Progress of IloriicuUure in the U. Slates. 



Arboriculture. 



It is not to be expected that a country covering such a great 

 range of territory, and abounding in natural timber j)lantations, 

 of such vast extent, would give that attention to tiie cultivation 

 of trees that has been done in Great Britain; where the 

 resources for timber are so scant}^, that it has become an ob- 

 ject of imjjortance to protect the existing forests, and to plant 

 extensively, for the supply of the navy; and where the scarcity 

 of shade trees is so much felt, that it is one of the first opera- 

 tions, when laying out a new residence, to plant largely. The 

 practice, in this country, has been to cut away, rather than 

 to plant out, and this passion has been carried so far, that 

 now, when there is a desire to possess trees, recourse must 

 be had to planting, to supply this want. The taste for orna- 

 mental trees is gradually extending, and the introduction of 

 hardy kinds has been commenced, for the purpose of extend- 

 ing the variety, and furnishing such as possess the charm of 

 novelty, from their not being native species. The formation 

 of arboretums, which has become so popular in England, for 

 the purpose of studying the habits and natural affinities of trees, 

 it is not expected will take place here at present, to any ex- 

 tent; we hope, however, to see a few specimens where the 

 public may acquire a taste for trees, and, in time, to find 

 every gentleman's grounds, of any size, with its complete 

 arboretum. In the Harmony Grove Cemetery, at Salem, 

 an arboretum has been commenced, and we are anxious to see 

 it completed. 



Very few of our native trees and shrubs, Avbich are so 

 much prized in Europe, are known to our nurserymen or cul- 

 tivators. We may instance the genus Crata3^gus, of which 

 there are thirty or forty species and varieties, all of which 

 have been sent to England, and are there so much esteemed, 

 that they are selling rapidly at high prices. Torreya iaxifolia, 

 a new evergreen, described in Torrey and Gray's Flora of 

 J^^orth Jlmcrica, has been introduced from Florida, where it 

 is a fine, stately tree, forming a pyramid of green, fifty feet 

 high; and our correspondent, Mr. Downing, has sent a living 

 specimen to Mr. Loudon. It will probably prove hardy in 

 the climate of Britain, and will, consequently, become a desir- 

 able tree to all possessors of arboretums or pinetums. The 

 Shepherdia argentea, from the beauty of the tree, and the 

 VOL. vir. — >'o. 1. 2 



