vol/, xvir. NO. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



267 



Here the JMagnolia grew and flourished ; but its 

 introducer having died, little notice was taken of 

 it, and when observed, it was supposed to be only 

 some variety of tiie common Laurel, which it re- 

 sembled in its leaves. Tliirty years afterwards it 

 flowered, and was then discovered by M. Bonami, 

 professor of Botany at Nantes, to be the Magnolia 

 Grandiflora of Linnsens. At a meeting of the 

 states of Bretagne, held at Nantes in September, 

 17(10, M. Bonami presented a branch of this Mag- 

 nolia in flower to the Princess de Rohan Chabot, 

 — and it excited so much admiration that its fame 

 shortly after reached the ears of Louis XV. The 

 monarch was then ornamenting his garden at the 

 Petit Trianon, and had there some small plants of 

 the Magnolia Grandifora, which had in the mean 

 time been re-introduced into Europe by one of the 

 English collectors ; and when Louis heard that he 

 had in his own dominions a tree of this rare exotic 

 40 feet high, which was covered with blossoms 

 every year, he -sent two of his gardeners to exam- 

 ine it, with orders to transport it to Versailles, if 

 they could ensure its living. This {/" was a-formi- 

 dablc obstacle ; and the gardeners reporting that 

 they feared it would not survive its removal, it was 

 suffered to remain at Mailladiere. Thirty years 

 more brought the Revolution, and amidst the gen- 

 eral destruction even the poor Magnolia Aid notes- 

 cape ; it was mutilated in the war of La Vendee, 

 and its branches cut for f.re-wood ; (he house near 

 which it stood was afterwards burnt down, and the 

 magnolia was scorched and withered by the flames. 

 It partially recovered, and still survives, though 

 now only tlie wreck of wliat it was. 



In this manner Mr Loudon proceeds to mingle 

 anecdotes of celebrated trees with his descriptions 

 of the genera to which they belong; and thero is 

 scarcely a genus from which a similar extract might 

 not be made. 



In his chapter on the Z.jme-<ree, Mr Loudon men- 

 tions one at Knowle, which covers nearly a quarter 

 of an acre. The vast lower branches have rested 

 their extremities on the soil, rooted into it, and sent 

 up a circle of young trees, surrounding the parent. 

 The outer branches of these in their turn stretch 

 out, rest upon the ground, and take root, forming a 

 second circle of trees, from 30 to 40 feet high, and 

 their outer branches again are beginning to dispose 

 themselves so as to form a third circle. This very 

 remarkable tree stands on a lawn in an ancient 

 geometrical garden, and must be at least two cen- 

 turies old ; — the soil is a deep sandy loam. The 

 largest Lime-Tree in England is that in Moor Park, 

 Hertfordshire, now the property of the Marquis of 

 We.stminster: it is 100 feet high, with a head 122 

 feet in diameter, divided into nineteen immense 

 limbs. There are many very curious Lime-Trees 

 on the continent, one of which, at Neustadt on the 

 Linde, has a trunk 54 feet in girth with several 

 enormous branches, which are supported on 108 

 pillars. In the centre of the tree is a kind of 

 summer-house, which is reached by a flight of steps. 

 In the hollow of the branches earth has been 

 placed, and gooseberry bushes have been planted, 

 the fruit of which is sold to visiters. 



When speaking of the different kinds of willows, 

 Mr Loudon gives the history of the Weeping tvil- 

 lou; which was first known in Europe, by its being 

 introduced in " A View of the Village of Tonnan, 

 drawn by John Nicohofl", July 3, 1655, on his way 

 to Pekin, with the embassy which the Dutch- sent 

 to the Emperor of China in that year." Pope is 

 generally said to have first introduced the weeping 



willow into England ; but this, Mr Loudon informs 

 us, cannot be strictly correct, as it is included in a 

 catalogue of British trees, published in 1G92. The 

 story respecting Pope is, that lie, "happening to be 

 with Lady Suffolk, when that lady received a pres- 

 ent from Spain, or, according to some, from Tur- 

 key, observed that some of the pieces of withy bound 

 round itappearedasthough they would vegetate ; and 

 taking them up, said, ' Perhaps these may produce 

 something that we have not in England.' Where- 

 upon, he planted one of them in his garden at 

 Twickenham. Which became the weeping willow 

 there, afterwards so celebrated." 



Napoleon's willow is a variety of the common 

 Weeping Willow. It appears that the willow is not 

 indigenous to St. Helena ; but that, when General 

 Bcatson was Governor in that island, he introduced 

 it among a great number of other trees and shrubs 

 from England. 



' He had the greatest difficulty in preserving his 

 plantations from the numerous goats which abound- 

 ed in the island ; yet several of the trees survived, 

 and attained a timber-like size. Among these was 

 the tree of Salix Babylonica, which has since been 

 called Napoleon's Willow. This tree grew among 

 other trees, on the side of a valley near a spring ; 

