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The second reason why we have included a number of halfhardy, or supposed half-hardy, trees and shrubs in this Work is, that we think there are few scenes in an ornamental garden or pleasure-ground of greater interest to a person having any knowledge of botany, however slight, than a conservative wall; that is, a wall covered with trees and shrubs, natives of foreign climates, which, though they may be killed to the ground during winter, yet exhibit a degree of luxuriance during the summer season, which they never can display in our green-houses or conservatories. Even were all such plants to be killed by frost every winter, and a reserve obliged to be kept in green-houses or pits to supply their place every spring, still, the splendour of their appearance during the summer months, and the novelty of their forms when compared with those of the spring, usually grown in the open air in Britain, would far more than compensate for the trouble incurred. When we take into consideration how easy it is to have such walls flued, and to heat the borders in front of them by small pipes of hot water, the capacities of a conservative wall and border appear great beyond anything we can at present calculate on; and we are persuaded that, were the subject of conservative walls warmly taken up by a spirited and wealthy individual, something would be produced in this way, as superior to our present green-houses and conservatories, as these are to the orangeries and green-houses of the time of Evelyn, or even of Miller. Having thus given our reasons for the introduction of half-hardy species of trees and shrubs into this Work, we shall next submit a few words with respect to our arrangement and treatment of the hardy species.

The general arrangement of the Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum will be that of the natural system; by which, whether in botany, zoology, or mineralogy, those objects are brought together which resemble one another in the greatest number of particulars. In describing each species, we shall follow the summary of particulars laid down in the last chapter of Part II.; giving in succession the identification of the name by botanists; the synonymes, botanical and vernacular; references to published engravings; the specific character; the popular description; the geography; the history; the poetical and legendary allusions; the properties and uses; the soil and situation; the propagation and culture; the accidents and diseases which the plant is liable to; the insects and parasitic plants which inhabit it; examples of its growth in the British Islands and on the Continent; and, lastly, its price in some of the principal British, Continental, and American nurseries.

In identifying the name of every species, or variety, with that given to it by botanical writers, we have been guided principally by our own examination of the living plant, and comparing it

with existing engravings and descriptions; but we have also in part relied on the identifications of other botanists.*

In giving the synonymes, we have adopted the same rule as in giving the identifications.

Though we have used every exertion in our power to render this Work as correct, in a botanical and technical point of view, as possible, yet what we consider to be its great practical value (and that which will contribute more than any other cause to the main end which we have in view, viz. that of diffusing a taste for planting collections of trees and shrubs,) is, that we have described scarcely any tree or shrub which we have not seen ourselves, in a living state, within ten miles of London. Some exceptions are necessarily introduced; but, whenever this is done, it is either indicated by the paragraph relating to that tree or shrub being in very small type; or, by our indicating in words, or by some other means, that we have not seen the plant.

The shrubs, as far as practicable, we shall illustrate by engravings of botanical specimens, to be given along with the text; and all these will be to one and the same scale, of 2 in. to 1 ft. Engravings of the trees will be chiefly given in 8vo or 4to plates, apart from the text; and each of these plates will contain a pictorial portrait of the tree, and a botanical specimen. The pictorial portraits will be of two kinds: first, portraits of trees which have been planted ten or twelve years within ten miles of London, all to the same scale; and, secondly, portraits of full-grown trees, chiefly within the same limits, all to another scale. The use of the first class of portraits is, to show, at a single glance, the comparative bulk which different trees attain in a given climate in a given period; as well as to indicate how far different kinds of trees, at this early age, show anything characteristic in their shape. The portraits of the full-grown trees, it is almost unnecessary to observe, are given in order to exhibit their ultimate magnitude and character. By merely glancing over these portraits, a planter will see at once, first, the effect which any given tree, purchasable in British nurseries, will produce at ten years' growth; and, secondly, what its appearance will be when it has arrived at its average size.

It will be found that in this Work we have, in various instances, reduced the number of species, and even, in some cases, of va

*For example, in the case of the very first species described, Clématis Flámmula, having convinced ourselves that our plant was that described by De Candolle (Prod., vol. i. p. 2.), we have not hesitated to give the identifications and synonymes quoted by that eminent author; adding, however, the identifications and synonymes of subsequent authors from our own examination of their works. In the plant referred to we have added to the identifications of De Candolle, Hayne's Dendrologia and Don's Miller.

+ See the Explanatory References, which precede the Table of Contents.

rieties; and this, had we been inclined to trust entirely to our own opinion, we might have carried to a much greater extent.

It is well known to the cultivators of trees and shrubs, that there are a great many names of species enumerated in botanical works, our own Hortus Britannicus not excepted, as having been introduced into this country, which are not to be found in any nursery, or even botanic garden. These plants may have been introduced and lost; or the names may have been those of plants already in the country, reintroduced under new names. In either case, according to the present mode of compiling botanical catalogues, the introduction of these names in such catalogues (provided the authorities are given with them) is unavoidable, whether the things to which they apply are in existence or not. It is easy to conceive some of the evils which, in a practical point of view, result from this mode of making catalogues; but it is necessary to be at once a practical botanist and a practical gardener, to comprehend the whole of them. One evil is, that, when collectors of trees, for example, order the plants bearing these names from the nurserymen, they either do not receive any plants at all, or they receive something which they do not want, and, probably, something which they already have. Another evil is, that nurserymen, in order to supply the demand for novelties, or to establish or keep up the appearance of having an extensive collection, too frequently introduce names into their catalogues for which they cannot supply plants; or they introduce synonymes without indicating that they are such. The effect of this is, that gentlemen intending to form collections, finding their intentions frustrated, frequently give up the pursuit in disgust.

