ACACIA TREE. 



ACACIA TREE. 



large a proportion of crooks and compass- 

 timber as the oak tree. 



A cubic foot of Acacia, in a dry state, 

 weighs from forty-eight to fifty-three pounds' 

 weight. If we compare its toughness, in an 

 unseasoned state, with that of oak, it will not 

 be more than 8-100 less. Its stiffness is equal 

 to 99-100 of oak ; and its strength nearly 

 96-100 ; but, if it were properly seasoned, it 

 might, possibly, be found much superior to oak 

 in strength, toughness, and stiffness. A piece 

 of Acacia, unseasoned, two feet six inches 

 long, and an inch square in the vertical sec- 

 tion, broke when loaded with a weight of two 

 hundred and forty-seven pounds avoirdupois. 

 Its medium cohesive force is about 11-500 

 pounds. (Dictionary of Architecture.) 



We are not aware that this tree has added 

 in any shape to the list of medicines. The 

 Acacia of the shops was formerly made from 

 the unripe pods of the true Acacia tree ; but 

 of later years, the Acacia Germanica of the 

 shops is made from unripe sloes, and is pre- 

 ferred as an astringent medicine to the true 

 Acacia. 



The Acacia is easily propagated from seeds 

 or suckers. (Miller.) 



[The following highly interesting account of 

 this tree, and the mode of cultivating it in the 

 United States, is given by Dr. 8. Ackerly. 



"The cultivation of the locust tree, on Long 

 Island, and in other parts of the state of New 

 York, has been attended to with considerable 

 profit to the agricultural interest, but not with 

 that earnestness which the importance of the 

 subject demands. This may have arisen 

 from the difficulty of propagating it by trans- 

 planting, or not understanding how to raise it 

 from the seed. 



* * * 



" The locust is a tree of quick growth, the 

 wood of which is hard, durable, and princi- 

 pally used in ship-building. To a country situ- 

 ated like the United States, with an extensive 

 line of sea-coast, penetrated by numerous bays, 

 and giving rise to many great rivers, whose 

 banks are covered with forests of extraordi- 

 nary growth, whose soil is fertile, rich, and 

 variegated, and whose climate is agreeably di- 

 versified by a gradation of temperature; to 

 such a country, inhabited by an industrious 

 and enterprising people, commerce, both fo- 

 reign and domestic, must constitute one of the 

 principal employments. As long as the coun- 

 try possesses the necessary timber for ship- 

 building, and the other advantages which our 

 situation affords, the government will continue 

 to be formidable to all other powers. We have 

 within ourselves four materials necessary for 

 the completion of strong and durable naval 

 structures. These are the live-oak, locust, cedar, 

 and pinr, which can be abundantly supplied. 

 The former is best for the lower timbers of a 

 ship, while the locust and cedar form the upper 

 works of the frame. The pine supplies the 

 timber for decks, masts, and spars. A vessel 

 built of live-oak, locust, and cedar, will last 

 longer than if constructed of any other wood. 

 Naval architecture has arrived in this place 

 and other parts of the United States, to as great 

 perfection, perhaps, as in any other country on 



the globe. Our ' fir-built frigates' have been 

 compared with the British oak, and stood the 

 test ; and in sailing, nothing has equalled the 

 fleetness of some of our sharp vessels. The pre- 

 servation and cultivation of these necessary 

 articles in ship-building, is a matter of serious 

 consideration. It might not be amiss to sug- 

 gest to the Congress of the United States to 

 prohibit the exportation of them. The pine 

 forests appear almost inexhaustible, and they 

 will be so in all probability for many genera- 

 tions to come ; but the stately cedars of Mobile, 

 and the lofty forests of Georgia, where the live- 

 oak is of a sturdy growth, begin to disappear 

 before the axe of the woodsman. The locust, 

 a native of Virginia and Maryland, is in such 

 demand for foreign and domestic consumption, 

 that it is called for before it can attain its full 

 growth. It has been cultivated as far eastward 

 as Rhode Island, but begins to depreciate in 

 quality in that state. Insects attack it there, 

 which are not so plentifully found in this state, 

 or its native situations. These give the timber 

 a worm-eaten appearance, and render it less 

 useful. The locust has been extensively raised 

 in the southern parts of the state of New York, 

 but the call for it has been so great, that few 

 trees have attained any size before they were 

 wanted for use. Hence they are in great de- 

 mand, and of ready sale, and no ground can 

 be appropriated for any kind of timber with so 

 much advantage as locust. Besides its appli- 

 cation to ship-building, it is extensively used 

 for fencing ; and for posts, no timber will last 

 longer, in or out of the ground. On Long 

 Island, where wood is scarce and fencing tim- 

 ber in great demand, the locust becomes of 

 much local importance from this circumstance 

 alone, independent of its great consumption in 

 this city among the ship-builders. In naval 

 structures it is not exclusively applied to the 

 interior or frame. In many places where 

 strength is wanting, locust timber will bear a 

 strain which would break oak of the same 

 size. Thus an oak tiller has been known to 

 break near the head of the rudder in a gale of 

 wind, which has never happened with a locust 

 one. Tillers for large sea vessels are now 

 uniformly made of locust in New York. It is 

 the best timber also for pins or trenails 

 (commonly called trunnels), and preferable to 

 the best of oak. The tree generally grows 

 straight with few or no large limbs, and the 

 fibres of the wood are straight and parallel, 

 which makes it split well for making trenails, 

 with little or no loss of substance. These are 

 made in considerable quantities for exportation. 

 " The locust tree does not bear transplanting 

 well in this part of our country, but this in all 

 probability arises from the custom of cutting 

 off the roots, when taken up for that purpose. 

 Most of the roots of the locust are long, cylin- 

 drical, and run horizontally not far under the 

 surface. In transplanting, so few of the roots 

 are left to the body of the tree removed, that 

 little or no support is given to the top, and it 

 consequently dies. If care was taken not to 

 destroy so much of the roots, a much larger 

 proportion of those transplanted would live 

 and thrive. So great has been the difficulty in 

 raising the locust in this way, that another 

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