14 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The Pinaster was known here in 1596, the Larch in 1629, the 

 Lebanon Cedar in 1664, shortly before the time of the great fire 

 in London. It would be tedious to enumerate the dates of intro- 

 duction of even the most remarkable only of the Pines and Firs, but 

 in an assembly like this we ought gratefully to recall the services 

 of Bishop Compton, by whose agency the Balsam Fir and various 

 Atlantic-American species were introduced, and of John Evelyn, 

 always a most honoured name in horticulture, who is credited 

 with the introduction of the so-called Red Cedar [Juniperus 

 virginiana). The Corsican Pine is said to have made its way 

 hither in 1759, through whose instrumentality we do not know. 

 In 1796 Araucaria imbricata was introduced from Chili by 

 Menzies. The only survivor of that introduction is still at Kew 

 in the shape of a decrepit veteran. 



From 1827 to 1833, or thereabouts, Douglas startled the 

 botanical and horticultural world by the number and importance 

 of his discoveries in North-west America. The Douglas Fir, 

 the Lambert Pine, the Menzies Spruce, Abies amabilis, A, 

 grandisy A. nobilis, and many others may be mentioned as 

 having been either discovered or introduced into this country 

 by Douglas. To Fellows of the Eoyal Horticultural Society it 

 must always be a source of legitimate pride that these magni- 

 ficent and important discoveries (like those of Hartweg and 

 Fortune later on) were made by officers of this Society, and 

 that the plants were in the first instance grown and distri- 

 buted from these very gardens of Chiswick. Amid the many 

 memories which cling to Chiswick, amid the recollections of the 

 many vicissitudes which have befallen our old Society, we may 

 ever proudly remember the part that it has played in the intro- 

 duction of these noble plants. Surely it is incumbent upon us 

 to venerate the memory of the collectors who conferred so much 

 honour on our Society and so much benefit on mankind.* 



About the same time that Douglas was sending home the 

 first instalment of these treasures, the Deodar was introduced from 

 the Himalayas, and the Atlas Cedar appeared shortly afterwards. 

 The useful Austrian Pine was introduced in 1835 from South- 

 east Europe. In the next decade Hartweg introduced numerous 



* The Lindley Library, however, contams no portrait of Douglas, of 

 Fortune, or of Hartweg 1 Contrast this with the reeent erection of a 

 statue to Boezl at Prague. 



