96 gilhn's i-or-ert sceneey. 



sheltered spot it may ornament a garden, but it 

 is by no means qualified, to adorn an exposed 

 country. Its wood is of so brittle a texture, 

 especially when it is encumbered with a weight 

 of foliage, that you can never depend upon its 

 aid in filling up the part you wish. The branch 

 you admire to-day may be demolished to-morrow. 

 The misfortune is, the Acacia is not one of those 

 grand objects like the Oak, whose dignity is often 

 increased by ruin. It depends on its beauty rather 

 than its grandeur, which is a quality much more 

 liable to injury. I may add, however, in its 

 favour, that if it be easily injured, it repairs the 

 injury more quickly than any other tree. Few 

 trees make so rapid a growth. 



In one of the memoirs published by the Agri- 

 cultural Society at Paris the virtues of this tree 

 are highly extolled. Its shade encourages the 

 growth of grass. Its roots are so tenacious of 

 the soil, and shoot up in such groves of suckers, 

 that, when planted on the banks of rivers, it con- 

 tributes exceedingly to, fix; them as barriers 

 against the incursions of the stream. Acacia- 

 stakqs, too, are as durable as those of any wood. 



