WILD CHEERY-TREE, OR GEAN. 



61 



alternation of dryness and moisture is required, it is supe- 

 rior to most other timber we possess, and is only inferior to 

 the best oak, or its rival the larch. 



This durability, or power of resisting decay under such 

 circumstances, renders it valuable even at a young age, or 

 as soon as it is large enough to make posts, railing, &c. 



The growth of the Cherry in its progress to maturity, 

 is pyramidal, or of the candelabrum-like form ; the branches 

 springing from the main stem at regular intervals, or at the 

 commencement of each annual shoot ; and as its spray is 

 stiff, strong, and open, it does not yield to but stoutly resists 

 the blast : it is, therefore, one of the few trees that can be 

 advantageously planted as a nurse or subsidiary to the oak, 

 as it is neither apt to overtop or crush its neighbours 

 by a rampant growth or wide spreading head like the wych 

 elm or the ash, or to hurt and injure them in Minds and 



