forms a thin volume folio, and appeared in 1730. These are the only works of note, which appeared on the subject of trees exclusively, previously

to the time of Linnæus.

With the exception of nurserymen's catalogues, and some works on planting and managing trees and plantations generally, nothing exclusively devoted to the subject of trees appeared in Britain, till Hanbury published his Essay on Planting in 1758: a ponderous folio never in much esteem, and of very little interest. Indeed, the only gardening book in England in which trees and shrubs were described, and treated of botanically as well as horticulturally, previously to the commencement of the nineteenth century, was the Dictionary of Miller. The Earl of Haddington, in Scotland, published a Trea tise on Forest Trees, in 12mo, in 1760; but it can only be considered as a work descriptive of trees and shrubs generally. In 1771, Meader, gardener to the Duke of Northumberland at Syon House, published the Planter's Guide, which is little more than a list of trees, with an imaginary engraving showing their comparative heights. A similar list is given at the end of the second volume of Morel's Theorie des Jardins, the second edition of which appeared in 1802. In 1772, W. Butcher, a nurseryman at Edinburgh, published a Treatise on Forest Trees, already mentioned as a valuable work for the time at which it appeared; and, in 1777, Dr. Anderson, under the name of Agricola, published Various Thoughts on Planting and Training Timber Trees. Planting and Rural Ornament was published by William Marshall in 1796, in 2 vols. 8vo, one of which is devoted to the description of trees and shrubs, chiefly, as the author acknowledges, taken from Hanbury and Miller. In 1779, Walter Nicol published the Practical Planter, and subsequently the Planter's Calendar, an edition of which, edited, or rather, rewritten by Mr. Sang, and published in 1812, in 1 vol. 8vo, is the last and the best work on trees and shrubs which has appeared in Scotland.

With the first year of the nineteenth century appeared the Planter and ForestPruner of William Pontey; but this and the other works on planting of that author belong to the general subject of culture, rather than to the description and history of trees and shrubs. In 1803, Lambert's Monograph of the genus Pinus appeared in one volume folio, price twenty guineas; a second volume has since been added; and, in conformity with the spirit of the times, an edition has been published in two volumes 8vo, price 12/. 12s. In 1811, Dr. Wade of Dublin produced a descriptive work on the willow, entitled Salices, in one volume 8vo; and, in 1823, Mr. Henry Philips produced, in two volumes 8vo, Sylva Florifera, in which the more common ornamental trees and shrubs are treated of in a popular and agreeable manner. Passing over the Woodlands of Cobbett, which appeared in 1826, in one volume 8vo, we come to the most scientific work exclusively devoted to trees which has hitherto been published in England, the Dendrologia Britannica of P. W. Watson, which was completed in two volumes 8vo, in 1825. The first volume contains 80 plates, and the second 90 plates. The letterpress, with the exception of 72 pages of introductory matter, consists solely of technical descriptions of the figures, arranged in a tabular form under a given number of heads; a very effectual mode of preventing any point, necessary to be attended to in the description of a plant, from escaping the notice of the describer. In this respect, the work is superior to some of its contemporaries, in which the descriptions are sometimes rather disorderly if complete; and are often incomplete, apparently from want of being taken in some fixed and comprehensive order. Mr. Watson was a tradesman in Hull, who afterwards retired from business; and he was one of the principal persons who assisted in founding, and afterwards in laying out and managing, the Hull Botanic Garden, as stated in the introduction to his Dendrologia, p. xii. He died, we believe, in 1827. The only work hitherto published in England, which contains a description of all the hardy trees and shrubs in the country, in addition to that of all other plants, ligneous and herbaceous, described by European botanists, is Don's edition of Miller's Dictionary, in four volumes 4to, price 14/.

