Arboriculture in relation to Geology. 295 



and either actually dies, or survives only to perpetuate the 

 melancholy spectacle of a v^^ell- in tended work injudiciously 

 conducted. The finest planes I ever saw were on the chalk, 

 but situate in a bottom where there was a considerable depth 

 of calcareous loam, mixed with flint gravel, interposed between 

 their roots and the homogeneous rock. 



Although it may not strictly come within the scope of my 

 present enquiry, yet it may not be amiss here to mention, 

 for the sake of those who may have occasion to make wilder- 

 ness walks or ornamented paths through a chalk country, a 

 few of the herbs and flowers which either will spontaneously 

 spring up, or, if once introduced, are so congenial to the soil 

 as to propagate and perpetuate themselves without any further 

 care. Such are : — Anemone Pulsatilla, pasque flower ; Ane- 

 mone nemorosa, wood windflower ; Antirrhinum majus, snap- 

 dragon ; Aquilegia vulgaris, common columbine ; Campanula, 

 all the species ; Cistus, all the hardy species ; Clematis, all the 

 hardy species ; Colchicum autumnale, meadow saffron; Con- 

 vallaria majalis, lily of the valley ; Convallaria multiflora, Solo- 

 mon's seal ; ioimaria, fumitory ; Galanthus nivalis, snowdrop ; 

 il/edysarum Onobrychis, saintfoin ; i^edysarum coronarium, 

 French honeysuckle; Milium candidum, white lily; Zyilium 

 Martago7i, Turks-cap lily ; Linaria Cymbalaria, ivy-leaved 

 flaxwort ; iinum perenne, perennial flax ; iVarcissus, many 

 species and varieties of; O'rchis, many sorts ; Papaver ori- 

 entale. Eastern poppy, and all the poppies ; Scabiosa arvensis, 

 corn scabious ; Thymus »Serpyllum, wild thyme ; Veronica, 

 numerous species; Viucsi rnajor and minor, greater and 

 smaller periwinkle. 



I also think it due to those who are disposed to clothe 

 with wood the usually naked surface of the chalk hills, to 

 point out to them the full indemnity for the expenses of 

 trenching their plantations, which they may derive from the 

 culture of the parsnep, in the first and in other years of their 

 operations, until the growth of their trees prevents its con- 

 tinuance; for I have found that, even upon the most naked 

 and apparently sterile chalk of the upper beds (where only I 

 have tried it), with scarcely any mould over it, yet, if it be 

 deeply trenched, the parsnep, without any manure, attains 

 there, not only a most respectable size, but also an exquisite 

 richness and sweetness, which I never obtained in that best 

 of all roots, whether for the table, the stall, the stable, or the 

 pigsty, upon any other soil. For two years at least, and, 

 in some instances, for three or more, this culture may be pur- 

 sued ; after that time it will be found that the parsneps cannot 

 be dug up without injuring the roots of the trees. A very 



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