ACACIA TREE. 



ACACIA TREE. 



In France the Acacia tree appears to have 

 been more generally diffused throughout the 

 country than [in England] ; for it does not only 

 ornament their gardens, and shade their public 

 walks, but the sprightly foliage of this beauti- 

 ful tree shines through their woods and forests 

 in every direction ; so much so that it might 

 be taken for an indigenous inhabitant of the 

 soil. 



In one of the Memoirs by the Agricultural 

 Society at Paris, the properties of this tree are 

 very highly extolled. Its shade, it is said, en- 

 courages the growth of grass. Its roots are 

 so tenacious of the soil, and shoot up such 

 groves of suckers, that when planted on the 

 banks of rivers it contributes exceedingly to 

 fix them as barriers to check the incursions 

 of the stream. Acacia stakes, too, are more 

 durable than any other known wood. 



The choicest pieces only of the best oak 

 timber are applied to the purpose of trenail- 

 making in ship-Building; and, as the Sussex 

 oaks are generally reckoned the best, most 

 shipwrights, even in the north, have them from 

 thence, and the demand for them is so great, 

 that trenail-making is there become a very 

 considerable manufacture. If it be proved 

 that the Acacia tree is equal to our best oak 

 for this important purpose in our naval archi- 

 tecture, then do we strongly^- recommend (and 

 we write practically) to every landed proprie- 

 tor to plant the Acacia as a forest tree, more 

 especially as it will grow upon almost any 

 description of soil, but more particularly upon 

 sandy or gravelly shallow soils, where the oak 

 does not thrive. 



In forty years the Acacia tree will grow 

 sixty feet high, and will girth six feet, three 

 feet from the ground; and, although brittle 

 in a young state, the characteristics of the 

 timber of a grown tree are toughness and 

 elasticity. 



As a durable timber, it has been proved that 

 nothing can exceed the Acacia wood, when of 

 proper age. But there is one important use to 

 which these trees may be applied, which has 

 hitherto escaped the notice of the planter, 

 namely, hedges. From its rapidity of growth 

 it forms a fence capable of resistance in one- 

 fourth of the time of any other plant hitherto 

 used for that purpose. Had we to fence in a 

 whole estate, we should, 'in preference to all 

 others, plant Acacias. They bear clipping, 

 and may be raised to twenty or thirty feet high, 

 if required, and are so strong that no animal 

 can force through them. The only instance 

 of an Acacia hedge we know of, on the conti- 

 nent of Europe, is to be seen round part of the 

 boulevard of the city of Louvain. Plants for 

 this purpose should be taken from the nursery 

 lines four feet high. At every point where the 

 stems cross one another, a natural union or 

 grafting takes place, and, as the stems in- 

 crease in size, the spaces between will gradu- 

 ally decrease ; so that in the course of a few 

 ye*ts the fence becomes a complete wooden 

 wat not occupying a space more than twelve 

 or fifteen inches, forming a barrier that no 

 animal can force. Fences of this description 

 may either be made on the level ground, or 

 concealed from the distant view. 

 1C 



It is difficult to account for the name com- 

 monly given to this tree by the Americans, 

 namely, Locust tree; for the Locust tree 

 (Hymenaea Courbaril) is a native of South 

 America. 



In the arboretum of the gardens of the Hor- 

 ticultural Society of London, there is a proof, 

 perhaps the very best proof that this country 

 affords, of the great rapidity of growth, and 

 also the beauty of this truly interesting and 

 highly valuable tree. About twelve years ago, 

 this aboretum was planted for the express pur- 

 pose of introducing the trees of all countries 

 the research of enterprising men. The Acacia 

 was planted with the other individuals of this 

 very splendid collection, and the result has 

 been, that the Acacia has made greater pro- 

 gress than any of the oaks, the ash, the 

 elm, the maple, or, indeed, any of the hard- 

 wooded timber trees within the wall of the 

 gardens. 



The Acacia trees, in their rapidity of growth, 

 are exceeded only by a few of the poplar and 

 willow tribes. 



There is a singular character about the 

 suckers of this tree. They are rarely seen to 

 appear on the lawn, but in the shrubbery fre- 

 quently. They rise singly, not like the elm, 

 and other trees, in thick masses, choking one 

 another, but they start out of the ground at 

 once, with all the boldness and vigour of a 

 healthy shoot from a powerful stool ; and in a 

 sheltered situation will grow, the same year, 

 from twelve to fifteen feet long from the 

 ground ; and it is the more remarkable, that 

 these suckers grow in this vigorous way 

 immediately under the shade of the parent, 

 and other large trees. What is also very 

 singular, so strongly are they attached to 

 the root below the ground, at the insertion, 

 that they are very rarely from accident dis- 

 placed. 



Mr. William Lindsey mentions a very strik- 

 ing instance of the astonishing rapidity of the 

 growth of this tree. He observed a strong 

 shoot make its appearance in one of the woods 

 at Chiswick, and he had the curiosity to see 

 what would be the result by applying a stake 

 to this sucker for protection. By the end of 

 the season, it was twenty {jpet high, and mea- 

 sured three inches in circumference. When 

 the full-grown old Acacia trees are felled, the 

 following year hundreds of suckers will start 

 up from the roots in all directions, and grow 

 as freely as if a fresh plantation had been 

 carefully made. So that, on the score of 

 economy, we know of no tree that can be 

 planted equal to the Acacia. As an under- 

 wood, it far exceeds any other tree in produce; 

 and for stakes, arbour-poles, hop-poles, and 

 for pale-fencing, there is no wood equal to the 

 Acacia. In America, the use of the Acacia 

 has been confined to trenails of ships, in con- 



j sequence of its scarcity. But were it, either 

 in that or this country, as plentiful as oak, it 

 would be applied for more purposes in naval 



I architecture, such as knees, floor-timbers, and 



I foot-hooks, being far superior to oak for its 

 strength and duration; and from the tree ar- 

 riving much sooner at perfection, and spread- 



I ing into so many branciu-s, it a/I', nl.s full as 



