OSAGE ORANGE-TREE. 4G7 
In about the year 1818, seeds of this tree were sent to England by Senhoi Cor- 
reade feerra, a Portuguese botanist and diplomatist; and, subsequently, plai 
of both sexes, were imported by the London nurserymen, and trees are to be mel 
with in various parts of the kingdom, varying from ten to twenty-five feet in 
height, with trunks of proportionate diameters. 
In France, in the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, there is a tree of this species, 
which, in ten years after planting, had attained the height of eighteen feet. At 
Lyons, in the nursery of M. Sidy, there is another specimen, which has fruited, 
exceeding twenty-five feet in height. 
Propagation, <Sfc. The Madura aurantiaca may readily be propagated from 
seeds, by cuttings of the roots, by layers, and by grafting or inoculation; and it 
will grow in any common soil in which the Morus alba will thrive. As the male 
plant appears to be constitutionally weaker, more delicate, and shorter-lived than 
its opposite sex, and as its presence is absolutely necessary to produce perfect 
seeds, it has been suggested that it be grafted or inoculated on the branches of 
the female tree, in order to add to the size and beauty of the fruit, and to facil- 
itate in the dissemination of the species. When propagated from cuttings or lay- 
ers, and if cut down to the ground after two or three years' growth, it will throw 
up shoots or suckers six or eight feet in height, and not more than half of an inch 
in diameter, with fine, broad, shining, succulent leaves. In the United States, 
where the surface of the ground is exposed to the extremes of heat and cold, the 
maclura, like the vine, the mulberry, and many other trees, should be planted 
deep in the earth, otherwise its roots will often be injured by drought or frost. 
Properties and Uses. The wood of the maclura is of a bright-yellow colour, 
somewhat resembling that of the fustic, (Morus tinctoria,) and, like the wood of 
that tree, it is said, affords a yellow dye. It is solid, heavy, durable, uncom- 
monly fine-grained, and elastic ; and, on account of the latter property, it is used 
for bows by all the tribes of Indians of the regions where it abounds. When 
wrought, it receives a beautiful polish, of the appearance and brilliancy of satin- 
wood, and might be employed for inlaying the finer kinds of furniture. The sap 
of the young wood and leaves is of a milky consistency, and soon dries, on expo- 
sure to the air. It is insoluble in water, and contains a large proportion of an 
elastic gum. The bark, like that of the paper mulberry, (Ikoussonetia,) yields 
a fine, white fibre, which might be converted into a beautiful linen. The fruit. 
when ripe, abounds in a sweetish, lacteous fluid, somewhat acrid and insipid t<> 
the taste, which renders it unpalatable both to man and animals. The maclura 
is also advantageously employed for hedges or live fences, for which purpose it 
appears to be admirably adapted, as its branches grow close, are armed with 
strong, sharp-pointed spines, will endure the shears, and for a long time retain 
their foliage, which is free from the attacks of insects, and the blight. The 
maclura has likewise been used as a stock on which to engraft the mulberry, 
and its leaves have been employed, in France, with partial success, as food tor 
silkworms. M. Bonafous, visiting the botanic garden, at Montpellier, in 1835, 
and observing the luxuriance with which this tree grew, conceived that it might 
be substituted for the mulberry in the culture of silk. He had a number of the 
leaves gathered, on which he fed eighteen silkworms, as their only food, and it 
is said they produced very beautiful cocoons. A second experiment was made 
by M. Raffeneau De Lile, directeur of the same garden, in L836, by giving fifty 
silkworms the leaves of this tree, during only the latter stages of their existence. 
They were not fed on the maclura till the 19th of May, when tiny cast their 
second skins. It is said they never seemed to eat the leaves greedily, although 
they increased in size as much as those that were fed on the leaves ol the mul- 
berry. In the course of feeding, fifteen of the worms wandered away, and wrere 
lost; and during the time of spinning, twenty more died, the latin- becoming 
