592 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



colour is a sort of greenish black. It is in much demand among turners and 

 cabinet-makers ; and Sang observes, in 1820, that it was the most valuable and 

 the highest-priced timber that was grown at that time in Scotland. There was, 

 he says, " a considerable quantity of it sold at Brechin Castle and Panmure, in 

 November, 1809, by public sale, at half a guinea a foot. It was all bought by 

 cabinetmakers, who were as anxious to get the small and middle-sized trees 

 as they were to have the large ones." {Plant. Kal., p. 91.) The variety which 

 produced the timber referred to by Mr. Sang was the C. (/-/.) alpinus, there 

 called the tree laburnum. The ordinary use of the wood in the north of Scot- 

 land, as we have already observed (p. 497.), is to form alternate staves with the 

 wood of the holly, or the spindle tree, in making small noggins, or bickers ; but 

 it is also used for the bowls of punch-ladles; for flutes, and other musical instru- 

 ments ; for knife handles, pegs, and wedges ; and for pulleys and blocks : and, in 

 France, Switzerland, and Germany, it is much employed by the cabinet-makers, 

 turners, and toy-makers ; also for musical instruments, handles to knives, 

 snuffboxes, poles for sedan chairs, and oars : and the young trees split up, 

 make excellent hoops. Mr. Boutcher tells us that he has seen in Scotland 

 a large table, and a dozen of chairs, " that were considered by judges of ele- 

 gant furniture to be the finest they had ever seen," having been made from 

 trees of the laburnum, grown in Scotland, which were a yard in girt, at 6 ft. 

 from the ground. At present, the art of imitating every kind of wood by 

 staining is brought to so high a degree of perfection, that the value of all 

 coloured woods, as far as mere colour is concerned, is very much less than 

 what it was formerly. 



In Plantations, the laburnum is valuable on some soils, and in some situa- 

 tions, as a shelter for other trees : a quantity are said to have been planted 

 near Amesbury, in Wiltshire, where the situation is very much exposed, and 

 the soil so shallow, that few trees will grow there ; yet in this place the 

 young laburnums attained the height of 12 ft. in 4 years after planting, and 

 became a shelter to other trees. Hares and rabbits being remarkably fond of 

 the bark of the laburnum, it has been suggested to sow laburnum seeds, in 

 order to produce an undergrowth in plantations liable to be infested with 

 these animals; for, though the plants are eaten to the ground every winter, 

 yet they will spring up again the next season, and thus yield a regular supply 

 of winter's food for these kinds of game. Miller recommends planting the 

 laburnum thick, for the purpose of drawing up the plants tall and straight 

 for hop-poles, which are said, when formed of laburnum, to be more durable 

 than those of almost any other kind of wood. Sang observes that the labur- 

 num, planted together in masses or groves, attains a timber-like size in a 

 short time, and, if properly pruned, has a straight clean trunk. Medicinally, 

 the whole tree is very bitter, and acts both as an aperient and an emetic. The 

 seeds, in a green state, are very violent in their action, and are justly esteemed 

 poisonous. There are various instances of children having died from eating 

 them. 



As an ornamental tree, the laburnum has few rivals. The shape of the 

 head is irregular and picturesque ; its foliage is of a smooth, shining, and beau- 

 tiful green ; and, what is a great recommendation to every ornamental plant, 

 it is not liable to be preyed on by insects. It produces a profusion of blos- 

 soms, which, in the C. Z/aburnum, begin to appear in the first week in May, 

 and in the C. (L.) alpinus continue till the first week in July. The purple 

 and white lilac, the Judas tree, the perfumed cherry, the Guelder rose, the 

 birdcherry, the white and the scarlet hawthorn, and the Pyrus coronaria, which 

 blossom about the same period, form fine compositions in connexion with 

 the laburnum. In the north of Germany, and in the Highlands of Scotland, 

 the C. .Laburnum forms a most ornamental tree when trained against a wall. 

 In Italy, the mountains are so richly adorned with the flowers of the laburnum 

 in the month of May, as to obtain for it the name of Maggio, in the same 

 way as we give the name of May to the hawthorn. 



Soil and Situation. Though the laburnum will grow in a very indifferent 

 soil, it requires a deep fertile sandy loam to attain a large size. In regard to 



