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LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
nigh, and as the foliage is dark green on the upper side, and 
downy white beneath, it presents an effect greatly resem- 
bling that of the Silver poplar in a slight breeze. Abroad, 
the timber is considered valuable ; but here it is chiefly 
planted to produce a pleasing variety among other trees, by 
its peculiar foliage, and scarlet autumnal fruit. 
All the foregoing trees grow naturally in the highest, 
most exposed, and often almost barren situations. When, 
however, a rapid growth is desired, they should be planted 
in a more moist and genial soil. They are easily propagated 
from the seed, and some of the sorts may be grafted on the 
pear or hawthorn. The seeds, in all cases, should be sown 
in autumn. 
The Ailantus Tree. Ailantus. 
Nat. Ord. Xanthoxylaceee. Lin. Syst. Polygamia, Monoecia. 
Ailanto is the name of this tree in the Moluccas, and is 
said to signify Tree of Heaven ; an appellation probably 
bestowed on account of the rapidity of its growth, and the 
great height which it reaches in the East Indies, its native 
country. When quite young it is not unlike a sumac in 
appearance ; but the extreme rapidity of its growth and the 
great size of its pinnated leaves, four or five feet long, soon 
distinguish it from that shrub. During the first half dozen 
years it outstrips almost any other deciduous tree in vigor 
of growth, and we have measured leading stems which had 
grown twelve or fifteen feet in a single season. In four or 
five years, therefore, it forms quite a bulky head, but after 
that period it advances more slowly, and in 20 years would 
probably be overtopped by the poplar, the plane, or any 
other fast growing tree. There are, as yet, no specimens 
