ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TREES. 2^ 



of accommodating fifteen persons at dinner, with all the attend- 

 ants imperial pomp required — the holm-tree at Rome mentioned 

 by Pliny, with old Tuscan characters upon it, from which it 

 appeared that it was a remarkable tree before the foundation of 

 Rome — the renowned cedars of Mount Lebanon, one of which 

 was thirty-six feet in girth when seen by Maundrell, though still 

 sound, and beneath whose boughs the " feast of cedars" is still 

 annually celebrated — the tilia of Basil, under which the German 

 Emperors used to dine — Alfred's oak, near Magdalen College, 

 Oxford, whose canopy of shade could have sheltered 3000 men — 

 or the great lime, at Newstadt, in Wirtemburgh, honoured by 

 above two hundred monuments, obelisks and inscriptions in 

 honour of it, by princes and nobles who had visited the tree. 



I might to this list add many remarkable denizens of the 

 forest even in our own neighbourhood, but the length to which I 

 have extended this article obliges me to draw to an abrupt con- 

 clusion. Last year I was shown at AValcot, Salop, the seat of 

 Earl Powis, a young mango-tree in the splendid greenhouse there, 

 planted from the fruit presented to the hand of England's 

 proudest hope, the Princess Victoria. When at some far distant 

 day that accomplished princess shall ascend the throne, — when 

 surrounded by all the glories royalty can bestow, happy in the 

 love of a contented people — but ah ! not exempt from the cares 

 that shadow even a royal brow, — what may be her emotions when 

 agaiii gazing at that mango-tree, planted with her own hand in 

 the happy hour of youth and joy! 



In conclusion, I would recommend all to cherish a love of 

 woodland scenery — for the emotions to which it gives rise must 

 lead us to a train of feelings that will enable us to enjoy with 

 greater zest the works of our best authors, and perhaps raise our 

 thoughts to the great Author of Nature himself. To those who 

 have land, nothing can be more gratifying and profitable than 

 planting such hardy trees, native and foreign, as will bear the 

 climate of Britain, and few are aware of the growth of a planta- 

 tion even in ten years.* We cannot, indeed, have the palm ot 

 the banian to adorn our grounds, but as arboriculture is yet in 

 its infancy, the curious stores of our arboretum may be increased 

 year after year. 



But could we even only pay attention to the indigenous trees of 

 our native island, these are important enough to demand our 

 study, and to furnish an ample store of knowledge and pleasure* 

 In a national point of view, the preservation of our invincible 

 navy depends upon the true British oak being preserved for ship- 

 building, and plantations of it should be constantly progressing 

 in every stage. Lord Collingwood used to say that he would 

 never walk out without taking a handful of acorns to scatter 

 about the country, leaving them in the hope that many would 



♦ See Loudon's " Arboretum Britannicum," now iu course of publication, 

 where the plates represent plants of ten years' growth. 



May, 1835. — vol. ii. no. x. 2 m 



