SPANISH CHESTNUTS IN SCOTLAND. 45 



it is probably too much a mere general list of fairly good speci- 

 men trees of the various descriptions usually met with, than really 

 a syllabus of the grand galaxy of rare trees, as to size, 

 appearance, or tradition existing in Scotland, and it appears to 

 have unaccountably omitted many of the most notable, while it 

 also records those in several districts in no way remarkable for 

 either dimensions or interest. 



It appears, therefore, independently of the lapse of years which 

 has taken place since these various pre^'ious efforts to tabulate 

 the old and remarkable trees of Scotland were made, and not- 

 withstanding the labours of these pioneers in the exploration, 

 that there is a wide field still open from which new and fresh 

 facts may be gathered, and specimens hitherto unobserved be 

 recorded ; and it is well, therefore, that the Highland and Agri- 

 cultural Society of Scotland has invited fresh information 

 regarding the old and remarkable trees of the country, and have- 

 begun by proposing the Spanish chestnut, in the first instance, as 

 a subject of investigation ; and with the view of rendering the 

 facts and data already published by previous essayists, who have 

 been referred to, as useful as possible, we shall in this paper as 

 far as possible follow up the investigations of the pre\'ious 

 inquiry, and, where it is possible, identify and determine, by fresh 

 measurements of already recorded trees, their progress or 

 decay ; while such hitherto unrecorded remarkable trees will be 

 noticed as may have come under our personal observation, and 

 the tables appended to this paper ^vill be arranged in such a way 

 that, as from time to time new instances of remarkable chestnut 

 trees may come under notice, details and particulars of these may 

 be added to the list in the appendix. It is unfortunate, for the 

 sake of comparison, that previous measurements of girths have 

 not been taken at uniform points on the trunk. In the schedule 

 we have appended, these have all been taken at 1 and 5 feet 

 from the ground, although, in some cases, girths of the trees at 

 other points are also given. The circumferences of most trees 

 at these two points, with the height of the bole, or length of 

 stem, will generally be found to convey a very accurate idea of 

 the magnitude and capacity of the tree ; while they are pretty 

 much in accordance with the generally accepted theory adopted 

 in the continental schools of forestry, of measuring the girths of 

 all trees breast-high. Of course, in the collection and tabulation 

 of such a catalogue, it is desirable to have it as full and minute 

 as possible ; still in such a widely distributed field of inquiry, it is 

 impossible to avoid, in the first instance, having made many 

 omissions of large trees worthy of notice in such a list ; and to the 

 co-operation and aid of willing correspondents who have already 

 kindly supplied much valuable detail, we confidently turn for 

 further information regarding overlooked districts, or individual 



