SACRED AND CLASSICAL PLANTING. 
491 
Then there was the Beech ( Fagus sylvatica), 
often referred to by Tlieophrastus, Dioscorides, 
Pliny, Virgil, and Theocritus. About twelve 
miles from Rome, near the town of Tusculuni, 
there was a small hill covered with beech-trees, 
of such beauty, that the inhabitants with one 
consent consecrated it to Diana, and ever after- 
wards repaired to it to pay their devotions to 
that goddess. The Roman poet in the conclu- 
ding passage of his Georgics thus refers to the 
beech : — 
" I, Virgil, then, 'mid Naples' grateful bowers, 
In ease inglorious nursed my studious hours; 
I, whose bold youth the pastoral strain essayed, 
And sung thee, Tityrus, in the beechen shade." 
The moderns have undervalued this tree, for 
by many it is represented to be an object of 
little beauty. The truth is, that when the tree 
is watched narrowly, it affords a series of very 
lovely changes. We enjoy not vernal weather 
many (lays ere its hard, spiky buds are trans- 
formed into silken folds ; these in their turn 
overlay the branches with a verdure which is 
particularly delicate and soft, and which so far 
as I know is not surpassed in these respects by 
the foliage of any other tree or herb. 
If it had been only for the sake of scenic 
effect produced by its mingling with columns 
and statues, it is gratifying to know that the 
graceful Birch-tree was a denizen of Hellenic 
lawns and gardens ; and comes down to us re- 
commended by such an appropriation. The 
bark of this tree was used by the Romans to 
write upon, and it was upon this material that 
King Numa wrote when composing the books 
which were buried with him on Mount Jani- 
culum. The proper province of this tree in 
Britain is amongst rocks and ravines, or by 
some glassy stream, far away from the haunts 
of men. No soil can be too poor for this tree ; 
and it is important to recollect, that it grows 
tolerably when planted near to the sea. 
A fit companion to the foregoing was the 
Weeping Willow, a tree which in Britain is 
properly associated with localities which are 
strictly artificial and elegant. It is never found 
by the mountain stream, or in company with the 
birch, and is at all times unequally classed with 
the oak, pine, or other mountain trees. It is 
not sombre enough for the churchyard, though 
frequently planted in such a situation. At the 
same time, the slight classic references to it 
seem to warrant its being adopted as a sor- 
rowful tree. Dido, when despairing of the 
return of iEneas, saw in it a fit emblem of her 
hopeless state ; and modern poets seem to fol- 
low in considering it as appropriately named. 
The white and black willows were also known 
to the Greeks and Romans, and their chief use 
was as props to the vine. 
The Sweet Chestnut had the honour of 
shading the favoured residence of the gods — 
Mount Olympus. It formed also those cool 
and verdant walks in the valley of Tempe 
which the poets have represented as the. most 
delightful on the earth. Here it was first in- 
troduced from Sardis, in Asia Minor, and 
thence transported to Rome in the reign of 
Tiberius Cassar. In the latter country the 
fruit was in much request and Virgil states 
that it was a favourite of Amaryllis. A free 
sandy loam is the soil which it prefers. 
The Walnut deservedly held a high place in 
the estimation of the ancients. This tree was 
sacred to Diana, and devotions were paid to 
her under its shade : its nut was called the 
acorn of Jove, but farther than this he appears 
not to have patronized it. The monster Mithri- 
dates, king of Pontus, fortified his constitution, 
it is said, by drinking a solution of walnuts, 
which proved an antidote to the poison admi- 
nistered to him by his enemies at court. .1 
have found it grow extremely well on a subsoil 
of chalk ; and on any rich land free from stag- 
nant water it will attain a good size. 
The Alder was known both to the Greeks 
and Romans, but of the living tree they have 
left us, so far as I know, no memorials. When 
Theophrastus wrote, it was used for dyeing 
leather ; and in Pliny's estimation, piles made 
of the wood are " eternal." The largest tree, 
in England grows on the right-hand side of the 
road upon entering the village of Haverland, 
Norfolk. It stands in a damp favourable situ- 
ation, near to a rivulet, and soars to the height 
of sixty-two feet or thereabouts. The trunk, 
atone foot from the ground, is 11 feet and 7 
inches in circumference. An alder of such 
magnitude is a very singular object, the tree 
being generally cut down in its youth. Judging 
from the rugged state of the ground where it 
stands, its great worth is not known, and the 
probability is that some trifling incident may 
one day lead to its removal. 
The Hazel, though well known to the an- 
cients, is not often referred to by the Greeks. 
The Romans, on the other hand, often intro- 
duce it. recommending it to be planted in 
patches by itself, as its roots were found inju- 
rious to the vine when in contact with that 
plant. 
The Conifera? admissible into a group of 
sacred and classical species are, Larix europrea ; 
Pinus Pinea, maritima, sylvestris, halepensis ; 
Cedrus Libani ; Abies excelsa and Picea ; 
Cupressusscmpervirens ; Taxus baccata ; and 
Juniperus communis. 
The Spindle-tree ( Euoni/miis europaus), 
enlivened the Greek and Roman villas in the 
fall of the year with their bright pendent cap- 
sules, as they do in England ; and the wood 
was employed by " the neat-handed Phillis" 
and her mistress in the shape of netting-needles 
and spindles. The fruit of all the species are 
