HOETICULTUEAL JOUENAL. 97 
THE BRITISH OAK. 
The growing attention wliicli the culture of ornamental trees is receiving, 
is very gratifying to one who truly loves them. Many of those who have 
hitherto planted trees, are beginning to learn that there are other sources of 
pleasure in them, besides the mere shade they afford. It has been too fre- 
quently sufficient for, the proprietor of a plot of ground to feel and to know 
that he has had trees, " shade trees," planted around him. He has scarcely 
felt interested enough in the subject to inquire into their history, or even 
their names ; or, should his curiosity be accidentally so far excited, he 
smiles at your " jawbreaking' name, and that is the end of it. He felt it 
something of a duty to plant " trees." "No one builds a house, but also 
plants trees." He has planted " trees ;" fashion should be satisfied. He 
has paid its debt. It will always be so, "more or less." Men of taste in 
these matters have hitherto been the exception, and it will in all probability, 
be a long, long time before they anywhere near approach the rule. "We can 
only congratulate ourselves that their number is steadily increasing, and 
that it is not near so difficult now, as it has been to understand, that arbori- 
culture comprehends something more than the growing of a few Maples, 
Elms, or Balm of Gileads. 
I have been led to make these reflections by the extraordinary drafts that 
have been made through our nurseries for the few past years on the nume- 
rous kinds of rare evergreens. So great and so extensive has been the 
desire to possess these, that for some, prices have been paid that would 
startle our English friends, accustomed as they even are to great liberality 
in horticultural affairs. It is a gratifying sign of arboricultural progress, 
though in some cases it may seem to be paying dear for a toy ; but toy as 
it may be, it is unlike many other objects of momentary pleasure for which 
hundreds are daily and hourly squandered, it is one which each successive 
day adds to its value and its price, and one to which years but reveal new 
beauties and new charms. 
It is to be hoped that our zealous friends will not quite overlook the 
merits of deciduous trees and shrubs in forming their collections. They 
possess points of interest with many of which evergreens cannot compete. 
In flower, they are often gorgeous and gay, and always interesting. Their 
leaves exhibit more variety than evergreens ; and their forms and outlines 
are more varied and picturesque. Their whole appearance is lighter, and 
there is a joyousness in their wind-waved branches, which will at all times 
please. The evergreen, it is true, adds to the cheerfulness of a winter 
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