230 



THE ACACIA. 



object. The principal objection alleged against it 

 is, that it is late in coming into leaf, and sheds its 

 foliage very early ; the branches, too, being very 

 brittle, are liable to be snapped off by the wind, 

 even in situations which are not particularly ex- 

 posed. Evelyn recommends it as deserving a place 

 among our avenue trees, adorning our walks with 

 its exotic leaves and sweet flowers ; very hardy 

 against the pinching winter ; but not so proof 

 against its blustering winds." Gilpin says, that it 

 is often a very beautiful tree, whether it feathers 

 to the ground, as it sometimes does, or whether 

 it is adorned with a light foliage hanging from the 

 stem. But its beauty is very frail. It is of all 

 trees, the least able to endure the blast. In some 

 sheltered spot it may ornament a garden, but it 

 is by no means qualified to adorn a 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 on its gran- 

 deur, which is a quality more liable to injury. 



The Acacia grows with great rapidity when 

 young ; seedlings often attain a height of from 

 twenty to forty feet in ten years, and established 

 young plants produce shoots eight or ten feet 

 long in one season. But when it has reached a 

 height of about forty or fifty feet, it grows very 

 slowly, and never acquires the dimensions of a 

 timber-tree. Loudon, who gives a long and ela- 

 borate account of the Acacia, attributes this pecu- 



