Sy’ 
182 HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF TREES. PART I. 
Bartram’s Botanic Garden there appears to have been the best collection in 
any nursery ; and probably, at present, it is only equalled by that of Prince of 
New York. No nursery in America is superior to Bartram’s for fine specimens of 
trees. The dimensions of some of these, with those of many others, of which 
accounts have been sent us, will be given when treating of each particular 
tree, in the third part of this work. (See also Gard. Mag., vol. viii. p. 272.) 
Part of the United States, and the Canadas, were visited by two excellent 
arboricultural observers; Mr. Robert Brown, formerlya nurseryman at Perth, 
and Mr. James Macnab, the son of the curator of the Edinburgh Botanic 
Garden, in the autumn of the year 1834; and an interesting notice of the 
distribution of different species of trees in the countries they passed through 
has been published in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. v. p. 594., and 
will be found also in the twelfth volume of the Gardener’s Magazine. Before 
landing at New York, the country appears to the stranger of a very dark and 
dismal hue, from the quantity of pines and red cedars which clothe the more 
conspicuous prominences; but, after landing, the whole, from the prevalence 
of fine trees and shrubs, appears like one'vast garden. The stranger is strongly 
impressed with the beauty and number of trees, which are partly indigenous 
to the locality or the district, and partly introduced from more southern 
climates. The diversity of the forms of the trees, and the variety of their 
foliage, are most remarkable. No remains of ancient forests are observable, 
as might be supposed, these having been long since cut down for fuel; but — 
forest trees of large size are frequently to be seen, covered to their summits 
with wild vines. Of these the Platanus occidentalis, liriodendron, liqui- 
dambar, Gleditschia triacanthos, and the catalpa are preeminent. It is worthy 
of remark, that almost the only foreign trees conspicuous in the artificial 
scenery of America are, various kinds of fruit trees, the Lombardy poplar, and 
the weeping willow. The contrast between the regular position and round- 
tufted heads of the fruit trees and the lance-shaped heads of the poplars, and 
between both these trees and the wild luxuriance of the indigenous species, 
is very striking. About 67 miles up the country, on the river Hudson, a 
limestone district occurs, and on this the lively green. of the arbor vite suc- 
ceeds to the dark hue of the red cedar. All ‘the uncultivated parts of the 
surface are covered with this tree, of different sizes, varying from 1 ft. to 20 ft. 
m height, and always of a pyramidal shape. The woods on both sides of 
Lake Champlain are very various. The principal trees are, the wild cherry 
(Cérasus virginiana), elms, walnuts, sugar maples, and the aspen poplar. The 
rocky grounds abound with arbor vite, and the “ appearance of the lofty 
white, or Weymouth, pine, towering above the deciduous trees, on rising 
grounds at the base of the hills, of a dark aspect and nearly destitute of 
branches, was remarkable.” The northern extremity of Lake Champlain ex- 
hibits the same trees, with the addition of the balm. of Gilead fir, The only 
tree worth notice on the St. Lawrence river was the canoe birch (Bétula 
papyracea). At Montreal our travellers were much “ surprised to see the 
great difference which the Canadian winter produces upon those species of 
ornamental trees which grace the lawns and cities of the United States. As 
examples, may be mentioned the Ai/dntus glandulosa, the trees of which were 
quite small and stunted ; Maclura aurantiaca seemed barely alive ; and the mul- 
berries were small and unhealthy. The weeping willows here are almost always 
killed in winter, although in the neighbourhood of New York the stem of this 
tree is seen averaging from 8 ft. to 15 ft., and sometimes 20 ft. in girt. None of 
the catalpas and magnolias, which prove so ornamental in the pleasure-grounds 
both of New York and Philadelphia, can be made to live here, with the 
exception of the M. gladca, and it is in a very unhealthy condition. Tax- 
6dium distichum is also much dwarfed, and barely alive. Peaches in this 
part of the country do not succeed as standards; but several peach trees 
placed against garden walls possessed well ripened wood, and had every 
appearance of affording plentiful crops. The principal ornamental tree cul- 
tivated in this part of the country, on account of its beauty, is the Robinia 
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