187S.] 



AND HORirCULTURIST. 



155 



seven or eight feet loiij;. thicker than a hoe han- 

 dle, penetrating and rooting tirnilj' in the ground. 

 Tlie tree, two feet from the ground, was 

 tkirteen feet in circumference, about sixty-five 

 feet in height. The expanse of branches was also 

 about sixty-five feet. 



For aught I know, Captain cjmith may have 

 introduced other trees besides this one, but I 

 never heard of any other. 



Tiie Napoleon Willow was introduced into 

 Britain in 1823. In Loudon's Hortus Britanicus, 

 published in 1830, it is put down as a distinct 

 species (Salix Napoleona) and as an ever- 

 green house plant or tree ! But coming from a 

 trt^pical island, and being then but comparatively 

 of recent introduction, this is not much to be 

 wondered at. Before the above period (1830), 

 my father planted a specimen of it in the gardens 

 he had charge of, in the south of Scotland, wliich 

 I think Mr. London must have seen hardy and 

 thriving, the following year, when he visited the 

 gardens in his tour throughout the country 

 " taking notes." I remember him well, and the 

 sensation he used to make amongst the gardeners 

 upon such occasions. But withal, he was a 

 w^orthy and a talented man — a great friend of 

 gardeners and gardening. 



The Xripoleon Willow is now, I believe, very 

 generally considered merely a variety of the old 

 Weeping Willow. Na/i> Bnbylonica. introduced 

 into England in 1(392 from the Levant. Travel- 

 ers say it still adorns the l^anks of the Euphrates, 

 as in the days of Daniel and the captivity of 

 -Tudah, when it was immortalized in the language 

 of one of the most beautiful and pathetic of the 

 inspired Psalms. 



I am not sure whether the Weeping Willow is 

 indigenous to St. Helena or not, but incline to 

 believe it was introduced to the Island from 

 England during the latter half of the last cen- 

 tury, when a great variety of all sorts of trees 

 and shrubs were introduced, including even 

 Furze and Scotch pine, for fuel and also protec- 

 tion in exposed situations. I was well acquainted 

 Vvith a person who could have easily informed 

 me, and have often felt sorry I never 

 inquired of him concerning the Napoleon 

 Willow. This was Mr. William Thomson, with 

 whom I worked many a day, some forty odd 

 years ago, in Messrs. Dickson & Co.'s nursery, 

 Edinburgh. He spent a number of years as a 

 soldier on the island, and having been brought 

 yp to gardening before joining the army, he was 

 detailed to lo(jk after the grounds around Long- 



wood house, the abode of Napoleon during his 

 exile. These grounds he said w^ere nothing very 

 exti'a, consisting of some sort of a lawn, with 

 walks, some trees, shrubs and a few flowers. 

 Mr Thomson could tell much about the island, 

 its productions and the exiled Emperor, whom 

 it would appear, manifested but very little in- 

 terest in gardening affairs (as indeed it could not 

 be expected he should in his then situation ;) 

 walking, however, much around the grounds, 

 and often at a quick pace, seldom meeting or 

 speaking to any one, being seemingly always 

 absorbed in deep thought. When Napoleon's 

 remains were removed to France, many years 

 ago, I remember Mr. Loudon considered the 

 Willow that grew over his grave an object of 

 sufficient interest to cause him to apply to the 

 Government to have it properly cared for. 



As to the introduction of the Weeping or 

 Babylonian Willow into New England, from 

 all I can learn or judge of, I think it must have 

 been introduced in Colonial times. Large and 

 very old specimens abound in many places. The 

 common yellow branched or Golden Willow, 

 Salix vitellina, the Hawthorn, the Lilac, the 

 Sweet Briar or Eglantine, and even the Barberry 

 and many other trees, shrubs and plants, un- 

 doubtedly were very early introduced from old 

 England. The largest Hawthorn tree, I think, 

 I ever saw, was growmg and thriving in this city 

 a few yeax's ago. It had to be cut down to make 

 way for a new street. It must have been, judg- 

 ing by its appearance, nearly two hundred years 

 old. In fa,ct the early settlers ot New England 

 with true English instinct, appear to have had 

 much more taste for gardening and love of Nature 

 than is generalh' supposed. Endeavoring to in- 

 troduce whatever was useful, familiar and loved 

 by them at home, or that would remind them of 

 the old ancestral land. Many of these are now 

 found in a wild state all over the country, making 

 it difficult to determine whether they are in- 

 digenous or not. 



But I must stop this. I have digressed and 

 transgressed enough. I am happy to see the 

 Monthly improving and growing. I have 

 taken it from the beginning, and could not do 

 without it now by an}^ means. There is always 

 something in it for the novice and the proficient, 

 the amateur and the professional, the simple 

 and the scientific. I hope j'^ou will continue to 

 give us a few more of your European notes. 

 Theyare vastly more valuable than many people's 

 notes these hard times. What has become of 



