2 1 20 



VttBORETUM AND FUUT1CETUM. 



PART J I 



tree, it is probably incorrect ; if otherwise, it must have been upwards of 20 

 years older than those at Chelsea. 



Mr. Thompson, an artist, writing in the Gardener's Magazine on the effect 

 of the ceilar in landscape scenery, observes that " there is something even 

 architectural in the form of the cedar; the thick upright stem, and the hori- 

 zontal branches which it supports, in a great measure accord with the pillars 

 and copings of buildings. This may be seen by reference to the inspired 

 pictures o( Martin, when Assyrian history has been the subject of his pencil. 

 He has realised all that the most vivid imagination could conceive of Eastern 

 splendour ; ami the famous hanging gardens have not been forgotten. In 

 them the cedar is the most prominent tree, which he has shown mixed with 

 cypresses and a few low shrubs and flowers, forming a mass simple but grand, 

 and quite in unison with the architectural character of the scene. The accom- 

 panying sketch (fig. 2275.) is from an etching of the destruction of Babylon, 

 and represents part of the hanging gardens. Thus it may be inferred that 



cedars should always be the accompaniment of palaces, public buildings, and 



superior residences. The finest cedars I have seen are at Blenheim ; but 



even there they are not much contrasted with the architecture, but are spread 



generally throughout the whole of the gardens ; and they appeared to me in a 



great measure lost, from being so mixed up with other trees and shrubs : 



however, they serve to maintain the character of grandeur which belongs to 



the place. On the banks of the great lake, where the present duke, since he 



left White Knights, has formed his new flower-garden, extending from the 



house to the cascade, there are some very fine cedars ; and it is curious to 



observe how well they accord with the simplicity of garden scenery: but this 



may be accounted for by their being supported by other large trees, from 



the* extensiveness of the gardens, and from every thing around them being on 



so grand a scale. There are some garden scenes in which cedars would be 



found not only misplaced, but out of character, and injurious : as, for example, 



in the grounds of a small modern villa, they would be quite at variance with 



our ideas and associations as to what should attach to such a place. The 



Dpanying sketch (fig. 2276.), though it forms a tolerable picture, will, I 



trust, illustrate what I have been stating. The villa is rendered insignificant by 



the stately presence of the cedars; and the cedars seem to have been there before 



. . ;, built, as if they came by accident, and were foreign to the scene. 



tch {fig. 2277.), where I have supplied their place with a few 



D I appropriate trees, the picture produced seems more consistent, 



pi te, aid in better keeping. The form and character of the cedar 



anything on a small scale, or that betrays want of effect in its 



an hit' final features, or in the disposition of the ground: thus, one would not 



them in the centre Of a home meadow or arable field, where oaks and 



> m f with having a very good effect; nor should they 



nery is either domestic, homely, or tame. Nothing 



fe, than to find a cedar, a cypress, or other stately tree, con- 



