272 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
July 13. 
besides the acres upon acres of liandsomely-grown and 
I luxuriant fruit-trees of every description, and the still 
greater extent of fruit-tree stocks, there are magnificent 
! specimens of some of the most choice Coniferous trees, 
another class of plants for which the nursery has been 
long noted, and from which the great collections, such 
as Dropmore and Elvaston Castle, have received large 
accessions. 
It was to the formation of an arboretum that Mr. 
Donald early directed his attention, and the collection 
of hardy trees and shrubs which he gathered together 
was immense, as is evidenced by the catalogue published 
some years ago. Although the greater portion of the 
original plantation has been necessarily removed, the 
less valuable being thinned out to allow' room for the 
more rare specimens, there is still so much of it re¬ 
maining as furnishos an abundant source of interest, 
and particularly as the present Mr. Donald is con¬ 
tinually adding whatsoever is now and valuable. Among 
the most important wo noticed tho following :— 
Abies Dovglassi. — A magnificent specimen, thirty- 
feet high, feathered to the very ground, and producing 
numerous oonos. From ooues which it has borne in 
previous years, a stock of seedling plants of this valu¬ 
able and highly ornamental tree have been raised. 
Abies Menziesii. —Another noble specimen of a noblo 
Fir, also thirty feet high, and handsomely furnished. 
Abies Kliutroxe. — A very handsome plant fifteen feet 
high; and also Abies morinda, of the same height, 
equally as handsome as the former. These two have 
generally been considered synonymous, from the close 
resemblance they have to each other in their young 
state; but Mr. Donald is of opinion they are perfectly 
distinct, and when we see large specimens like those 
j assuming habits so different, we may be warranted in 
presuming they are so. 
Abies Brunoviana. —This, which is ten feet high, is 
the largest specimen wo have seen of this peculiarly 
handsome tree, and which, in its young state, i 3 so dif¬ 
ficult to rear. It seems considerably hardy, but the 
young shoots have suffered by the frost of April. While 
referring to the frost, we may mention a fact for physio¬ 
logists which we observed in this nursery. Mr. Donald, 
last year, received two plants of Araucaria brasiliensis, 
both of the same size and age, being about two-feet-and- 
a-halfhigh. They were planted out in the arboretum, 
within three yards of each other; ono of them was 
completely killed to the ground by the frost of last 
winter, and the other is as green and luxuriant as if it 
had been kept in a greenhouse all the winter. 
Picea nobilis. —A very handsome specimen of this 
truly noble tree. It is ten feet high, remarkably well- 
furnished and luxuriant, and neither the winter nor 
spring frosts have had the slightest effect upon it. 
Picea cephalonica. —This is a very handsome speci¬ 
men ; eighteen to twenty feet high, and of a beautiful 
pyramidal habit of growth. It is very luxuriant; the 
leader appearing as if it would shoot away like an 
I arrow into the air. It has stood tho winter remarkably 
well; but the young shoots near the base have suffered 
slightly by the April frost. 
Piceapinsapo. —Wo have rarely seen examples of this 
species attaining anything much beyond the size and j 
habit of a shrub; but here there is a beautiful plant, 
six feet high; a very unusual sight to be seen, and 
promising fair, now that it has taken it into its head to 
shoot away, to become a fine specimen. 
Picea Nonlmanniana. —This is a remarkable tree, and 
here is a very fine specimen of it, considering how rare 
it is in this country. It grows very luxuriantly, is 
perfectly hardy, and has already attained the height of 
five feet. 
Picea Fraseri. —It is very rarely we seo a plant of 
this species twenty feet high ; but here is one feathered 
from the ground upwards. 
Pinus ponderosa. —There is a splendid specimen of 
this valuable tree, thirty feet high; growing most 
luxuriantly. 
Finns insignis. —This may not be regarded as a very 
large specimen, being only about ten feet high ; but it 
is a very handsome one, and has already began to 
produce cones. 
Pinus Labiniana. —Of this, the specimen, twenty feet 
high, is remarkably fine. 
Pinus macrocarpa. —This is also a rare specimen, the 
same height as the preceeding, and forming with it a 
pair of the finest examples of these two nearly-allied 
species we have ever seen. 
Pinus Gerardiana. —Although in many parts of the 
country this species has been found to bo too tender to 
withstand the rigour of our winters, and, consequently, 
it is rarely to bo found otherwise than in small pots, 
protected in pits during the winter, wo have here a very 
excellent specimen, upwards of three feet high, which 
appears to accommodate itself to the situation it now 
occupies, and to withstand both winter and spring 
frosts of unusual severity. 
Pinus Devoniana. —This, also, in some situations, is 
only half-hardy, but here we have seen a beautiful and 
luxuriant specimen ten feet high. 
Pinus apulcensis. —Eighteen feet high, remarkably 
handsome, and not the least affected by the late severe 
winter; this is a noble plant. 
Pinus macropTiylla. —It was at first thought this 
would prove only half-hardy, and in some parts of the 
country it is so; but the plant in this arboretum is ton 
feet high, perfectly robust and handsome, and not in the 
least affected by frost. 
Cedrus deodara. —We do not remember seeing a finer 
specimen of this elegant tree. It is thirty feet high, 
remarkably well furnished from the ground upwards, 
and has not suffered in the least from last winter’s 
frost; although many of the younger plants have been ' 
materially injured. 
Besides what we have already enumerated, there are ! 
numerous handsome trees of many species of Quercus, 
Magnolia, Rhododendrons, Kalmias, Arbutus, and other 
subjects too numerous to mention. But we must not 
forget to notice the large stock we observed of Cedrus 
