tenth or twelfth year for poles. It may also be often used to advantage on swampy ground for fences, and may be conveniently trained to any desired height. The young trees may be planted to great advantage for securing the banks of water-courses from the torrents. We certainly know of no tree so well adapted to this purpose as the alder; for, on account of the numerous suckers which it constantly sends up from the bottom, and the very fibrous nature of their roots, the banks become in time one mass of strongly interwoven roots.

Wherever it may be desirable to complete a prospect by extending plantations over sterile cold ground, water-galls, or boggy swamps, no tree we know of is equal to the alder, even in a picturesque point of view.

The generality of trees acquire picturesque beauty by age. Some of the largest alders to be seen in England are growing in the Bishop of Durham's park at Bishop-Auckland, and some very fine ones are to be found in his Grace the Duke of Northumberland's grounds at Sion House. Mr. Beevor mentions an alder in his garden, which, at four feet from the ground, measured upwards of sixteen feet in circumference.

Sir Thomas Dick Lauder says, "In very many instances we have seen the alder put on so much of the bold resolute character of the oak, that it might have been mistaken for that tree except for the intense depth of its green colour.

It is also an old opinion that it does not injure grass, but rather nourishes its growth:

"The Alder, whose fat shadow nourisheth;
Each plant set neere to him long flourisheth."
W. Browne.

Marshall is of a very different opinion. "In low swampy situations," he says, "where the ground cannot be drained but at too great an expense, the alder may be planted with pro priety and advantage; but wherever the soil is or can be made pasturable, the alder should by no means be allowed to gain a footing. Its suckers and seedlings poison the herbage; and it is a fact well known to the observant husbandman, that the roots of the alder have a peculiar property of rendering the soil they grow in more moist and rotten than it would be if not occupied by this aqueous plant. Plantations of alders should therefore be confined to swampy, low, unpasturable places; except when they are made for the purpose of ornament; and in this case the native species ought to give place to its more ornamental varieties, of which Hanbury makes five, namely, the log-leaved alder, the white alder, the black alder, the hoary-leaved alder, and the dwarf alder." (On Planting, ii. 37.) The cut

truncheons, about three feet in length. Such truncheons are often employed for securing the banks of rivers, either by planting them very close, or crosswise. For general pur poses, however, we approve of raising the young trees by layers.

The wood of the alder is used [in Europe] for making charcoal and heating ovens, and is valuable for piles, pumps, sluices, and in ge-leaved is a pretty variety. neral for all works under water; "because," It is propagated by layers, cuttings, or says Pliny, "it will endure for many years." It is said to have been used under the Rialto at Venice; and we are told that the morasses about Ravenna were piled with it in order to lay foundations for building upon. In Flanders and Holland it is raised in great quantities for this purpose. It serves also many domestic and rural uses, such as for cart-wheels, spin-placed, if intended for a coppice, is a yard ning wheels, milk-vessels, bowls, spoons, and other turnery ware, troughs, handles of tools, clogs, pattens, and wooden heels. The roots and knots furnish a beautiful veined wood for cabinets. The Scottish Highlanders often made chairs of it, which are very handsome, and of the colour of mahogany.

Sir Thomas Dick Lauder tells us that the old trees, which are full of knots, cut up into planks, make very handsome tables. "We have seen some of these," says the baronet, "made from some enormous trees that grew at Dalwick, on the property of Sir John Nasmyth, in Peebleshire; and no foreign wood we have ever seen can match them for beauty."

The distance at which these trees should be

square; and at the expiration of seven years, when they may be felled for poles, every other stool may be taken away; and if the small lateral shoots be taken off in the spring, it will very much strengthen the upright poles, provided a few small shoots be left at certain distances upon the trunk, to detain the sap for the increase of its bulk.

The alder may be raised from seeds sown in beds in the same way as is usual for birch, but propagation by truncheons or layers is the most speedy process for obtaining young plants.

The best time for planting alder truncheons is in February or March. They should be The bark, though nearly superseded by log- about three feet in length, sharpened at one wood, is used by dyers, tanners, and leather-end, and the ground loosened with an instru. dressers; and also by fishermen for dyeing their nets. Both the bark and young shoots dye yellow, and with a little copperas, a yellowish grey, very useful in the demitints and shadows of flesh colour in tapestry. The shoots cut in March will dye a cinnamon colour; and a fine tawny, if they be dried and powdered. The fresh wood yields a dye the colour of rappee snuff. The catkins dye green,

ment before they are thrust into it, lest the stiffness of the soil the bark should be torn off, which may prevent their growing. They should be put into the earth about two feet, to prevent their being blown out of the ground by strong winds. After they have made stout shoots, the plantations should be cleared from all such weeds as grow tall, otherwise they will over. bear the young shoots; but when they hav

made good heads, they will keep down the weeds, and will require no further care.

