68 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
January  24,  1901. 
But  as  the  gaze  was  becoming  almost  satiated  by  the  variety  of 
the  spectacle,  a  new  element  of  interest  stirred  enthusiasm,  for  slightly 
preceding  the  Diplomatic  Corps  came  the  victor  of  Candahar,  since 
the  victor  of  Pretoria,  than  whom  no  one  since  the  days  of  the  Great 
Duke  has  received  such  honour.  Behind  Lord  Roberts  the  gorgeousness 
of  the  scene  may  be  said  to  have  culminated,  for  none  who  saw  it 
will  ever  forget  the  dazzling  and  kaleidoscoping  grouping  of  the  foreign 
representatives,  including  the  Hungarian,  the  Turkish,  the  Slavonian, 
the  Oriental,  and  these  numerous  Indian  potentates  the  tributaries  of 
the  Empress-Queen,  drawn  hither  to  her  island  home  in  the  desire  to  do 
her  honour. 
Yet  magnificent  as  all  had  hitherto  been  it  was  merely  introductory 
to  what  was  now  approaching.  In  an  open  barouche,  soberly  attired, 
and  holding  a  black-and-white  parasol,  appeared  a  little  venerable  lady 
sitting  with  three  other  younger  ladies  rather  more  stylish'y  dressed 
than  herself.  That  was  the  Empress-Queen,  that  was  the  woman 
towards  whom  every  one  of  fifty  millions  of  hearts  was  that  day 
leapieg,  and  to  whom  more  than  two  hundred  millions  of  heads  were 
bowing  throughout  the  scope  of  her  illimitable  dominions.  There  sat 
the  mother  and  representative  of  our  imperial  race,  for  whom  ten 
million  swords  were  ready  to  leap  from  their  scabbards.  Never, 
since  the  English  people  saluted  Elizabeth  at  Tilbury,  and  the 
Hungarian  magnates  swore  to  protect  their  “  kiDg,”  Maria  Theresa, 
against  a  lawless  aggression,  had  national  feeling  so  concentrated  itself 
upon  a  woman. 
And  now  she  is  gone.  The  severance  which  every  one  apprehended 
more  yearly,  but  never  cared  to  contemplate,  has  taken  place.  It  has 
not  been  granted  that  Victoria  should  achieve  the  sixty-fourth  year  of 
her  reign  ;  but  she  has  surpassed  the  record  of  nearly  every  monarch. 
In  almost  all  things  her  lot  and  her  reign  has  been  “  happy  and 
glorious.”  If  we  except  the  lamentably  early  decease  of  the  Prince 
Consort,  her  cup  has  been  full  of  happiness  to  overflowing.  It  is 
inevitable  in  so  long  a  life  to  incur  bereavements,  and  the  Queen 
suffered  some;  but  these  served  rather  to  establish  a  bond  of  sympathy 
between  herself  and  her  people  than  to  create  any  keen  feelings  of 
mortification.  If  as  an  individual  her  lot  was  slightly  chequered,  her 
career  as  a  ruler  was  consistently  fortunate  in  war  and  made  glorious 
by  the  arts  of  peace. 
When  upon  the  evening  of  January  22nd,  at  seven  o’clock,  the 
mourning  bells  tolled  forth,  we  passed  insensibly  into  a  new  era,  for 
hereafter  the  name  of  Victoria  will  serve  to  designate  a  long  stage  in 
the  course  of  our  national  life.  Our  Royal  line  has  had  its  unfortunate 
reigns,  such  as  those  of  Henry  III.  and  Henry  VI.,  but  it  boasts  of 
three — those  of  Elizabeth,  George,  and  Victoria — in  which  internal 
prosperity  and  external  expansion  have  coincided.  The  figure  of  the 
great,  lonely  Englishwoman,  who  had  Bacon  and  Shakespeare  with 
their  satellites  for  her  subjects,  must  for  ever  remain  the  bright  peculiar 
star  of  the  national  imagination.  She  was  environed  by  foes,  and  had 
neither  kith  nor  kin  to  aid  her,  but  she  was  the  only  ruler  in  Europe 
who  preserved  her  kingdom  from  the  curse  of  civil  war,  and  advanced 
the  fortunes  of  her  people  over  those  of  other  natious  by  at  least  one 
century,  for  winch  period  bonfires  were  burnt  in  her  honour. 
