0 N ORNAMENTAL PLANTING. 
23 
and a writer in the “ Edinburgh Review,” on “ Polar Ice ; and a North-West Passage 
think that our climate has undergone no material change during the past thousand years. 
In conclusion I may add that the Roman historians, Csesar and Tacitus, who both resided 
several years in Britain, affirm that the climate was in their time superior to that of Gaul 
(modern France), and that the vine and the olive flourished here, which in their day it did not 
in France . — Vide “ Csesar de Bell. Gall.,” lib. v., c. 12 ; “ Yit. Agric.,” c. 12 ; and 
“ Diodorus Siculus,” lib.v., ss. 25, 26. 
From the above, it clearly appears that Oaks will not now prosper at the altitudes in 
which they formerly grew, and there can he only three reasons assigned, for this rather 
extraordinary circumstance ; either our climate has changed, — the constitution of the tree 
has altered, or our system of arboriculture is not in strict accordance with the laws of 
Nature ; for be it remembered, it was her all-wise hand that planted, or rather sowed the 
seeds of these “ Monarchs of the Grove,” whose remains we have above alluded to, and also 
those vast forests with which the whole of Britain was, at one period, nearly covered. That 
the climate has changed within the last thousand years, there can be little doubt ; but from 
what cause is not easily explained. That the constitution of the Oak has undergone any 
material change, I cannot think, but I do believe that our system of management is almost 
the antipodes to the laws of nature ; and in another paper I shall endeavour to demonstrate 
this fact. 
ON ORNAMENTAL PLANTING. 
By Mr. Kemy, the Park , Birlcenhead. 
More than half the beauty of a district, and nearly all the interest and character of a 
private domain, depend upon the manner in which it is planted, or naturally clothed with 
the higher orders of vegetation. The boldness or softness of its undulations and outlines 
may be all that is desirable ; but it is the arrangement and grouping of the trees and shrubs 
on its surface, which will chiefly give to it a pleasing expression. 
And yet, while a landed proprietor scarcely ever thinks of erecting a mansion without 
consulting a professional adviser, any ordinary gardener or woodman is often thought com- 
petent, to put on the more expressive features of a landscape ; or, where the hand of taste 
lias been originally employed to trace out the plantations, the almost equally important task 
of superintending the development of their characteristic peculiarities, is frequently entrusted 
to persons scarcely higher in rank and understanding than a common labourer. 
But it is not merely, or mainly, to deprecate the deformities in our landscapes, which 
result from devolving the formation and thinning of plantations on ignorant persons, that 
we now address the owners and managers of landed property. Our object is to point out, in 
a cursory way, some of the principal things to be attended to in regard to the time and 
manner of planting for ornamental purposes. 
Perhaps no practical matter in the whole range of gardening, has drawn forth 
more varied directions and statements than the proper period for planting. And this is 
especially the case with respect to evergreens. On a review, however, of what has been 
written and said, we think it plain that the weight of testimony, derived both from theory 
and experience, is in favour of the month of November as the fittest season for the 
purpose. 
In support of this view, many reasons might be alleged, most of which will, perhaps, be 
generally familiar to our readers. November is commonly a dull, cloudy month, with a 
foggy or moist atmosphere, cold, yet not frosty, and sufficiently removed from the ordinary 
commencement of severe frosts, to permit the plants to become comparatively settled and 
established before they will be subjected to extreme cold. This month is also at the 
beginning of a long period, during which vegetation is almost torpid ; and a season is thus 
afforded for the newly-planted trees to get domiciled (if we may be allowed the expression) 
before any demand is made on their activity. 
All these circumstances are precisely those which are most favourable to transplanted 
trees or shrubs. Hazy weather, a humid atmosphere, with but little warmth to neutralise 
