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34 The Trees <strong>of</strong> Great Britain and Ireland<br />
and for this reason it is successfully used to cover railway and road embankments<br />
in France. It will not grow well on compact clay or on chalky or absolutely poor<br />
soils. In England it has only been planted as an ornamental tree, and it is very<br />
suitable for planting in towns, as it is not injured by smoke and is free from insect<br />
attacks and fungous diseases. Though it suckers freely, this is no objection in streets,<br />
where <strong>the</strong> pavements or wheel traffic prevents <strong>the</strong>m from making an appearance.<br />
The young shoots are <strong>of</strong>ten killed by frost, but this only serves to keep <strong>the</strong> tree<br />
within bounds without <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> pruning knife. The Ailanthus only makes<br />
one shoot annually, late in <strong>the</strong> spring, which continues to grow till October or<br />
November, and this is <strong>the</strong> reason why it is spring tender, as <strong>the</strong> tips <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> shoots<br />
do not become properly lignified. The tree, however, bears <strong>the</strong> <strong>great</strong>est cold in<br />
winter, and was not injured by <strong>the</strong> severe frost <strong>of</strong> 1879.<br />
The tree produces flowers in England when it is about 40 feet high ; and it<br />
fruits pretty frequently, but <strong>the</strong> seeds are <strong>of</strong>ten infertile.<br />
When <strong>the</strong> Ailanthus is cut back annually, it grows rapidly and produces foliage<br />
<strong>of</strong> enormous size, suitable for <strong>the</strong> so-called tropical garden. Leaves <strong>of</strong> plants so<br />
treated have measured as much as 4 feet long and 15 inches wide.<br />
The Ailanthus succeeds in a <strong>great</strong> variety <strong>of</strong> climates, and is planted in regions<br />
so diverse as Nor<strong>the</strong>rn India, <strong>the</strong> United States, France, Germany, and Italy.<br />
In France it has not been successful as a forest tree, as it is not a social species,<br />
and is speedily dominated by native <strong>trees</strong>, if it survives <strong>the</strong> seedling stage, when it<br />
is sensitive to spring frosts. In warmer climates it easily regenerates by seed, and<br />
in consequence has become naturalised in many parts <strong>of</strong> Europe (as on <strong>the</strong> arid<br />
slopes <strong>of</strong> Mount Vesuvius, where it stands very well <strong>the</strong> drought), and in <strong>the</strong> United<br />
States, 1 where it <strong>of</strong>ten runs wild in old fields. American writers praise <strong>the</strong> tree for<br />
<strong>the</strong> value <strong>of</strong> its wood and <strong>the</strong> rapidity <strong>of</strong> its growth, as it is said to make timber<br />
faster than any <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> native <strong>trees</strong> that are used for firewood.<br />
The wood is yellowish or yellowish green, and is not clearly distinguishable into<br />
well-marked heart and sap woods, though in old <strong>trees</strong> <strong>the</strong> centre <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> stem becomes<br />
deeper in colour. The wood has a specific gravity <strong>of</strong> 0.6, and is easily worked,<br />
taking a good polish. It rives easily. It is used by wheelwrights as a substitute for<br />
elm and ash ; but is inferior to <strong>the</strong>se, as it does not possess <strong>the</strong>ir elasticity or<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir capability <strong>of</strong> resistance to fracture. It is said, however, to bear well<br />
alternations <strong>of</strong> dry and wet.<br />
Mr. J. A. Weale <strong>of</strong> Liverpool, who has paid <strong>great</strong> attention to <strong>the</strong> study <strong>of</strong><br />
timbers, and knows more about <strong>the</strong>m than any one in <strong>the</strong> trade in this country,<br />
writes to us that this wood resembles that <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ash so closely in structure, that <strong>the</strong><br />
only real difference between <strong>the</strong> two is in <strong>the</strong> large cellular compound pores which<br />
are formed in <strong>the</strong> Ailanthus, as shown in <strong>the</strong> microscopical section which he enclosed.<br />
Elwes is assured by Pr<strong>of</strong>. C. S. Sargent that it makes nice furniture, and he has a<br />
