X XIX, THE COMMON LOCUST TREE. AGI 
are straight and parallel like the teeth of a comb. The prickles 
are at the base of the leaves, short, somewhat triangular, di- 
lated at base, sharp, dark purple, adhering only to the bark, but 
persistent. 
The root is not large, but throws out numerous fibres which 
creep extensively in every direction, just below the surface, the 
smaller ones often forming little tubercles. Searching thus for 
nutriment where it is most abundantly to be found, the tree is 
of remarkably rapid growth while young. In ten years, it will 
reach the height of twenty or thirty feet. After that, however, 
except in exceedingly rich soil, its growth is comparatively 
slow. It would be natural to suppose that a tree, whose roots 
run so near the surface, should be exhausting to the soil, and so 
it is often considered. I am assured, however, by many gentle- 
men, that few trees are less injurious to the grass of pastures, 
and several persons have recommended that it should be planted 
on the borders of pasture land in preference to any other tree. 
The leaves are sweet and nutritious to cattle, and the droppings 
of the tree and its flowers are thought to have a favorable effect 
on the growth of grass. 
The locust is not known to be, nor is it generally considered, 
a native of the State or of New England; and it is doubtful 
whether it grew naturally in the northern part of the Middle 
States. Michaux says it first occurs growing naturally between 
Lancaster and Harrisburg, in Pennsylvania, in the latitude of 
40° 20’, but that, west of the mountains, it is found two or three 
degrees further north; and that it abounds most in the valleys 
amongst the chains of the Alleghany Mountains. It does not 
srow spontaneously near the sea-coast, even in the Southern 
States. It is common in all the Western States, and attains 
its perfection in Kentucky and Tennessee, where, in a fertile 
soil, it sometimes exceeds four feet in diameter and a height of 
seventy or eighty feet. 
The wood of the locust is of a remarkably compact, close and 
fine grain, the medullary rays or plates of silver grain being 
closer and more numerous than in almost any other tree. It 
varies in color in different varieties. In that which commonly 
srows in Massachusetts, it is of a yellowish white or straw color. 
