GUINEA PIG. 



HACKMATACK. 



cultivated. About ten years since, it was also I 

 introduced into the East Indies, where it is now | 

 successfully cultivated, and grows to the height j 

 of seven feet : it admits of being frequently j 

 cut, and makes excellent. hay. Cattle eat it, j 

 both in a fresh and dry state, with great avi- 

 dity: hence the culture of this valuable herb- 

 age has been strongly recommended to the 

 farmers of Cornwall and Devonshire. 



The following remarks on the culture of this 

 grass are by the late H. Lawrence, of South 

 Carolina. 



"In the last spring, I procured from Jamaica 

 three-half pints of Guinea grass seed, which I 

 planted in the drills of one-fourth part of an 

 acre of very indifferent land; the seed sprung 

 up and soon covered the ground with grass 

 four feet high and upwards. Being desirous 

 of saving as much seed as possible, I cut one 

 bundle of grass for horses : they ate it all with 

 great avidity. 



" In August I took one of the grass roots and 

 divided it into 28 parts, which were immediately 

 replanted : every part took root, and the whole 

 are now growing very finely and seeding. I 

 am of opinion this grass will make the best 

 pasture we can wish for. From former expe- 

 rience I have reason to believe the Guinea 

 grass is perennial. It is easily managed, re- 

 quires but one good hoeing, after which it will 

 takes care of itself. 



"I am informed a gentleman near Kingston, 

 in Jamaica, makes upwards of 1000/. sterling 

 per annum by Guinea grass hay." (Domestic 

 Ency clopaedia . ) 



GUINEA PIG (Covia cobaya). This curious 

 little animal is not a native of Guinea, but of 

 Brazil, whence it has been imported into Eu- 

 rope. It is about seven inches in length, and 

 its white body is variegated with irregular 

 black and orange-coloured spots. In their 

 wild state these animals multiply prodigiously, 

 and would become innumerable, if they were 

 capable of sustaining cold and moisture. The 

 female breeds at two months old, and brings 

 forth 10, 12, or 14 young ones, several times in 

 the course of the year, after a gestation of three 

 weeks. Guinea pigs feed on all kinds of herbs, 

 but are particularly fond of parsley, as also 

 of apples and other fruits. 



GULLION. A provincial name for gripes 

 in horses. See GRIPES. 



GUM, BLACK. See BLACK GUM. 



GYPSUM. See PLASTER OF PARIS. 



H. 



HACK, or HACKNEY. In horsemanship, 

 a general term for a road hor.e, which does not 

 always convey any sense of inferiority, or re- 

 fer to horses let out for hire. It is, however, 

 often used in that sense. 



HACKBERRY. The banks of the Delaware 

 above Philadelphia may be considered as the 

 north-eastern limit of the hackberry. East of 

 the mountains it is restricted within narrow 

 boundaries, and it is a stranger to the lower 

 part of Virginia, and to the more Southern 

 States : I have found it abundant, says Michaux, 

 only on the banks of the Susquehanna and of 



the Potomac, particularly on the Susquehanna 

 near Columbia and Harrisburg. It is profusely 

 multiplied, on the contrary, in the western, 

 country in all the valleys that stretch along the 

 rivers, and wherever the soil is fertile, through- 

 out Kentucky and Tennessee. On the Ohio, 

 from Pittsburgh to Marietta, it is called hoop- 

 ash, and in Kentucky, hackberry ; a name 

 whose origin I am unable to trace. 



This is one of the finest trees that compose 

 the dusky forests on this part of the Ohio. It 

 associates with the buttonwood, black walnut, 

 butternut, basswood, black sugar-maple, elm, 

 and su-eet locust, which it equals in stature 

 but not in bulk, being sometimes more than, 

 80 feet high, with a disproportionate diameter 

 of 18 or 20 inches. 



The hackberry is easily distinguished by the 

 form of its trunk, which is straight and undi- 

 vided to a great height, and by its bark, which 

 is grayish, unbroken, and covered with aspe- 

 rities unequally distributed over its surface. 

 Its leaves are larger than those of any other 

 species of nettle tree, being 6 inches long and 

 3 or 4 inches broad. They are oval-acuminate, 

 denticulated, cordiform at the base, of a thick, 

 substantial texture, and of a rude surface. 

 The flowers are small, white, and often united 

 in pairs on a common peduncle. The fruit is 

 round, about as large as a pea, and black at its 

 maturity. The wood is fine-grained and com- 

 pact, but not heavy, and when freshly exposed 

 it is perfectly while : sawn in a direction pa- 

 rallel or oblique to its concentrical circles, it 

 exhibits the fine undulations that are observed 

 in the elm and the locust. On laying open the 

 sap of this tree in the spring, I have remarked, 

 without being able to account for the pheno- 

 menon, that it changes in a few minutes from 

 pure white to green. On the Ohio and in 

 Kentucky, where the best opportunity is af- 

 forded of appreciating this wood, it is little 

 esteemed on account of its weakness and its 

 speedy decay when exposed to the weather. It 

 is rejected by wheelwrights, but is sometimes 

 employed in building for the covering which 

 supports the shingles. As it is elastic and 

 easily divided, it is used for the bottom of com- 

 mon chairs, and by the Indians for baskets. 

 On the banks of the Ohio it is frequently 

 taken for the rails of rural fence, and is 

 wrought with the greatest ease, as it is straight- 

 grained and free from knots : it is said also to 

 afford excellent charcoal. 



The hackberry is certainly one of the most 

 beautiful trees of its genus, and one of the 

 most remarkable for height and for majesty 

 of form. In rich soils, the luxuriance of its 

 vegetation is shown by sprouts 6, 8, and 10 

 feet in length, garnished on each side with 

 large, substantial leaves. In France it is 

 principally esteemed for the rapidity of its 

 growth. (Am. Sylva.) 



HACKLE. A board set with sharp iron 

 spikes for combing or pulling out hemp and 

 flax. Also the name of an artificial fly used 

 by anglers. 



' HACKMATACK, or American larch (Larix 

 Americana). The European and American 

 larches,says Michaux, are more strictly confined 

 than any other resinous trees to the northern 



599 