In France, the first really important work on trees, in modern times, is the Traité des Arbres et Arbustes, by Du Hamel du Monceau, which was published in Paris, in two volumes 4to, in 1755. In this work the nomenclature of Tournefort is followed, but the names of Linnæus are also given; it is illustrated with numerous figures, partly taken, as the author informs us, from the blocks which were used in the Commentaries of Mathiolus; and partly engraved on purpose for the work. The first volume contains 368 pages and 275 engravings, and the second 387 pages and 199 engravings. The original edition is not very common, and, when met with in London, sells at from thirty to forty shillings. A new edition of this work was commenced in the year 1800, and it was completed in seven volumes folio in 1819. The letterpress of these volumes was prepared by Mirbel, Loiseleur Deslongchamps, and other botanists; and the drawings were by Redouté, Bessa, &c. The published price of a royal folio copy was 1247. 10s., and of a common copy nearly 1001. The species are arranged according to the Linnæan system; and the number of engravings of trees and shrubs, including some engravings of fruits, amounts to 498. Both engravings and descriptions are of very unequal merit, and many of the former (at least in our copy, which is a large paper one) are altogether unworthy of the consequence attempted to be given to the work by large type, large paper, and other characteristics of the mode, now gone by both in France and England, of publishing for the few. As a proof of the truth of what we assert, large paper copies may now be purchased in London for between 301, and 40%., and small paper copies for twenty guineas.

In 1809, while the new edition of Du Hamel was slowly publishing in parts, the Histoire des Arbres et Arbrisseaux, by M. Desfontaines, appeared in two volumes 8vo, and is still a work of repute. In 1824, Traité des Arbres Forestières, ou Histoire et Description des Arbres Indigènes, naturalisés, dont le tige a de trente à cent vingt pieds d'élévation, &c., par M. Jaune St. Hilaire et M. Thouin, appeared in one volume 4to, with coloured plates, price 10. The plates are badly executed, and the work, with the exception of the part written by Thouin, is of a very inferior description,

André Michaux, a notice of whose life has been given, p. 140., published Histoire des Chènes de l'Amérique, in one volume folio, in 1801; and his son, F. A. Michaux, published Histoire des Arbres Forestières de l'Amérique Septentrionale, in three volumes, large 8vo, in 1812. Of this work there is an English translation entitled the American Sylva, which was published in Paris, in 1817, at nine guineas plain, or twelve guineas coloured. F. A. Michaux's work contains 156 plates, including figures of all the oaks described in the Histoire des Chènes, and is an excellent work, which still maintains its price both in Paris and London. We ought not to pass unnoticed Le Botaniste Cultivateur of Du Mont de Courset, in seven volumes 8vo, which was com pleted in 1814, and which, though it contains herbaceous and house plants, as well as ligneous hardy plants, is yet more complete in its descriptions of the latter than any other work, except Du Hamel's. There is no French work which brings down the description and history of trees and shrubs to the present time; but, if we were asked what works we would recommend, as making the nearest approach to this, we should say, Le Botaniste Cultivateur; Les Annales de Fromont; Le Bon Jardinier, the edition of which work for the current year contains notices of all the plants newly introduced; and, above all, the excellent Prodromus of De Candolle, now in course of publication, and of which four volumes 8vo, price 51., have already appeared.

In Holland, the only work exclusively devoted to trees and shrubs which, we have heard of, is by Krause, and the title is, Afbeeldingen der Fraaiste, Meestwitheemsche Boomen en Heesters, &c. It appeared at Amsterdam in 1802, in one thick royal 4to volume, the price of which in London is 10. The plates in our copy are executed in a very superior manner, and they are coloured with much more care than those of either Willdenow, Schmidt, or Du Hamel. Some of the German works describing the different kinds of wood were published at Amsterdam, as well as at Leipzic; particularly that

published by Sepps, which appeared in one volume 4to, in 1773, at both places; and at Amsterdam, with a translation of the German descriptions into Dutch. It was published at about 15., and sells in London for from 81. to 107.

