144 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



rows of this tree, which presented to my view a scene far 

 more beautiful than I had hitherto witnessed in any town, 

 either in France, Flanders, or Germany." In this country 

 the European hme is also much planted in our cities; and 

 some avenues of it may be seen in Philadelphia, particu- 

 larly before the State-house in Chestnut-street. The bass- 

 wood is a very abundant tree in some parts of the middle 

 states, and is seen growing in great profusion, forming thick 

 woods by itself in the interior of this state. With us the 

 wood is considered too soft to be of much value, but in 

 England it was formerly in high repute as an excellent 

 material for the use of carvers. Some very beautiful 

 specimens of old carving in lime wood may be seen in 

 Windsor Castle and Trinity College.* The Russian bass 

 mats, which find their way to every commercial country, 

 are prepared from the inner bark of this tree. The sap 

 affords a sugar like the maple, although in less quantities ; 

 and it is stated in the Encyclopaedia of Plants (p. 467) " that 

 the honey made from the flowers of the lime tree is reckoned 

 the finest in the world. Near Knowno, in Lithuania, there 

 are large forests chiefly of this tree, and probably a distinct 

 variety. The honey produced in these forests sells at more 

 than double the price of any other, and is used extensively 

 in medicine and for liqueurs." 



* The art of carving in wood, brought to such perfection by Gibbons, is now, 

 we believe, much given up ; therefore the lime has lost a most important branch 

 of its usefulness. Perhaps the finest specimens of the works of Gibbons are to 

 be seen at Chatsworth, the seat of the Dulce of Devonshire, in Derbyshire. The 

 execution of the flowers, fish, game, nets, etc., on the panelling of the walls is 

 quite wonderful. It was of him that Walpole justly said, ' that he was the first 

 artist who gave to wood the loose and airy lightness of flowers, and chained 

 together the various productions of the elements, with a fi-ee disorder natural to 

 eaoL species.' The Hme tree is still, however, used by the carver, and we hope 

 that the art of wood carving may gradually be restored." — Sir T. D. Lauder 