 and, having attracted the notice of Napoleon, he 

 had a seat placed under it, and used to go and sit 

 there very frequently, and have water brought to 

 him from the adjoining fountain. About the time 

 of Napoleon's death, in 1821, a storm it is said, 

 shattered the willow in pieces ; and, after the in- 

 terment of the emperor, Madame Bertrand planted 

 several cuttings of this tree on the outside of the 

 railing which surrounds his grave ; and placed 

 within it, on the stone, several ffower pots, with 

 hearts-ease and forget-me-not. In 1828, we are 

 informed, these willows were found in a dying 

 state, and twentyeight young ones were, in conse- 

 quence, placed near the tomb, which was at that 

 time surrounded with a profusion of scarlet-blos- 

 somed Pelargoniums. A correspondent, who was 

 at St, Helena in 1834, says one of the willows was 

 then in a flourishing condition; but another, "ho 

 was there in 1835, describes it as fast going to de- 

 cay, owing to the number of pieces carried away 

 by visitors. In what year a cutting of this willow 

 was brought to England for the first time, we have 

 not been able to ascertain ;.but it appears probable 

 that it may have been in the year 1823, and that 

 one of the oldest plants is that in the gardens of 

 the Roebuck tavern on Richmond Hill, which as it 

 appears by a white marble tablet affixed to it, was 

 taken from the tree in that year. Since that period 

 it has become fashionable to possess a plant of the 

 true Napoleon's Willow ; and, in consequence, a 

 great many cuttings have been imported, and a 

 number of plants sold by the London nurserymen." 



The famous tree near Lichfi.eld, long known as 

 " John.'fon's Willow" (Salix: Russdliana Smith,) is 

 generally supposed to have been planted by Hr 

 Johnson ; but in fact the tree had attained a large 

 size when the Doctor was a young man. He tells 

 us himself that " it was the delight of his early and 

 waning life," and he never failed to visit it when- 

 ever he went to Lichfield. The tree was measured 

 by the Doctor's desire in 1781, when it was sup- 

 posed to be nearly a century old, and the circum- 

 ference of its branches was upwards of 200 feet. 

 It stood near the foot path between the city and 

 Stow Hill, the residence of '■ Molly Ashton ;" and 

 we well remember its venerable appearance. 



Of the Oak, its Jises and value. — " Any Oak in 



a good soil and situation," says South a practical 

 planter, "will in seventyfive years from the acorn 

 contain a ton of timber, or a load and a half of 

 squate timber. The same Oak atone hundred and 

 fifty years of age will contain about eight tons of 

 timber, or twelve lo.nds of square timber." By the" 

 report of the Commissioners of Land Revenue re- 

 specting Timber, printed by order of the House of 

 Commons, it appears that a 74 gun ship contains 

 about 2,000 tons, which, at the rate of a load and 

 a half to a ton, would give 3,000 loads of timber ; 

 and would consequently require 2,000 trees of sev- 

 entyfive years' growth, or 250 of one hundred and 

 fifty years' growth. It has also been calculated 

 that, as not more than forty Oaks, containing a load 

 and a half of timber in each can stand upon an 

 acre, fifty acres are required to produce the Oaks 

 necessary for every 74 gun ship. In plantations 

 made for profit, few Oaks are allowed to stand 

 more than from seventyfive to one huaxlrcd, or at 

 most one hundred and fifty years, and the above are 

 the average dimensions of Oaks at the first and 

 last of these ages ; the first being, as we have al- 

 ready observed, that at which Oak trees are usoally 

 cut for ship-building. Instances are, indeed, on 

 record, of remarkable Oaks producing from thirty 

 to forty, and sometimes- eyen fifty tons of timber 

 each ; but these trees must have been the growth 

 of centuries. In the mansion at Tredegar Park, 

 Monmouthshire, there is said to be a room fortytwo 

 feet long and twentyseven feet broad, tlie floor and 

 wainscot of which were the produce of a single 

 Oak tree grown on. the estate^ 



The oldest oak in England is supposed to be the 

 Parliament Oak, (so called from the tradition of 

 Edward I. holding aParliament under its branches,) 

 in Clipstone Park, belonging to the Duke of Port- 

 land : this park being almost the most ancient in. 

 the island. It was a park before the conquest, 

 and seized as such by the conqueror. The tree-, 

 tree is supposed to be 1500 years old.. The tall- 

 est 08^ in England was the property of the same nor. 

 blein*;n — it was called Duke's. Walking Stick — high-, 

 er th'rn'Westmiaster Abbey — and stood till of lat^.; 

 years. • The largest oak in England is the Cal|. 

 thorpe Oak, . Yprkshire ; it measures seventyeight- 

 feet in cireurafejence, where the trunk meets the 

 ground. Tlie Three Shin. Oak qt Worksop, was 

 so called from covering parts of Yorkshire, Not-, 

 tingham, and Derby : it had the greatest expanse 

 of any recorded in this island, dropping over 777 

 square yards. The most productive oak was that 

 of Gelonos, in Monnioulhshire, felled in 1810. Its, 

 bark brought 200/. and its timber 670/, 



iVIassachnsctts HortiGuUnral Society. 



Saturday, Feb. Iti, 1839. 



EXHIBITIO.N- OF FRUITS. 



B. W. French, Esq. exhibited the following apples; 

 American Nonsuch, Ortley, and Newtown Pippin. 



Samuel Downer, Esq., exhibited beautiful speci- 

 mens of the Baldwin and Newtown Pippin Apples. 



Samuel Walker, Esq,, exhibited the American 

 Nonsuch Apples. 



Enoch Bartlett, Esq., exhibited the Winter Pear- 

 main, and Rhode Island Greening Apples. 



Mr Manning exhibited the yellow Bellflower, 

 and Woolman's Long Pippin Cox No. 124. 



Mr George Newhall again exhibited a basket of 

 Isabella Grapes, in fine order. We are informed 

 by this gentleman that he preserves them in good 

 condition during the winter, by packing them in 

 cotton, in jars closely covered. 



For the Committee. ROBERT MAMNING. 



