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ARBROATH — ARCH
which is favoured by Mr. Charles Jordan, the Superintendent of Regent’s Park, London, an arboretum should be constructed with regard to picturesque beauty rather than systematically, although it is admitted that for scientific purposes a systematic arrangement is a sine qua non. In this more general respect, an arboretum affords shelter, improves local climate, renovates bad soils, conceals objects unpleasing to the eye, heightens the effect of what is agreeable and graceful, and adds value, artistic and other, to the landscape. What Loudon called the “ gardenesque ” school of landscape naturally makes particular use of trees. By common consent the arboretum in the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew is the finest in the world. Its beginnings maybe traced back to 1762, when, at the suggestion of Lord Bute, the Duke of Argyll’s trees and shrubs were removed from Whitton Place, near Hounslow, to adorn the Princess of Wales’s garden at Kew. The duke’s collection was famous for its cedars, pines, and firs. Most of the trees of that date have perished, but the survivors embrace some of the finest of their kind in the gardens. The botanical gardens at Kew were thrown open to the public in 1841 under the directorate of Sir William Hooker. Including the arboretum, their total area did not then exceed 11 acres. Four years later the pleasure grounds and gardens at Kew occupied by the king of Hanover were given to the nation and placed under the care of Sir William for the express purpose of being converted into an arboretum. Hooker rose to the occasion, and, zealously reinforced by his son and successor, Sir Joseph—patre claro Jilius clarion,—established a collection which is alike the envy and admiration of the botanists of every country. The Kew nursery dates from 1850 and the new pinetum from 1870. Of the total acreage (250) of the Gardens, no fewer than 180 acres are monopolized by the arboretum. Of the more specialized arboreta in the United Kingdom the next to Kew are those in the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh and the Glasnevin Garden in Dublin. The gardens of the Royal Botanical Society in London are beautifully wooded, but owing to the limited space at its disposal (18 acres), the Society has not been able to make a speciality of trees. This is also true of the oldest botanical garden in Great Britain, at Oxford, which was founded in 1632. The quaint “ Physic ” garden at Chelsea, which Sir Hans Sloane gave to the Apothecaries’ Society, is devoted to medicinal plants and herbs. In the Botanical Gardens at Glasgow, where Sir W. J. Hooker laboured before his transference to Kew, there are many choice trees, and in Bournemouth the gardens of the Evergreen Valley constitute to all intents and purposes an arboretum, even to the labelling of the specimens. In the United States the Arnold Arboretum at Boston ranks next to Kew for size and completeness. It takes its name from its donor, the friend of Emerson. It was originally a well-timbered park, which, by later additions, now covers 222 acres. Practically, it forms part of the park system so characteristic of the city, being situated only four miles from the centre of population. There is a fine arboretum in the botanical gardens at Ottawa, in Canada (65 acres). On the continent of Europe the classic example is still the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, where, however, system lends more of formality than of beauty to the general effect. Of course superb collections of trees were made before arboreta, as such, were devised. Noblemen and other wealthy amateurs collected trees, as other rich men collected paintings or books. They spared neither pains nor money in acquiring specimens, even from distant lands, to which they sent out expert collectors at their own charges. This, too, the Royal Horticultural Society (founded, 1804; charter, 1809) was once wont to do, with fruitful results, as in the case
of Mr David Douglas’s remarkable expedition to North America in 1823-24. It will be remembered that when the Laird of Dumbiedikes lay dying {The Heart of Midlothian, chap, viii.) he gave his son one bit of advice which Bacon himself could not have bettered. “Jock,” said the old reprobate, “when ye hae naething else to do, ye may be aye sticking in a tree; it will be growing, Jock, when ye’re sleeping.” Sir Walter assures us that a Scots earl took this maxim so seriously to heart that he planted a large tract of country with trees, a practice which in these days is promoted by the English and Royal Scottish Arboricultural Societies. For the cultivation of trees, both in its technical and economic sense, the reader is referred to the exhaustive article on Arboiuculture in the ninth edition of this work and the article on Forests in this Supplement. (j. A. M.) Arbroath, a royal and parliamentary burgh (Montrose group), seaport and manufacturing town of Forfarshire, Scotland, 77 miles N.N.E. of Edinburgh by rail. Spinning and weaving factories number over 30, and there are engineering works, boot factories, and chemical works. In 1877 the old harbour was converted into a wet dock, and the new harbour and entrance deepened. There is a shipbuilding yard, and at the end of 1898, 11 vessels of 1959 tons were registered as belonging to the port. Entrances and clearances were :—1898, entered 243 vessels of 30,588 tons, cleared 246 vessels of 29,435 tons. Recent erections include two churches, parish church (rebuilt), free library, guild hall (rebuilt), and academy. Population (1881), 21,995; (1901), 22,372. Arcachon, a modern sea-side town of France, department of Gironde, arrondissement of Bordeaux, 37 miles W.S.W. of that city. It comprises two distinct parts, the summer town, extending for three miles along the shore on a firm sandy beach, and the winter town, more inland, with numerous villas scattered amongst pine woods, resorted to by consumptive patients. The neighbouring forest has an area of about 1300 square miles. The principal industries are oyster-culture and fishing. The former is conducted on a very large scale; there are 5900 oyster parks, covering an area of over 8000 acres, yielding, in 1898, 319,772,100 oysters, of the total value of £112,000. The port has trade with Spain and England. Population, 8000. Arch, Joseph (1826 ■), founder of the National Agricultural Labourers’ Union, was born at Barford, a village in Warwickshire, 10th November 1826. His parents belonged to the labouring class. He inherited a strong sentiment of independence from his mother; and his objections to the social homage expected by those whom the catechism boldly styled his “ betters ” made him an “ agitator.” Having educated himself by unremitting exertions, and acquired fluency of speech as a Methodist local preacher, he founded in 1872 the National Agricultural Labourers’ Union, of which he was president. A rise then came in the wages of agricultural labourers, but this had the unforeseen effect of destroying the union ; for the labourers, deeming their object gained, ceased to “ agitate.” Mr Arch nevertheless retained sufficient popularity to be returned to Parliament for North-west Norfolk in 1885; and although defeated next year owing to his advocacy of Irish Home Rule, he regained his seat in 1892, and held it in 1895, retiring in 1900. He was deservedly respected in the House of Commons; seldom has an agitator been so little of a demagogue. A biography written by himself or under his direction, and edited by Lady Warwick (1898), tells the story of his career.
