xii 



EXPLANATORY REFERENCES. 



EXPLANATORY REFERENCES. 



The greater part of the letterpress of this Work consists of the descrip- 

 tion, history, geography, uses, propagation, culture, &c., of the species and 

 varieties of the trees and shrubs cultivated in the British Islands ; and this is 

 always printed in type corresponding in size with that used in this sentence. 



The short descriptive notices of species and varieties which it would be 

 desirable to introduce, of such as have been introduced and lost, of such as 

 have not been seen by the author, even though mentioned in British catalogues, 

 and of such as are half-hardy in the climate of London, or supposed to be so, 

 are uniformly printed in a smaller type. 



The statistics, or accounts of the dimensions of trees, which we have 

 received from different parts of the British Islands or the Continent, are also in 

 small type, in order to save room. 



The portraits of trees which form the last four volumes are sometimes, 

 referred to as in the second volume, and sometimes as in the last volume. 

 These references were made under the idea of binding up all the letterpress 

 in one volume, and all the plates in another, which, now that the Work is 

 finished, is found to be impracticable. The readiest way of finding the portrait 

 of any particular species of tree is, to refer to the Alphabetical Index of 

 Portraits of Trees, given at the end of the eighth volume. The readiest way 

 of finding the description and history of any particular species or variety, and 

 of ascertaining whether or not a figure is given of it, is by referring to the 

 general Alphabetical Index, at the end of the fourth volume. 



In various parts of the Work reference will be found to Part IV., and to 

 the Encycloj3(sdia of Arboriculture. These two references refer to one and 

 the same work, viz. the EncyclopcBdia of Arhoriculture, which it was originally 

 intended to include in the Arboretum Britannicimi, but which, for the reasons 

 stated in the Preface, will now be published separately in one volume ; and 

 in which the subject of trees and their culture will be generalised, and their 

 mode of treatment given en masse, whether as seedlings in the nursery, as 

 useful and ornamental plantations, as yielding timber and other useful pro- 

 ducts, or as ornaments in the lawn and shrubbery. 



The engravings of the botanical specimens, whether printed along with the 

 text, or along with the portraits of the trees in the four last volumes, are 

 invariably to one and the same scale of 2 in. to 1 ft. Where any portion of 

 the plant is given of the natural size, it is distinguished by a cross, thus, -f . 

 Where dissections are given, m. signifies male,/ female, and mag. magnified. 



The portraits of the entire trees and shrubs given along with the text are 

 to different scales, which are always indicated in the descriptions : thev are 

 chiefly 1 in. to 12 ft., 1 in. to 24 ft., and 1 in. to 50 ft. 



The portraits of the trees in the last four volumes are nearly all from in- 

 dividuals that were growing within ten miles of London, in the years 1834, 

 1835, 1836, or 1837. These portraits are chiefly of young trees, of ten or 

 twelve years' growth, and are drawn to a scale of 1 in. to 4 ft.: but there 

 ai-e also portraits of full-grown trees, of all the principal kinds of which 

 full-grown specimens are to be found within ten miles of London (taken 

 chiefly from Syon), and these are drawn to a scale of 1 in. to 12 ft. 



Of some species of trees good full-grown examples could not be found 

 within ten miles of London ; and of these portraits have been taken from 

 trees growing in different parts of Great Britain (particularly fi-om Studley 

 Park and Dropmore) and Ireland, and, in one or two instances, from trees on 

 the Continent. 



The botanical specimens of the young trees exhibit a branch in flower, the 

 winter's wood when the tree is deciduous, anda branch with ripe fruit, and with 



