MR. DOWNING'S LETTERS FROM ENGLAND. 



But the gem of the collection is the superb Chili Pine or Araucaria — the oldest, I think, 

 in England, or, at all events, the finest. The seed was presented to the late Lord Gren- 

 VILLE by William IVth — who had some of the first gigantic cones of this tree that were 

 imported. This specimen is now 30 feet high, perfectly symmetrical, the stem as straight as 

 a column — the branches disposed with the utmost regularity, and the lower ones drooping 

 and touching the ground like those of a larch. If you will not smile, I will tell you that 

 it struck me that the expression of this tree is heroic — that is, it looks the very Mars of 

 evergreens. There are no slender twigs, no small branches — but a great stem with 

 branches like a colossal bronze candelabrum, or perhaps the whole reminds one more of 

 some gigantic, dark green coral than a living, flexible tree. Yet it is a grand object — in 

 its richest of dark green, its noble aspect and its powerful, defiant attitude. This is 

 quite the best specimen that I have seen, and stands in a light, sandy soil on a gravelly 

 bottom — on which soil I was told, it only grows luxuriantly. I do not know how well 

 this fine evergreen will succeed at home. It is now on trial — but T would hint to those 

 who may fail from planting it in rich damp soil, that even here, it completely fails in 

 such situations. 



After leaving what I should call the Pinetum in full dress — i. e. in the highly kept part 

 of the grounds near the house, you emerge gradually into a tract of many acres of nearly 

 level surface, which reminded me so strongly of a scattered Jersey pine barren, that 

 had it not been for tufts and patches of that charming little plant the heather in full 

 bloom, growing wild on all sides, I might have fancied myself in the neighborhood 

 of Amboy. The whole looked, and much of it was, essentially wild, with the exception 

 of carriage-drives and foot-paths running through the mingled copse, heath and woodland. 

 But I was soon convinced of the fact that it was not entirely a wild growth, by being 

 shown, here and there, looking quite as if they had come up by chance, rare specimens of 

 pines, firs, cedars, etc. fr'om all parts of the world, and presently I came upon a noble 

 avenue, half a mile long, of Cedars of Lebanon (a tree to which I always feel inclined to take 

 off my hat as I would to an old cathedral.) The latter have been planted about twenty-five 

 years, and are just beginning to merge the beautifvil in the grand. Everj^thing in the shape 

 of an evergreen seems to thrive in this light sandy soil, and I suggest to the owners of 

 similar waste land in the middle and southern states, to take the hint from this part 

 of Dropmore — plant here and there in the openings the same evergreen trees, protecting 

 them by a slight paling at first, and gradually clearing away all the common growth as 

 they advance into beauty. In this way they may get a wonderfully interesting park — in 

 soil where oaks and elms would never grow — at a very trifling outlay. 



I cannot dismiss Dropmore without mentioning a superb hedge of Portugal laurel, thirty- 

 one feet high — and the beautiful "Burnam beeches," almost asfineas one ever sees in Ameri- 

 ca, that I passed on the way back to the rail-way station. 



The last word reminds me that I must say a word or two here, about the English rail- 

 Avays. In point of speed I think their reputation out-runs the fact. I did not find their 

 average, (with the exception of the road between Liverpool and London,) much above 

 that of our best northern and eastern roads. They make, for instance, hardly 20 

 miles an hour with the ordinary trains, and about 3G miles an hour with the express 

 trains. But the perfect order and system with which they are managed; the obliging ci- 

 vility of all persons in the employment of the companies to travellers, and the quietness 

 with which the business of the road is carried on, strikes an American very strongly. For 

 pie, suppose you are on a railroad at home. You are about to approach a small 

 you may leave and take up, perhaps, twenty passengers. As soon as the tow 