The  grandfather  of  our  lamented  Queen  was  less  fortunate  than 
she  and  Elizabeth.  His  were  times  of  great  glory,  a  glory,  alas  !  won 
more  in  war  than  in  peace;  but  England  never  stood  more  heroically 
true  to  herself  than  when  she  was  fighting  France,  Spain,  Holland, 
and  her  own  American  colonies  at  the  same  time,  with  only  one-third 
of  the  population  they  possessed.  Surely  our  lorefathers  would  have 
made  a  mere  mouthful  of  the  Boers  !  Then  followed  the  twenty 
years  ot  war  with  Revolutionary  France,  which  the  Great  Duke  ended 
by  placing  the  laurel  crown  of  victory  upon  the  brows  of  poor  King 
George,  who  was  no  longer  capable  ol  appreciating  it. 
Sad  was  the  aftermath  of  that  heroic  age,  and  it  lasted  until 
the  accession  of  our  late  gracious  Sovereign.  With  her  came  much 
of  peace  and  the  graces  which  are  peculiar  to  peace.  The  early 
married  life  of  the  young  royal  pair,  their  simplicity,  their  love  of 
music  and  Mendelssohn,  their  encouragement  of  Sir  Joseph  Paxton, 
and  their  promotion  of  the  Exhibition  of  1851,  struck  a  familiar  note 
in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  served  to  make  the  crown  not  merely 
respected,  but  beloved. 
War  came  and  domestic  trouble,  but  this  time  there  were  compen¬ 
sations  for  the  monarch.  Wealth  increased  unboundrdly,  her  children 
grew  up,  and,  impelled  by  her  example,  went  forth  to  the  great 
encouragement  of  the  sciences  and  the  modern  arts  of  horticulture  and 
music.  The  labrur  of  future  historians  in  describing  the  multifarious 
activities  of  the  Victorian  era  will  not  be  light,  but  when  that  history 
comes  to  be  written  it  will  be  found  that  the  development  of  gardening 
and  architecture  has  left  a  deeper  and  more  abiding  impression  upon 
the  character  of  the  age  than  any  other.  By  them  the  Victorian  age 
will  be  known,  and  it  is  no  small  boast  that  horticulture  at  least  owes 
much  of  its  encouragement  to  the  gentle  influences  radiating  from  the 
royal  circle  whose  venerable  head  lias  at  length  been  called  away  after 
the  exercise  of  a  long  and  beneficent  authority. 
Preservation  of  Giant  Sequoias. 
The  destruction  of  the  famous  giant  trees  in  California,  threatened 
by  the  too  enterprising  lumberman,  has  been  averted  by  the  United 
States  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  the  official  report,  just  issued, 
shows  that  vigorous  action  was  necessary  in  their  defence.  The  two 
groves  containing  them  were  in  private  ownership,  and  in  the  spring 
public  feeling  was  aroused  by  the  news  that  thev  had  been  sold  for 
timber.  The  loss  would  have  been  irreparable.  Srme  of  these  trees 
exceed  300  feet  in  height,  and  are  of  great  a g'>.  They  are  not,  indeed, 
quite  the  tallest  trees  in  the  world,  for  they  are  overtopped  by  the 
Eucalyptus  of  Australia,  one  of  which  is  said  to  have  exceeded 
400  feet.  But  the  number,  situation,  and  botanical  interest  of  the 
American  mammoth  trees  make  it  a  public  duty  to  preserve  them. 
They  occur  in  two  great  groves,  situated  in  Calaveras  county. 
