CHAP. iI. CONTINENT OF EUROPE. 139 
published from 1800 to 1819, nearly 2000 species and varieties are described, 
of which upwards of 500 are figured. 
Du Hamel, in the preface to his work, says that he has treated of shrubs 
as well as trees, in order to lead to the pursuit of the useful through the 
medium of the agreeable. “ There is reason,” he says, “to hope that we shall 
be better listened to by the rich, when we propose to ornament their mansions 
with foreign trees, and their parks with thickets of flowering shrubs, than if we 
were simply to tell them to form plantations on lands unfit for producing corn 
or grass. If the self-love of the possessors of country seats is flattered by the 
view of common parks, notwithstanding the revolting uniformity of their 
thickets, which are only varied by differing in size or in form, is there not rea-~ 
son to hope that they will be much more highly gratified when the thickets in 
these parks offer that variety which is produced by different kinds of trees 
and shrubs, and which exhibits beauties suited to every season?” After giving 
directions for choosing flowering trees and shrubs to form thickets for the 
early part of spring, for the middle of spring, and for summer, he next shows 
the superior enjoyment to be derived from the culture of trees, to that which 
can be derived from the culture of herbaceous plants. ‘“ The most beautiful 
bed of hyacinths or tulips, when the flowers have once faded, leaves nothing 
but what is withered and unsightly; whilst the. flowers of trees and shrubs 
which generally appear in spring are succeeded by the most vivid green leaves ; 
and even in winter, after these have dropped, the ramification of the branches 
and spray is beautiful and interesting.” (Preface, p. xviii.) 
Du Hamel remarks that the greatest difficulty which opposed itself to his 
plan of rendering foreign trees and shrubs general in France was, that the 
greater part of them were not to be found for sale in the public nurseries. 
From this we may conclude that those who did introduce foreign trees and 
shrubs into France, during the 18th century, received them chiefly from abroad. 
Of this, indeed, there can be no doubt, since it is attested by a living witness, 
Mr. Thomas Blaikie, already mentioned, who is a native of Scotland, and has 
been settled in France as a landscape-gardener since the year 1776. In the 
Encyclopedia of Gardening, edit. 1835, p. 88., will be found a list of gardens 
and grounds laid out by Mr. Blaikie in France between 1776 and 1794, in 
which he mentions that for one place (Maison) he “ went to England to buy 
the trees and shrubs; as at that time few trees or shrubs could be found in 
any nursery near Paris.” Mr. Blaikie also laid out several places for the 
Duke of Orleans, and especially Monceaux, the trees and shrubs for which 
were all procured from the Hammersmith Nursery. 
The culture of foreign trees and shrubs in French nurseries appears to have 
commenced about the beginning of the present century, and the principal nur- 
serymen who engaged in that branch were M. Noisette, whose father was 
gardener to Monsieur, afterwards Louis XVIIL, at Brunoy, and M. Cels, 
who is now dead, and whose nursery is carried on by his son. On this sub- 
ject, we refer for further details to the historical part of the Encyclopedia of 
Gardening. 
Among the principal amateurs who have collected foreign trees and shrubs 
in France, since the commencement of the present century, may be mentioned, 
first and principally, the Empress Josephine, who had a collection at Malmai- 
son of all that could be supplied from the London nurseries ; the late Baron 
Pappenheim, who endeavoured to acclimatise many species at Coombe 
la Ville; Admiral Tchitchagoff, who has a fine collection at Scéaux ; 
Monsieur de Magneville, near Caen, who is noted for his collection of pines ; 
the Duke of Orleans (now King of the French), who has an arboretum at 
Neuilly, a catalogue of which was published by his gardener, Jacques, in 1833; 
M. Du Mont de Courset, at Boulogne; M. Soulange-Bodin, at Fromont on 
the Seine; M. Vilmorin, at Barres; M. le Baron Tschoudi, at Columbiére, 
near Metz; M. le Comte de Montbron, at Clervaux, near Chatelherault ; 
M. Ivoy, in the neighbourhood of Bourdeaux, celebrated for his collection of 
pines and firs; and General Lemarrais, formerly aid-de-camp to Napoleon, 
M 3 
