PROGRESS OF PUBLICATION.
Mn. LOUDON, whose numerous publications on rural affairs are valuable for their comprehensiveness, and the union of scientific accuracy with practical utility, has commenced another elaborate -work, entitled Arboretum Britannicum ; which promises to be even more acceptable to the planter and gardener than his encyclo- pedias, inasmuch as it is a more original work, and a great desideratum in the library of the naturalist. Considering the im- portance of arboriculture both as a means Of improving the ap- pearance of a country and a productive source of wealth, and the very few species of timber trees iedigenous to this country (about thirt)), it is surprising that so little should have been done in the way of transplanting the trees of temperate climates. The object of Mr. Lounoefs Arboretum is twofold,— to give an account of such trees and shrubs as might be or have al-ready been introduced here, and flourish in the soil and air of Britain ; and (which will form the main body of the work) a his- tory and description of trees indigenous to the soil. It will be published in twenty-four monthly numbers, octavo size, illustrated with a portrait of some individual plant of each species, drawn with botanical accuracy from nature to a fixed scale, with separate figures of the leaves, blossom, and seed, on a larger scale. There are sixteen plates of as many different trees and a sheet of letter- press, in the First Number ; which is sold for half-a-crown only. The plates are neatly executed, on zinc ; and they are the first specimens of this substitute for stone that have come under our notice. They have precisely the appearance of lithography ; but on close examination, a scratchiness is perceptible, which looks like a defect in the material. This, however, may be remedied in future.
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