tJNITEp STATES. 



ground mice destroy the roots of the young plants, and 

 that a worm attacks the limbs of the old trees, which 

 causes them to break off when high winds blow. An- 

 other objection to them is their disposition to sucker^ 

 and to extend their roots a great distance ; but these 

 evils might be prevented by a ditch. 



Gleditsia spinosa^ov triacanthos. Triple thorned 

 acacia or honey locust. 



This tree grows naturally in a rich soil, rising to 

 the height of thirty or forty feet, dividing into many 

 branches, which, together with the trunk, are armed 

 with long pithy spines of five or six inches in length, 

 sendmg off lateral ones, some of which are nearly the 

 same length, and generally triple-thorn ed. The 

 branches are garnished with winged leaves, coiti- 

 posed of ten or more pair of small lobes, sitting close 

 to the midrib, of a lucid green colour. The flowers 

 come out from the sides of the young branches, in 

 form of katkins, of an herbaceous colour, and are 

 succeeded by crooked, compressed pods, from nine 

 or ten to sixteen or eighteen inches in length, and 

 about an inch and a half or two inches in breadth, of 

 which near one half is filled with a sweet pulp, the 

 other containing many seeds in separate cells. The 

 pods, from the sweetness of their pulp, are used to 

 brew in beer. 



The genus fiinus^ is of the greatest importance in 

 the arts. The noble and majestic /2. s?ro/;w5, or 

 white pine, furnishes the masts and yards of ships, 

 boards for inside house work, and shingles. The 



tocday palustris^ pinea^ and larix^ afford those 

 useful articles, tar and turpentine, and the knots a 

 superior charcoal. The p. abies bal8amia<^ov spruce, 



