No. 9. 



The Locust. 



279 



the other, after becoming fat, would crack 

 out the kernel or heart, and throw away the 

 balance of the grain. I pretend not to give 

 the reason for this; that I leave to you, but 

 I know the practical fact well enough to de- 

 termine me hereafter always to grind my 

 corn, and boil the meal with which to fatten 

 my hogs. M. 



Eatonton, Ga., January, 1848. 



The Locust. 



The common lf)cust naturally abounds in 

 the country west of the Alieghanies, as far 

 as Arkansas. It is also plentit\il in the Ca- 

 nadas, but is not found indigenous in the 

 United States east of the river Delaware, 

 nor does it grow spontaneously in the mari- 

 time parts of the middle and southern States, 

 within the distance of fifty to one hundred 

 miles from the sea. It is planted, however, 

 for pur|)oses of utility and ornament, from 

 Maine to Georgia. It was observed by Mi- 

 chaux, tiiat " the locust forms a much smaller 

 portion of the American forests than the oaks 

 and walnuts, and that it is nowhere found 

 occupying tracts, even of a few acres exclu- 

 sively." Hence the tree, where it is met 

 with, is often spared by settlers, as being 

 ornamental, and comparatively rare, and old 

 specimens, which formerly belonged to the 

 aboriginal forests, are frequently seen grow- 

 ing in the midst of cultivated fields. 



Of all American trees that have been cul- 

 tivated in Europe, there is no one, of which 

 so much has been said and done, as the lo- 

 cust. It was among the first plants that 

 w^ere carried to that country, and it has been 

 more extensively propagated than any other, 

 both in Britain and in France, where it has 

 been alternately extolled and neglected ; and 

 even at the present day, though the beauty 

 of its foliage and flowers is universally ad- 

 mired, and the valuable properties of its wood 

 have enthusiastically been praised and ac- 

 knowledged, it is not considered as holding 

 a high rank as a timber-tree, or as being 

 generally planted witii a view to profit. 



In Dr. Hunter's edition of Evelyn's "Syl 

 va," published in 1786, we have a history of 

 the employment of the locust in ship-build- 

 ing, communicated by Mr. Joseph Harrison. 

 This gentleman, who had resided some time 

 in Virginia, states that in "about the year 

 1733, the first experiment was made respect- 

 ing the application of the locust tree to any 

 purpose in sliip-building, by an ingenious 

 shipwright, sent over to America by some 

 Liverpool merchants, to build two ships 

 there. The shipwright thought that the 

 oaks, elms, ashes, and many other timber- 

 trees common to both countries, were much 



inferior to the same sorts in England ; but 

 frequently spoke of the locust-tree as being 

 of extraordinary qualities, both in strength 

 and duration. He had observed some very 

 old timber in houses in New England, that 

 had been built of the wood of this tree, when 

 tiie country was first settled, perfectly firm 

 and sound; and, after having completed his 

 engagement for his employers, he began to 

 build a small vessel for himself; when, being 

 at a loss for a sufficient quantity of iron, and 

 having observed the extraordinary strength 

 and firmness of the locust tree, he took it 

 into his head that trenails, or tree-nails, that 

 is, wooden pins, of that timber, might be sub- 

 stituted for iron bolts in many places where 

 they would be least liable to wrench or twist, 

 (as in fastening the floor timbers to the keel, 

 and the knees to the ends of the beams, which 

 two articles take up a large proportion of the 

 iron used in a ship,) purposing, when he ar- 

 rived in England, to bore out the locust tre- 

 nails, and drive in iron bolts in their stead. 

 The ship, being finished and loaded, sailed 

 for Liverpool, and returned back to Virginia 

 the next year; the builder himself being the 

 captain of her, paid particular attention to 

 see the effect of the locust trenails. After 

 the strictest examination, he found that they 

 effectually answered the purpose intended. 

 It was, however, thought prudent to take 

 several of them out, and to put in iron bolts 

 in their room ; and this operation afforded 

 another proof of their extraordinary strength 

 and firmness, as they required to be driven 

 out with what is technically called, a set 

 bolt, (an iron punch,) just as if they had been 

 made of iron ; whereas oak trenails are 

 usually bored out with an auger." The use 

 of the locust for trenails was neglected for 

 some years, till it was revived at the instance 

 of Mr. Harrison, by a ship-builder of emi- 

 nence, at New York, where, as in other 

 parts of the United States, as well as in 

 Great Britain, it has been in general use ever 

 since. 



In the year 1823, an extraordinary excite- 

 ment was produced in England concerning 

 this tree, by William Cobbett, who resided 

 in America from 1817 to 1819, and chiefly 

 occupied himself in farming and gardening, 

 on Long Island, near New York ; and during 

 that period, as he tells us in his " Wood- 

 lands," published in 1825 to 1828, that he 

 was convinced that nothing in the timber 

 way could be of so great a benefit as the 

 general cultivation of this tree. "Thus 

 thinking," continues he, " I brought home a 

 parcel of the seeds with me in 1819, but I 

 had no means of sowing it till 1823. I then 

 began sowing it, but upon a very small scale. 

 I sold the plants; and since that time I have 



