LOCUST. 
73 
wood, is to cover them with copses of Locust ; but about Paris, and fur- 
ther north, the experiment has not uniformly succeeded. During three or 
four years, the Locusts surpass the Birches planted at the same time, and 
give the most flattering promise ; but by the seventh or eighth year their 
voracious roots appear to exhaust the soil, the branches about the middle 
of the young tree perish, and its short and languishing shoots announce its 
decay ; while, on the other hand, the young Birches continue healthful and 
vigorous, and some of them already equal the Locust in height. Perhaps 
the Locusts require lopping the third or fourth year. 
Such is the fruit of my enquiries concerning this tree in America, and 
my observation of its culture in Europe. Its propagation is attended with 
advantages and disadvantages : on weighing them together, I am of opinion 
that, as an ornamental and as a useful tree, it merits a place, particularly 
the variety without thorns, both in gardens and plantations. 
PLATE LXXYI. 
A branch with a bunch of flowers. Fig. 1, Apod. Fig. 2, A seed. 
[Few trees are less injurious to pastures, and its droppings and flowers 
are thought to have a favourable effect on the growth of grass. Its bright 
and velvety foliage, it has been remarked, is too smooth to retain the dust, 
and is. often seen bright and clean, on the side of a dusty road. Where 
resistance to a strain is required, the Locust is considered superior to any 
other wood. As an ornamental tree, it is not now much employed in this 
region, on account of its frailness and injuries from insects, but its pendant 
racemes of fragrant flowers must be admitted to be extremely beautiful. 
Soil , propagation, SfC. The Locust may be propagated by cuttings of 
the branches, but with greater facility by cuttings of the roots, and also by 
large truncheons, and by suckers, but the simplest and best mode is by 
seed ; if not sown immediately on gathering, it should be kept in pods till 
the following spring : when sown in the autumn or spring it comes up 
the following summer, and the plants, at the end of the season will be fit 
for transplanting where they are finally to remain, or into nursery lines. 
Pouring hot water on the seeds, (and even boiling), as recommended by 
Gobbett, should be cautiously done. 
The seeds should be sown in good free soil, rich rather than otherwise, 
and covered with light earth from a quarter to half an inch deep. In fine 
seasons the plants will be from 2 to 4 feet high by the ensuing autumn. 
The Locust will transplant at almost any age, and w T ith fewer roots than 
almost any other tree. Though it grows on poor land better than 
almost any other species of hard wood,, on such land sound timber of 
