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COItRESl'ONDING EDITORS : 



JOSIAH HOOPES, JAMES TAPLIN. 



YOL. 29. 



SEPTEMBER, 18T4 



I^O. 339. 



The Koyal Botanic G-ardens 

 at Edinburgh, 



BY JOSIAH HOOPKS. 



IT is difficult to conceive of a system that 

 would be better adapted to impart infor- 

 mation to the botanical student, than the one 

 adopted by the above named society in its 

 very beautiful grounds. 



A system of planting, to be perfect, must 

 combine not only accuracy in nomenclature 

 and arrangement into orders and classes, but it 

 must at the same time conform to the recog- 

 nized rules of modern landscape gardening, so 

 as to avoid an air of artificial regularity, and 

 this I believe has been accomplished in these 

 gardens. 



Upon entering the gate our party was met 

 by the superintendent, Mr. McNabb, who has 

 had charge of the collection for very many 

 years, and to whose discriminating judgment 

 and good tiiste much of the credit is due. 

 11 



Propeeding at once to the evergreen depart- 

 ment, where the conifers of the world are 

 worthily represented, we noticed specimens of 

 disputed species, raised from seeds sent home 

 by the lamented Douglas and other well 

 known collectors. Two very distinct forms of 

 what we in America term Finns coiilorta, but 

 which the British authority called Pinus Mur- 

 rayana, strike us at first glance as two species. 

 We recognized, however, in the erect conical 

 outline of one, the common form that is 

 peculiar to the high elevations of the Sierra 

 Nevada of California, as well as in many of 

 the passes of the Rocky Mountains of Colora- 

 do. The other, and very straggling form, we 

 had never before seen. Our Rocky Mountain 

 pines were represented by good specimens for 

 the most part, although we must regret the 

 poor representatives of a few really beautiful 

 species. The portion occupied by the Pinus 

 genus, was well planted, and the arrangement 

 according to form and color was certainly 

 striking. We noticed, however, that the 

 terrible scourge of American pines had 

 reached the old world, and was leaving its 

 piark upon the foliage of their trees as well, 



