They have for sale say thirty thousand thrifty specimens of Pinus Lambertiana, the same number of Pinus insignis, and numerous other rare and curious trees, from our new possessions on the Pacific, that heretofore we have been obliged to order from abroad. This is one species of information suitable to be imparted in an annual hand-book. The initiated will understand us when we say that every tree has its similar kind of history; some nurseries are overstocked with one or more kinds, and will dispose of these in quantities at a price which would be absorbed by a single specimen or so at a garden which possesses but half a dozen of the kind. And thus it is of Roses, of greenhouse plants, and of shrubs and bulbs. We could point out some who would gladly give away or exchange a few things that they possess in superabundant quantity, which might be greatly esteemed at a little distance. In this predicament will most old nurseries be found, owing to a change of fashion influencing demand, and other causes.

But enough; let us award to Mr. Meehan the merit of having fashioned the framework of a good "hand-book" for future enlargement - a task he is probably well qualified to observing eye, and become aware of the beautifUl objects in his favorite line of study which exist even within a few miles of his own neighborhood. We give a specimen of the book:

Virgilia. Lamarch. Nat Ord. Fabace

Corolla butterfly-shaped. Fruit a flat, many-seeded legume.

V. Lutea. Michaux

Leaves pinnate; leaflets alternate. Yellow "Wood. Native of the "Western States. Flowers in July.

"A middle-sized round headed tree, which when in flower is particularly ornamental These are in clusters larger than the locust, though less odoriferous; pendulous, and of a whitish-yellow color. It is late in putting forth in spring, and one of the first to shed its leaves, which turn to a deep orange-yellow in the fall:

"It thrives best in a rich, light loam, in a cool situation, not exposed to the heat and drouth of summer.

"It is propagated by seeds sown as soon as they are ripe, in boxes protected from mice and severe frosts. They will appear in spring. It also succeeds very well budded on the Sophora in July.

"The finest Bartram specimen is fifty feet in height, and four feet in circumference at the base," p. 239.

So far as it goes, this is all true. "We should like him to have added, "It is called Yellow "Wood from the color of the wood, and not of the flower, which latter few would see possessed of much tinge of this color. It is extremely rare in all nurseries, and bears a higher price than it ought to, or than it will when a little moderate enterprise shall induce a propagator to send for the seeds to the very small district of Tennessee where only it is found in a native state. The seeds of the fine specimens in several parts of Philadelphia county have never been known to perfect themselves. We have succeeded in propagating it from layers, and these will probably make the finest trees. Allied to the Camellia, and the only native tree of America that has 'such a rich family connection to talk about,' added to its very great beauty and long continuance of flowering, no less than its fragrance, we should enforce a dictum already promulgated by others, that it is absolutely indispensable to an ornamental plantation. A very hard winter sometimes kills it to the ground; but it may be depended on, as far north as Philadelphia, to reproduce itself abundantly by stools, and layers may be made from these. The rootlets are small, and will not bear long exposure before replanting.

Like the best people, it is melancholy to think that the best trees are the most rare and difficult to procure." Something like this might enliven a "hand-book," and give some desired information. And we should know something additionally practical if it were added, "Orders sent to------& - , the present season, will be filled. Price for plants three to five feet high, at PaRsons' nurseries, - cents; at Philadelphia, $1".

Mr. Meehan gives from his own observation some very practical and simple rules to be observed by those who would go to work in earnest. We add a specimen or two, as dicta in which we fully concur:

"21. In planting, the immediate object is to get a speedy formation of new roots and fibres. The best time to plant, then, will be when the earth is a few degrees warmer than the atmosphere, and when the elaborated sap is descending and active, and the tree itself less likely to suffer from excessive evaporation. The time is the autumn, at the fall of the leal".

This he qualifies in regard to some species.

"39. The effect to be produced by trees should be particularly well studied. The object must never be lost sight of Pleasure, in its broadest sense, is generally a main object This is always to be derived from a perception of the beautiful. Unity, harmony, and appropriate fitness, are the essential elements of beauty; to these, then, must the planters' efforts turn.

"50. Thus the planter should be imbued with the principles of beauty. Without them his labors may excite only wonder at their extent, or surprise at their variety; with them, he combines lasting beauty - a tource of unvarying pleasure and delight".

We trust the publisher of this volume will find so ready a sale for it, that he and the editor will combine to make it annual; and if assistance from other pens is called in from different parts of our great country, it may be made, what is much wanted, really "a handbook of American trees".

Some of our readers will recollect with gratitude the information imparted by Loudon in his Arboretum. He took the pains not only to indicate the prices at English nurseries, but instituted a comparison with those of the continent; so that purchasers were not left at the mercy of one neighborhood, and obliged to purchase at several prices whatever by a sudden demand of fashion had become scarce at home. There is just now an uncommonly great demand for ornamental trees; it is a common complaint that nothing can be had but insignificant specimens of many of the most sought-for kinds; in many instances prices have doubled within two years, with no possibility of obtaining anything but two or three years old plants. Nurseries increase in number, but the demand is in advance of the stock. Time is an important ingredient in the advance of trees not enough remembered by purchasers; hence gardeners run off their young trees whenever they can, knowing that buyers flinch from the just advance in price with increase of size. They give you as a reason, that young trees succeed the best.

So they do; but if we were now planting, we should give the preference to Norway Firs five years old to those having only two years' growth; and so of many others: but specimens of this and greater age are difficult to procure. Our supposed annual hand-book should go into this matter; and, while it gave directions as to the proper age for transplanting all descriptions of trees, should inform the seeker how and where to procure them. But, would it pay? We answer, yes. Let Mr. MEEhan, or his co-editor, open a correspondence with all the nurserymen in the United States, (visit them would be better,) and they would cheerfully pay their proportion of the increased paper and print, to advertise this species of really intelligible and valuable information. This would be a source of profit to the bookmaker, which would pay for his increased outlay; and, our word for it, fifty copies of the book would sell where one is now disposed of. It would be indispensable not only to every gardener, but to every planter. We trust our suggestion may be acted on.

S. - Philadelphia.

[We had already prepared a notice of Mr. Meehan's "hand-book," but give the preference to that of our correspondent, who is every way competent to set forth its merits and defects. We have only to observe that in the main we are well pleased with it, and believe it will be of great value to persons engaged in planting ornamental trees. It strikes us, however, that some classification of the trees would have enhanced its value. For instance, evergreen trees should have formed a separate section, instead of being scattered all through the volume. We think, too, that the page should have been affixed to the names in the English index. If we wish to find English Hawthorn, for example, we refer to the English index, under the letter H, and find "Hawthorn, English - Cratagus oxycantha;" we have then to turn to 0, in the alphabetical order of the book, and search for Crataegui oxycantha. If the English index had read thus, it would have saved time to all who may consult it:

"Hawthorn, English - Crataegus oxycantha, 108." The reader could at once have turned a complete index. We are all in a hurry in this country, and books of reference - handbooks, such as this - should be so arranged as to consume as little time as possible in the profitless and unpleasant labor of turning leaves.

About eighty-two genera of trees, and two hundred and seventy species and varieties, are described: nine of Maples, six of Beech, ten of Ash, ten Magnolias, ten Poplars, twenty-two Oaks, twenty Willows, six Elms, eight Lindens, five Spruce, six Fir, fourteen Pines, etc., etc. - Ed].