In Germany, the first work exclusively devoted to trees and shrubs, which was published in modern times, was the Harbkesche Baumzucht theils nordamerikenischer und fremder, &c., of J.P. Du Roi, which appeared in two volumes 8vo. in 1771-2; to this succeeded the Osterreiches allgemeine Baumzucht of Schmidt, the first two volumes of which appeared in 1792, and the third in 1800 price 10. This is an excellent work as far as it goes. The next German work which appeared was the Berlinische Baumzucht of C. L. Willdenow, in one volume 8vo, the second edition of which appeared in 1811. In this volume are described all the trees and shrubs which grew at the time in the Berlin Botanic Garden. It is observed by Watson, in his introduction to his Dendrologia, p. vii., that, in the Berlinische Baumzucht, "the parts of the plant in each description are placed in the same order, and not in the often vague, slovenly, and reiterated way of many botanic writers." In 1810, appeared the first number of Abbildung der deutschen Holzarten, &c., by F. Guimpel, C. L. Willdenow, and F. G. Hayne. It was completed with 36 numbers in 1820. It contains 216 coloured plates, and the price in London is 167. In 1819, another work on the trees of Germany appeared, which included all those foreign species which stand the open air in that country. It is entitled Abbildung der fremden in Deutschland ausdauernden Holzarten, &c.; by F. Guimpel, F. Otto, and F. G. Hayne. It forms one volume 4to., contains 100 plates, and costs in London 6/. The Germans have a species of publication, or rather portable museum, which they call Holzbibliothek (Wood Library). A hundred or more sorts of wood, with dried specimens of the leaves, flowers, seed, and winter's wood of each species, are put loose into little cases about the size of 8vo volumes, and these are finished exteriorly like books, and the back lettered with the name of the wood in different languages. There are two libraries of this description, which are more particularly in repute; one published at Munich, and the other at Nuremberg. The former contains 100 sorts of wood, and costs about 1007., and the latter 80 sorts, and costs 801. There are also engravings and descriptions of these woods, at various prices from 107. to 30.; one of the best of these is Hildte's, published at Weimar in 1798, price 15l.

We are not aware of any other work of magnitude exclusively devoted to the description and history of trees and shrubs, having been published in any of the other countries of Europe; but in America, besides the English translation of Michaux,, already mentioned, which appeared there as well as in Paris, in 1817, there is the Sylva Americana of D. J. Brown, which was published at Boston in 1832. The cost in London of this work is 1. 1s.

It will be recollected, that in this notice we have only given the titles of the principal works devoted exclusively to the description and history of trees and shrubs, those which treat on the formation and management of plantations, on forests and woodlands, and on planting trees generally, whether for useful or ornamental purposes, are exceedingly numerous, and will be passed under review in the Introduction to the Fourth Part of this work.

CHAP. VI.

CONCLUSION.

Two considerations may be drawn from the preceding history: the first, respecting the introduction of foreign trees and shrubs; and the second, respecting arboricultural literature.

On comparing the lists which we have given of ligneous plants, found in

the different countries situated in temperate climates, which are not indigenous to Britain, with the catalogues of plants considered as already introduced into this country, it will be found that there are some names of species and varieties, in the lists of almost every country, that are not in British catalogues, and, consequently, not yet introduced. There are a number of names, for example, that are not in our Hortus Britannicus. Here, then, is an important use in giving these lists, because they point out to commercial gardeners, and to amateurs and travellers who are botanists, what trees and shrubs it is desirable to enquire after in other countries; and what they should endeavour, if possible, to introduce into their own. It may also be observed, that the same names that are in the lists in preceding chapters frequently occur in British catalogues; yet it is by no means certain that in every case they are applied to the same plants. Here, then, is another point calling for the exertions of the patriotic botanist or traveller; and it may be observed respecting this point, that it will always be the safest side to err on, to reintroduce plants which are already in the country, rather than to remain in any doubt respecting our possessing them. All trees and shrubs liable to great variations, and of great utility or ornament, such as the genera Quércus, Pinus, Pỳrus, Cratæ`gus, &c., ought to be introduced in all their varieties. We are persuaded that there are, in France and Spain, many interesting varieties of Pìnus, and of Quércus Cérris and Q. I'lex, which have not yet found their way into British gardens. The Quércus austràlis, recently introduced in consequence of the information given by Captain Cook (see p. 171.), may be cited as a proof of this; and there are, doubtless, hundreds of species and varieties of trees and shrubs in North America, that have never yet been seen in Europe. There is, therefore, ample room for exertion, to those who wish to increase the botanical riches of their country; and more especially in the case of that kind of botanical riches which adds so conspicuously and permanently to its ornament, and to its useful resources. It would, however, be a very contracted view of this subject, to limit our views to the aggrandisement of the collections of trees and shrubs in Britain. The time for believing that the exclusive possession of any benefit contributes to the prosperity or happiness of nations is gone by; and the principles of free and universal exchange and intercourse are found to constitute the surest foundation for the happiness of nations. This is so obviously true in matters of botany and gardening, that it cannot for a moment be doubted.

