2420 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART II]. 



tree, it is probably incorrect ; if otherwise, it must have been upwards of 20 

 years older than those at Chelsea. 



INL'. Thompson, an artist, writing in the Gardener's J\Iagazine on the effect 

 of the cedar in landscape scenery, observes that " there is something even 

 architectural in the form of the cedar; the thick upright stem, and the hori- 

 zontal branches which it supports, in a great measure accord with the pillars 

 and copings of buildings. This may be seen by reference to the inspired 

 pictures of Martin, when Assyrian history has been the subject of his pencil. 

 He has realised all that the most vivid imagination could conceive of Eastern 

 splendour ; and the famous hanging gardens have not been forgotten. In 

 them the cedar is the most prominent tree, which he has shown mixed with 

 cypresses and a few low shrubs and flowers, forming a mass simple but grand, 

 and quite in unison with the ai'chitectural character of the scene. The accom- 

 pan^ing sketch {fg. 221 o.) is from an etching of the destruction of Babylon, 

 and represents part of the hanging gardens. Thus it may be inferred that 



cedars should always be the accompaniment of palaces, public buildings, and 

 superior residences. The finest cedars I have seen are at Blenheim ; but 

 even there they are not nuich contrasted with the architecture, but are spread 

 generally throughout the whole of the gardens ; and they appeared to me in a 

 great measure lost, from being so mixed up with other trees and shrubs : 

 however, they serve to maintain the character of grandeur which belongs to 

 the place. On the banks of the great lake, where the present duke, since he 

 left White Knights, has formed his new flower-garden, extending from the 

 house to the cascade, there are some very fine cedars ; and it is curious to 

 observe how well they accord with the simplicity of garden scenery: but this 

 may be accounted for by their being supported by other large trees, from 

 the extensiveness of the gardens, and from every thing around them being on 

 so grand a scale. There are some garden scenes in which cedars would be 

 found not only misplaced, but out of character, and injurious : as, for example, 

 in tiie grounds of a small modern villa, they woidd be quite at variance with 

 our ideas and associations as to what should attach to such a place. Tlie 

 accompanying sketch {fg. '^276.), though it forms a toleitable picture, will, I 

 trust, illustrate what I have been stating. The villa is rendered insignificant by 

 the stately presence of the cedars; and the cedars seem to have been there before 

 the villa was built, as if they came by accident, and were foreign to the scene. 

 In the next sketch (j?i(. 2277.), where I have supplied their place with a few 

 pendent and appropriate trees, the picture produced seems more consistent, 

 more complete, and in better keeping. The form and character of the cedar 

 are not suited to anything on a small scale, or that betrays want of effect in its 

 architectural features, or in the disposition of the ground : thus, one would not 

 place them in the centre of a home meadow or arable field, where oaks and 

 elms are sometimes met with having a very good effect ; nor should they 

 ever appear where the scenery is either domestic, homely, or tame. Nothing 

 is more offensive, than to find a cedar, a cypress, or other stately tree, con- 



