140 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 



tree, the former being rather inconspicuous, while the latter 

 are oval catkins one and a half inches long. These appear 

 in March or April, and are succeeded by a globular fruit 

 bristling with points, suspended by a slender pedicel one to 

 two inches long, and containing one or two small, blackish, 

 perfect seeds. The leaves change to a deep red, or almost an 

 orange scarlet, immediately after the first frosts, and keep 

 their brilliant color for some time. 



As the tree is so extensively distributed, so it is found in 

 all varieties of soil, from the dry and gravelly heights of the 

 north, to the deep river bottoms of the south and west. On the 

 unpropitious soils it usually does not grow more than twenty 

 or thirty feet high, but in favorable localities it attains its 

 amplest dimensions. Michaux measured a tree which he 

 found growing in a swamp in Augusta, Ga., that was fifteen 

 feet in circumference, with a summit in proportion to the 

 size of the trunk. The tree takes its name from a gummy 

 or viscous substance, which exudes from the leaves, and the 

 latter, when burned, emitting an aromatic and most agree- 

 able odor. 



The Sweet Gum was first discovered by Francis Hernan- 

 dez, a Spanish naturalist, sent to Mexico about 1650. Shortly 

 after, Bannister, a nursery collector sent out by Bishop 

 Compton, discovered the tree in North America, and sent 

 hom.e, in 1681, a plant of it to the bishop, when it was 

 planted in the palace gardens at Fulham. The largest tree 

 in England, according to Loudon, in 1838, was at Woburn 

 farm, 60 feet high. The average height of trees, ten years 

 planted in Great Britain, is fifteen feet. 



, The Sweet Gum prefers a deep, rather moist soil, and will 

 not attain its largest dimensions unless in a somewhat shel- 

 tered situation. It is not a tree to plant in poor soils and 

 exposed places, but should be grouped \vith other trees 

 which serve to protect and encourage its growth. It is raised 

 from seeds in a similar way to those of the pines; that is, 

 the seeds should be sown in boxes soon after gathering, and 

 protected in frames during winter, or they may be planted in 

 beds in the open ground ; they do not always come up the 



