704 ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 
2 B.s. 3 suffruticosa Mill. Dict. No. 3. 2B, humilis 
Dod. Pempt. 782.; B. s. nana MN. Du Ham. 
i. p. 83.; and our fig. 1376.; Buis nain, Buis 
a Bordures, Buis d’Artois, Buis de Hollande, 
petit Buis, Fr. ; zwerch Buchsbaum, Ger. — 
Dwarf. Leaves small, obovate. This is the 
kind usually cultivated for edgings in Eu- 
ropean gardens. 
*t B. s. 4 myrtifola Lam. Encye.— Dwarf. Leaves 
small, oblong, narrowish. A pretty little plant ; 
generally quite low, but, under favourable cir- 
cumstances, growing to a considerable size. 1576. B. s. suffruticdsa. 
In a wild state, the box seldom exceeds the height of 12 or 15 feet in Bri- 
tain ; but in Turkey and Asia Minor trees of it have been found as high as 
25ft. The thickness of the trunk is very considerable in proportion to its 
height, and, in full-grown trees, varies from 6 in. to 8 in. in diameter. The tree 
-will bear the knife patiently, and is therefore, and from the closeness of its 
habit of growth, well adapted for clipped hedges, and all kinds of verdant ar- 
chitecture and statuary. It grows slowly, rarely making shoots of more than 
6 or 8 inches annually. But the tree is of great longevity ; and so hardy, 
that it is almost the only evergreen, exclusive of the Coniferae, that will stand 
in the open air, without protection, in the gardens of Paris, Berlin, and Vi- 
enna, The wood of the bex is remarkably heavy ; weighing, when newly cut, 
80 Ib. 7 oz. per cubic foot, and, when perfectly dry, 68lb. 12 oz. and 7er. It 
is the only European wood that will sink in water: it is yellow, very hard, 
and susceptible of a fine polish. The wood was formerly much used in Eng- 
land in cabinet-making and inlaying, as it still is in France ; and, also, in both 
countries, for musical and mathematical instruments, combs, and various arti- 
cles of turnery. The principal use of the boxwood, however, at present, is for 
wood-engraving; and for this purpose it is an important article of commerce. 
The different kinds of box tree are propagated by seeds, cuttings. and layers. 
When the seeds are to be sown, they should be gathered the moment the cap- 
sules appear ready to open, and sown immediately in light rich earth, well 
drained. Cuttings of from 4 in. to 6 in, in length should be put in, in autumn, 
in a sandy soil, and a shaded situation, and in a year they will be fit to trans- 
plant into nursery lines. Layers may be made either in the spring or autumn, 
and either of the young or old wood. The dwarf box used for edgings is 
propagated by being taken up, divided, and 
replanted. Box edgings are best planted 
early in spring, because the frost in winter 
is apt to destroy those leaves which have 
been cut in trimming the plants. Box 
edgings and hedges may be clipped at al- 
most any season, except midwinter. Some 
gardeners prefer trimming box edgings in 
June, just when the plants have nearly 
completed their year’s shoots ; because they 
will afterwards make shoots of 4 in. or 1 in. 
in length, or, at all events, protrude a few leaves, and thus, in a week or two, 
conceal all appearance of the use of the shears. When this practice is 
followed, it is necessary to go over the edgings or hedges in July, in order to 
cut neatly off with the knife any shoots that may have been protruded too far ; 
taking care not to cut the leaves. 
1377. B. sempervirens. 
2 2. B. warea’rica Willd. The Balearic Box. 
Identification. Willd. Arb., 50., Sp. Pl., 4, p. 337.; ? Lam. Encyec., 1. p. 505. 
Synonymes. B.s. var. gigantéa N. Du Ham. 1. p. 82.; Minorca Box; Buis de Minorque, Buis dr 
Mahon, Fr.; Balearischer Buchsbaum, Ger. ; Bossolo gentile, Ital. 
Engravings. N. Du Ham., pl. 23. f, 1. ; and our figs. 1378, and 1379. 
