502 Villa of IV. Borrer, Esq., Heiifield. 



close Square, London ; which we had the pleasure of examin- 

 hig in detail, on the 4th of October. We there found three houses 

 containing caves, in the back yard ; and one projected from the 

 window on the staircase ; all richly stocked with ferns, mosses, 

 some palms and scitamineous plants, and some bamboos ; all in 

 a thrivinor state. 



In the open garden of Mr. Borrer's villa, there are very com- 

 plete collections of British roses ; and of all the more rare British 

 herbaceous plar.ts. In short, the number of species of rare her- 

 baceous plants is so great, that we do not know any garden in 

 the neighbourhood of London that can be compared with it. The 

 locality seems particularly favourable to alpines, which thrive in 

 small pots admirably. There are a good many of the finer kinds 

 of hardy trees and shrubs ; and, among these, some raised from 

 seeds, which will probably be found new. We noticed a male 

 tree ofiS7<?^/«2c?oyi-axinifolia, so different from the female in habit 

 of growth, and in the form and colour of the foliage, and bloom 

 of the young shoots, that it might pass for a different species. 

 All the trees of this species in the neighbourhood of London, 

 that we know of, are females. 



Mr. Borrer has rendered himself celebrated by his knowledge 

 of the genus iSalix : his arrangement of which has been followed 

 by Sir W. J. Hooker, in the British Flora ; and by ourselves, 

 through Mr. Borrer's kind assistance, in our Ai'boretum Bri- 

 tannicum. Mr. Borrer cultivates an extensive collection of 

 willows, principally in a field at some distance from his garden. 

 We also saw there the collection of American willows sent to 

 Mr. Borrer by Dr. Barratt of Middletown, Connecticut (see Ar- 

 horetum Britannicum, vol. iii. p. I'lS?.), most of which are alive, 

 and making vigorous shoots. We expected to see the British 

 willows in groups, and assuming the character of large bushes 

 or trees, but they are merely planted in rows, for the purpose 

 of being stvidied botanicaily. It remains for some botanical 

 amateur to plant a collection of willows in a proper soil and situ- 

 ation ; allowing ample room for each species to attain its natural 

 size and shape. Something has been done towards this object at 

 Woburn Abbey; but thesituation, in our opinion, is not sufficiently 

 open and airy, nor the extent sufficiently great. The soil, also, 

 ought to be of the same nature throughout, and level ; whereas 

 the new salictum at Woburn Abbey is in a narrow valley, with 

 a moist peaty bottom, with clayey sides. 



Mr. Borrer had a number of half-hardy ligneous plants 

 trained against a wall, many of which have been cut down by 

 the late severe winter, but scarcely one has been killed. The 

 -////cmZj^ japonica, however, which, about London and at Brighton, 

 has generally escaped untouched, has liere been cut down to the 

 ground, but is springing up again. The same may be said of 



