Box tree

“ I am glad the old box tree is not a peacock. It has grown the way it wanted to grow, and it suits it. It is perfectly true that nothing will grow under it, and therefore I have not tried to grow anything under it. ”

“ The box-tree abounds on the Pyrenean2390 range, the mountains of Cytorus, and the country about Berecynthus.2391 The trunk grows to the largest size in the island of Corsica,2392 and its blossom is by no means despicable; it is this that causes the honey there to be bitter.2393 The seed of the box is held in aversion by all animals. That which grows upon Mount Olympus in Macedonia is not more slender than the other kinds, but the tree is of a more stunted growth. ”

“ With that, he replaced the box in its dark corner, and, having closed the cupboard door, was just showing me the secret of the spring, when we were once more startled by a noise outside--this time like that of snapping twigs.
For a moment we both stood stock-still, listening, then running to the window, looked out anxiously. But again there was nothing to be seen. The ancient, broad-leaved chestnut tree which grew quite close above a neighbouring wall and threw deep shadows on the lawn beneath, gave forth no sign. ”

“ THE box elder is a fairly rapidly growing tree, found commonly along streams rather generally over the State. It is a tree of medium size, rarely reaching over 24 inches in diameter and 60 to 70 feet in height. It has been considerably planted for shade because in good soil its growth is rapid. ”

“ It thrives in hot and cold climates, and high and low elevations; in regions of much rain, and in those with little. That fact has been turned to account by tree planters, particularly in the years when the western plains were being settled by homesteaders. The box elder was the chief tree on many a timber claim where the letter of the law rather than the spirit was carried out. ”

“ After the glue is dry, the outside edges should be rounded and the roughnesses removed by the use of a rasp and sand-paper.
The ring-master should be so fastened, facing the horse, as to turn with each revolution of the axle.
The back of the box is fitted with a pasteboard or cloth screen, painted to represent stage scenery, and supported on either side by uprights, from the top of which float banners. For further decorations the twigs of evergreen trees are added, those of the larch or spruce, or perhaps best of all the small branches of the juniper or cedar tree, are best for the purpose. ”

“ The less the axe approaches the centre of the tree the better, as vitality is the less endangered. An expert workman will make a box in less than 10 minutes. From one to four boxes are made in each tree, a few inches of bark being left between them. The greater number of trees from which turpentine is now obtained, are from 12 to 18 inches in diameter, and have three boxes each. ”

“ In Jamaica they call it the sandbox-tree, because they get the pretty, fluted seed cases, and make sand-boxes of them. If they are picked just at the right time, they last for years. If they are left on the tree, they ripen until they are dark brown, and then they fly open with a bang, and send the seeds in all directions. ”

“ Stumps of trees that have been wrecked by wind or lightning support bark-bound flower boxes. A driveway curves to the left and a gravel path leads straight to the front porch before which the box trees are growing. ”

“ Good cases may be made at a trifling expense, by taking strips of inch and a half stuff, three inches wide, and nine or ten feet long, sharpen the lower end, and drive it into the ground four or five inches, and in a box formed about the tree let crosspieces be nailed at the top. ”

“ Otherwise they could hardly have been for a Christmas tree. They were twelve in a box, and they ran in twos as to color—by this I mean that there were two blues, two reds, two greens, two silvery, two goldy, and two bright pink. The box was divided into little compartments, one for each ball, and lined with a peculiar, dirty cotton, common to Christmas ornament boxes, and the compartments were meant to keep the balls from knocking against each other and breaking. ”

“ You wander through the ruins, overgrown with ferns and Spanish filberts, and old fruit-trees, and at the corner of the old monkish garden you come upon one of the strangest and most touching sights you ever saw—an oval space of about 18 feet by 12, with the remains of a double row of boxwood all round, the plants of box being about fourteen feet high, and eight or nine inches in diameter, healthy, but plainly of great age. ”

“ We are told that it is not well to plant Box edgings in our gardens, because Box is so frail, is so easily winter-killed, that it dies down in ugly fashion. Yet see what great trees it forms, even when untrimmed, as in the Prince Garden (page 31) . It is true that Box does not always flourish in the precise shape you wish, but it has nevertheless a wonderfully tenacious hold on life. ”

“ A long box covered over with green crape paper looks just like a garden hedge. The paper should be pasted over the sides of the box quite flat. Garden stands are made by gilding spools and then poking into each spool, as it stands upright, some artificial flowers.
Greenhouse for the garden is made from the deep half of some box about seven inches long and five inches deep. If you like, your greenhouse may be made smaller, but this size is an easy one to handle.
The box itself forms the greenhouse building. Its roof is of bent cardboard, and the glass in it is waxed sandwich paper. ”

“ Randy considered the journey through the Box Wood one of their gayest and most entertaining adventures. The woodmen, in their brightly decorated boxes, shuffled cheerfully along beside them, stopping now and then to point with pride to their square box-like dwellings set at regular intervals under the spreading boxwood trees. The whole forest was covered by an enormous wooden box that shut out the sky and gave everything an artificial and unreal look. It was in one side of this monster box that Thun had burned the hole to admit them. ”

“ The rest of the fence was lying among the grasses and goldenrod, but the box still lived, dead at the top, its leafless branches matted into a hoary gray tangle, but springing up from below in crisp green sprays, lustrous and fragrant as ever, and richly suggestive of the past that produced it. For the box implies not merely human life, but human life on a certain scale: leisurely, decorous, well-considered. It implies faith in an established order and an assured future. A beautiful box hedge is not planned for immediate enjoyment ”

