1362

ARBORETUM AND FRUT1CETUM.

PART III.

In order to make paper, it is soaked for three or four hours in water; after whichthe external skin, and the green internal coat, are scraped off, and the strong-est and firmest pieces are selected ; the produce of the younger shoots beingof an inferior quality. If any very old portions present themselves, they are,on the other hand, rejected as too coarse. All knotty parts, and every thingwhich might impair the beauty of the paper, are also removed. The chosenbark is boiled in a lixivium till its downy fibres can be separated by a touch ofthe finger. The pulp so produced is then agitated in water till it resemblestufts of tow. If not sufficiently boiled, the paper will be coarse, though strong;if too much, it will be white, indeed, but deficient in strength and solidity.Upon the various degrees and modes of washing the pulp, much also dependsas to the quality and beauty of the paper. Mucilage obtained from boilingrice, or from a root called oreni ( Kcempf 474.), one of the mallow tribe, isafterwards added to the pulp. The paper is finished much after the European mode, except that stalks of rushes are used instead of brass wires.” (Pen . Cyc.,art. Broussonetia) The India or Chinese paper used for taking proofs of en-gravings is thus made. In Otaheite , the bark of this tree is made into dresses.Plants are readily propagated by layers, suckers, or cuttings of the root.

Statistics. In the environs of London, the largest plant we know of is in the Botanic Garden atKew, where it is 20 ft. high. In Berkshire, at White Knights, 25 years planted, it is 23 ft. high ; thediameter of the trunk 9| in., and of the head 20 ft. by 13 ft. In Cheshire, at Eaton Hall, 10 yearsplanted, it is 8 ft. high ; diameter of the trunk 3 in., and of the head 7 ft. In Oxfordshire , in theOxford Botanic Garden, 14 years planted, it is 25 ft. high ; diameter of the trunk 4 in., and of thehead 15 ft. In Worcestershire , at Croome, 40 years old, it is 20 ft. high ; diameter of the trunk 12in,In Scotland, in Perthshire, at Kinfauns Castle, 8 years planted, it is 5ft. high. In France , atVillers le Bade, 10 years planted, it is 25ft. high. In the Botanic Garden, Toulon , 20 years planted,it is 25ft. high ; and the diameter of the trunk is lft. 2in. r ; at Nantes , in the nursery of M. DeNerri&res, 30 years planted, it is 25 ft. high : in the Botanic Garden at Avranches , 40 years planted,it is 40 ft. high ; the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 7| in., and of the head 30 ft. In Austria, at Vienna ,in the University Botanic Garden, 20 years planted, it is 22 ft. high ; the diameter of the trunk 9 in.,and of the head 10 ft. : at Laxenburg , 20 years planted, it is 14 ft. high ; the diameter of the trunk4 in., and of the head 6 ft.: at Hadersdorf, 6 years planted, it is 14 ft. high. In Italy, at Monza , 24years planted, it is 40 ft. high - } the diameter of the trunk 1 ft., and of the head 20 ft.

Commercial Statistics. Plants, in the London nurseries, are from Is 6 d. to2s. 6 d. each; at Bollwyller, 1 franc each; and at New York, the male plant50 cents each, and the female plant 75 cents.

Genus III.

MACLUTt/1 Nutt. The Maclura. Lin. Syst. Dioe'cia Tetr&ndria.

Identification. Nutt. Gen. N. Amer. Plants, 2. p. 233.; Lindl. Nat. Syst. of Bot., p. 178.

Synonyme. Toxylon Rajinesque in 1817, Gard. Mag., vol. viii.p. 247.

Derivation. Named, by Nuttall, in honour of William Maclure , Esq., of the United States ; an emi-nent natural philosopher .

J 1. M. auranti'aca Nutt. The orange-Iik z-fruited Maclura, or Osage

Orange.

Identification. Nutt. Gen. N. Amer. PI., 2. p. 234.

Synonymes. Bow-wood, Yellow Wood, N. Amer.

The Sexes. Both male and female plants are in the Horticultural Society’s Garden, and in theHackney arboretum.

Engravings. Appendix to Lambert’s Monog. on the Genus Pinus, 2. p. 32.; and our Jig. 1226., inwhich a is the female flower, and b the male.

Description , fyc. The maclura is a deciduous widely spreading tree, withspiny branches, growing to the height of about 30 ft., on the banks of thelied River; or, according to Nuttall, of 60 ft., in the Arkansas . The leaves areovate acuminate, of a bright shining green, broad, with a cuspidate point,3 in. or 3| in. long, and about 2 in. broad. The petiole is often 1 in. long. Thespines are simple, rather strong, about 1 in. in length, and produced in theaxils of the leaves. The flowers are inconspicuous, and nearly green, with aslight tinge of yellow. The fruit, which in size and general appearance, at adistance, resembles a large Seville orange, consists of radiating, somewhat