Tree planting in general has been actively prosecuted of late years; but there is one section of arboriculture which has not, in my opinion, been carried to that degree of perfection of which it is susceptible. I refer to Sacred and Classical planting, or the congregating together of such trees as are interesting purely on account of the almost holy associations which they invariably awaken. To some, this subject may appear to be but of trifling import; to others, I am happy to say, the idea is fraught with an importance which the uninitiated have little conception of.

To underrate any description of planting is by no means the object of this paper. Such an attempt would meet with little sympathy in a country which in pure love for the sylvan features of nature takes precedence of all the nations of the world. Yet, although the ligneous productions of the earth, wherever found, are highly prized in this country, there are unquestionably some which, by association alone, are wrapped up in a more interesting garb than others. It is true the trees of America, Australia, and India, are,, equally with those of Palestine and Greece, "tabernacula quae fizit Dominus," - " the tents which the Lord hath spread;" yet, who hears in any of them those whisperings of an antiquity loved and dwelt upon? Those countries may boast of their eternal forests, but still they are unconsecrated. The American and Australian ligneous floras are especially devoid of any accompaniment derived from fame. The arts and sciences have as yet no temples there which will be thought of in after ages, and, consequently, no link has been formed with existing objects or individuals. Poetry in those countries has not yet taken up those images presented by their magnificent sylva, and set them to the end of time in verse.

Their forests, therefore, indicate only the changes in the vegetable world everywhere going on - a gradual approach to maturity - that maturity gigantic and long-lived - and then a like gradual descent to decay and death. Hence it is that the humble thyme plant, not a foot high, nourishing the apiaries of Hymettus, lives in the recollection of mankind, whilst the loftiest Platanus on the Ohio awakens no retrospectivesen-timent whatever.

In these matter-of-fact days, it will be asked, of what nee is biblical and classical planting? To this question it might be sufficient to refer to the numerous and earnest pages that have been devoted by natural historians to such plants referred to in sacred and classical works, as are now of dubious identification; for example, the Mustard tree, the Hyssop, and the Lily of the valley; but it may be stated at once that planting such trees forms a pure source of pleasure, inasmuch as it leads back the mind to some of the holiest and best days of the world, and serves invariably to suggest some of the finest passages of its history. To youth, especially, such trees form the best means for awakening the lights of antiquity; all its greatest actions, all its holiest and sweetest spots, live in such productions, and are thus easily impressed on the mind. In biblical times, we find the pa-. triarchs expressing themselves in earnest language with reference to trees as ornaments to their met resting-place. Thus, "Let us have the field, and the cave which is therein; and all the trees that are in the field, and that are in the borders round about; and let them be made sure for a possession to us." In classic Greece, whether on her hills, beside her streams or mossy fountains, trees had a prominence and importance such as they never had since.

In that country, nature was not only allowed to make herself heard and seen, but she was energetically encouraged. Her umbrageous valleys and odoriferous uplands were filled with gods. Woodland temples rose on all hands. Every leaf which expanded itself was appropriated to religion; so that, independent of her usual verdant covering, she wore here a rich mythological tissue. Hence it was that a wreath of an evergreen farmed the noblest reward that could be conferred on the most distinguished dtiaena. That circumstance alone will give all "possible eternitie" to the laurel.

*London Horticulture Magazine.

One of the first trees in sacred association is the Cedar, a native of a lofty ridge of mountains in Syria. In winter Lebanon is always clad with snow, which, towards the north-east, where it is sheltered from the sea breezes and sunshine, remains sometimes during At whole year. The tree is therefore perfectly hardy in the climate of England, and is, of course, appropriate for that description of planting now under review. Perhaps the most promising young plantations of this tree in Britain are those of Sir George Mac-pberton Grant, of Ballindalloch, in the north of Scotland. The cedars are planted on the sides of sandy hills, which before were partially covered with trees sufficient to cause shelter, but not so close as to interfere with the proper development of the cedars. This, in my opinion, is the best way to get up a crop of this tree; for it is naturally disposed to become merely a spreading bush, without any stem; but when the chief supply of air Is overhead, it naturally forms a good leading shoot. Technically, it requires to be drawn up.

A new and grand feature in scenery is sure to be the result of an elevated plantation of this tree in maturity.

Gating upon this object, the reflections which it excites are numerous: It was seen . from Jerusalem, casting a " weight of glory" over the lofty mountains which environed that city like a magnificent rampart. It grew on that site whence the eye commanded a spectacle more glorious, perhaps, than was ever enjoyed from any other spot on the globe, embracing a view almost without interruption from the waters of the Mediterranean to the confines of the Persian Gulph. It was peculiarly the tree of Palestine. It was the belief, that God loved it more than any other tree. It was seen on all the hills of the holy city, - planted extensively by Solomon around his seat there, and personally recommended by him, as a most desirable ornament throughout Judea. Figuratively, this plant seems to have formed the general standard of excellence, - the Hebrew poets having had continual recourse to it as a fitting source of illustration. Had the graces of the church to be described, it was by a reference to Lebanon and its cedars; - the prosperity of the righteous, it was by a metaphor borrowed from this tree - " He shall grow as the cedar of Lebanon." Whatever was comely and majestic in the human countenance, or whatever commanded the love and reverence of the beholder, was aptly illustrated by this celebrated object.