the Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum. 1 19 



observe, as a traveller, that in no part of Europe are the Yew, Furze, Holly, 

 and Elm so abundant, or apparently so wild, as in England. Furze is found 

 sparingly on the opposite coast ; and is then nearly lost sight of till we meet 

 with it again in the South of France (where, it is said, they have also ?7 v lex 

 stricta). It is seen but sparingly in Italy, about Florence, in the Campagna 

 of Rome, and on the plains of Apulia. Why, then, should it be excluded 

 from its most obvious habitat as a native, the British Isles ? 



The Yew is a scarce tree on the Continent ; not so in England. It is 

 frequent in the woods of Monmouthshire, and in the ancient forest of Cran- 

 bourne Chase, in Dorsetshire ; where it is a frequent hedge tree in chalky 

 soil, in those parts of that dreary country that have been reclaimed from a 

 state of forest, viz. between Blandford and Salisbury ; also in the adjoining 

 parts of Hampshire. 



The common Ash has always appeared to me much more abundant in 

 England than on the Continent. 



The common English or London Elm grows in greater perfection here 

 than on the Continent. I should say that the habit of the London elm, as 

 a tree, is peculiar ; and I do not often recognise it on the Continent. At 

 Morano, in Calabria, are some gigantic elms, planted near a church, that may 

 be the English elm. The common elm of the Campagna of Rome seems to 

 me our Cornish elm ; it is not a large tree, and the leaves turn yellow at the 

 tips in summer. 



There is a magnificent avenue of Dutch Elms at Wimpole, the seat of Earl 

 Hardwicke, planted in the time of King William III. 



Are there two trees called Wych Elm, in different parts of England ; one 

 good timber, the other bad ? 



Box is possibly not a native. It is abundant in Savoy, and in the Apen- 

 nines of Lucca. I do not remember it in Germany, nor the Holly in abun- 

 dance anywhere on the Continent. 



Pine wood is said to be found in our peat bogs. Some species, therefore, 

 must have been formerly indigenous. 



In travelling south and westward from Petersburg, I remarked the succes- 

 sion of trees as follows : — 



Petersburg!) : Fir, birch, aspen, lime. 



Stockholm : Ditto, with addition of oak and ash. 



South of Sweden : Ditto, ditto, with beech. 



Denmark : Ditto, ditto, ditto, and elm. 



This would not be exactly the succession in descending the Alps or Apen- 

 nines, but an alpine climate and a northern one are not in all conditions alike. 



The lime is said to be abundant in woods north of Derbyshire ; certainly 

 not in the southern counties. — Wm, Fox Strangways. Abbotsbury, Dorsetshire, 

 Dec. 30, 1838. 



Trees and Shrubs at Bridehead House, near Dorchester. — There are some 

 English elms between ninety and a hundred years old, from 75 ft. to 80 ft. high; 

 with trunks 4 ft. in diameter at 2 ft. from the ground ; and with the heads from 

 50 ft. to 70 ft in diameter. There are some fine sycamores : one is between 

 40 ft. and 50 ft. in height, with a head 60 ft. or 70 ft. in diameter, and a trunk 

 2 ft. in diameter ; reported age upwards of 70 years. J'rbutus £7 v nedo var. 

 ruber is 17 ft. high ; the trunk at a foot from the ground, 13 in. in diameter, 

 and the head 25 ft. in diameter. All these, and most other common kinds of 

 trees and shrubs grow on loamy soil, from a foot to 18 in. deep, on a chalky- 

 subsoil. The general surface is open to the powerful west wind, which comes 

 from Bridport Bay, and which is considered to be extremely injurious to trees 

 in this part of the country. — James Harbison. Feb. 1836. 



Trees and Shrubs at Capheaton, Northumberland. — I venture to trouble you 

 with a few notes, as a very old planter. The situation of this place is by no 

 means a genial one, being 600 ft. above the sea, in the centre of Northumber- 

 land, and the soil chiefly clay. Most trees, however, grow well, though 

 slowly at first, except the oak, which does not so well suit the soil and situ- 



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