204 ROBINIA PSEUDACACIA. 
freely on every side, and to assume its own peculiar shape, feathering," as Gil- 
pin says, "to the ground." 
Propagation and Culture. The locust may readily be propagated in the moist 
climate of Britain, by cuttings of the roots, and also by large truncheons, as well 
as by the suckers, which shoot up hi great numbers in that country, and to a 
considerable distance around the trees ; but, in general, both in Europe and in 
America, the simplest and the best mode is by seeds. According to M. Roland, 
the elder, a distinguished French agriculturist, the most favourable time for 
sowing, is late in the year, when, he says, the seeds germinate best ; but they 
may either be sown as soon as they are ripe, in October, or in the March or April 
following. Whether they be sown in autumn or spring, they will come up the 
ensuing summer, and the plants, by the end of the season, will be fit either for 
transplanting into nursery lines, or to the places where they are finally to remain. 
The seeds, if exposed to the air two years after being gathered, lose their power 
of vitality; but if they be kept in their pods, and buried a considerable depth in 
dry soil, they will remain good for five or six years, or perhaps longer. As seed- 
bearing trees seldom produce two abundant crops in succession, a reserve should 
be kept from one year to another. The great difficulty experienced in causing 
locust seeds to vegetate, operates as a discouragement with many, as they require 
to be prepared before sowing, in order to soften their hard and shelly pericarps, 
or hornlike envelopes, in which nature has deposited their germs. A writer in the 
" Maine Cultivator," recommends pouring water over the seeds, previously heated 
to the boiling point, and suffering it gradually to cool. After twenty-four hours, 
to decant the water from the seeds, and select such as have opened, for imme- 
diate sowing. He also recommends another mode, and perhaps a somewhat 
more economical one, so far as time is concerned, which is, to subject the seeds 
to the action of nitric acid, mixed in the proportion of half an ounce to two quarts 
of water. The seeds are to be steeped in this mixture for twenty-four hours before 
sowing, and the water kept tepid, or slightly warm, by means of a stove or oven. 
By this process the perfect seeds will at once evince signs of vitality and germi- 
nation, while those which remain unaffected at the end of twenty-four hours, 
will probably be unsound, and may be thrown away. An experiment is related 
in Wither's "Treatise," by the results of which, it appears that, "immersion in 
hot water accelerates germination, but tends to destroy or injure the seeds." 
Mr. Loudon, in his "Arboretum Britannicum," remarks that, steeping Aus- 
tralia and Cape acacia seeds for twenty-four hours, in water which had been 
poured on them in a boiling state, or nearly so, accelerated their germination 
nearly two years. Great caution should be observed, however, in experiments 
of this kind, as even a short continuation of seeds in water at the temperature of 
212 P., must-of course destroy the vital principle. The seeds should be sown 
in a good, free, warm soil, rather rich than otherwise, an inch or two apart every 
way, and covered with finely pulverized earth, from a quarter to three-quarters 
of an inch deep. In fine seasons, the plants will grow from two to four feet in 
height ; the largest of which may be removed in the following autumn, to the 
places where they are finally to remain, and the others may be transplanted 
into nursery lines. In regard to the removal of the locust, Loudon observes, 
that "it will transplant at almost every age, and with fewer roots than almost 
any other tree." The trees should never be suffered to stand nearer than fifteen 
feet apart, in any soil, and should they be consigned to a soil thin and light, they 
should be planted at least twenty feet asunder. As they advance in age and 
growth, care should be taken to clear out all broken branches or dead wood from 
their tops, and to keep down their suckers, which will sometimes issue from their 
roots, where the soil is moist and rich. Under favourable circumstances, th 
