ROBINIA, OR FALSE ACACIA. 51 



comparative neglect, indeed, into which it has fallen, and 

 the cessation of the demand for plants within the last few 

 years, are strong presumptive proofs that these expecta- 

 tions are at an end, and that its former admirers and 

 advocates are convinced that its merits as a timber tree 

 have been greatly exaggerated. 



Upon a careful review of what has been written upon 

 the Robinia, it appears to us that the testimony of its 

 greatest admirers, and of those who have so strenuously 

 advocated its cultivation, goes only to prove the enduring 

 quality of the wood, and its consequent fitness for various 

 purposes, but all of minor importance. No evidence is 

 adduced to show that in this climate, even with the 

 advantage of the best soil, it is likely to attain a size 

 sufficient to make it of use where timber of a certain 

 scantling is required. Cobbett, indeed, has been lavish in 

 his praises and in his predictions of its general utility, but 

 few, we think, will be inclined to place implicit confidence 

 in these, when the powerful motive (self-interest) which 

 induced him to wield his pen in favour of the Locust is 

 taken into account. From our own observations on this 

 tree, we are decidedly of opinion that it cannot be grown to 

 profit, or at least to equal profit, with many other trees, 

 even for those minor uses for which it is stated to be 

 so well adapted, such as posts, railings, hop-poles, &c, 

 much less as a timber-tree applicable to general purposes. 

 The durability of the wood of the Locust we do not deny 

 or dispute, indeed our own experience has proved that 

 when mature, it possesses the quality of resisting decay 

 in the most trying situations to an eminent degree ; what 

 we contend for, is, that this solitary advantage of dura- 

 bility — (an advantage we believe possessed in nearly an 



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