THE FOREST TREES OF BRITAIN. 
31 
in greenhouses or dry frames until the follow- 
ing spring. 
For pot culture it will doubtless prove a 
very desirable subject. It must, in this case, 
be regularly shifted into pots containing a 
compost in which turfy loam preponderates, 
not using very large pots, and having these 
drained in an efficient manner. The plants 
should, while young, be well stopped back, the 
point of the shoots being removed as soon as 
practicable after they reach from two to three 
inches long ; this is to be continued until a 
good round head of branches is pi'oduced, and 
the plant should then be allowed to grow on 
for flowering. An allied kind, P. cajiensis, 
forms a very elegant plant under good manage- 
ment, and becomes a really desirable object 
for greenhouse decoration, from the distinct 
and soft pale blue colour of its blossoms ; this 
species being, moreover, of rather straggling 
habit, may be used as a semi-climber ; trained 
against the upright pillars of a conservatory, 
in situations pretty well exposed to light, and 
where its roots are in a healthy medium, it be- 
comes very ornamental. Whether or not the 
new species will assume any of this habit, we 
know not ; but the plant which appeared at 
one of the metropolitan exhibitions certainly 
indicated a more compact and bushy habit. 
Of course, as a pot plant, it must be very 
carefully watered. 
THE FOREST TREES OF BRITAIN.* 
BY THE REV. C. A. JOHNS. 
There is nothing that would contribute so 
much to the improvement of old plantations, 
and the formation of new ones, as the know- 
ledge of the habit, character, culture, and 
management of the trees which thrive in this 
country; and we hail with pleasure the pub- 
lication of everything calculated to familiarize 
the generality of landowners and landholders 
with this important subject. Many who have 
laid out immense sums in planting, have alto- 
gether failed in their object, and the causes 
have been various ; some from a thorough 
ignorance of the sorts likely to flourish, others 
from a mistaken notion that planting is plant- 
ing, and that trees are to be chosen according 
to the owner's, or rather the planter's, fancy. 
There have also been not a few who have 
imagined that when trees are planted their 
duty is over, and that they have no more to 
do. We know of nothing therefore so essen- 
tial as a full acquaintance with the require- 
ments, as well as the comparative value, of 
the numerous plants which may be used, that 
the planter may choose judiciously, according 
to the soil and situation of his land ; and 
when he has chosen, use all the means that 
are required to grow them to the best advan- 
tage. The subject has been often treated 
well in the Horticultural Magazine. Mr. 
Grigor's papers on many Timber and 
Ornamental Trees have been of the greatest 
service, so far as they went ; but he has not 
written upon a tenth of the kinds that are 
applicable to the various earths that prevail 
in this kingdom. The first volume of the 
work before us is an attempt to supply all 
that is wanted, and it is published for the 
society which has ushered many a useful work 
into the reading world, the " Society for 
Promoting Christian Knowledge." With ample 
means of providing the highest talent, and, 
generally speaking, " in the multitude of 
counsel, wisdom " to engage it ; a work of 
any kind has no small advantage when got up 
under their auspices. In this volume we 
have good evidence of both. In a general 
way, the descriptions of the trees, their peculiar 
characteristics, and the localities in which they 
flourish are sound. The illustrations are not 
only natural, but engraved in the most effective 
style ; some of them are highly finished, and the 
majority may be considered worthy of a place 
among the best of the highest class. Some of 
the sketches are exceedingly interesting from 
the fact of their being portraits of existing spe- 
cimens of notoriety. The author seems quite 
aware of the importance of his task; he says: — 
* Published by the Society for Promoting Christian 
Knowledge. Two vols. 1847. 
