WINTEK OF 1878-79 ON TKEES AND SUllUIiS. 18 



Q 



Except larcli and Norway s]truce, few trees liave escaped entirely 

 without less or more daiiia^'e, if gnjwing at an altitude of over 

 500 or 700 feet." ]\Ir Mackenzie also reports that many varieties 

 of OitprcssKs, in closely-i)lanted sites, are destroyed. In liis 

 district the loss from the intensity of the frost and exposure has 

 been very small; Oifpri'sKiis Lnmhcrtiana and Wdlingtonia 

 (jujanlia show si<;ns of havin<;- been injured, the former severely, 

 if not in some sites killed, the latter nnich scorched and dis- 

 figured. We have observed similar instances where trees and 

 shrubs during last winter have suffered far less from the severity 

 and number of ilegrees of frost, (even where the tem])erature fell 

 to extremely low i)oints), than from the breaking f>f limbs under 

 the weigiit of snow, or exposure in low sites to bright sun rays 

 after a shar]) night of dam]) hoar-frost, as we shall liave presently 

 to refer to. iVnother indirect eftect of the severity of last winter 

 on young trees and evergreen shrubs was the ravages they sus- 

 tained from rabbits and ground \-ermin gnawing the bark off 

 their stems, nuiny species being attacked and eagerly devoured, 

 which generally in ordinary seasons enjoy immunity from such 

 pests. Last year we are informed, on the authority of Mr 

 Mackenzie of JMurthly, that even the Scots fir, and, more won- 

 derful still, the Araiicaria imhricata, suffered in this manner. 

 in some localities to so great straits were rabbits and mice 

 reduced to obtain food, that they barked the hawthorn hedges 

 where the surface was not too rough ; and hollies and laburnums 

 suffered mtich also. Tow\ards the end of the month snow again 

 fell, and there was a considerable increase in the severity of the 

 frost, in several places the thermometer registering as many as 

 27° of frost. 



The weather in March alternated between frost, snow, and 

 thaw, and this month proved more disastrous to evergreens, 

 trees, and slnnibs than any other i)eriod of the season. The 

 bright sun iluring the day, and foggy, damp, and excessively cold 

 nights, caused irreparable injury on low-lying situations with an 

 open ex])osure to the south. This was aggravated in the case of 

 the victims growing in heavy clay loam, on damp sul)Soil, or near 

 river sides. For example, at Craigiehall, near Edinburgh, and 

 through the policies of which the river Almond flows, consider- 

 able destruction was caused to Araucaria imhricata, Cedrus 

 Ikodara, Avcvha jaxionica, common bay and Pcn-tugal laurels, 

 many of which were killed down to the ground. The loss here 

 includes thirty-six fine specimens of Cedrus Deodara, 20 feet high. 

 The soil is rich, on clay subsoil, and altitude about (SO feet above 

 sea-level. At the adjoining estate to the westward, also lying 

 close to the Almond, l)Ut in a more open situation very much 

 exposed to the smi's rays and heavy mists arising from the river, 

 at Carlowrie, at an altitude of 92 feet, very serious injury has 