Imperfect as are the collections, and erroneous as is the nomenclature in public nurseries, it will readily be conceived how difficult it is for a practical gardener to acquire a tolerable knowledge of the trees and shrubs actually in the country; and it is evident that, without this knowledge on his part, it is not to be expected that any but the most common trees and shrubs can be recommended by him to his employers: indeed, no British gardener, who has not passed some time in acquiring a knowledge of his profession in some of our principal botanic gardens, in the Kew Garden, in the garden of the Horticultural Society, in that of Messrs. Loddiges, in the Botanic Garden at Edinburgh, or in some other garden which contains an arboretum, can be said to know the names of one fourth of the trees and shrubs already in the country. The Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum, we think, will go far to remedy this evil, by enabling both gardeners and their employers to ascertain, not only what trees are in the country, but where they may see them growing. Nurserymen, by referring to these living trees, will not only

have an opportunity of correctly ascertaining the names of such as they already possess, but of supplying themselves with cuttings or plants of such sorts as they may not have in cultivation. The purchasers of trees, by always using the nomenclature of the Arboretum Britannicum, and being able to refer from it to the living specimens from which our engravings were taken, will at once insure certainty as to the kinds they obtain; and stimulate the nurserymen to accuracy, in regard to the names of those plants which they possess and propagate, and to the cultivation of a greater number of species and varieties. After the publication of our Work, it will be the fault of the nurseryman alone, if his nursery do not contain plants of all the species and varieties which we have figured and described.

Many persons, when recommended to plant, reply: "Of what use is it to plant at my age? I can never hope to live to see my plants become trees." This sort of answer does not, at first sight, appear surprising, if we suppose it to come from a person of sixty or seventy years of age; but we often hear it even from men of thirty or forty. In either case, such an answer is the result of a vulgar error, founded on mistaken and prejudiced notions. We shall prove its incorrectness by matters of fact. In the year 1830, there were many sorts of trees in the arboretum of Messrs. Loddiges which had been planted exactly ten years, and each of which exceeded 30 ft. in height. Most of these trees have since been cut down for want of room; but we have the names and the measurement of the whole of them. There are, also, at the present time (December, 1834), many trees in the arboretum of the London Horticultural Society's Garden at Chiswick, which have been only ten years planted, and which are between 30 ft. and 40 ft. in height. Why, then, should any one, even of seventy years of age, assign as a reason for declining planting, that he cannot hope to live to see his plants become trees? A tree 30 ft. high, practically speaking, will effect all the general purposes for which trees are planted: it will afford shelter and shade; display individual beauty and character; and confer expression on landscape scenery.

There is one subject which we shall occasionally touch on, in the history of particular species, and also in taking a general view of the trees of each genus, or of each natural order; and that is, the improvement which many species are probably susceptible of by cross-fecundation with other species nearly allied to them, or by procuring new varieties through the selection of remarkable individuals from seedlings raised in the common way. We shall also bear in mind the manner in which curious varieties are procured by the selection of shoots which present those anomalous appearances which gardeners call sports, and which, when propagated by grafting, continue to preserve their peculiarities. It should never be forgotten by cultivators, that all

our most valuable plants, whether in agriculture, horticulture, or floriculture, are more or less indebted for their excellence to art. Our cultivated fruit trees are very different from the same trees in a wild state; and our garden and field herbaceous vegetables so much so, that, in many instances, not even a botanist could recognise the wild and the cultivated plant to be the same species. There is reason to believe that the same means by which we have procured our improved varieties of fruit trees will be equally effective in producing improved varieties of timber trees. A few species, such as the oak, the elm, the magnolia, &c., have had improved varieties raised from seed by accidental crossing, or by the selection of individuals from multitudes of seedlings; and variegated varieties, and varieties with anomalously formed leaves, or with drooping or erect shoots, have been procured from the sports of parts of different plants. But the mode of improvement by cross-fecundation is yet quite in its infancy with respect to timber trees; and to set limits to the extent and beauty of the new varieties which may be produced by it is impossible. There is no reason why we may not have a purple-leaved oak, or elm, or ash, as well as a purpleleaved beech; or a drooping sweet chestnut as well as a drooping ash. The oak is a tree that varies astonishingly by culture; and, when the numerous American varieties that have been introduced into this country shall have once begun to bear seed, there is no end to the fine hybrids that may be originated between them and the European species. In short, we see no difficulty in improving our ornamental trees and shrubs to as great an extent as we have done our fruit trees and shrubs; though we are as yet only procuring new species from foreign countries, which may be considered as the raw material with which we are to operate.

PART IV., which will form the last division of the Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum, will be devoted to selected lists of the trees and shrubs described, classified according to their different capacities for fulfilling the various purposes for which trees and shrubs are required by the planter and by the landscape-gardener. For the rest we refer to the Table of Contents.

The utility of such a Work as the Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum to the gardening world, and to the landed proprietor, will not, we think, be questioned. We shall say nothing, therefore, of the influence which it cannot fail to have in promoting a taste for the culture and spread of such foreign trees as we have already in the country; and in exciting a desire for introducing others from different parts of the world, and for originating new varieties by the different means employed by art for that purpose. One remark, however, we may be permitted to make on the use of such a Work as the Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum to gentlemen of landed property. Every

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