut more than six or eight feet in length, and three or four inches 
in diameter. When thus planted, they immediately take root, and in a short time 
become a durable barrier. This tree is of a rapid growth, and consequently will 
not live to a great age. 
Properties and Uses. The wood of the Bursera gummifera is white, soft, full 
of juices, and rapidly decays. It is appropriated to no particular use, except in 
forming live fences in the countries where it abounds, for which it answers an 
admirable purpose. The fruit, when cut, discharges a clear balsamic fluid, 
esteemed in Jamaica as a good vulnerary, particularly for horses. On wound- 
ing the bark, a thick, milky liquor, of a peculiar odour, is obtained, which con- 
cretes into a resin, not materially different from gum-elemi. The bark of the 
root is very bitter, and is said to possess the same properties as quassia. The 
inner bark of the trunk and branches is yellow, and has been employed on the 
island of Cuba in the manufacture of muscovado sugar. When boiled in the 
syrup of cane it imparts to the sugar a yellowish tinge. 
