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THE PLANTEE's guide. 



planter, as well as transplanter, to cultivate only what will 

 grow well in the soil and climate in whicli it happens to 

 be placed ; and that he should rather be ambitious of 

 vigorous and luxuriant shoots in his woods, than of the 

 rarest names in the nurseryman's catalogue. There are, 

 nevertheless, judicious friends of mine, persons of consider- 

 able information and intelligence, who place but a small 

 value on the former when compared with the consequence 

 which they conceive to belong to the latter object. 



The first tree in point of rank and importance, after 

 the four distinguished forest trees above mentioned, is 



THE SYCAMORE, OR GREATER MAPLE. 



The Sycamore, {A cer pseudo-platanus) is of the Maple 

 family, and usually called in Scotland the Plane-tree. 

 This and the Norway Maple, being the only two of that 

 genus which grow to great timber, well deserve to be 

 separately classed among our principal forest trees ; but 

 most of the other Maples — the sugar Maple, the common, 

 and the Ash-leaved kinds excepted (which may be con- 

 sidered as middle -rank trees) — are little better than shrubs 

 in this climate. The Sycamore has two distinct varieties, 

 the early and the late, which I do not know that any 

 other writer has noticed.'" 



This noble tree is a native of Switzerland, Austria, and 

 Italy, where it grows wild in mountainous situations, but 

 in the opinion of most naturalists, it is not indigenous to 

 Britain. Ray speaks of it in his time as common about 

 churchyards, avenues, and noblemen's seats ; so that it 

 has been naturalised at least two or three centuries, and 

 is justly regarded as one of our hardiest and most beauti- 



* Note I. 