The  Northern,  or  Mammoth  Tree  Grove,  is  the  smaller  one,  being 
about  50  acres  in  extent.  In  it  are  about  a  hundred  of  the  big  trees, 
ten  of  them  not  less  than  30  feet  in  diameter,  and  seventy  from  that 
thickness  down  to  about  15  feet,  while  they  range  in  height  from 
250  to  300  feet.  The  other,  or  South  Park  Grove,  is  some  five  miles 
away,  and  1000  acres  in  extent.  It  entrains  about  the  same  number 
of  huge  trees,  some  of  which  are  even  larger  than  those  in  the 
Northern  Gtove.  B  th  are  practically  virgin  forests ;  up  to  the 
prtsent  time  they  have  escaped  from  fire,  the  great  destroyer  of 
American  woods.  A  few  dead  giants  de  upon  the  earth,  w\ich  in 
the  Northern  Grove  is  covered  by  a  dense  underwood;  the  trees  in 
many  places  are  so  near  together  that  their  branches  touch,  and 
the  sun  never  falls  on  the  ground  beneath  them.  So  little  have  they 
been  disturbed  hitherto  that  deer,  bears,  and  panthers  are  still  found 
in  the  reservation. 
The  surrounding  scenery  is  also  fine,  for  the  groves  are  situated  on 
a  tableland,  some  6000  leet  above  sea  level,  which  is  backed  on  the 
east  by  a  range  of  granite  peaks.  Needl  -like  pinnacles  tower  up  in 
one  part,  and  in  another  the  level  is  broken  by  two  striking  crags 
commanding  fine  views  over  the  San  Joiquin  Valley,  while  at  Marble 
Falls  a  stream  plunges  over  a  huge  cliff  of  that  rock.  The  trees 
themselves  have  a  certain  interest  apart  from  their  s'se.  Sequoia,  also 
known  as  Wellingtonia,  is  a  very  limited  genus,  as  it  includes  only 
two  species — one  rightly  bearing  the  name  of  gigantea  ;  the  other 
being  the  Redwood,  S  quoia  stmpervirens,  of  the  Californian  forest, 
which  also  attains  a  great  size.  The  latter  is  the  more  common,  for, 
notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  the  lumbeimen,  it  still  forms  large 
forests  along  the  coasts,  while  the  other  tree  is  only  found  here  and 
there  on  the  uplands.  These  two  are  the  sole  survivors  of  their 
kindred,  which  are  found  far  back  in  the  earth’s  history. 
Sequoias  were  already  living  when  the  sands  so  conspicuous  at 
Redhill  and  Reigate  were  deposited,  and  have  existed  ever  since  in  one 
part  or  another  cf  the  world.  In  the  past  they  had  their  representatives 
in  A«ia,  in  North  America  quite  as  far  as  Greenland,  on  the  Continent 
of  Europe,  and  in  our  own  islands,  for  a  fossil  Sequoia  has  been 
discovered  in  the  lignite  beds  of  B  vey  Tracey  in  Devonshire,  and  among 
the  basalts  of  Mull.  These  two  species,  now  clinging  to  the  Pacific 
slopes  of  North  America,  also  go  far  back  in  time,  and  once  ranged 
much  more  widely.  They  are  venerable,  therefore,  alike  for  antiquity 
and  for  size.  We  cannot  say  whether  the  irreverent  speculator  who 
recently  marked  them  for  his  own  intended  to  send  them  to  the  saw¬ 
mill  or  to  compel  the  State  to  purchase  his  acquisition  at  a  fancy 
price.  Wnen  approached  on  the  subject  he  showed  no  signs  of 
wishing  to  come  to  terms  ;  but  apparently  he  had  overlooked  a  Law 
which,  in  effect,  gives  the  Government  a  right  of  pre-emption  where 
land  is  requind  for  the  public  benefit.  The  report,  which  closes  with 
the  month  of  June,  leaves  the  story  incomplete,  but  makes  it  clear 
that  the  spoiler’s  hand  has  been  staved,  that  these  botanical  wonders 
are  now  virtually  national  property,  and  tbab  like  the  Yellowstone 
Park,  they  will  be  henceforth  carefully  guarded. — (“  The  Standard.”) 
