266 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM, 



PART III. 



treated in this manner, will remain for several years before the roots strike 

 into the adjoining soil. If the Exmouth variety of this species be made choice 

 of, layers will produce flowers in a year or two after being separated from the 

 parent plant, if kept in pots ; but, when they are planted out, and grow freely, 

 so as to make shoots 2 ft. or 3 ft. every season, they will probably not flower 

 for three or four years. Whether the tree be against a wall or trellis, or treated 

 as a standard, all the pruning it will require, after it has begun to grow freely, 

 will be, to cut out the stumps from which the flowers or the strobiles 

 have dropped off, and any dead or decay- 

 ing wood, and any branches which cross 

 and rub on each other. For a few years after 

 being planted as a standard, it may be advisa- 

 ble to form a small cone of thatch, litter, 

 leaves, or spruce fir branches, round the stem, 

 as practised by M. Boursault in Paris, and 

 exhibited in fig. 33. M. Boursault found 

 that, by this kind of protection, he could 

 grow the magnolia, and various other exotics, 

 as standards, to a size which had never be- 

 fore been seen in Paris (See Gard. Mag., ii. 

 p. 63.) Magnolias against a wall require very 

 little protection, even when young ; and this 

 can easily be given by mulching the ground 

 at the roots, and covering their branches with 

 a mat, or with the fronds of the spruce fir. 



Statistics. Magnolia, grandiflbra in the Environs of London. At Syon, 50 years planted, 25 ft. 

 high ; at Chiswick, 30 years planted, 15 ft. high ; in a garden at Isleworth, 20 ft. high ; at Fulharn 

 palace, M. g. exoni£nsis 8 years planted, 15 ft. high : these are all standards. There are numerous 

 instances of this species, or its different varieties, planted against walls in the neighbourhood of 

 London, attaining the height of 20 ft, reaching above the wall, and extending 15 ft. or 20 ft. on each 

 side of the main stem. Among the most remarkable may be cited, the magnolias in the botanic 

 garden at Kew, those at Purser's Cross, and at Harringay; at which last place there is one, 20 years 

 planted, which is 20 ft. high. 



Magnolia grand/flora South of London. As standards, the largest are at Powderham Castle, and at 

 Coombe, near Plymouth ; at both places upwards of 30 ft. high : at Saltram, 60 years planted, 25 ft. high : 

 at Killerton, 18 years planted, the Exmouth variety has attained the height of 23 ft., and flowers nine 

 months in the year. At Eastwell Park, in Kent, 6 trees of M. g. obovata, 20 years planted, have at- 

 tained the height of 25 ft. Examples of MagnblzVz grandiflbra against a wall, growing vigorously, and 

 flowering freely, might be given by hundreds. The most remarkable are those at White Knights, see 

 p. 217. and'p. 265. The wall was planted in 1800, with twenty-two plants, which cost six guineas each. 

 They were placed in a prepared border, 12 ft. wide, and 6 ft. deep, the soil being a mixture of sand, vege- 

 table mould, and loam ; and the subsoil a retentive loam. The trunks of the trees, in 1835, were from 

 5 in. to 7 in. in diameter; and the plants produce flowers every year, from the beginning of June till 

 they are checked by frost. At Sandown Place, in Surrey, there is a Magnolia grandiflbra trained 

 against a house, 40 ft. high ; at Farnham Castle, there is one against a wall, 20 ft. high ; at Leigh 

 Court, in Somersetshire, there is one against a wall, 20 ft. high ; at Cowdray, in Sussex, one 24 ft. 

 high ; and at Bowood, in Wiltshire, one 25 ft. high. 



Magnblia grandiflbra North of London. In Hertfordshire, at Hatfield, against a wall, there is a tree 

 20 ft. high ; and, at Wormleybury, one 30 years planted, 24 ft. high ; at Golden Grove, in Pembroke- 

 shire, one 12 ft. high, as a standard ; at Whitley Abbey, in Warwickshire, there is one 17 ft. high, 

 as a standard ; and in Worcestershire, at Croome, against a wall, one 35 ft. high. 



Magnolia grandiflbra in Scotland. In the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, 12 ft. high, against a 

 wall ; at Dalkeith Palace, 10 ft. high, against a wall ; in the Glasgow Botanic Garden, only a few feet 

 high, and requiring protection during the winter. At Thainston, and other places in Aberdeenshire, 

 from 6 to 10 ft. high. 



Magnblia grandiflbra in Ireland. In the Collingswood Nursery, near Dublin, 20 years planted, 

 and 17 ft. high ; against a wall, flowering freely every year. In the Trinity College Botanic 

 Garden, 22 years planted, and 10 ft. high. In Ireland generally, the MagnobVi grandirlora grows 

 much better than in Scotland, or in the north of England ; but the dimensions which have been sent 

 to us are all of young trees ; for it has not been long the custom in Ireland to plant any trees 

 against walls, except those bearing fruit. 



Magnblia grandiflbra in Foreign Countries. In France, the be3t collection of varieties of this 

 species was formerly at M. Boursault's {Gard. Mag., ii. p. 63.); and is now at Admiral TchitchagofPs, at 

 Sc£aux, where the highest standard plants, about 15 years planted, are 20 ft. high. The largest trees 

 in France appear to be at Maillardiere, near Nantes, where, besides the parent tree already mentioned 

 (p. 263.), there are others, varying from 30 ft. to 45 ft. in height, which have been planted from 50 

 to 80 years. In the Botanic Garden at Toulon there is a tree, 18 years planted, which is 20 ft. 

 high. In Belgium and Holland, the M. grandiflbra is trained against a wall, and protected during 

 winter, or treated as a conservatory plant, as it is in the greater part of Germany, Denmark, 

 Sweden, and Russia, except in the Crimea, where, as we have seen (p. 159.), there are some large 

 specimens, as standards, in the open air. In Italy, there are a greater number of fine specimens of 

 this tree than there are in any other country in Europe ; as may be seen by referring to p. 168. and 

 p. 169. The highest trees appear to be those in the botanic garden at Padua, and in the English 

 garden at Caserta, which have attained the height of 60 ft The tree of this species in the botanic 

 garden at Pisa, as.we have seen (p. 169), ripened seeds many years ago. 