specimen from a large tree which was cut down in <strong>the</strong> Palace Gardens at Wells,<br />
Somerset, <strong>of</strong> which <strong>the</strong> timber was bought by Mr. Halliday, a cabinetmaker,<br />
for £8.<br />
1 Also in Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Ontario. See Britton and Brown, loc. eft.<br />
.<br />
Ailanthus<br />
REMARKABLE TREES<br />
The largest Ailanthus was that at Syon, which was 70 feet high in Loudon's<br />
time, and nearly 100 feet in 1880.' It is now dead.<br />
At Kew a vigorous tree is growing in <strong>the</strong> garden behind <strong>the</strong> Palace, which<br />
measures 73 feet high and 8 feet in girth. Not far <strong>of</strong>f a number <strong>of</strong> Ailanthus <strong>trees</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
varying size, but none very large, occurs in a group, and <strong>the</strong>y seem to be root-suckers ;<br />
probably one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> original <strong>trees</strong> was planted in this spot in <strong>the</strong> eighteenth century.<br />
At Milton Rectory, Steventon, Berks, <strong>the</strong>re are two <strong>trees</strong> <strong>of</strong> equal height (78<br />
feet), one girthing 9 feet i inch, and <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r 8 feet 6 inches. Both <strong>the</strong>se <strong>trees</strong><br />
bloom freely every year, producing fruit <strong>of</strong> a bright red colour on <strong>the</strong> south side<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>trees</strong> ; and <strong>the</strong> seeds, as <strong>the</strong>y fall in <strong>the</strong> garden near hand, produce seedlings<br />
which are very vigorous. 2<br />
At <strong>the</strong> Mote, Maidstone, <strong>the</strong>re are two large <strong>trees</strong>, one <strong>of</strong> which is 70 feet high<br />
and 8 feet in circumference.<br />
At Linton Park, Maidstone, is a tree growing in a shrubbery which was nearly<br />
80 feet high by 6 feet 6 inches in 1902.<br />
At Broom House, Fulham, <strong>the</strong> residence <strong>of</strong> Miss Sulivan, is a tree 80 feet high,<br />
with a bole 9 feet long and 10 feet in girth, which divides into two main stems<br />
(Plate 13).<br />
At Fakenham, Norfolk, Sir Hugh Beevor has measured a tree 75 feet by<br />
8 feet ii inches.<br />
At Barton, Bury St. Edmunds, an Ailanthus which was planted in 1826 3<br />
measured in 1904 55 feet high, with a girth <strong>of</strong> stem <strong>of</strong> 5 feet 2 inches. Bunbury<br />
says that it is perfectly hardy at Barton, and did not suffer in <strong>the</strong> least from <strong>the</strong><br />
severe winter <strong>of</strong> 1860. It was 3^ feet girth at 3 feet from <strong>the</strong> ground in 1862. It<br />
flowered abundantly in August <strong>of</strong> 1861, <strong>the</strong> <strong>great</strong>er part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> flowers being herma<br />
phrodite, and a considerable number <strong>of</strong> fruits were formed, but all dropped <strong>of</strong>f before<br />
coming to maturity. It fruited abundantly in 1868. Bunbury says, generally <strong>the</strong>re<br />
is only one samara to each flower, but not unfrequently two or three ; he never saw<br />
more than three.<br />
At Belton Park, <strong>the</strong> seat <strong>of</strong> Earl Brownlow, is a fine specimen <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
tree, for a photograph <strong>of</strong> which (Plate 14) we are indebted to Miss F. Woolward,<br />
who gives its height as 83 feet, and its girth as 6 feet. This seems to be <strong>the</strong> tallest<br />
tree recorded in England.<br />
At Burwood House, Cobham, Surrey, <strong>the</strong> seat <strong>of</strong> Lady Ellesmere, Colonel H.<br />
Thynne has measured an Ailanthus 71 feet high by 10 feet 10 inches girth, which,<br />
though partly fallen down and supported by a prop, is still a fine tree.<br />
The tree seems to require a climate which is at once both warmer and drier in<br />
summer than that <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rn and western counties <strong>of</strong> England, and we do not<br />
know <strong>of</strong> any <strong>trees</strong> <strong>of</strong> any <strong>great</strong> size now existing in Scotland, Ireland, or Wales,<br />
though Loudon states that <strong>the</strong>re was one at Dunrobin Castle, Su<strong>the</strong>rlandshire, 43<br />
feet high. (A. H.)<br />
1 Garden, 1 880, xviii. 629.<br />
a The Rev. H. Hamilton Jackson kindly sent us this information in a letter dated Dec. 10, 1903.<br />
3 Bunbury, Arboretum Notes, 88.<br />
35