en 
AVENS. 
of Britain, and grows to the height of four feet. 
—The early oat-grass, Avena precox, formerly 
called Aira precox, is an annual weed of the 
heathy grounds of Britain, and usually grows to 
the height of about six inches.—All the other 
species of avena are exotics, devoid of any interest 
to the British farmer.—Sinelair’s Hortus Gram- 
ineus Woburnensis.—Prize Essays of the Highland 
Society. — Loudon’s Hortus Britannicus.— Davy’s 
Agricultural Chemistry.—Miller’s Dictionary.— 
Useful Knowledge Society's British Husbandry.— 
Low's Elements of Practical Agric. — Sproule’s 
Treatise on Agriculture.—Catalogue of the High- 
land Society's Musewm.—Lawson’s Agriculturist’s. 
Manual. 
AVENS,—botanically Gewm. A genus of or- 
| namental, perennial, hardy, herbaceous plants, of 
the rose family. About forty species are known 
to botanists; and upwards of twenty of these 
are cultivated in the gardens of Great Britain. 
The common or city species, Gewm urbanum, is 
often popularly called herb-bennet, and has long 
held a place among the medicines of herbalists. 
It grows plentifully in woods and by the sides of 
hedges, in most parts of Britain; and, in conse- 
quence, is rarely admitted to gardens. Its stem 
grows to the height of 15 or two feet; its leaves 
are heart-shaped ; its flowers are yellow and 
erect, and appear from May till August; and its 
roots consist of a main stem, and many strong 
brown fibres. The roots are aromatic and astrin- 
| gent; they yield an agreeable clove-like flavour, 
when infused in wine or beer; and they have 
given rise to the botanical name of the whole 
| genus, which signifies ‘a relish.’ The herbage is 
greedily devoured by sheep, and, when young, 
may be used for salad and other culinary pur- 
poses; the dried root, if placed in a bag and hung 
in a cask of beer, is said to have the power of 
preserving the beer from souring ; and the pow- 
der of the root is cephalic and alexipharmic, and 
| has been successfully employed, in conjunction 
with Peruvian bark or quinine, in cases of diar- 
rhoea, dysentery, ague, and intermittent fever.— 
| The river species, Gewm rivale, grows wild in 
moist woods and moist meadows, especially in 
mountainous countries, and is somewhat common 
throughout Great Britain. Miller calls it aquatic 
herb-bennet, with a nodding flower. Its stem 
has a height of 12 or 15 inches; its lower leaves 
have two pairs of small lobes at the bottom, and 
three large ones at the top, that which terminates 
being the largest; its upper leaves have three 
acute lobes, and sit close to the stalk; and its 
flowers are of a purplish or brownish-red colour, 
appear in June and July, and are readily distin- 
guished from those of the city species by their 
nodding or drooping position. A permanent va- 
riety of the river species has the name of inter- 
mediate.—All the other species are foreign, and 
have been introduced from Kamtschatka, Ger- 
many, the Pyrenees, Russia, the south of Europe, 
Chili, and principally North America. Those 
297 
chiefly admired and most frequently to be met 
with are the species denominated album, strictum, 
agrimonoides, hybridum, pyrenaicum, montanum, 
reptans, and chiloense. 
AVENUE. A walk, a park road, or an ap- 
proach to a mansion, planted along both sides 
with trees. Avenues were at one time so com- 
mon in the parks or pleasure-grounds of Great 
Britain, that almost all mansions had one or more, 
while some had as many as there were views from 
the house. But a better taste has now, for a long 
period, prevailed ; and even Miller, writing eighty 
years ago, remarked, “ Nothing can be more ab- 
surd than to have the sight contracted by two or 
more lines of trees, which shut out the view of 
the adjacent grounds, whereby the verdure and 
natural beauties of the country are lost ; and 
where the avenues are of a considerable length, 
they appear at each end to be only narrow cuts | 
through a wood, which never can please any per- 
son of real taste; and when the road to the house 
is through the avenue, nothing can be more dis- 
agreeable; for in approaching to the house, it is 
like going through a narrow lane, where the ob- 
jects on each side are shut out from the view; 
and when it is viewed from the house, it at best | 
has only the appearance of a road, which, being | 
extended to a length on a straight line, is not 
near so beautiful as a common road, which is | 
lost by the turnings, so as seldom to be seen to | 
a great extent. But as these avenues must be 
made exactly straight, so when the trees are 
grown to any size, they entirely break the view, 
whatever way the sight is directed through 
them ; and if this is in a park, the lawn of grass | 
through which the avenue is planted, is thereby 
entirely deprived of the beauty which it naturally 
would afford, if left open and well kept. There- 
fore, whenever the situation of a house will ad- 
mit of a large open lawn in front, the road to the 
house should be carried round at a proper dis- 
tance; and if it be carried sometimes through | 
trees, and serpented in an easy natural way, it 
will be much more beautiful than any stiff formal 
avenue, how large soever made.” 
But as avenues are still occasionally planted, 
a brief notice of the kinds of trees most suitable 
for them may possibly be of some use. The Eng- 
lish elm will suit in all soils, except the very wet 
and the shallow; and it is preferred to all other 
trees on account of its stateliness, its fine outline, 
and its easy capability, without any injury, of any 
ape rae 
{ 
| 
kind of heading, lopping, or cutting. The rough | 
Dutch elm—so very eligible for hedges and 
for lofty espaliers—grows quickly, bears removal 
well, and carries its foliage from an early toa 
late period of each season, and, for these reasons, 
is sometimes preferred to the English elm. The 
lime is valued for its regular growth, its beauti- 
ful foliage, its elegant outline, and its fine shade. 
The horse chestnut is esteemed for its magnifi- 
cent exfoliation, its superb flowers, and its mas- 
sive and imposing outline, and is suitable for all 
I 
