Arboretum Britannicum. 561 



which might determine it to be a work of art, altogether inde- 

 pendent of the trees ; but these circumstances we at present 

 leave entirely out of view, and speak of the ancient and modern 

 styles of landscape-gardening, solely as both are influenced by 

 the kinds of trees planted, and by the manner in which they are 

 disposed. We conclude, then, that the geometric style of 

 laying out grounds is entitled to be considered a fine art in con- 

 sequence of the manner in which the trees are disposed ; and the 

 modern style, in consequence of the numerous sorts of foreign 

 trees employed. (See, on this subject, Art. I. in the Architec- 

 tural Magazine^ Nos. VI. and VIII.) 



Though a taste for trees has existed from the earliest ages, 

 that taste, in this country at least, may still be considered in its 

 infancy. It is remarkable that a taste for foreign trees was earlier 

 introduced in France and Germany than in Britain ; and that it 

 is still more general and more intense among the men of wealth 

 and taste in those countries than in England. When Messrs. 

 Loddiges planted their arboretum, in 1816, it is generally under- 

 stood that the more rare species were obtained from Germany. 

 Perhaps the cause may be, that natural woods cover a larger 

 proportion of the surface all over the Continent than they do in 

 Britain ; because, abroad, in addition to their other uses, forests 

 supply the place of our coalfields : and thus, though the sub- 

 ject of forest culture is more interesting to the Continental than 

 to the British proprietor, yet the former sets less value on a 

 native tree, and is more eager to display such as are foreign to 

 the soil. An English landowner is almost always a great re- 

 specter of trees generally, but seldom knows anything of par- 

 ticular sorts : he, therefore, cares very little for their particular 

 beauties, and contents himself with being an indiscriminate 

 admirer of them. Hence, the unwillingness of most persons to 

 cut down trees, however improperly they may be placed ; or to 

 thin out plantations, however much they may be crowded, and 

 however great may be the injury which the finer foreign sorts are 

 sustaining from the coarser-growing indigenous kinds. This 

 indiscriminate regard for trees, and morbid feeling with reference 

 to cutting them down when they are wrongly placed or too 

 thick, are principally the results of ignorance of the kinds and 

 relative beauty of the different species, and of want of taste in 

 landscape-gardening. When we consider that it is not much 

 above a century since American trees began to be introduced 

 into this country, this is not to be wondered at ; and, more espe- 

 cially, when it is remembered that planters, generally speaking, 

 have few opportunities of seeing specimens of these trees, so as 

 to become acquainted with them, and thus to acquire a taste for 

 this kind of beauty and pursuit. The botanic and horticultural 

 gardens, now establishing throughout the country, will tend to* 



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