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HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF TREES. 



PART I. 



not had an equal chance of displaying themselves, or of attain- 

 ing that magnitude and character which they ought to have to 

 answer the ends of an arboretum. (See our ideas more at 

 length, and illustrated by figures, in the Gard. Mag., vol. v. 

 p. 346. and fig. 79., and vol. vi. p. 250. and fig. 44.) There is 

 an arboretum in the Liverpool Botanic Garden, in that of Hull, 

 in that of Colchester, in that of Manchester, in that of Bir- 

 mingham, and one is just commenced in that of Sheffield. The 

 Caledonian Horticultural Society have an arboretum in their 

 experimental garden at Inverleith ; that of the Botanic Garden 

 of Edinburgh has been much increased ; and there is a good 

 one in the Glasgow Botanic Garden. In Ireland, the Trinity 

 College Botanic Garden was laid out by Mr. Mackay in 1808, 

 and at first contained only three acres. In 1833 two acres 

 more were added, which are principally occupied by ornamental 

 trees on a grass lawn, with surrounding borders for showy 

 herbaceous plants, and trees and shrubs which require the pro- 

 tection of a wall. An arboretum was commenced in the garden 

 of the Cork Institution, soon after the foundation of the Trinity 

 College Botanic Garden ; but that institution has been since 

 broken up, and the plants and trees of the garden sold and 

 dispersed. The Belfast Botanical and Horticultural Society 

 established a garden and an arboretum about 1830. The Glas- 

 nevin Garden belongs to the preceding century. 



The British nnrserymen have not been wanting in forming 

 arboretums. Preeminently among them stand the Messrs. 

 Lroddiges of Hackney, who have been assiduously collecting 

 trees and shrubs from all parts of the world, since the middle of 

 the last century; and in the year 1818, when these amounted 

 to above 1200 species and varieties, exclusive of azaleas, roses, and 

 willows they were arranged alphabetically on the right hand side 

 of a walk forming a scroll like the Ionic volute, extending over a 

 space of upwards of seven acres, commencing with the letter A, 

 at the outer circumference, and terminating with Z (Zizyphus) 

 near the centre. The centre itself forming the eye of the arbo- 

 retum consists of ten concentric zones, devoted to peat earth 

 plants, commencing in the outer zone with Andromeda, and 

 terminating in the inner one with ?^accinium. The collection of 

 willows, which is very extensive, is placed by itself in the cir- 

 cumference ; as is also the collection of yuccas. The collection 

 of roses, which exceeds 1500 sorts, is planted on the left hand 

 side of the scroll walk, and their number being about tlie same, 

 as that of the trees and shrubs which do not require peat earth, 

 they extend to the commencement of the concentric zones. The 

 surrounding boundary walls are covered with half-hardy trees 

 and shrubs. In 1830 this arboretum was in a high degree of 

 perfection, and in the autumn of that year we had sketches taken 