If they be raised by laying down the branches, it must be performed in October; and by the October following, they will have taken root sufficiently to be transplanted out; which must be done by digging a hole, and loosening the earth in the place where each plant is to stand, planting the young trees at least a foot and a half deep, cutting off the top to about nine inches above the surface, which will occasion them to shoot out many branches.

with white. It is employed by hatters for dying black. (North American Sylva.)]

ALDERNEY COWS. This admired breed of cows is in general fine-boned, but small and ill-made, and of a light red or yellowish colour. Cows of this breed are most frequently met with in England about the seats of the opulent, from their milk, though smaller in quantity, being more rich in quality than that of most other kinds, and yielding from the same measure a larger proportion of cream and butter, which is of a beautiful yellow colour and fine flavour. They are much inclined to fatten, and their beef has a very fine grain, and is well tasted, but rather more yellow or high-coloured than that of other sorts.

Mr. Lawrence in his general treatise on cattle, however, supposes, "that the cattle of the islands on the French coast are collectively known by the name of Alderney;" and that "these are a variety of, and smaller than, the Norman; light red, yellow, dun, and fawn

Mr. South, in the sixth volume of the Letters and Papers of the Bath and West of England Society, has stated, that, on planting a wagonload of truncheons in such situations as have been described above, they all appeared to succeed by throwing out strong shoots the first summer, but that the year following they all died, not having struck a single root. Concluding that this did not depend on any defect in the soil, he planted it again with small-coloured; short, wild-horned, deer-necked, with rooted slips, taken from old stubs, few of which failed, most of them having been since repeatedly cut for brush-wood, poles, and other purposes; and of those planted single, he observes, one has formed a conical top of great beauty, and that its bole is three feet seven inches in circumference midway between the branches and the ground. From this statement it would seem, that the best mode of securing the growth of those trees is the planting of the rooted slips, which can be easily done, as great quantities of young shoots are annually throw out from about the roots of this sort of trees.

Where there are plantations, or much of this sort of wood on a farm, Arthur Young advises that it should be cut when the bark will peel, and be immediately soaked in a pond for two | months, as by this means the wood is so much hardened as to be greatly improved in its quality.

[Among the species of alder found in the United States Michaux describes only two species, the Alnus serrulata, or Common Alder, abounding in the Northern, Middle, and Western States on the borders of streams and especially in places covered with stagnant water. Its ordinary size is eight or ten feet in height, seldom attaining more than two inches in the diameter of its stem. It blooms in January, the sexes being separate on the same stock. The barren flowers resembling those of the birch. The common alder is too small to be applicable to any use in the arts, and from its inferiority of size, it will probably one day give place to the European Alder.

The Alnus Glauca, or Black Alder, is one of the most beautiful species of the genus. It is unknown in the Southern, rare in the Middle States, and in the North-eastern States, where it is more frequently found, much less multiplied than the common alder. It grows a third taller than the latter species, attaining sometimes eighteen or twenty feet in height and eight inches in diameter. Its leaves are similar in shape, out a third larger. The bark of the trunk and of the secondary branches is smooth, glossy, and of a deep brown colour sprinkled

a general resemblance to that animal; thin, hard, and small-boned; irregular, often very awkwardly shaped." But he considers this description to refer chiefly to the cows. He thinks "they are amongst the best milkers in the world as to quality, and in that respect are either before or immediately next to the long horn, but that in weight of butter for inches they are far superior to all. He has been assured by a respectable friend, that "an Alderney strayed cow during the three weeks she was kept by the finder made nineteen pounds of butter each week; and the fact was held so extraordinary, as to be thought worth a memorandum in the parish books." And it is added, that "the Norman and island cattle make fat very quick, and for their bulk arrive at considerable weight. The beef," in his opinion, "is of the first class, very fine grained, in colour yellow, or of a high colour, with a bluish cast and elastic feel, which denotes the closest grained, most savoury, and finest meat." It is in his recollection, that, "some years since, a heifer, bred between Alderney and Kentish home-bred stock, and fattened on cabbages and carrots, made one hundred and fifty stone, dying uncommonly fat." On this ground he supposes, that "this species is, in course, a proper cross for the large and coarse-boned; but in that view he would prefer the real Normans from the Continent, as generally better shaped than the islanders." He likewise states, that "many persons near the metropolis, and along the south and western coast, makė a trade of importing these cattle, which are extremely convenient for private families, and make a good figure in parks and lawns."

Mr. Culley, however, remarks, that they are a breed of cattle too delicate and tender to be much attended to by the British farmer, and not capable of bearing the cold of this island, especially the northern parts of it.

