CHAP. III. MAGNOL/./Y/i.//:. I.I UIODE'NDIION. 289 



in the alluvial plains on the margins of rivers, and on the borders of swamps. 

 Like almost all other trees, however, it will grow on soils of different descrip- 

 tions, and have its timber and other properties more or less affected by the cir- 

 cumstances in which it is placed. In deep rich soil, the wood is yellow and 

 heavy ; in dry gravelly soil, on an elevated situation, it is white, light, coar.M-, 

 hard, and decays more readily than the wood which has grown on rich soil. 

 According to l)u Hamel, it neither thrives in France on a dry and gravelly 

 soil, nor on one with the subsoil of clay or marl. The most rapid-growing 

 young tulip trees which we have heard of in England were planted in a deep 

 sandy loam, in a rather moist climate, in the West Riding of Yorkshire; and 

 the progress of these has been at the rate of 16ft. in 10 years, from the seed. 

 (See (r a rd. Mag. y vol. xi. p. 250.) The situation most favourable for the tulip 

 tree is one which, while it is sheltered from high winds, is, at the same time, 

 sufficiently exposed to the light and air to admit of the maturation of its leaves 

 on every side, and the perfect ripening of its wood, without which it can 

 neither resist the severe frosts of winter, nor form blossom-buds. If it were 

 desired to grow the tree for the purpose of forming straight clean timber, it 

 ought to be placed in a close plantation, where one plant would draw up 

 another. 



Propagation and Culture. The species is seldom, if ever, propagated other- 

 wise than by seeds, which come uo best in heath soil, very fine mould, or sandy 

 loam, in a shady situation, kept rather moist ; but the varieties are, of course, 

 multiplied by layers, budding, grafting, or inarching. When the seeds are sown 

 in autumn, they generally come up the following spring ; but, sown in spring 

 or the beginning of summer, they generally remain a year in the ground. For- 

 merly, nurserymen used to raise them on heat ; by which means spring-sown 

 seeds came up the succeeding summer. In France, and, occasionally, in Eng- 

 land, the obtuse-lobed variety is raised by layers or inarching ; but, in either 

 case, it requires two or three years before the plants can be separated from the 

 parent stock. The tulip tree, like the magnolias, having roots furnished with 

 but few fibres, does not transplant readily ; and, therefore, the plants ought 

 either to be kept in pots, or, if in the free ground, transplanted in the nursery 

 every year ; or, if neither of these modes be practicable, removed to their final 

 situation, when not more than two, or at most three, years old. The tree is, 

 like the magnolias, not very patient of the knife, either in a young or in an 

 old state ; and, from the bitter qualities of the leaves, it does not seem to 

 be much attacked by insects. 



(Geographical Statistic*. Liriodendron Tidipifcra in the Environs of London. 

 The largest tulip tree that we have seen in the neighbourhood of London is at 

 S\ on, where, in about 70 years, it has attained the height of 76 ft. The trunk, 

 at 1 ft. from the ground, measures 2 ft. 6 in. in diameter; and the diameter of 

 the space covered by the branches is 46ft. (See the plate of this tree in 

 our Vol. II.) The next largest tree is at Mount Grove, Hampstead, the resi- 

 dence of T. X. Longman, Esq., 80 years planted, 70 ft. high, the diameter of the 

 trunk is 3 ft. 10 in., and that of the head 49 ft. The oldest tree, estimated at 

 150 years, is at Fulham Palace : it is 55 ft. high ; the trunk, at 1 ft. from the 

 ground, is 3 ft. in diameter ; and the head, which is in a decaying state, is 25 ft, 

 in diameter. In the arboretum at Kew, there is a tree 60 years planted, which 

 is 70 ft. high ; the diameter of the trunk is 2 ft. 8 in. ; and that of the space 

 covered by the branches is 35 ft. All these trees flower freely every year, and, 

 in fine seasons, ripen some seeds. 



Liriodendron Tidipifcra South of London. The dimensions of a great number 

 of specimens have been sent us, from which we select the following, partly to 

 show the rate of growth, and partly to show the ultimate magnitude. In 

 Berkshire, at High Clcre, 14 years 'planted and 28 ft. high, in an exposed 

 situation, 500ft. above the level of the sea. In Cornwall^ at Port Elliot, 80 

 years planted and 00 ft. high ; and at ( 'art-lew, 40 years planted and 60 ft. high. 

 In Devonshire, at Killcrton, 70 years planted and 63 ft. high ; and in the Kil- 

 lerton Nursery, 22 years planted and 37 ft. 6 in. high ; at Luscombe, 2 1 years 



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