NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



ifii 



For the Xew England Farmer. 



THE CULTIVATION OF NATIVE TREES 



AND SHRUBS. 



[Continued from p. 141.] 



The ^lagnolias are beautiful trees and shrubs ; the 

 M. glnuca is the only one as yet discovered growing 

 naturally in Massachusetts. 



The 3/. acuminata, or Cucumber-tree, with flowers 

 five or six inches across, with its scarlet seeds de- 

 pending from its cylindi-ical fruit, can be cultivated 

 in the latitude of Boston in sheltered situations. — 

 The M. (turiciilata, or IjOng-loaved Cucumber-tree, 

 ■with its beautiful foliage, large and fragrant flowers, 

 attains the height of forty or fifty feet. The M. 

 tripetala, or Umbrella-tree, rises to the height of 

 thirty or forty feet, with leaves six inches in diam- 

 eter, and twenty inches in length, growing in a 

 spreading form, from the extremity of its shoots, 

 fancifully resembling an open umbrella ; hence its 

 name. The flowers open the last of May, and some 

 of them are eight inches in diameter. The beautiful 

 rose-colored seeds burst the cells of its conical fruit, 

 and hang suspended, for a few days, by their slender 

 filaments. We have cultivated the Umbrella-tree 

 for several years, and find it perfectly hardy ; and it 

 would probably succeed farther north. It flourishes 

 best in a sheltered garden, when growing with ever- 

 green trees, and has a fine tropical appearance. 



The Sassafras is a tree of the second class, rarely 

 reaching thirty feet in height, although we have sev- 

 eral trees in Dauvers with a trunk measuring four 

 feet in circumference, and a height of forty feet. It 

 belongs to the Cinnamon family of plants, and the 

 only genera found in Massachusetts are the Sassafras 

 and Fcverbush. In the early history of New Eng- 

 land, it formed an important article of export, and 

 ships were sent home to England laden with dried 

 codfish and sassafras. This tree has long been cel- 

 ebrated for its medicinal properties. Michaux con- 

 sidered it one of the most interesting trees of the 

 American forest. It is easily cultivated in almost 

 every variety of soil. 



The Coffee-tree is distinguished for its fine appear- 

 ance when clothed with its foliage, and for its dead 

 and lifeless appearance when deprived of it. It has 

 not as yet been found in Massachusetts, althougli it 

 is seen as far north as Canada. The fruit consists of 

 crooked pods, containing largo seeds, used, in the 

 early settlement of Kentucky, as a substitute for 

 coffee, from whence it derived its name. We have 

 found it sufficiently hardy to endure the severity of 

 our winters. 



The American Judas-tree, sometimes called the 

 Red Bud, is an early flowering, small tree, and de- 

 serves a place in a large garden ; it is conspicuous 

 for its large heart-shaped leaves, and its handsome 

 rose-colored flowers, which appear in bunches along 

 its branches before the appearance of the leaves. It 

 received the appellation of Judas-tree from the sup- 

 position that it was the one on which the traitor hung 

 himself; but Gcnard, an old English botanist, says 

 that it was the Elder on which Judas committed 

 suicide ! 



The American Aspen is a small, graceful tree, with 

 many poetical associations connected Avith it, and is 

 proverbial for the quivering motion of it-s leaves. Its 

 cultivation is desirable near dwelling-houses, from its 

 neat appearance, and the pleasing rustling noise 

 of its leaves when gently agitated by the summer 

 breeze. 



The River Poplar is found in this state, and is said 

 by Mr. Emerson, in his work on the trees and slirubs 

 of Massachusetts, to be u noble tree, rising often to 

 the height of eighty feet or more, with a fine, long, 



Open head. The River Poplar, he continues, de- 

 serves to be cultivated as an ornamental tree. It is 

 much the tallest and most graceful of tl'oso which 

 grow naturallj' in Now England. Its foliage is equal 

 to those of the Balm of Gilead in size, and superior 

 to it in depth of color ; and the abundant'e of its 

 ornaments in spring, and the rich colors of its leaf- 

 stocks and young branches when growing in some- 

 what dry .situations, make it a beautiful ol)ject. By 

 selecting cuttings fVom the sterile tree, tl\e evil com- 

 plained of in the cotton of the Balm of Gilead will 

 be avoided ; and the tree is of equally rapid growth, 

 and taller and more shapely. It has been exten- 

 sively introduced in England and France, where it is 

 valued for its beauty and for its wood. Loudon says, 

 that the fine poplar avenues in the lower part of the 

 garden of Versailles are of this species. In Eng- 

 land it is called the Canada Poplar ; in France, Cot- 

 ton-wood. This tree occurs on the banks of the 

 Connecticut, above and below Springfield ; on the 

 Chicopee, at Chicopee Falls ; and in various places 

 on the Agawam or Westfield River. 



The American Mountain Ash is abundantly found 

 on the mountains of Massachusetts. It resembles 

 the European Mountain Ash, but is .smaller. The 

 last-mentioned tree, in consequence of its larger size, 

 is the one usually cultivated as an ornamental tree. 



The Thorns are beautiful, rouiul-headed, small 

 trees, which deserve more attention than they 

 usually receive. Four species are found in Mas- 

 sachusetts. 



The American Larch, or Hackmatack, is occasion- 

 ally cultivated as an ornamental tree ; the European 

 Larch, however, has very generally taken its place in 

 cultivation. 



The American Hornbeam is a small, round-headed 

 tree, very widely disseminated, being found in all the 

 states of the Union. It is one of those trees that 

 seldom fail to attract the notice of the most careless 

 observer. Its trunk is grooved like a pillar, its leaves 

 are very thin and delicate, and its fruit is an eight- 

 sided nut. It is very distinct in its ap]<earancc, 

 usually found growing by itself, with many branches, 

 and a crowded, leafy head. Mr. Emerson says, the 

 crimson, scarlet, and oiange of its autumnal colors, 

 mingling into a ricli purplish-red, as seen at a dis- 

 tance, make it rank in splendor almost with the 

 Tujjelo, and the Scarlet oak. It is easily cultivated, 

 and should have a corner in every collection of trees. 

 The I'hiropean Hornbeam is used in EngKand for 

 hedges ; ours, which it very much resembles, would 

 probably answer for the same purpose. 



S. P. FOWLER. 



Danveius New Mills, Dec. 6, 1850. 

 [to be continued.] 



For the Xeto England Farmer. 



FOOD OF PLANTS. 



Mk. Editor : An adequate sujiply of proper food 

 is essential to the >:;rowth and full development of 

 every species of plants in the vegetable kingdom. 

 Some subsist on air almost entirely, and will live and 

 grow suspended in that element. Others thrive by 

 being immersed in water, or they float about on its 

 surface ; even rooks and the trunks of trees are cov- 

 ered with luxuriant crops of mosses or lichens ; but 

 a large portion of vegetables reciuire that their roots 

 should be fixed in the earth, from which is extracted 

 various substances stuted to the wants of each jiar- 

 ticular species, and which stibstanccs they are found 

 to contain on chemical analysis. In forests, where 

 nearly all is returned to the soil by fallen leaves and 

 decaying trees, a constant state of fertiUty is kept 



