SAM 
SAM 
increased to almost any extent by cuttings, 
in the manner before described for osiers. 
Their after management must of course 
depend upon the uses they are destined 
for. The very common mode of pollard¬ 
ing them is objectionable on several 
accounts; they are then spoiled either 
for timber or poles ; the crowd of small 
stuff which rises on the head after each 
cutting suffocates one the other, and the 
trunk is rendered of little value by its 
being foreshortened. It must be de¬ 
cidedly more profitable, either to cut 
them over near the ground, as is prac¬ 
tised with stools of ash, chesnut, and 
other coppice wood, the subsequent 
shoots to be thinned according to the 
strength of the stool and the space they 
are allowed to occupy ; or at once to let 
them run up into perfect trees, taking 
oidy such lateral branches as may be 
required for repairs, &c., before the prin¬ 
cipal growths have attained a marketable 
S1ZG 
SAMBUCUS, Elder (Linn.) Nat. 
Order, Caprifoliacete. This genus con¬ 
tains eight species, among which are two 
herbaceous plants, Chinensis and Ebulus , 
the latter an intolerable weed indigenous 
to this country, whose only use is a sup¬ 
posed power of curing ailments in swine 
when used as litter for them; four are 
deciduous shrubs, and the remainder low 
straggling trees. S. nigra , the common 
black-berried elder, is the best known of 
the genus ; it thrives in all positions, and 
though sometimes troublesome through 
its spreading habit, possesses many quali¬ 
fications to notice ; its several uses may 
be enumerated as below. 
As a nurse plant for young plantations : 
for this purpose it is excellent in most 
exposed situations, it withstands the sea- 
breeze, will grow alike vigorous in the 
salt marsh, on the bleak mountain side, 
is early in leaf, and is never eaten by 
cattle. It may also be employed as a 
hedge plant when other things will not 
grow, and the hard stubbs offered by the 
branches when cut back in winter make 
as secure a fence as many a more expen¬ 
sive article; while in summer it is never 
injured by browzing, by reason of the 
bitter taste of the foliage. It is, how¬ 
ever, inferior in point of durability, and 
only to be recommended when more 
enduring plants fail. The wood is noted 
for its hardness, a quality recognised 
from the earliest ages. Pliny says it 
consists of nothing but skin and bones ; 
and when grown to a useful size it is 
often used as a substitute for box, in the 
manufacture of turnery and mathematical 
instruments; when grown with a view 
to profit by its wood, it should stand on 
the hedge-rows of plantations, on tole¬ 
rably deep moist land, and if trained up 
to a single "stem, occupies but a few 
years in coming to maturity. It is, how¬ 
ever, more frequently grown for its berries 
than any other purpose, and where these 
are the principal object the plants should 
be allowed pretty good soil to grow in; 
there is usually in most places an out-of- 
the-way secluded spot that will suit the 
elder, and in such places, if not too 
shaded, it generally succeeds the best. 
It is never by any means desirable to 
thrust this plant into any prominent 
position, for it is not a handsome-growing 
plant, and the odour of its leaves is at all 
times unpleasant; the flowers are pro¬ 
duced in cymes early in spring, and have 
rather an agreeable scent, but that is 
overpowered by the foliage; the berries 
are ripe in September, and are in much 
esteem for the making of wine. There 
are several varieties of this elder, the 
most prominent of which are the white 
and yellow-striped leaved kinds, and 
the green fruited, the latter is said to 
make the best wine. The flowers of 
the species have considerable medicinal 
powers, in decoction they are diaphoretic 
and expectorant: country people intro¬ 
duce them in the preparation of a salve 
of great healing qualities; they are also 
used to flavour vinegar, and the Trench 
put layers of them between apples, to 
which they communicate an agreeable 
fragrance. As the berries are considered 
poisonous to fowls, the tree should never 
be planted near poultry yards. 
The remainder of the genus are fit 
occupants of the more remote parts of 
large shrubberies, their whitish-green 
flowers serving to enliven such places in 
early spring, but they should never be 
