130 ORNAMENTAL PLANTING. 



to rear themselves unaided by art. The common English elm, (Ulmus 



eampestris,) which peoples the hedge-rows of our southern counties, 



Is iu Filmland, and propagates itself by suckers. So 



Paris, it finds a congenial climate, and ripens them 



plentifully. Tne horse-chestnut, a native of the mountain-chains of 



Minor, tried by the same test as the lime-tree, that of spontaneous 



propagation fiom seeds, appenrs to be one of the few instances of an 



perfectly acclimatized in England. Perhaps another instance 



may be found in the Turkey oak, (Quercus cerris,) and some cases exist 



among coniferous trees. But though the laws of nature forbid us to hope 



for the perfect naturalization of many trees of other climates differing but 



little from our own, they allow us to embellish our domains with the rich 



Y.ting from the elegance of their forms, and the diversity of their 



\\c lia\e already alluded to the tree usually called the Turkey oak, 



.) a native of the middle elevations of the Papal states, 



:iy, and southern Italy: it is always distinguished by the Italian 



writers from the common oak, (Q. robur,) as the cerro. About the 



lake of IVrugia, and the scene of the memorable battle of Thrasymene, it 



attains to enormous bulk, and is very picturesque in its form, though 



i: > branches are not so abrupt and angular as those of our native oaks. 



In Kngland it seems to be perfectly at home, grows fast, and produces 



abundance of acorns, bears bleak exposures, and thrives in lighter and 



iiifious soils than suit the oaks of England. It retains its leaves 



far into the winter, a valuable property when shelter is desirable. 



There is, perhaps, cause for apprehending that it will not thrive so well 



in a confined or crowded, as in an airy situation. Mr. Atkinson, the 



eminent architect, having converted a specimen of good size, which he 



found at the seat of the Marquis of Downshire in Berkshire, has proved 



experimentally its valuable properties lor ornamental purposes in domestic 



architecture. Its wood is closer in its grain, bears a higher polish, is 



richer in colour, and more varied in its markings than the wood of our 



indigenous oaks, or that which is brought down the Rhine from the forests 



of southern Germany, and imported into this country by the name of 



wainscoat oak, being, in point of fact, the produce of the Q. robur, 



and Q. sessilillora, and owing 1 its peculiarities to a more rapid 



ii in a more genial climate. We cannot too strongly recommend this 



: ful and fast growing tree to our readers, combining as it does beauty 



of form, rapidity of growth, and much indifference about its soil, with a 



constitution of singular hardihood. We have seen it thrive in exposures 



win-re our own native oak and beech became stinted. A sub-variety of the 



Turkey oak, or more probably a distinct species, is known in the nurseries 



by the name of the Fulham oak, (Q. dentata, page 111,) after the parent 



LCiiificeiit specimen, now growing in the nursery ground of 



nitley and Co. at Fulham : it is highly deserving oY cultivation. 



Th- Luccombe oak, supposed by some to be a hybrid production 



betweeii tiie Turkey and Cork o .ks, but more probably an indigenous 



B pyramidal tree, apparently of moderate growth, and 



an evergreen. The Cypress oak, (Quercus fastigiata, page 111,) 



, and of the mountains of Portugal, resembles the 



tk in leaf; but is of habit probably nui(|ue in this genus, carry- 



II its branches upright like a Cypress or Lombards' poplar, a circum- 



of some salue in landsr ape planting. Q. tan/a or toxa, the 



of the French, indigenous to the landts of Ronrdeaux and 



iic south of France, is of low growth, with a very indented 



leaf, pubescent on its under surface ; it is said to trace much from its root. 



