The Arboretum at Milford House has undergone several mutiations since we last saw it; and some of the trees have been lopped in a manner ruinous to their beauty, especially the pines and the oaks. We particularly regret a beautiful tree of Quercus palustris, a variety of American oak, different from any made various similar improvements. We found the place in very high order, and the walks just as we could wish them. In the flower-garden near the house were two large evergreen magnolias; one large M. conspicua; a bush of green tea, 6 ft. or 8 ft. in diameter, ripening seed; and in the pleasure-grounds, at some distance, were numerous fine specimens of foreign trees and shrubs, planted, it is said, by Mrs. North, the lady of Bishop North, about fifty years ago. Among these we may notice Acer striatum, 16 ft. high, a very handsome tree, covered with seed; A. rubrum, 50 ft. high; Staphylea pinnata, 15 ft. high; Corylus Colurna, 50 ft. high; Cupressus thyoides, 20 ft. high; and various other specimens, the dimensions of all of which have been kindly entered, by the bishop's permission, in our Return Paper, by his gardener, Mr. M'Donald, who took the very greatest pains to measure them correctly. We saw here a female black Italian poplar, one of the seed catkins of which had been broken off prematurely, and stuck in the branches of another tree, where it looked like a mass of insects. On examination, we found it to contain such a quantity of cotton, that we have sent it to Manchester, to ascertain whether it is of a quality that would be worth manufacturing. If it should turn out to be so, the culture of this tree, already so profitable from the immense quantity of timber which it produces in a very few years, will acquire a new interest. The female black Italian poplar is by no means common: we only know of one other specimen, which is in the garden of the London Horticultural Society. [Milford House is 1.5 miles south west of Godalming]
