352 G rigor's Eastern Arboretum, 



occurred in the annals of this country, find time, not only to lay out his own 

 grounds, but to assist Lord Littleton in laying out Hagley ? We insist 

 upon it, therefore, that what we propose is just as suitable and necessary for 

 ladies of the highest rank, as it is for those without rank ; provided they 

 are equally without rational and active occupation of some other kind. 



Art. V. The Eastern Arboretum, or Rural Register of all the re' 

 markable Trees, Seats, Gardens, Sfc, in the County of Norfolk. By 

 James Grigor. Illustrated by drawings of trees, etched on cop- 

 per by H. Ninham. No. I. 8vo, pp. 24, 3 plates. London, 

 June, 1840. \s. 



We have great pleasure in noticing this publication ; partly from our regard 

 for the author, and partly from the genuine love v/hich he exhibits for a sub- 

 ject to which we ourselves are so much attached. To give our readers an 

 idea of what this work is intended to be, we shall begin by quoting from the 

 introduction : 



" The Eastern Arboretum refers not to the vegetable wonders of the Ori- 

 ental part of our globe, but to a district of our own peaceful and happy 

 England. This district has long been in the advance of all others in the 

 pursuits of agriculture, and we are anxious to see it excel in the kindred sci- 

 ences of arboriculture and gardening. In some parts, indeed, as the subse- 

 quent pages of this work will show, it may be said already to excel even in 

 those respects ; but, generally speaking, the country in this quarter is still 

 susceptible of improvement. 



" There is no county in England possessed of a greater variety of soils 

 than Norfolk : it abounds in all descriptions, from the lightest sand to the 

 stifFest clay, so that any thing that lives in our climate will find a soil here 

 congenial to its nature. Its capabilities in this respect are immense. Our 

 elevated waste lands are adapted to the pine and fir tribes ; our deep loams, 

 such as abound in the margin of the fen country about Upvvell, Wisbech, and 

 no doubt in many other districts, are capable of producing gigantic specimens 

 of our timber trees ; and the fens themselves are full of the sort of soil that 

 our American plants delight to grow in. What would be thought of hedges 

 of the Rhododendron ponticum growing around our fen dwellings about twenty 

 feet high and in full flower ? Such a thing would be thought wonderful and very 

 beautiful, no doubt ; yet the wonder is that we do not see it every day of our 

 lives, for it is as natural for this tree to flourish in such soil as it is for the white 

 globe turnip to grow on our well-tilled farms. Our moist land, again, as 

 almost every one knows, is suited to display the beauties of the poplar and 

 willow tribes ; and it is much to be regreted that some of our brooks and 

 rivers are suffered to glide over our valleys unattended by such delightful 

 ornaments as those trees invariably form in such situations. 



" But the rich and varied resources of our soil will avail us little, if the 

 principle of adaptation be overlooked. Our trees must be planted in soils 

 and situations adapted to their nature, else our labour will be comparatively 

 profitless. This perfect arrangement is every where observable in the economy 

 of vegetation, as seen in nature. In the more striking outlines of this beauti- 

 ful distribution, even the inexperienced are able to trace the situations and 

 soils which certain vegetables delight to grow in. The willow and the alder, 

 for instance, are naturally associated with rivers and swamps ; and it is in 

 such situations only where they are to be seen in all the exuberance of their 

 nature. An aloe, on the other hand, is furnished with thick fleshy leaves 

 which imbibe moisture freely and expend it sparingly, and we find it flourishing 

 in a sandy desert and under a burning sun, where it rains only at long in- 

 tervals, and where the heavens are seldom darkened. In some countries, the 

 geographical range of temperature, for almost all sorts of trees, is confined 



