544 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



THE HONEY, OB SWEET, LOCUST. 



The Honey Locust, Gledltscliia triacantlios, is I 

 common in New England, but flourishes best in 

 the Virginia valleys, or on the fertile bottoms | 

 which are watered by the streams emptying into] 

 the Mississippi river. We have seen it in great! 

 perfection and beauty growing on the banks ofi 

 the Potomac river, with the spurs or thorns ten 

 inches in length. Michaux measured several 

 stocks in Ohio, which were three or four feet in 

 diameter, and, which appeared to equal inheighti 

 the loftiest trees in the immemorial forests ofi 

 that State. Some of them had the trunk undi-l 

 vided for forty feet. This plant makes admira-j 

 ble hedges when properly trained, and endures j 

 the climate well. We have one which has been 

 growing ten years, and presents so many sharp 

 points that few animals would venture to pass 

 through it. We copy the engraving, by permis- 

 sion, from Warder's Hedges and Evergreens, 

 published by A. O. Moore, N. Y. | 



The sweet locust is easily known by its bark, 

 which, at intervals of a few inches, detaches it- 

 self laterally in plates three or four inches wide 

 and two or three lines thick, and by the form of 

 its trunk, which appears to be twisted, and which 

 presents three or four crevices of inconsiderable 

 depth, opening irregularly from the bottom to- 

 wards the top. The large thorns which cover the 

 branches, and frequently the trunk of youngi 

 trees, afford another very distinct cliaracteristic. 

 These thorns are sometimes several inches long, 

 ligneous, of a reddish color, and armed, at some' 



distance from the base, with two secondary 

 thorns, about half the size of the first. 



The leaves of the sweet locust are pinnated, 

 and composed of small oval, serrate, sessile leaf- 

 lets. This foliage is elegant, and of an agreea- 

 ble tint ; but it is thin, and scarcely obstructs 

 the passage of the sunbeams. It is shed annual- 

 ly at the approach of winter. 



The flowers are small, not very conspicuous, 

 and disposed in bunches. The fruit is in the 

 form of flat, crooked, pendulous pods, from 

 twelve to eighteen inches long, and of a reddish- 

 brown color. The pods contain brown, smooth 

 hard seeds, enveloped in a pulpy substance, 

 which, for a month after their maturity, is very 

 sweet, and which then becomes extremely sour. 



PEHUVIAN- GUANO. 



We find an article in the papers stating that 

 the importations of Peruvian guano have greatly 

 decreased. We are glad of it. Not because we 

 think the article is worthless in itself — but be- 

 cause we are satisfied that the extravagant pri- 

 ces demanded and paid for it, make it worthless 

 to the farmer. We are glad the importations are 

 falling off, because the prices fixed by the Peru- 

 vian government are exorbitant and unfair,, and 

 such as ought not to be submitted to, if there is 

 any way of preventing it ; if not, let us refuse to 

 purchase a single ton of it. It ought to be af- 

 forded in Boston for less than $40 a ton. The 

 American guano is a safe article, and is probably 



