440 ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



begins to form a head, and in ten years will attain the height of 20 ft. 

 This head will continue increasing slowly, though the tree seldom grows much 

 higher, for the greater part of a century ; after which, as it appears by the 

 oldest trees that we have observed or heard of in Scotland, the extremities 

 of the branches begin to decay. The tree will not bear lopping, but grass 

 arid other plants grow well under its shade. The wood, when dry, weighs 

 51 Ib. 12 oz. per cubic foot. It is homogeneous, fine-grained, hard, capable 

 of being stained any colour, and of taking a high polish ; and it is applied to 

 all the various uses of P. AYia and P. torrninalis, when it can be obtained of 

 adequate dimensions. In Britain, the tree forms excellent coppice wood, 

 the shoots being well adapted for poles, and for making excellent hoops ; and 

 the bark being in demand by tanners. As it will grow in the most exposed 

 situations, and rapidly, when young, it forms an admirable nurse tree to the 

 oak, and other slow-growing species ; and, being a tree of absolute habits ; 

 that is, incapable of being drawn up above a certain height by culture, it has 

 this great advantage, that, after having done its duty as a nurse, instead of 

 growing up with the other trees, and choking them, it quietly submits to be 

 over-topped, and destroyed by the shade and drip of those which it was 

 planted to shelter and protect. It may be mentioned, as somewhat singular, 

 that the alpine laburnum, though naturally a much lower tree than the moun- 

 tain ash, will, when drawn up in woods, attain twice the height of the latter 

 tree. The fruit of the mountain ash is greedily devoured by birds : and, in 

 various parts of the North of Europe, these berries are dried and ground into 

 flour, and used as a substitute for the flour inade of wheat, in times of great 

 scarcity. In Livonia, Sweden, and Kamtschatka, the berries of the moun- 

 tain ash are eaten, when ripe, as fruit ; arid a very good spirit is distilled from 

 them. As an ornamental tree, the mountain ash is well adapted for small 

 gardens ; and it is also deserving of a place in every plantation, where the 

 harbouring of singing-birds is an object. In the grounds of suburban gardens in 

 the neighbourhood of the metropolis, the mountain ash forms almost the only 

 tree that makes a great display by means of its fruit ; for, though many species of 

 Cratae^gus would be equally effective in this respect, they have not yet become 

 sufficiently well known to the planters of such gardens. One great advan- 

 tage of the mountain ash, in all gardens, is, that it never requires pruning, and 

 never grows out of shape. The mountain ash will grow in any soil, and in the 

 most exposed situations, as it is found on the sea shore, and on the tops of 

 mountains, in Forfarshire, as high as 2500 ft. Plants are almost always raised 

 from seed, which should be gathered as soon as it is ripe, to prevent its being 

 eaten by birds, which are so fond of it as to attack it even before it is ripe. 

 When gathered, the fruit should be macerated in water till the seeds are sepa- 

 rated from the pulp, and they may be then sown immediately ; but, as they will, 

 in that case, remain 18 months in the ground before coming up, the common 

 mode adopted by nurserymen is, to mix the berries with light sandy soil, and 

 spread them out in a layer of 10 iu. or 1 ft. in thickness, in the rotting ground ; 

 covering the layer with 2 or 3 inches of sand or ashes, and allowing them to 

 remain in that state for a year. They are then separated from the soil by 

 sifting, and sown in beds of light rich soil, being covered a quarter of an inch. 

 The plants having large leaves, the seeds should not be dropped nearer toge- 

 gether than 2 in., which will allow the plants to come up with sufficient 

 strength. They may be sown any time from November to February, but not 

 later: they will come up in the June following, and, by the end of the year, 

 the strongest plants will be 18 in. high, and fit to separate from the others, and 

 to plant out in nursery lines. 



! 30. P. AMERICA'NA Dec. The American Service. 



Identification. Dec. Prod., 2. p. 637. ; Hook. Fl. Bor. Amer., 1. p. 204. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 648. 

 Synonymes. Sdrbus americana Ph. Fl. Bor. Amer. 1. p. 341., Willd. Enum 520.; S. americana 



var. /3 Michx. Fl. Amer. p. 290. ; P. canadensis Hort. 

 Engravings. Wats. Dend. Brit., t. 54. ; the plate of this species in Arb. Brit, 1st edit., vol. vi. ; 



and our fig. 791. S 



