6 SYLVA FLORIFERA. 



the timber, being more than a yard in girth, 

 at six feet from the ground ; and these had 

 been broken and abused, otherwise might 

 have been much larger. This able writer 

 tells us, in his edition of Miller's Gardener's 

 Dictionary, that the laburnum grows very 

 fast, and is extremely hardy, and is well 

 worth propagating upon poor, shallow soils, 

 and in exposed situations. 



His Grace the late Duke of Queen sberry 

 sowed a great quantity of the seeds of this tree 

 upon the side of the downs, at his seat near 

 Amesbury, in Wiltshire, where the situation 

 was very much exposed, and the soil so shal- 

 low, that few trees would grow there ; yet in 

 this place the young trees were twelve feet 

 high in four years' growth, and became a 

 shelter to the other plantations, for which 

 purpose they were designed. In neighbour- 

 hoods where hares or rabbits abound, these 

 trees will require protection, as they will 

 otherwise bark them in the winter ; and hence 

 it has been suggested, to plant laburnum seeds 

 in plantations infested with these destructive 

 animals, which will touch no other plant so 

 long as a twig of laburnum remains. Though 

 eaten to the ground in winter, it will spring 

 again the next season ; and thus constantly 

 supply food for this kind of game. A small 