By an experiment which is stated in the Report for the County of Kent, made between a large home-bred cow of eight years old and a small Alderney of two years old, it appears that the home-bred cow in seven days gave thirty-five gallons of milk, which made ten

variety of ailments and "griefs," operating as a diuretic, and being excellent in disorders of the lungs and breast.] It obtained its name of Alehoof among the poor, who infuse it in ale or beer, and drink it warm for all internal ailments. (L. Johnson.)

ALEXANDER (Hipposelinum). This garden vegetable has been superseded by celery, yet it is an excellent vegetable, and grows abundantly wild almost everywhere in England. The seeds and root are hot and dry like those of parsley, and preparations of them are much in use as a popular medicine.

[Some wild species of Alexander are known in the United States. (See Flor. Ces.)]

ALIMENT (Lat. alimentum). That which nourishes, nutriment or food.

Of alimentary roots, some are pulpy and very nutritious, as turnips and carrots. These have a fattening quality. (Arbuth. on Aliments.) See GASES, EARTH, WATER, &c.

Thomson's Chem. iv. 189.

The potash thus obtained, however, must not be regarded as a pure alkali, for it contains almost always a small portion of various salts, such as the sulphate of potash, muriate of potash, sulphate of lime, phosphate of lime, &c.

Soda abounds in marine plants generally to a much greater extent than potash does in the vegetables of inland districts; the barilla of Spain is extracted from the salsola sativa and vermiculata, and some of these plants yield nearly 20 per cent. of ashes, which contain about 2 per cent. of soda.

The union of alkalies with acids forms the class of bodies known as the alkaline salts.

The food of animals, whether of a solid or liquid kind, should be adapted to their different organs both in quantity and quality, in order that they may exist in the most perfect state. It is observed, that nature directs every animal, instinctively, to choose such substances for food as are best adapted to its health and support; but as some are withdrawn from their natural condition for the convenience of man, and, in their domesticated state, are fed on artificial productions, not of their own choice, it becomes a matter of serious importance to the owners of cattle, horses, &c., to make themselves acquainted with their nature and habits, and also with the qualities of those substances [Plants, in their growth, derive certain elewhich are usually designed as food for them, ments for their subsistence from the atmossince there is no doubt but errors in the choice phere, namely, carbonic acid, water, and amof the latter must be a fruitful source of disease. monia, the decomposition of the last furnishBesides, in the view of the grazier, some sorts ing their nitrogen. They, however, require other of food may be much more advantageous in materials for the perfection of certain organs the quality of fattening animals than others- or parts appropriated to the performance of a circumstance of vast importance. See special functions, such, for example, as the FooD. perfection of the seed, which is destined to renew the plant. These elements are furnished by the soil, and consist of salts or alkaline substances, such as potash, soda, lime, alumine, magnesia, metallic oxids, and phosphates. The proportion of these contained in soils regulate, in a great degree, their capacities for the production of different plants.

ALKALI. The word alkali comes from an herb called by the Egyptians kali; by us glasswort. This herb they burnt to ashes, boiled the ashes in water, and after having evaporated the water, there remained at the bottom a white salt-this they called sal kali or alkali. (Todd's Johnson.) The word is of Arabic origin; according to Albertus Magnus it signifies "the dregs of bitterness." (Thomson, vol. ii. p. 49.)

The chief alkalies found in plants are potash and soda; ammonia, it is true, is produced by the distillation of certain vegetables, but it is a product of the distillation; and again, morphia is obtained from opium, quinia from the Peruvian bark, &c.; but these alkaline substances are but rarely met with by the cultivator, and do not involve any very important facts of vegetable chemistry.

Potash is found in all vegetables growing at a distance from the sea; that of commerce is procured by merely burning the vegetable, washing the ashes in water, and evaporating the solution of potash thus obtained to dryness. In this manner the potash of commerce is made. The proportion, however, of potash, existing in plants varies very considerably, as

Connected with agricultural philosophy, the alkalies are subjects of the deepest interest.

The salts of potash and soda, and of the alkaline earths or minerals, lime, alumine, and even magnesia, can be obtained, by burning and certain chemical processes, from parts of the structure of all plants. This shows the great importance of alkalies, and alkaline substances, to the growth and welfare of every product of the soil. It follows also that with every crop removed, a portion of the potash, etc., must be removed from the land. To compensate for such losses, ashes, farm-yard manure, &c., supply alkalies to the soil, along with other fertilizing substances. In rocky districts of country natural sources exist from whence the soil derives a regular supply of potash, namely, the disintegration of granite, and decomposition of its felspar and mica, both of which contain this alkali.