176 ON THE ABIES ALBERTIAXA, 



situation, wliieli is much exposed to the winds of winter and 

 spring, and beside its congener A. Canadensis, which was planted 

 about thirty years ago, and is now about 40 feet high, with a 

 girtli of 8 feet 6 inches round the trunk at a foot from the 

 ground. 



The A. Albcrtiana appears well-adapted for the moist climate 

 of Ireland. Indeed, many of the more recently introduced coni- 

 fers of late years might be planted there profitably for timber 

 purposes. On the Church-hill estate, at Verner's Bridge, Moy, 

 this pine is thriving splendidly. One iine specimen there, planted 

 in 1866, is now (1879) fully oO feet high, and measures in 

 circumference, at 1 and 3 feet respectively, 2 feet 10 inches 

 and 2 feet. The altitude is 80 feet, and the situation is mode- 

 rately sheltered with a north-eastern aspect ; the soil is clay loam, 

 resting on a clay subsoil, naturally slightly damp, but thoroughly 

 drained. There are also other tliriving specimens in that neigh- 

 bourhood, gro\Adng in a deep peat bog soil with a clay substratinn. 



But we must proceed now to notice some of the specimens 

 growing and thriving in various localities in Scotland, and we 

 need have little hesitation in placing the trees at The Cairnies 

 und Glenalmond, Perthshire, in the foremost rank of specimens 

 of A. Alhertiana. The well-known enthusiastic interest of the 

 late Mr George Patton of The Cairnies secured for him, from all 

 quarters, the earliest importations of seed of this and many other 

 species of coniferse, and the collection which he thus formed, — 

 fostered by a singularly suitable soil and situation, — contains 

 some of the best examples in the country of the various acquisi- 

 tions of recent years to our coniferous sylva in Scotland. Two 

 magnificent specimens of A. Albcrtiana far outstrip all others 

 at The Cairnies. Growing at an altitude of 660 feet, in a thin 

 moorish soil, on a subsoil of hard retentive clay, and with a 

 southern ■ exposure, they are now 46 feet in height, and girth 5 

 feet 4 inches at 1 foot from the ground, and 4 feet 5 inches at 5 

 feet, with a spread of branches measuring 40 feet in diameter. 

 They were planted twenty-eight years ago, from the first importa- 

 tion of seeds which arrived in 1851. These specimens, which had 

 in the winter of 1860-61 attained a considerable height (20 feet), 

 withstood the severity of that memorable year with impunity, 

 but the young stock growing at The Cairnies was killed outright; 

 being too small to reach their tender young leaders above the dew- 

 line. At Moncreitfe House, Perth, there is a fine A. Alhertiana, 

 planted, in 1868, in a light loam on till and freestone, it is grow- 

 ing very rapidly, having already attained a height of 28 feet, and " 

 girth 2 feet 2 inches, and 1 foot 10 inclies at 1 foot and 5 feet from 

 the ground. Mr Bissett, the intelligent gardener there, reports 

 it to be the fastest grower he has planted of the coniferous tribe, 

 and from its closely jointed branches and tlieir small diameter, 



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