AKBOlUTt.M AM) 1 1( I'TK l-i'l'l .M . I'AHTIII. 



ainoiiu' masses of other trees, grew rapidly tor five or Mix \ears, tar ex ceo ling 

 in height the birch, the perfumed chern, tlie chestnut, the \e\\, and the com- 

 mon .sallow, planted with them, they disappeared entirely alter a certain number 

 of \ears ; the other trees mentioned having become more vigorous, ami choked 

 them. Locu.sts, not planted among masses of other trees, but by themselves, 

 in a single row, exposed to the air on every side, .succeed much better; 

 because it is found from experience that the\ require a great deal of light and 

 air for their leaves and branches, and a great deal of surface soil for their 

 widelv spreading creeping roots. M. Mallet had no better success in the 

 Forest of Mareuil, in the department of Vienne, where the soil is moist and 

 aquatic ; nor in the Forest of Chatellerault, where- it is drv ami sandy. M. 

 Baudrillart concludes by repeating what Michuux has stated ; vi/. that it is 

 onh in a favourable climate, and in a good soil, that the tree attains a great 

 si/e, even in its native country. In France, and particularlv in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Paris, the tree is seldom seen of a greater height than 50 ft. or 



00 ft. In Germany, the tree thrives in the middle states, attaining a consi- 

 derable height even at Berlin and Munich. In .Sweden ami Denmark, in 

 favourable situations, it seems to grow nearly a.-, high as it does in France. 



In America, the locust has been planted here and there about farm-houses, 

 and along fences ; and, since the forests were in a great measure destroyed in 

 the war of independence, many persons have cultivated the tree for its tim- 

 ber, and have supplied trenails, from the larger trees, to the shipwrights of 

 New York. These plantations seldom exceed the extent of ^0 or 30 acres in 

 one place, though several agricultural societies have offered premiums for their 

 encouragement. Though the locust tree, in its natural habitats, has never 

 been known to be attacked by any insect, vet, about the beginning of the 

 present century, the plantations of this tree in the United States were generally 

 attacked by a winged insect, which deposited its eims in the bark ; and the 

 caterpillars produced from them penetrated into the centre of the trunk of the 

 tree, mining it in every direction, so that the trunk became completely perfo- 

 rated, and was easil\ broken over bv the wind. In consequence of the discou- 

 ragement given by this circumstance to planting the locust in America, and the 

 constant consumption in that country of the timber afforded by the indigenous 

 trees, Michaux thinks that the time may come when the locust tree will be 

 more abundant in Europe than in America. This insect is probably the 

 (ossus robiniic ot Peck. (See Kirln/ and Spcnce's Introduction to Entomology t 

 vol. iii. p. 2:W.) It does not appear, that, in America, a rich soil injures the 

 tree, as has been alleged by Oov. Pownall (see p. 015 ) ; for Michaux says that, 

 where it attains the largest si/e, and produces the best timber, in Kentucky and 

 West Tennessee, the land, when cleared, will \ield from '.W to (JO bushels of 

 maize an acre, tor several years in succession, without manure. In America, 

 on the same land where the oak, the hickory, the beech, the chestnut, and 

 the elm attain a large si/e, the locust does not exceed 40 ft. or 45 ft. in height. 

 This speaks volumes against its value for general cultivation as a timber tree. 



/'/o/irrtirx ant/ I'xr.s. A cubic foot of locust wood, newly cut, weighs G3lb. 

 .'io/.; half-dry, 50 Ib. 4- ox. ; ami, when quite dry, only 1H Ib. 4 ox. According 

 to M. I lartig, its value for fuel, when compared with that of the beech, is as \2 

 to I 5. For duration, this author places it immediately after the oak, before the 

 larch and the Scotch pine. According to Barlow ( II '/////r.v'.v 7 /YY///.SV, p. ^50.), 

 the strength of acacia timber, as compared with fine English oak, is as I HOT to 

 \()1- J .; the strength of ash being as 20^0 ; beech, 1550; elm, lol.S; Higa fir, 



1 IMS ; Madeira larch, 1000 ; Norway spar (spruce fir), I4T4 5 and teak, "2462. 

 From some experiments made at Brest in IH->;>, and communicated by Dr. 

 Io\\rm:_' to Mr. Withers, the weight of acacia was found to be one sixth 

 greater than that of oak; its strength as 14^7 toH->(); ami its elasticity as 2 I 

 to ''. By experiments made in the \ard of the Koval Naval College, com- 

 municated to Mr. Withers bv Dr. limiau ( ' '/ /VVY//.SV, p. ^05.), it appears that 

 tin- lateral strength of the acacia in iv^tin^ fracture is greater than that of 

 the oak in tin proportion of I to 0-T5. From all these experiments, how- 



