Laburnum-Cytisus.

tion, not merely of trees, but of the grain crops of the farmer, spoil the young laburnums by gnawing the bark in winter.

Even of the small size to which it is permitted to grow, laburnum is used for many purposes, -as wedges, pulleys, pegs, the handles of knives and other instruments.

When of larger dimensions, no timber is fitter for cabinet work of all kinds. It takes a fine polish, it looks well, and it is durable. Chairs made of it are far stronger than any mahogany. It may, however be doubted whether laburnum holds glue as well, because it contains an oil, which never dries out; and it is harder to work than mahogany. This oily property fits it well for pins of blocks, and cogs in mill-work, as its unctuous nature prevents it from

N

being abraded. Many of the purposes for which it was once used are now supplied by lignumvitæ, which is a harder wood, and still more unctuous; but lignumvita is more splintery. For tables laburnum wood is not so well adapted, being seldom of sufficient breadth for a fold, and not standing well when glued; but for pillars, bed-posts, feet of tables, and all similar uses, it is excellent..

The seeds of laburnum have very powerful medicinal effects upon the human system, and a garland of the flowers, if worn for some time, is said to occasion head-ache. Some of the largest trees that we remember to have seen are in Athol, by the wayside between Dunkeld and Blair.

Nearly allied to the laburnum, though not of the same family, or growing to the same dimensions, is Broom, the wood of the Common Broom (Spartium scoparium) very much resembling that of laburnum in everything but colour. The wood, when of sufficient size, is applicable to the same purposes as laburnum. For one purpose-pins for pulleys, it is superior to any other wood. Common broom is so hardy that, instead of requiring any care in cultivation, it is extirpated as a weed. In some places, however, it is sown close, and, after two or three years, cut for thatching barns and cottages. Though the brooms be in general evergreens, and the laburnum deciduous, yet some of the brooms are called, indiscriminately, Genista and Cytisus. When the Scotch snuff-boxes were first made by Mr. Steven, of Laurencekirk, they were formed of the roots of broom, steeped for a long time in water; but when the demand became great, and other persons engaged in the manufacture, inferior materials were used, and the quality of the boxes was deteriorated. The flowers of the Dyer's broom' (Genista tinctoria) afford a bright colouring matter, which is used in dyeing

wool yellow, or preparing it for being dyed green

with woad.

The Broom of Spain (Genista juncea) is a beautiful shrub, with very fragrant flowers. In countries where the soil is too dry for the growth of flax and hemp, the bark of the Spanish broom is prepared in a pecular way, and from the threads which it produces very excellent linen is manufactured.

Broom-Spartium scoparium.

CHAPTER VI.

WALNUT, MULBERRY, MAHOGANY.

WALNUT.

BEFORE the introduction of mahogany, the walnut was “the cabinet-maker's tree" in England, and it was well adapted for the purpose,-being tough and strong in proportion to its weight, beautifully variegated, admitting of a fine polish, durable, and obtained in sizes sufficiently large. In many parts of the Continent, where the expense of the carriage of mahogany is great, the walnut is still extensively used in the manufacture of furniture; and, perhaps, there is no native tree which bears the climate of England well, that is better adapted for the purpose. Oak, though abundantly durable, cannot be finely polished without great expense, and it is heavier in proportion to its strength.

Of the Walnut-tree, (called by the Romans Juglans, or the nut of Jove,) there are very many species enumerated, which have been divided by modern botanists into three genera. Of these species it is necessary to mention only two as timber trees,the Common Walnut-tree (Juglans regia), and the White Walnut, or hickery-tree (Juglans alba). The first of these is a native of the warmer parts of Europe, or perhaps of Asia; and the last is a native of America.

The common walnut is a very handsome and a very useful tree. It is true that the fruit does not come to maturity in the northern parts of this island; and that in the southern, nay in countries much farther south, it is apt to be injured by the frosts of

spring. In many parts of this country it thrives well as a tree, and wherever it thrives it is valuable.

As is the case with all trees and plants that have been long known, esteemed, and cultivated by man, the original country of the walnut is not recorded. Some are of opinion that it is the "Persian nut" mentioned by Theophrastus; and that, therefore, Persia is the country from which it was first intro

duced into Europe. It is found indigenous in the more northern parts of that country, toward the mountains of Caucasus; sometimes, though more rarely, in the Russian territory on the north of those mountains; and in China. In all these situations, it grows, according to the best authorities, in a state of nature, and continues itself without cultivation. In the east of France, the south of Germany, and Switzerland, it is very abundant, more especially in Germany; in many parts of which, such as the plains of the Bergstrasse, which run parallel to the Rhine, be