333 HORTICULTURAL MANUAL. 



318. The Honey Locust. As a park tree this is gaining 

 ground rapidly. The native species (Gleditschia triacan- 

 thos) was a favorite with A. J. Downing, who says of it : 

 " There is a peculiar elegance about its light-green and 

 beautiful foliage which wafts so gracefully in the summer 

 breeze, and folds up on the slightest shower, that it stands 

 far above the common locust for the embellishment of 

 scenery." 



It does not sprout like the black locust, and is more like 

 the acacias of California. It grows rapidly from the seeds 

 after scalding (6). 



319. The Birches. The most valuable of all the birches 

 for ornamental planting is the cut-leaved weeping variety, 

 classed by Bailey as a variety of Betula alba. If all the 

 varieties with pendent habit should be included as varia- 

 tions of Betula alba this would be correct. But for two 

 main reasons the writer is impressed with the belief that 

 it belongs to a distinct species. When at the Agricultural 

 College, near Moscow, Russia, in 1882, Professor Williams, 

 Professor Shroeder, and Dr. Arnold pointed out the 

 original tree of the cut-leaved weeping-birch, and stated 

 that it was a sport found among several hundred seedlings 

 of Betula Amurensis. A number of the seedlings were 

 found on the grounds, all with pendent habit, which we 

 were told was a peculiarity of the Amur species. But the 

 only one with deeply cut leaves was the sport pointed 

 out. The second reason for believing it a distinct species 

 from the Amur valley is that it is hardy in all parts of the 

 West and Northwest, while the other pendent varieties 

 grown in Eastern nurseries do not endure our summer 

 heat or winter's cold. Indeed, it is a thriftier, longer-lived 

 tree on the prairies than it is near the lakes or east of 

 them. In addition to all this, its seedlings up to the 

 present, so far as observed, are hardy, thrifty, and 



