1 1,3 IIISTOUY AND (ilCOGRAlMlY OF TllEES. TAUT I. 



By lookiiif^ into the various catalogues of the (icrmaii botanic gaiilcns, and 

 particulailv into those of Gicssen, fonndcd in 100 j, and of Altorf, Nnreiti- 

 ber;:, Uientil, and upwards of twenty others, founded between tlic conunence- 

 nicnt of the 17th century and tlie middle of the l&th century, the dates of 

 the introduction into Germany of a number of trees and shurbs maybe found 

 by the curious. It will be sufficient for the purpose of this work, if we com- 

 mence with the introduction of American trees and shrubs into (iermany, 

 which took place shortly after their introduction on a larije scale into France; 

 the Arijyll of Germany being Prince Lichtensteinof Eisgrub; and the Dullamel 

 of that country being Baron Otto von Miinchausen of Sclnvobbache, near 

 Pyrmont, in Westphalia, now united to the kingdom of Hanover. Tiiis 

 gentleman was the author of a w ork w hich obtained great celebrity in (iermany 

 in his time, entitled Z)cr Hausvatcr (the Father of a F'amily). This book, which 

 was i)rinted in 17G5, may be compared to the British encylopa-dias of 

 domestic economy, except that in it agriculture, gardening, and rural aftairs 

 bear a more conspicuous part t!ian housew ifery and cookery ; it contains a 

 descriptive list of new ami desirable trees and shrubs, with directions for 

 their culture, and for their disi)osition in lines; arguing against clipping them 

 into geometrical figures, as was then the mode. We arc assured (see Card. 

 Man., vol. ii. p. 380.) that it was the reading of this work, and especially the 

 arguments w liich it contained in favour of a more natural mode of disposing 

 and managing trees and shrubs in gardens, that gave the Empress Catharine 

 a taste for English gardening; and that it was thus the means of introducing 

 that taste into Russia. As Hanover was at this time closely connccteil with 

 England, by being under the government of the same monarch, there can be 

 littfe doubt that "the trees phmted at Schwobbache wouUl be procured from 

 the nurseries of this country. Contemporary planters were, in the Hano- 

 verian dominions. Count Vclthcim of Harbcke, and Hinubcr of Marienwerder 

 near Hanover : also the Duke of Dessau, at Wtiriitz, near Dessau, in Anhalt ; 

 the Elector of Hesse, at Wilhelmshoe, near Cassel ; Prince Lichtenstein, on 

 his various estates in the Austrian dominions ; and the Emperor of Austria, 

 at Schonbrunn, near Vienna. Bc.->ides these princes, and Margraves of Baden, 

 already mentioned, the following princes of Germany have distinguished them- 

 selves by planting foreign trees: Frederick the Great, and the present King of 

 Prussia," Frederick William IV.; the late King of Saxony, Frederick Au- 

 gustus IV.; the late King of Wurtemberg, Frederick VVilliam ; the late 

 Grand-Duke of Weimar ; the late Duke Ernest of Saxe-Coburg-(iotha ; Prince 

 Prinus of Dahlberg ; the Grand-Duke of Frankfort; and the late Duchess of 

 Courland, at Loebiclian in .Saxony. We have received Return Papers from all 

 these [jlaces, from w hich we find that some of the foreign trees first planted in 

 them still exist. Schwobbache is in the possession of the grandson of the 

 author of Der Hausvatcr, and contains a number of very interesting trees. 

 Among these are, a tulip tree, near a pond, 120 years planted, which is 80 ft. 

 hi"h ; Nyssw aquatica, 60 years planted, w hicli forms a magnificent tree 40 ft. 

 hi'di, with a wide-spreading head and branches drooping to the ground : it is 

 in a low moist situation, and its roots, which extend to a great distance, send 

 up innumerable suckers ; in the autumn the leaves, before dropping off, be- 

 come as red as blood. The finest tree of this kind in Enghunl is on the 

 Duke of Wellington's grounds at Strathfieldsaye ; it is .30 ft. high, and, being 

 rather in a moi^t situation, will probably one day rival the tree at Schwiib- 

 bache, which, in all probability, is the finest specimen of N>ssrt in Europe. 

 C'orylus arborescens (? C. C'olurna), at Schwobbache, 100 years planted, 

 forms a rcgular-headetl tree, with a straight dean trunk 2 ft. in diameter, 

 yl'ccr eriocarpum, saccharinum, and O'lialus, have been 80 years planted, and 

 are noble trees; yE'sculns Pavw and flava are stately trees, and flower freely ; 

 Robini« Pseud-/icacia, 120 years planted, is a large and most picturesque 

 tree; f/'Imus americana, 120 years planted, and /uglans cinerea and nigra, 

 SO years jjlaufcd, are nolile trees. 'J'here are specimens ofCastanea vesca, 



