396 Directions for drwwing Trees from Nature. 



the divisions are a fourth of an inch each. This parallelogram 

 admits of a drawing of a tree SO ft. high, with its branches ex- 

 tending over a space 16 ft. in diameter. These dimensions may 

 be considered as the maximum for trees ten years planted, even 

 under the most favourable circumstances ; and, therefore, this 

 size of page, and this scale, are what we have adopted for our 

 Arboretum Britannicum. One page being marked as in^/-. 53., 

 all the other pages in the book, or any number of separate 

 pages, may be marked in a similar manner by pricking through 

 them from the different divisions of the scale. 



For the purpose of drawing full-grown trees within the limits 

 of the same-sized parallelogram, we assume 90 ft. as the max- 

 imum height of the tree, and 48 ft. as the maximum diameter of 

 the space covered by the branches ; and, for this purpose, the 

 same division of the inch into four parts will suffice, but with 

 this difference, that each of these parts must be considered as 

 3 ft., instead as of 1 ft. Fig. 53. is marked in this manner, in 

 the inside of the parallelogram, for old trees ; and it is marked 

 in the manner before described, on the outside of the parallelo- 

 gram, for young trees. In practice, it is unnecessary to mark 

 the figures, as the draughtsman will easily bear in recollection 

 what each division represents. 



The next point is to prepare a scale for drawing the botanical 

 specimens ; and all that is necessary for this purpose is, to con- 

 sider each of the divisions of the parallelogram as representing 

 6 in., which gives a scale of 2 in. to a foot ; so that a page of the 

 above dimensions, that is, 4 in. by 7^ in., will admit of a spe- 

 men of a shoot or leaf 3 ft. 9 in. long, and 2 ft. broad. This is 

 large enough for the leaves of every tree which will endure the 

 open air in Britain ; those of Ailantus glandulosa and of some of 

 the gleditschias being the largest. We may here observe that 

 the botanical specimens ought to be drawn in a book appro- 

 priated to themselves; because they require to be drawn at 

 three different seasons ; viz., when they are in flower, when they 

 are in fruit or in seed, and, for the deciduous kinds, during 

 winter, when the leaves are off, to show the appearance of the 

 wood at that season. The specimen in flower will naturally, in 

 most cases, be drawn first ; and, because the flower is the first 

 in the order of nature, it ought either to be put on the top of 

 the page, or on the left hand side of it, in order that it may 

 come first in observing or reading. This is the reason why, in 

 our Arborettmi Brita7inictim, we have always put the spring or 

 flowering specimen on the left hand, and the autumn or fruiting 

 specimen on the right hand. For a corresponding reason, we 

 have shaded the entire trees on the right hand rather than the 

 left, because the eye, being first attracted by the light parts of 

 an object, proceeds afterwards to the shade. Where the flowers, 

 when fully expanded, or the fruit or leaves, when fully grown, 