“ Every one knows how important a feature the box-bush is in English gardens and in the old American gardens that were planted after English models.
So fine in color, so deep and luxuriant in foliage, so dignified and aristocratic in its atmosphere the name box is almost synonymous with old gardens. Its acrid yet aromatic scent—most delicious after rain—is one of its characteristics.
Greek myth consecrated the box to Pluto, and the plant was said to be symbolical of the life in the Underworld which continues all the year. ”

“ Binding the boxes in this way makes them strong and prevents their bursting apart, as they are very apt to do with nothing to stay them. Paint the boxes dark green, like the board, and on the bottom of each place a layer of charcoal, next a layer of sand and then fill with earth, enriched with fertilizer obtained at the drug-store. Weave two straight sticks, about four feet long, in and out through each piece of wire netting for your trellises. Stand a trellis upright in either end box by pushing the end of the sticks deep into the soil. ”

“ For its beauty in winter alone, the box should still find a place in our gardens. It grows to great size. Bushes of box in the deserted garden at Vaucluse in Newport, Rhode Island, are fifteen feet in height, and over them spread the branches of forest trees that have sprung up in the garden beds since that neglected pleasaunce was planted, over a century ago. ”

“ The pines have been succeeded by boxwood that brings in a certain revenue. It is not cut till the stem has attained a girth of three inches; but it would be well if it were allowed to reach a girth of four or five, as it serves as a valuable cover for young pines where attempts are made to replant. The box never grows very high, but some bushes arrive at the height of fifteen feet, and a girth of trunk of fifteen inches. ”

“ Packing the flowers is a serious business. The boxes are lined with paper, little pillows are made for the flowers to rest upon, and then the bunches are deftly laid, so many this way, so many that, and a few in the centre, and behold, stems are altogether hidden, and only a mass of bloom fills the box. ”

“ If the depth be great the plants spend too much energy in root growth. A shallow box means, if properly filled, a compact root mass. So if your box is to be, say three and a half feet long make it not more than ten inches deep.
"As we make drainage holes in the bottom of the bulb box, so we do in the window box. Many people make window boxes without drainage holes. It seems rather better to have them since they offer exit for surplus water, and places for the roots to get at the air. These holes may be bored six inches apart down through the centre of the box ”

“ In order to find out what woods are best to use in crates and boxes and what sizes and shapes will withstand rough handling, the Laboratory experts developed a novel drum that tosses the boxes to and fro and gives them the same kind of rough handling they get on the railroad. This testing machine has demonstrated that the proper method of nailing the box is of great importance. Tests have shown that the weakest wood properly nailed into a container is more serviceable than the strongest wood poorly nailed. ”

“ It grows plentifully on the chalk hills near Dunstable.” On the other hand the box is not wild in the Channel Islands, and in the north of France, Holland and Belgium is found mainly in hedgerows and near cultivation, and it may have been one of the many introductions owed to the Romans. Only a very small proportion of the wood suitable for industrial uses is now obtained in Great Britain. The box is a very slow-growing plant, adding not more than 11/2 or 2 in. ”

“ It should be clipped in the spring, April or May being the best months, and a top-dressing about the same time will be very beneficial to it. Box is a good shrub for an inside hedge, but should never become overgrown, as, in addition to the hard cutting necessary to bring it into shape, it is a terrible plant to cut, even the small wood being very hard and tough. ”

“ If the area is small one can utilize all of it, if too large then pre-empt the portion nearest one and draw a trellis of wire across the boundary line on which one may grow in long, narrow boxes of soil morning glories galore. It is not necessary that these boxes be of anything but the roughest construction; home-made boxes, evolved from old packing cases, are as good as anything as they will be masked by the plants and vines ”

“ A soft wood, like white pine, for example, would readily take moisture in damp weather, expanding enough to throw the rules in a die out of register with the make-ready on the press, and this would mean damage to the make-ready as well as changes in the sizes of the boxes which are being cut out. The Cherry Lumber Company, of Cincinnati, O., supplies first class cherry and black walnut wood in strips, and from these strips the box maker may cut the pieces of blanking-out furniture to the sizes required for the steel die. ”

“ Great care must be taken in setting out the Box, that the row be absolutely straight and even. The garden cord is carefully stretched; a shallow, narrow trench is dug [178] with the spade, and then the little plants are placed about three inches apart, each plant against the string. The trench is half filled in with earth, then a layer of manure, and finally more earth packed down. Box planted in this way should grow and thrive, especially if given, along in May, a little bone-meal.
Sun-dial in center of formal garden
August second
I write feelingly of Box-edging to-day. ”

“ Much is added to the general effect if some plants which form long hangers are put in, and planted close to the front side of the box. In sun or shade the Wandering Jew grows. A bit breaks off; it is stuck back into the earth and again it grows. Pieces cut and put into water grow equally well. Trailing over the sides of the vessel they are in, they make a pleasing effect in a corner, or by the side of a window.
"An important thing to be remembered in connection with window boxes is that the closer you plant the better the growth of the plants. ”

“ The Wooden and Brass Seed-boxes differ not in any of the most essential Parts of them; only the Wooden Box must be thicker, as the Wood is not so strong as Brass; the Spring is made strait instead of crooked; and, being let into the Back of the Wooden Tongue, bears against it at each End; and the Chanel, into which it is placed, being made hollow in the Middle, the Spring has its Play there, and must be stiffer and have a little more Play in the Bean-drill, than in any lesser Seed-box. ”

“ The other source of the ordinary boxwood of commerce is B. balearica, which yields the variety known as Turkey boxwood. The common box is grown throughout Great Britain (perhaps native in the chalk-hills of the south of England) , in the southern part of the European continent generally, and extends through Persia into India, where it is found growing on the slopes of the western Himalayas. ”