8 



INTRODUCTION. 



rieties; and this, had we been inclined to trust entirely to our 

 own opinion, we might have carried to a much greater extent. 



It is well known to the cultivators of trees and shrubs, that 

 there are a great many names of species enumerated in botanical 

 works, our own Hortus Britxmnicus not excepted, as having been 

 introduced into this country, which are not to be found in any 

 nursery, or even botanic garden. These plants may have been 

 introduced and lost ; or the names may have been those of plants 

 already in the country, reintroduced under new names. In 

 either case, according to the present mode of compiling botanical 

 catalogues, the introduction of these names in such catalogues 

 (provided the authorities are given with them) is unavoidable, 

 whether the things to which they apply are in existence or not. 

 It is easy to conceive some of the evils which, in a practical point 

 of view, result from this mode of making catalogues ; but it is 

 necessary to be at once a practical botanist and a practical 

 gardener, to comprehend the whole of them. One evil is, that, 

 when collectors of trees, for example, order the plants bearing 

 these names from the nurserymen, they either do not receive 

 any plants at all, or they receive something which they do not 

 want, and, probably, something which they already have. 

 Another evil is, that nurserymen, in order to supply the demand 

 for novelties, or to establish or keep up the appearance of 

 having an extensive collection, too frequently introduce names 

 into their catalogues for which they cannot supply plants ; or 

 they introduce synonymes without indicating that they are such. 

 The effect of this is, that gentlemen intending to form collec- 

 tions, finding their intentions frustrated, frequently give up the 

 pursuit in disgust. 



Imperfect as are the collections, and erroneous as is the no- 

 menclature in public nurseries, it will readily be conceived how 

 difficult it is for a practical gardener to acquire a tolerable know- 

 ledge of the trees and shrubs actually in the country; and it is 

 evident that, without this knowledge on his part, it is not to be 

 expected that any but the most common trees ancl shrubs can be 

 recommended by him to his employers : indeed, no British 

 gardener, who has not passed some time in acquiring a know- 

 ledge of his profession in some of our principal botanic gardens, 

 in the Kew Garden, in the garden of the Horticultural Society, 

 in that of Messrs. Loddiges, in the Botanic Garden at Edinburgh, 

 or in some other garden which contains an arboretum, can be 

 said to know the names of one fourth of the trees and shrubs 

 already in the country. The Arhoretum et Fruticetum Britan- 

 nicum. we think, will go far to remedy this evil, by enabling both 

 gardeners and their employers to ascertain, not only what trees 

 are in the country, but where they may see them growing. 

 Nurserymen, by referring to these living trees, will not only 



