23S 
ARBORETUMS. 
years been attended to, in many instances with 
the happiest effects ; but the formation of an 
Arboretum, as an indispensable requisite to 
every park and pleasure-ground, is not yet 
recognised throughout England. Our royal 
palaces even are without them : not that we 
are to look invariably to such places as models 
of taste and improvement ; for, taking a retro- 
spect glance at what has been done in this 
respect, we find that Arboretums have been 
advanced chiefly by certain private individuals, 
and, in some instances, by those whose means 
almost forbade them to indulge in this com- 
paratively expensive pursuit. Old Gerard was 
a planter of " faire trees," which flourished 
somewhere on the present site of Ely Place, 
in Holborn ; Raleigh had groves " of much 
varietie and great delight ;" Tradescant had 
his seat at Lambeth, and an Arboretum there: 
Compton, the Bishop of London, devoted a 
considerable portion of his time to the rearing 
of curious exotic plants and trees, at Fulham ; 
the good John Evelyn, at Say's Court and 
other places, had his beloved trees; and several 
other individuals during the seventeenth cen- 
tury made collections of those interesting ob- 
jects, which, so far as "wicked hands" have 
permitted, remain to this day the most noble 
and interesting relics of bygone times. The 
last and present centuries have had many 
promoters of Arboretums, individually and 
unitedly; but perhaps the greatest stimulus 
which has been given to this work, has been 
through the London Horticultural Society, 
whose well-conducted establishment at Chis- 
wick affords the best opportunity of seeing 
and studying all that is desirable in this de- 
partment of Horticulture. Who, for instance, 
can enter that garden without being struck 
with the beauty and variety of the genus 
Crata3gus ; or, if he has the means of gratify- 
ing his taste, without forthwith resolving im- 
mediately to commence the formation of a 
collection of this charming tribe of plants ? 
Yet the Crataegus forms only one of a hundred 
classes of plants in some respect or other 
equally attractive. Then how is it that Arbo- 
retums are not more universal ? Unquestion- 
ably because attention has not been directed 
sufficiently to their great utility, and to the 
endless sources of pleasure they are capable of 
affording. 
An Arboretum, properly formed, is just as 
interesting to the naturalist as are collections 
of beasts, or birds, or insects. Here the mem- 
bers of a certain family are grouped together; 
and the first thing which will strike the ob- 
servant is the time of the budding and leafing 
of the several individuals in this group; the 
size and colour, and various forms of the 
leaves, will then arrest his attention ; and the 
decay, the colour in decay, and ultimate falling 
off of such leaves, will afterwards afford matter 
for observation. The relative growth of each 
plant will thus be easily determined; for, being 
all in one neighbourhood, it is to be presumed 
that difference of soil will not affect them in 
this respect. Hence it will readily appear 
what particular species is adapted to certain 
situations, whether as a fast or slow-growing 
tree, a tree with a bushy or open habit, or 
one which retains its leaves long, or casts 
them off in early autumn. But to the bota- 
nist, an Arboretum performs other and most 
important offices. Classified as the trees are, 
he sees at once what are really distinct as 
species, and what are entitled to be considered 
merely as varieties of such species. Besides, 
collections such as these are living records of 
what has been determined in botanical science; 
and every real addition to such collection is a 
step towards the completion of a perfect repre- 
sentative system in the vegetable world, at 
least so far as hardy ligneous plants are con- 
cerned. 
But what shall be said of the beauty and 
grandeur of such assemblages ? The Rose, 
Pyrus, and Crataegus tribes alone, form a 
group the loveliest which ever sprung from 
the earth ; and as to stateliness and grandeur, 
where are such types to be found as in the 
towering Pine and strong-armed Oak ? And, 
in case any one should reject simple appear- 
ances — mere flowering shrubs — do not many 
of the former portion of plants array them- 
selves afresh in the mellow, yet brilliant hues 
of autumn, returning a thousand-fold for the 
care exercised over them ? The latter class, 
again, whilst affording the best subjects for 
the graphic pencil of the painter, is so full of 
utility, that we are really indebted to it for 
the most of the conveniences of domestic life. 
Yet Arboretums do not end here — not in 
the mere pleasure or indirect profit they may 
convey to the particular possessor. Their 
influence extends over a wide space in the 
neighbourhoods where they are formed ; and 
in some instances, no limits can be fixed to 
the effect they have. The garden at Chis- 
wick, already alluded to, has in a wonderful 
degree helped forward the latent spirit for 
collections of trees and shrubs throughout 
Britain and the Continent ; and the Arbore- 
tums of individuals, according to the access 
the public have had to them, have been in a 
like ratio successful in this respect. The late 
James Crowe, Esq., F.L.S., of Lakenham, 
near Norwich, had one of the best assortments 
of willows in Britain; and though it is at least 
thirty years since this Salictum was dispersed, j 
the influence it had is still very apparent in I 
the fine specimens of this tree to be found 
throughout the East of England. In like man- 
ner is it with other things in the same quarter. 
