THE PRACTICAL GARDENER. 



ever, is also valued for its timber, which is much prized by 

 the cabinet-maker and turner for its hardness, beauty, and 

 durabihty. It is the false ebony of the French, and is some- 

 times used as a substitute for that wood by the British artists. 

 No tree which is cultivated in our plantations has greater claims 

 on our attention as a tree of ornament, either planted on the 

 skirts of plantations, or on the lawn, or in the park. When 

 planted with a view to })roducc timber, it should be intermixed 

 with other trees, and attention paid to training it up to one 

 proper stem; it is not slow in growth, and will, in favorable 

 situations, attain a lari^o size in thirty years. Sang records 

 an instance of this timber being sold at a public sale, in 180i>, 

 as high as half-a-guinea per foot ; and gives another instance, 

 in ISOn, of its being sold for seven and sixpence, — a price 

 which no other timber that is produced in this country would 

 ever be expected to bring. The tree laburnum is propagated 

 by seeds, which ripen yearly in great abundance. It is in 

 perfection in October, and is easily tlistinguished from the 

 common or shrubby sort, by the largeness of its leaves and 

 flowers, as well as by its attaining the character of a tree, 

 while the other attains only that of a shrub. It is difficult, 

 notwithstanding, to obtain genuine seeds of the tree kind, as 

 so little attention is unfortunately paid to the collecting of seeds 

 in general. Whoever wishes to propagate both sorts sepa- 

 rately, should be particular from what trees the seeds are 

 obtained. When the seed-pods are gathered, they should be 

 left to dry in an airy loft, and, when sufhciently dry, they 

 should be stored by in sacks, still enclosed in the pods, where 

 they ought to remain till the spring, when they may be taken 

 out and sown. The end of February, March, and April, is 

 the proper season to sow this seed, which should either be 

 sown in drills or beds, as already noticed for haws, but they 

 need not be so much covered. They will soon vegetate, and 

 the spring following will require to be drawn from the seed- 

 bed. The strongest plants may then be transplanted into 

 lines, one foot apart, and the plants six inches apart one from 

 another. The smaller ones may be placed in beds, about four 

 or five inches apart. 



