196 ON THE CAUSE OF EINGSHAKE IN TEEES. 



consequently, if a vessel is longer than tliat, her fpre and after 

 ends will strike at one time upon the crest of these waves, hence 

 the stress is thrown upon her middle, both on her deck beams 

 and keel, and all the difference between that on the tree and 

 vessel is simply this that I have already mentioned, the stress 

 on the tree is caused from above and that on the vessel from 

 below. Then, in this instance, the frost would have nothing to 

 do with ringshake ? It could not have so much in this instance 

 as in the last. However, snow melting on the tree would run 

 down the stem, and if severe frost were setting in, in this case 

 it might, as in the last, have something to do with it, but I do 

 not believe it had a great deal, seeing the ground is perfectly 

 dry all round this stooL Why are your men cutting down this 

 hedgerow timber ? See how they are affected. Do you believe 

 any of them are ringshaken ? Yes, I believe that Spanish 

 chestnut and the elm near the far end are badly affected. How 

 do you think so ? You see from their appearance they have 

 been considerably crushed during a period of their growth, and 

 are both 10 feet taller than the others, and have heavy limbs 

 on two sides, growing at right angles from the line in which 

 they are placed. Examine the soil here too ; it is about . two 

 feet deep, of a black loamy nature resting upon a loose gravelly 

 subsoil, and as we proceed we find it of an almost uniform 

 nature and depth, while the subsoil is also the same. The 

 Spanish chestnut was found to be seriously ringshaken, and the 

 elm at the far end of the row was quite as bad. Now, to 

 what do you ascribe this result ? We have carefully examined 

 both the soil and subsoil, found both of a uniform character 

 along the whole line, and with the exception of these two 

 ringshaken trees being 10 feet taller, and having badly formed 

 tops, nothing was noticeable or peculiar about them more than 

 the other elms or oaks while growing in their position. The 

 fact of their being 10 feet taller than the others in the line 

 would not render them more liable to be ringshaken. But the 

 fact of their tops being badly formed is of itself a sufficient 

 reason why we should attribute the ringshaking to them alone. 

 You have formerly advanced this idea, how do you make that 

 out ? Perhaps you may never have seen a fir tree badly ring- 

 shaken. Very seldom. Well, I cut down a large silver fir tree 

 about twelve months ago, growing in a moderately sheltered 

 situation ; its top had been cut or broken off by some means at a 

 distance of about 8 feet from the ground, the consequence was 

 that two large limbs grew out from the stem right opposite 

 each other, and when I cut down the tree I found these about 

 as high as the main stem, which had grown straight, notwith- 

 standing the injury formerly done to its top shoot. One of these 

 limbs contained about 120, and the other about 70 cubic feet of 



