Retrospective Criticism. 237 



would have occupied any one many days to mark the trees to be cut 

 out, and I could not possibly devote an hour to it. I gave a common wood- 

 man a plan on paper of a small portion, and crossed in pencil the trees to be 

 cut out, and directed him to proceed over the whole plantation in like manner ; 

 and the work has been satisfactorily performed. In a few instances, no doubt, 

 it has happened that a better tree has been cut, and a worse left ; but this 

 damage would amount to very little, and is not to be named in comparison 

 with that which would have resulted from delaying the thinning for a single 

 year. — Charles hawrence. Cirencester, January, 1837. 



Quercus pedunciddta and Q. sessiliflora, with their Varieties. — I herewith 

 send you two small branches of oak, which I consider to be worthy of your 

 notice. I cut them off two large trees that grow amongst many more of the 

 same family, but which were, on Nov. 5. 1836, as green as the common 

 holly; and now they have got that golden tint which their neighbours had on 

 Oct. 5. : thus gaining a month or five weeks on dreary winter. I call them 

 Q.. sessiliflora, though their very long footstalks are as remarkable as their late 

 greenness; but to give names to all the variations of oaks in this country 

 would be a hard task. 1 could send you a bushel of oak leaves out of Bewdlej' 

 Forest (or Wyre Forest), that would vary in breadth from a man's finger to a 

 man's hand, and, in manner of growth, from leaves quite sessile to leaves with 

 footstalks 2 in. long. The forest contains about 12,000 acres; and I have 

 been over the greatest part of it; and I find both Q. pedunculata and Q. ses- 

 siliflora in abundance, besides hundreds of varieties, as I have above stated. 

 From this, I take it that Q. sessiliflora has been as long in England as Q. pe- 

 dunculata. I asked one of Mr. Childe's woodcutters if he found any differ- 

 ence in the hardness of the wood ; and he told me very seriously that there 

 were three different sorts of oaks in the forest; the black, the red, and the 

 white. Of these the black is the hardest, and the white the softest. On 

 hearing the above, I requested him to send me a specimen of each, with a 

 leaf, sometime during the winter, that I might learn which leaf it is that produces 

 the red oak. The oldest and largest oaks about Kinlet are Q. sessiliflora, 

 which grows much faster than Q. pedunculata. There is a beautiful grove of 

 old oaks here, on a hanging bank of about 400 acres which is seen from the 

 drawingroom windows ; and every person of taste who sees it considers it 

 grand. The reason why I mention it here is, that it is going to have a partial 

 thinning ; and any person, that knows the face of an oak in winter as well as 

 he does in summer, may mark Q. sessiliflora for the axe, and leave Q. peduncu- 

 lata to stand until England wants new ships ; for there is as much difference 

 in their manner of growth as there is between the black Italian and Lombardy 

 poplars. Q. sessiliflora grows very luxuriantly, with the branches upright, or 

 fastigiate ; and Q. pedunculata grows slowly, with the branches horizontal ; 

 and its gnarled spray may be distinguished from the spray of Q. sessiliflora at 

 a great distance. Though there has been a great deal said against Q. sessi- 

 liflora, I do not think that gentlemen would like to have this kind totally 

 eradicated, as they are, wherever I have been, the larger trees. I think that 

 the nurserymen ought to keep them separate; then gentlemen might plant 

 Q. sessiliflora for coppice, and Q. pedunculata for timber. — John Pearson. 

 Kinlet Gardens, Nov. 26. 1836. 



The Black Irish Elm. (Arb. Brit., p. 1398.) — In compliance with your 

 enquiries respecting the black Irish elm, I beg to say that it was sent by me to 

 the Horticultural Society's Garden at Chiswick, being a variety which, though I 

 will not affirm that it is peculiar to Ireland, yet is one that I have not met with else- 

 where, or any description that suits it. It was found by my father, in this neigh- 

 bourhood, about 1770, and has since been cultivated in our nurseries. It takes 

 its name from the dark chestnut-colour of its young shoots, is hardy, grows 

 quickly when young, and makes a slender, erect, handsome tree when old. I 

 sent it also to the Botanic Garden at Glasnevin, and, I believe, to the Hor- 

 ticultural Garden, Edinburgh; and their books should point it out. — J. 

 Robertson. Kilkenmj, Feb. 18. 1837. 



