704 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



. B. s. 3 sujfruticosa Mill. Diet. No. 3. B. hiimilis 

 Dod. Pempt. 782. ; JB. s. nana N. Du Ham. 

 i. p. 83.; and our Jig. 1376. ; Buis nain, Buis 

 a Bordures, Buis d'Artois, Buis de Hollande, 

 petit Buis, Fr. ; zwerch Buchsbaum, Ger. 

 Dwarf. Leaves small, obovate. This is the 

 kind usually cultivated for edgings in Eu- 

 ropean gardens. 



ifc B. s. 4 myrtifoBa Lam. Encyc. Dwarf. Leaves 

 small, oblong, narrowish. A pretty little plant ; 

 generally quite low, but, under favourable cir- 

 cumstances, growing to a considerable size. 



B. s. suffruticosa. 



In a wild state, the box seldom exceeds the height of 12 or 15 feet in Bri- 

 tain ; but in Turkey and Asia Minor trees of it have been found as high as 

 25 ft. The thickness of the trunk is very considerable in proportion to its 

 height, and, in full-grown trees, varies from 6 in. to 8 in. in diameter. The tree 

 will bear the knife patiently, and is therefore, and from the closeness of its 

 habit of growth, well adapted for clipped hedges, and all kinds of verdant ar- 

 chitecture and statuary. It grows slowly, rarely making shoots of more than 

 6 or 8 inches annually. But the tree is of great longevity ; and so hardy, 

 that it is almost the only evergreen, exclusive of the Conifers, that will stand 

 in the open air, without protection, in the gardens of Paris, Berlin, and Vi- 

 enna. The wood of the box is remarkably heavy ; weighing, when newly cut, 

 80 Ib. 7 oz. per cubic foot, and, when perfectly dry, 68 Ib. 12 oz. and 7 gr. It 

 is the only European wood that will sink in water : it is yellow, very hard, 

 and susceptible of a fine polish. The wood was formerly much used in Eng- 

 land in cabinet-making and inlaying, as it still is in France ; and, also, in both 

 countries, for musical and mathematical instruments, combs, and various arti- 

 cles of turnery. The principal use of the boxwood, however, at present, is for 

 wood-engraving ; and for this purpose it is an important article of commerce. 

 The different kinds of box tree are propagated by seeds, cuttings, and layers. 

 When the seeds are to be sown, they should be gathered the moment the cap- 

 sules appear ready to open, and sown immediately in light rich earth, well 

 drained. Cuttings of from 4 in. to 6 in. in length should be put in, in autumn, 

 in a sandy soil, and a shaded situation, and in a year they will be fit to trans- 

 plant into nursery lines. Layers may be made either in the spring or autumn, 

 and either of the young or old wood. The dwarf box used for edgings is 

 propagated by being taken up, divided, and 

 replanted. Box edgings are best planted 

 early in spring, because the frost in winter 

 is apt to destroy those leaves which have 

 been cut in trimming the plants. Box 

 edgings and hedges may be clipped at al- 

 most any season, except midwinter. Some 

 gardeners prefer trimming box edgings in 

 June, just when the plants have nearly 

 completed their year's shoots ; because they 1377 . B . sempet ^ ttm . 



will afterwards make shoots of in. or 1 in. 



in length, or, at all events, protrude a few leaves, and thus, in a week or two, 

 conceal all appearance of the use of the shears. When this practice is 

 followed, it is necessary to go over the edgings or hedges in July, in order to 

 cut neatly off with the knife any shoots that may have been protruded too far ; 

 taking care not to cut the leaves. 



1 2. B. BALEA'RICA Willd. The Balearic Box. 



Identification. Willd. Arb., 50., Sp. PI., 4. p. 337. ; ? Lam. Encyc., 1. p. 505. 



Synonymes. B. s. var. gigantea N. Du Ham. 1. p. 82. ; Minorca Box ; Buis de Minorque, Buis de 



Mahon, Fr. ; Balearischer Buchsbaum, Ger. ; Bossolo gentile, Ital. 

 Engravings. N. Du Ham., pi. 23. f. 1. ; and our Jigs. 1378. and 1379. 