If it is desirable for us that we should assemble in our country the trees and shrubs of every other similar climate, it must be equally desirable that the inhabitants of every other similar climate should possess all those species for which their climate is adapted; in short, it is desirable for the advancement of civilisation and human refinement, that all the trees and shrubs of temperate climates should be distributed throughout all those climates. This will, no doubt, be the case at some future period, when the civilisation of the whole world is comparatively equalised; and, in the mean time, it may be useful to offer such hints as will contribute towards so desirable a result.

One of the first steps towards the equalisation of the plants of different regions, of similar capacities for growing such plants, is, to determine, with something like precision, what the plants of each region are. This can only be done by assembling living specimens of all of them, or of such a class of them as it may be desirable to equalise, in one garden, and cultivating them there for some time, so as to determine the species and varieties. In old countries of limited extent, such as Britain, which have been examined by botanists for two or three centuries, the establishment of botanic gardens for determining the number of indigenous species of plants may be considered unnecessary; but this is far from being the case with such countries as North America, Upper India, China, Japan, Van Diemen's Land, and a number of others. It would, doubtless, contribute to the spread, all over the world, of the trees and shrubs of North America, if one part of them could be seen in a grand national garden at New York,and another in a garden or arboretum

Q

at Charlestown; or if the whole could be assembled in one grand park and pleasure-ground at Washington. We do not, however, expect this to be done; for, in the progress of civilisation and refinement in every country, there are many much more important points to be attended to than the culture of trees and shrubs.

With a view both to introduction into any particular country, and equalisation in all similar countries, the first thing that ought to be done, after the indigenous plants of the country are clearly determined, is to assemble, in one garden in the given country, all those of all other similar countries, with a view to determining what they are. Thus, in the case of trees and shrubs, all those mentioned in the preceding lists as being foreign, with reference to the trees and shrubs of Britain, ought to be assembled and proved in one grand British national garden; and the same thing ought to be done in a similar garden in every other country. The idea may be thought chimerical; but it is hard to say what will not be done by nations, when they come to cultivate with ardour the arts of peace and of refinement. The cooperation of individuals attached to the same pursuit may, in the mean time, contribute much to the advancement of that pursuit; and hence, though in the neighbourhood of London it might be difficult or impossible, to induce the metropolis or the government to form an arboretum of 150 acres in extent, so as to exhibit in it all the species of trees and shrubs of temperate climates, that will grow with us in the open air; yet, if the proprietors of a certain number of estates within ten miles of London were to agree each to form a collection of the species or varieties of a particular genus, and to allow these to be examined by botanists, the same result would be obtained, at least as to accuracy of nomenclature, as if the whole of the genera and species were assembled in one national garden. We have explained this cooperative system, at length, in the Gardener's Magazine, vol. xi, p. 600., and it is needless to say that it is as applicable to every other country as to England, and to every other large town as to London. The practice might, therefore, be adopted in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh and Dublin; and in that of Exeter, for the south of England; Bristol and Liverpool, for the west; York, for a central situation; Norwich, Lincoln, and Hull, for the east; and Newcastle and Carlisle, for the north.

The number of works which have been written, exclusively devoted to the description and uses of trees and shrubs, shows, in a general point of view, the estimated importance of the subject by authors; and, when we consider the rapidity of the succession of these works within a comparatively limited period, it shows the accumulation of knowledge which is continually being acquired respecting ligneous plants. In this, as in all other branches of natural history, the attention of naturalists was first directed to the objects which more immediately surrounded them in their own country; afterwards it extended to adjoining countries; and lastly, which seems to embrace the most comprehensive view of the subject, to all the other countries in the world which are similarly circumstanced in regard to climate and all that affects the growth of trees and shrubs. Hence, the first books on dendrology were merely local catalogues, enumerating the medical, or such other properties, as, in the age in which these books were produced, excited most attention; while the last are scientific descriptions, with the geography, history, and uses in civilised society, of all the species and varieties enumerated.

The conclusion which we draw with reference to the literature of trees and shrubs is, that, though there are a great many excellent works on the subject already before the public in the English, French, and German languages, yet none of these works embrace the whole subject, and bring it down to the present time; and that, consequently, we are justified in our endeavour to comprise every thing which it is desirable to know, respecting the trees and shrubs which will stand the open air in Britain, in our present Encyclopædia.