10 Retrospective Vieio of the 



"We some time since noticed the offer of a premium, for the 

 culture of the oak, in Essex County, (p. 189,) and we are 

 pleased to know, that the giver of that premium is deeply in- 

 terested, not only in the culture of the oak, but in the intro- 

 duction of every tree and shrub, of which there is any hope 

 of their proving hardy in our climate. The Deodar cedar, 

 the cedar of Lebanon, the araucaria, the yl^bies Douglasii, 

 the Cryptomeria japonica, and other species of pines, have 

 been planted in the most favorable locations, for testing their 

 hardiness and adaptation to our climate. 



A very perceptible increase has been made in the varieties 

 of ornamental trees and shrubs, now offered for sale by nur- 

 serymen. It is also gratifying to see the mode becoming 

 more general, of planting out specimen trees, in order to show 

 the real merit of every species or variety. Until a taste for 

 planting is much more generally diffused than it is likely to 

 be, for some time, this cannot but prove highly advantageous 

 to the zealous nurseryman ; for purchasers are always more 

 ready to buy, when they can see what they are planting 

 will grow up to, with proper care and attention. 



Now, that California has become part of our great Union, 

 we hope to see many of the trees and shrubs, which clothe 

 the declivities of the Sierra Nevada, and other mountains 

 of that territory, and some of which. Col. Fremont mentions 

 with so much interest, in his report, introduced into our gar- 

 dens. The Pinus monophyllus, is a particularly interesting 

 species of the coniferous tribe, seeds of which, we hope, will 

 be speedily sent home. With the aid of government officers, 

 seeds might be transmitted to the Patent Office, and from 

 thence be distributed throughout the country, as others have 

 already been from, that department. The mountainous regions 

 of the United States, on the Pacific coast, now extending so 

 many hundred miles, are rich in hardy trees and shrubs, and, 

 with the facilities which now are, or soon will be, afforded 

 for their introduction, we hope to see them added to our col- 

 lections. 



Rural Architecture. 



The taste for ornamental planting and rural landscape, is 

 rapidly spreading. The iron roads, which now unite town 



