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I-IISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OE TREES.

part I.

Bartrara’s Botanic Garden there appears to have been the best collection inany nursery ; and probably, at present, it is only equalled by that of Prince ofNew York. No nursery in America is superior to Bartram’s for finespecimensoftrees. The dimensions of some of these, with those of many others, of whichaccounts have been sent us, will be given when treating of each particulartree, in the third part of this work. ( See also Gard. Mag., vol. viii. p. 272.)

Part of the United States, and the Canadas, were visited by two excellentarboricnltural observers; Mr.Robert Brown, formerlya nurseryman at Perthand Mr. James Macnab, the son of the curator of the Edinburgh BotanicGarden, in the autumn of the year 1834; and an interesting notice of thedistribution of different species of trees in the countries they passed throughhas been published in the Quarterly Journal of Agiiculturc, vol. v. p. 594., andwill be found also in the twelfth volume of the GardeneJs Magazine. Beforelanding at New York, the country appears to the stranger of a very dark anddismal hue, from the quantity of pines and red cedars which clothe the moreeonspicuous prominences; but, after landing, the whole, from the prevalenceoffine trees and shrubs, appears like one vast garden. The stranger is stronglyimpressed with the beauty and number of trees, which are partly indigenousto the locality or the district, and partly introduced from more Southernclimates. The diversity of the forms of the trees, and the variety of theirfoliage, are most remarkable. No remains of ancient forests are observable,as m ight be supposed, these having been long since cut down for fuel ; butforest trees of large size are frequently to be seen, covered to their summitswith wild vines. Of these the Platanus occidentalis, liriodendron, liqui-datnbar, Gleditschia triacanthos, and the catalpa are preeminent. It is worthyof remark, that almost the only foreign trees eonspicuous in the artificialscenery of America are, various kinds of fruit trees, the Lombardy poplar,andthe weeping willovv. The contrast between the regular position and round-tufted heads of the fruit trees and the lance-shaped heads of the poplars, andbetween both these trees and the wild luxuriance of the indigenous species,is very striking. About 67 miles up the country, on the river Hudson, alimestone district occurs, and on this the lively green of the arbor vitae suc-ceeds to the dark hue of the red cedar. All the uncultivated parts of thesurface are covered with this tree, of diffex - ent sizes, varying from 1 ft. to 20 ft.in height, and always of a pyramidal shape. The woods on both sides ofLake Champlain are very various. The principal trees are, the wild cherry(Cerasus virginiana), elms, walnuts, sugar maples, and the aspen poplar. Therocky grour.ds abound with arbor vitse, and the “ appearance of the loftywhite, or Weymouth, pine, towering above the deciduous trees, on risinggrounds at the base of the hilis, of a dark aspect and nearly destitute ofbranches, was remarkable.” The northern extremity of Lake Champlain ex-hibits the same trees, with the addition of the balm of Gilead fir. The onlytree worth notice on the St. Lawrence river was the canoe birch (Petulapapyracea). At Montreal our travellers were much “ surprised to see thegreat difference which the Canadian winter produces upon those species ofornamental trees which grace the lawns and cities of the United States. Asexamples, may be mentioned the Aildntus glandulosa, the trees of which werequite small and stunted ; Maclura aurantiaca seemed barely alive; and tliemul-berries were small and unhealthy. The w'eeping willows here are almost alwayskilled in winter, although in the neighbourhood of New York the stem of thistree is seen averaging from 8 ft. to 15 ft., and sometimes 20 ft. in girt. None otthe eatalpas and magnolias, which prove so ornamental in the pleasure-groundsboth of New York and Philadelphia, can be made to live here, with theexception of the M. glauca, and it is in a very unhealthy condition. Tax-odium distichum is also much dvvarfed, and barely alive. Peaches in thispart of the country do not succeed as standards; but several peach treesplaced against garden walls possessed well ripened wood, and had everyappearance of afifording plentiful crops. The principal ornamental tree cul-

tivated in this part of the country, on account of its beauty, is the Robinw