There was printed in the county of Hampshire a curious “Annual Repository,” two volumes of which I have been enabled, through the kindness of a friend, to examine.  There are records of the agricultural, social and religious condition of the various parishes in the county, and many entertaining accounts of their antiquities…
       The other extracts from these volumes which seem worth preserving I shall give without connection, as they are scattered in notes, letters, etc.: ...
       “The Chinese dwarf tree, which the accompanying drawing represents, is in the possession of Mr. Lance of Chessel; it was brought from China 9 years ago, and is of the kind described by Sir G. Staunton in his account of Lord Macartney's embassy, which the Chinese place on the low parapet walls that surround the halls and apartments in their gardens.  There is the greatest reason to think that this tree can be clearly traced back to be 60 years old.  It exactly represents an old forest tree.  Its leaf more resembles an elm than any of our other forest trees.  Its height is 18 inches, and the spread of its branches 24, its girt 6-1/4, the leaves ½ inch long.  A cutting of this tree, planted in a hot-house in April last, has made a shoot of eight feet and a half in length, and its leaf is about three inches long.” 1

1     Conway, M.D.  "South-Coast Saunterings in England," in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 39, Issue 231, August 1869, pp. 344, 345.  There is no accompanying drawing in this online version of the article.