182 HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF TREES. PART I. 



Bartram's Botanic Garden there appears to have been the best collection in 

 any nursery ; and probably, at present, it is only equalled by that of Prince of 

 New York. No nursery in America is superior to Bartram's for fine specimens of 

 trees. The dimensions of some of these, with those of many others, of which 

 accounts have been sent us, will be given when treating of each particular 

 tree, in the third part of this work. (See also Gard. Mag., vol. viii. p. 272.) 



Part of the United States, and the Canadas, were visited by two excellent 

 arboricultural observers; Mr. Robert Brown, formerly a nurseryman at Perth, 

 and Mr. James Macnab, the son of the curator of the Edinburgh Botanic 

 Garden, in the autumn of the year 1834 ; and an interesting notice of the 

 distribution of different species of trees in the countries they passed through 

 has been published in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. v. p. 594., and 

 will be found also in the twelfth volume of the Gardener's Magazine. Before 

 landing at New York, the country appears to the stranger of a very dark and 

 dismal hue, from the quantity of pines and red cedars which clothe the more 

 conspicuous prominences; but, after landing, the whole, from the prevalence 

 of fine trees and shrubs, appears like one vast garden. The stranger is strongly 

 impressed with the beauty and number of trees, which are partly indigenous 

 to the locality or the district, and partly introduced from more southern 

 climates. The diversity of the forms of the trees, and the variety of their 

 foliage, are most remarkable. No remains of ancient forests are observable, 

 as might be supposed, these having been long since cut down for fuel ; but 

 forest trees of large size are frequently to be seen, covered to their summits 

 with wild vines. Of these the Platanus occidentalis, liriodendron, liqui- 

 dambar, Gleditschia triacanthos, and the catalpa are preeminent. It is worthy 

 of remark, that almost the only foreign trees conspicuous in the artificial 

 scenery of America are, various kinds of fruit trees, the Lombardy poplar, and 

 the weeping willow. The contrast between the regular position and round- 

 tufted heads of the fruit trees and the lance-shaped heads of the poplars, and 

 between both these trees and the wild luxuriance of the indigenous species, 

 is very striking. About 67 miles up the country, on the river Hudson, a 

 limestone district occurs, and on this the lively green of the arbor vitae suc- 

 ceeds to the dark hue of the red cedar. All the uncultivated parts of the 

 surface are covered with this tree, of different sizes, varying from 1 ft. to 20 ft. 

 in height, and always of a pyramidal shape. The woods on both sides of 

 Lake Champlain are very various. The principal trees are, the wild cherry 

 (Cerasus virginiana), elms, walnuts, sugar maples, and the aspen poplar. The 

 rocky grounds abound with arbor vitas, and the " appearance of the lofty 

 white, or Weymouth, pine, towering above the deciduous trees, on rising 

 grounds at the base of the hills, of a dark aspect and nearly destitute of 

 branches, was remarkable." The northern extremity of Lake Champlain ex- 

 hibits the same trees, with the addition of the balm of Gilead fir. The only 

 tree worth notice on the St. Lawrence river was the canoe birch (J5etula 

 papyracea). At Montreal our travellers were much " surprised to see the 

 great difference which the Canadian winter produces upon those species of 

 ornamental trees which grace the lawns and cities of the United States. As 

 examples, may be mentioned the Aildnius glandulosa, the trees of which were 

 quite small and stunted ; Madura aurantiaca seemed barely alive ; and the mul- 

 berries were small and unhealthy. The weeping willows here are almost always 

 killed in winter, although in the neighbourhood of New York the stem of this 

 tree is seen averaging from 8 ft. to 15 ft., and sometimes 20 ft. in girt. None of 

 the catalpas and magnolias, which prove so ornamental in the pleasure-grounds 

 both of New York and Philadelphia, can be made to live here, with the 

 exception of the M. glauca, and it is in a very unhealthy condition. Tax- 

 odium distichum is also much dwarfed, and barely alive. Peaches in this 

 part of the country do not succeed as standards ; but several peach trees 

 placed against garden walls possessed well ripened wood, and had every 

 appearance of affording plentiful crops. The principal ornamental tree cul- 

 tivated in this part of the country, on account of its beauty, is the llobin/a 



