and of Rural Improvement generally, during 1839. 721 



Arboriculture. — Judging from the favourable reception which 

 our Arboretum Britannicum has met with, even among nursery- 

 men, we should say that the taste for rare and beautiful trees 

 and shrubs is on the increase. The information received from 

 nurserymen, and the great number of applications to the Horti- 

 cultural Society for scions of Crataegus and other fine trees, con- 

 firm this opinion. The number of new species and varieties 

 raised in the Horticultural Society's garden during the last year, 

 including several new species of pines from Mexico, will be 

 found in Mr. Gordon's Report in our ensuing volume. Some 

 additional matter to what is contained in our Arboretum, chiefly 

 relative to pines and firs, will be found in preceding pages (see 

 p. 10.9. 118. 236. 224. &c.) ; and indeed we recommend the 

 reader to turn at once to the article Arboriculture in the Table 

 of Contents (p. iv.), in which he will find the titles of several 

 articles of great interest. The most interesting facts in regard 

 to the multiplication of rare trees are, that thousands of young 

 plants of Araucaria imbricata and Pin us LlaveaW have been 

 raised from seeds ; and that the deodar cedar may be grafted 

 with the greatest ease on the common cedar, and by that means 

 grown more rapidly than when raised either from cuttings or 

 seeds. It will be the fault of the public, therefore, if these three 

 handsome trees are not soon as common throughout the country 

 as the cedar of Lebanon, with which they are on a par with regard 

 to hardiness. We recommend to the attention of our readers our 

 own observations on the recent plantations in Kensington Gar- 

 dens and Hyde Park (p. 131.), which, though they have not 

 had all the effect which we intended they should, in removing 

 or thinning out certain clumps and belts, have yet been the 

 means of removing from these a number of diminutive Scotch 

 pines, planted apparently to shelter trees from ten to twenty 

 times their own height. One great object that we had in view 

 in writing the Arboretum Britannicum was, to introduce a greater 

 uniformity of nomenclature in the trees and shrubs cultivated 

 in British nurseries. To second the effect of our book in 

 attaining this object, we proposed (see p. 517.) to name col- 

 lections of trees and shrubs in public gardens and nurseries, 

 if the owners or managers would send us specimens, and print 

 catalogues adopting the names to which preference is given in 

 the Arboretum. Some nurserymen have accepted our proposal, 

 but we shall not publish their names till they have printed their 

 catalogues. In the. meantime we recommend all intending pur- 

 chasers of trees and shrubs, to consult the article referred to 

 (p. 517.), before giving their order to a nurseryman. It can be 

 no hardship to the latter, for the purchaser to insist on not 

 getting the same plant under different names, as we have shown 

 he now very frequently does in the case of many genera. While 



