There are, perhaps, few sciences which have during the last thirty years advanced in an equal ratio with the art of gardening, and to this end none have contributed so much as the labours of my old and lamented friend John Claudius Loudon. He it was who produced the "Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum," and who first suggested the idea of forming arboretums or collections of our hardy trees and shrubs scientifically arranged. Many of these collections have been formed, but we are sorry to say without adding to the picturesque appearance of the places where they have been made. We would point to Chiswick to illustrate this. Nothing can be more unhappy than the arboretum there as a specimen of landscape gardening, and so it must always be from the want of breadth of offect, which results from crowding so many objects into a limited space, these objects being all of dissimilar character.

We cannot but think that a scientific arboretum is a nice and interesting thing to have; but we would treat it as an episode, and not introduce it as a general character in a fine place.

The Pinetum originated after this time. When the first discoveries of the unhappy Douglas arrived in this country they produced a perfect mania; every one who had a garden had a Pine, and no situation was too absurd not to be adorned with one of the Douglas Firs.

At this time the late Lady Grenville turned her attention to this tribe of plants, and she ever afterwards during a long life patronised and planted them largely, introducing all the new varieties as they have arrived. This is certainly one of the best situations for this collection in the kingdom, and has the best and finest specimens of the trees we are speaking of; there are masses of Scotch Pines which harmonise well with the other, and large tracts of common Furze and Heather; add to this the suitableness of the soil and the care and attention which have been displayed in planting them, and we come to the secret of success.

But although the beauty of the plants at Dropmore taken individually is unsurpassed, it is by no means a perfect botanical arrangement, nor could it be made so, commenced as it was before the introduction of so many new and noble kinds; nor can we even now say that our introductions are complete, but we think we must be fast approaching to the end, and that there are enough now to warrant the re-arrangement of the whole.

No greater mistakes have been committed than the attempts which have been made to engraft collections of Pines in old first-rate grounds. How often has it been my lot to see a tall lanky Pinaster turned out from a small pot with its roots all coiled together, and not disentangled or laid out at all, but working with every uff of wind like a pestle in a mortar; standing, too, upon that breadth of turf which some fine hardy tree requires to show its dignity, and making with its meagre growth a miserable comparison to its noble and vigorous neighbour. Year after year goes on, the young plant draws up weakly from want of air and light, it gets uglier and uglier, and the last stage of it is worse than the first. Sorry am I to say that this is not an hyperbolical case, but one of everyday occurrence.

I will now proceed to make some suggestions for forming a Pinetum, which shall combine scientific arrangement with picturesque effect, and which shall not interfere with the landscape gardener's art as developed in the place. In every large place there are certain episodical bits of land covered as at Dropmore with Furze, thorn, and Fern, and very probably skirted with some Firs; and if a little undulated the better. Here upon a deep sandy loam I would plant the Pinetum, trenching up good-sized holes, and raising the surface of them a couple of feet with the adjoining surface soil. On the top of this I would plant the Pines, carefully disentangling their roots; and having made a sliced hole with a sharp spade, would carefully select the strongest root and shove it perpendicularly down to form a sort of tap root for the tree, the other roots should be carefully laid out in different directions, and finally be well watered. After this I would mulch the tree with a good layer of Fern, and then put on a wire tree-gaurd as a defence from hares and rabbits. the attention to uncoiling the roots I hold to be most important, as without this assistance no plant can ever become will and properly fixed.

Most of the Pinetums which I have seen have unfortuantely been planted without reflecting on what will be their altered character after the lapse of a century. The trees are planted much too closely, and must eventually fail in presenting full-sized and perfect specimens of their class. This is a most important consideration, then, and should be weighed well before commencing. On entering this Pinetum I would introduce Cedars of Lebanon, Deodars, Mount Atlas Cedars, and Araucarias. At a certain point I would start with a true Scotch Fir, and then all its varieties, with the whole of the two-leaved Pines according to Loudon's arrangement in the "Arboretum Britannicum," then should follow the five-leaved Pines, and so on, according to his arrangement to the end. I would make a drive through it, planting the Pines on either side of it, and varying it by turns and returns through the central part of the plot; thus every tree would in time become a fine object, having ample space to display itself. If it was thought desireable, the thujae, cupressi, Taxaceae and allied tribes might be planted in front of the Pines, and masses of Rhododendrons, Azaleas, and hardy Heaths introduced; while if I could get it I would carefully retain the masses of old Thorn, which would be very interesting amongst the Pines.

Such is the picture which my mind's eye conjures up, and which I think would be beautiful and satisfactory if realised.

One more suggestion, and I have done. such grounds as these would require a building of some size for the purposes of shelter and refreshment, and to this end I would raise a platform of ground in the centre of the place, and upon it erect an elegant rustic pavilion, placing a wire fence round it and introducing masses of flowers. the view of the whole would, we think, be charming from this spot; and we think those who have pursued the merry and festive dance, enjoyed the quiet seat, or drunk the exhilarating champagne, would encore our sentiments.

In writing these remarks we have made reference to the beautiful Pinetum of the late Lady Grenviille at Dropmore; and we feel that we cannot forbear mentioning that of the late Lord Harrington, at Elvaston Castle in Derbyshire. Certainly there are here some spendid specimens, which have been made by the skill and industry of his lordhip's talented gardener, Mr. Barron. We had the honour of seeing this place a few years ago by the Earl's kind permission; but we cannot attempt to describe it, it is so uncommon and wonderful.

Amersham

Henry Bailey, C.M.R.H.S.