26 
THE TREES OF AMERICA. 
the proprietor himself maybe able to perform ; also 
the kind of material for the superstructure, whether 
it he wood, stone, or brick. In view of all these 
circumstances, it is inexpedient to attempt a state¬ 
ment ; the prudent farmer will obtain estimates of 
all particulars, carefully prepared by responsible 
mechanics, and any estimate of ours might tend 
rather to his injury than benefit. The barn of Mr. 
Hutchinson is of stone, rough-cast; one of less 
cost (and in one respect better, because dryer) 
would be of frame, on a basement of stone extend¬ 
ing to the floor of the second story. 
THE TREES OF AMERICA. 
The following letter was written in answer to 
some strictures which appeared in the October No. 
of the Horticulturist, on the Trees of America ; but 
the editor, Mr. Downing, having thus far deferred 
publishing it in his periodical, Mr. Browne solicits 
a place for it in our columns. 
New Yorlc, Oct. 15, 1846. 
Sir :—In looking over the review of my 
work on the “ Trees of America,” in the October 
number of the Horticulturist, I observed several 
errors, probably caused by oversight, and one or 
two passages that would have a tendency to mislead 
the public, which you will oblige me by correcting. 
After making comparative extracts from Loudon’s 
Arboretum and my work, you state that “ The 
character of nearly the whole volume is precisely 
similar to our quotation—that is to say, instead of 
using his own language to describe trees, their 
properties, characters, etc., Mr. Browne has paid 
Mr. Loudon the compliment of using his, though 
he has omitted, in many cases, half or two-thirds 
of the matter given in the Arboretum” That “ Mr. 
Loudon’s name is scarcely mentioned in the body 
of the work, though the author acknowledges in the 
preface that he is { particularly indebted to him.’” 
If you will attentively compare the K Sylva Ame¬ 
ricana,” a portion of which is a translation of 
“ L’Histoire des Arbres Forestiers de 1’Amerique 
Septentrionale,” with the “ Arboretum,” you will 
find that Mr. Loudon has often paid M. Michaux 
and myself the compliment of using our language 
instead of Ids own. And by further examining my 
last work, the “ Trees of America,” instead of 
finding “ Mr. Loudon’s name scarcely mentioned in 
the body of the work,” you will discover that it is 
inserted more than one hundred times. All of us, 
who knew Mr. Loudon, can fully appreciate his 
talents, his industry, and the immense benefits he 
has conferred upon mankind by his works ; yet 
there i's much of the matter contained in his 
“ Arboretum” that is erroneous, uninteresting, or ill 
adapted to the climate and modes of culture of the 
United States; and, besides, there are many impor¬ 
tant omissions in his work, which probably could 
not be given, for the want of information, that have 
been supplied by me. 
You also state that you “ find two trees described, 
which are not contained in Loudon’s Arboretum, 
viz.:— Bursera gummifera, a native of the West 
Indies, and Ilex paraguariensis, a native of South 
America. Neither of them will grow in gardens in 
this country without protection.” In justice to 
your readers as well as to the publishers and my-! 
self, could you not with propriety have informed 1 
them that there are at least fifty trees described in 
my work, which are not even mentioned by Mr 
Loudon at all? Again, could you not, with equal 
justice and propriety, have told them that more than 
one-fourth of my work is devoted to edible fruits 
and nuts, which, for reasons best known to your¬ 
self, are scarcely mentioned in your review ? 
Furthermore, do I not plainly state on p. 189, that 
Bursera gummifera is found in Florida, and parti¬ 
cularize where the trees are still growing ? And 
do I not assert, also, on p. 173, that Ilex para¬ 
guariensis is adapted to the middle and southern 
sections of the Union, and warmly recommend it to 
all who have proper conveniences for cultivat¬ 
ing it ? 
You remark that you “ do not know that Mr. 
Browne makes any pretension to being a practical 
arboriculturist. If he did, we should find great 
fault with him in many cases ; for example, he 
does not tell us, while praising loudly the Euro¬ 
pean Holly for hedges, and recommending its gene¬ 
ral use, the lamentable truth that it will not stand 
the winter of this climate under ordinary circum¬ 
stances, north of Philadelphia.” Here I beg leave 
to refer you to p. 163, where I explicitly state, that, 
owing to the severity of our climate, in winter, this 
tree appears not to have thrived north of the Poto¬ 
mac. Your complaint in regard to the pome¬ 
granate is equally ungrounded, as you will per¬ 
ceive in p. 340, that at Paris and Versailles, it will 
not bear exposure to the open air too early in the 
spring, which plainly indicates that it is not adapted 
to the colder regions of the United States. 
After saying, as you do, that you welcome this 
contribution of mine, to the gardening literature of 
this country, with pleasure, that everything that 
will help to diffuse this information is well for our 
people, and that this volume conveys a great deal 
of information in a moderate compass, etc., I cannot 
conceive how you can so strongly recommend 
Loudon’s “ Trees and Shrubs,” in preference to 
any other work of its kind, when it is well known 
that it contains much that is inapplicable to our 
climate, and is not suited to the taste and economy 
of our inhabitants. 
I thank you for the suggestions which you have 
been pleased to make in regard to my future volume, 
and as far as my means will allow, no pains shall 
be spared to render this work all that you desire. 
Respectfully, D. J. Bro-wne. 
To A. J. Downing, Esq. 
Since the above was written, a notice of my 
work has appeared in Sill'iitfan’s Journal, said to 
be written by Professor Gray, of Harvard Univer¬ 
sity, who, it would seem from the notice, is of a 
contrary opinion to Mr. Downing, in regard to 
Loudon’s work ; but he cannot be considered as 
very “ high authority,” either in geography and 
history, or physiology and botany, in supposing 
that Florida is situated 500 miles from the point 
where Columbus first landed in America,—that 
persons who have long been at sea are not possess¬ 
ed with more acute organs of smell, and can even 
perceive the fragrance from the land at the distance 
of forty miles, or to be ignorant of the facts that 
the sassafras-tree formerly occurred in abundance, 
on the Bahama Islands, and never flowers in the 
month of October. D. J. B. 
