534? The Derby Arboretum* 



to have any effect must be niimerous ; while, to acquh-e their names, and look 

 into their beauties, persons walking in the garden must stand still, and stoop 

 down, which, when repeated several times, would soon, instead of a recreation, 

 become very fatiguing. Now trees and shrubs are large objects, and there 

 is scarcely one of them the beauty of which may not be seen and enjoyed by 

 the spectator while he is walking past it, and without standing still at all. 

 A herbaceous plant is chiefly interesting for its flowers, and the form of its 

 foliage, in which in general there is little change of colour ; but, to these two 

 sources of interest, trees and shrubs add the opening buds in spring, the colom- 

 of the unexpanded foliage immediately after it has burst from the bud, the 

 fine green tinged with some other colour which the first leaves assume 

 when they are fully expanded, and which continues more or less till the 

 middle of June ; the intensely deep green of summer, which continues till the 

 end of July ; the first changes of autumn to red or yellow, which commence in 

 August ; and the dying off" of all the different shades of red, crimson, 

 yellow, orange, brown, and purple, which continues taking place till Christmas ; 

 while some deciduous trees, such as the beech and hornbeam, the common 

 oak in certain soils kept moist, and the Quercus Tauzin in all soils and 

 situations, retain their leaves, after they have become brown, till the following 

 May. There are also, in deciduous trees, the colour and bloom of the young 

 shoots of the current year ; the different colour which the bark of these 

 shoots in many cases assumes the yeai* following (5alix decipiens, for example) ; 

 and the colour and texture of the older shoots, and of the branches and trunk. 

 In addition to these sources of interest, there is a very great beauty in trees, 

 which, from the improper planting of artificial plantations, is often overlooked, 

 or rather concealed ; and that is, the ramification of the main sm'face roots 

 at the point where they join the trunk. In general, trees are planted so deep 

 that this ramification never appears above the sm'face, and the trunk of the 

 tree seems fixed in the ground like a post which had been driven into it ; an 

 appearance as contrary to truth and natm-e, and also to the health of the tree, 

 as the shaft of a column without a base or a capital would, if employed in a 

 building, be to architectural taste. To prevent this monstrous and unnatural 

 appearance from occurring in the Derby Arboretum, I have directed all the trees 

 to be planted on little hills, the width of the base being three times the 

 height of the hill, so that the junction of the main roots with the base of the 

 trunk will appear above ground. 



Much more might be said to justify the preference which I have given to an 

 arboretum over every other kind of arrangement for the Derby Garden, but I 

 consider any farther remarks on the subject unnecessary. 



A glance at the plan, Jig. 52. in p. 522., will show that I have provided as 

 great an extent of gravel walk as the space would admit of; the total length, 

 including the walk round the flower-garden, exceeding a mile. There is a 

 straight broad walk in the centre, as a main feature from the principal entrance ; 

 an intersecting broad and straight walk to form a centre to the garden, and to 

 constitute a point of radiation to all the other walks ; and there is a winding 

 walk surrounding the whole. As a straight walk without a terminating object 

 is felt to be deficient in meaning, a statue on a pedestal is proposed for the 

 radiating centre i vafig- 52. ; a pedestal, with a vase, urn, or other object, for 

 the second circle in the straight walk Jig. 52. k ; while the pavilions Jig. 54. 

 ibrm terminating objects to the broad cross walk. 



As a terminal object gives meaning to a straight walk leading to it, so it is 

 only by creating artificial obstructions that meaning can be given to a winding 

 walk over a flat surface. These obstructions may either be inequalities in the 

 ground, or the occurrence of trees, or shrubs in the line which the walk would 

 otherwise have taken, so as to force it to bend out of that line. Both these 

 resources have been employed in laying down the direction of the surrounding 

 walk, though its deviation from a straight line has chiefly been made in con- 

 formity with the varying position of the trees in the belt already existing. 

 This belt, and also the trees in the flower-garden, and in other parts of the 

 plan, which were there previously to commencing operations, and which are 



