288 ox THE TREE MALLOW. 



Palconer King of its seeds, sliow these to be about equal in 

 feeding properties to oil-cake, the present value of which is 

 about L.IO per ton, and paper-makers offer the same price, at 

 least, for the bark that they now pay for esparto grass, which is 

 also about L.IO per ton, thus showing a return of about L.80 per 

 acre for the seed and bark ; and it is expected that the excess of 

 fibre in the latter will allow of the heart-wood being mixed up 

 with it, which will add very considerably to the above-stated 

 value of crop. The paper-makers who have had the tree mallow 

 bark under limited trial for me are Messrs Dickinson, Xash 

 Mills, Hemel Hemj)stead ; Mr Henry Bruce, Kinleith Mills, 

 Currie ; Messrs A. Cowan & Sons, Yalleyfield Mills, Penicuik ; 

 Messrs William Tod & Sons, St Leonard's Mills, Lasswade ; and 

 Messrs William Tod, jun., & Co., Springfield Mills, Lasswade — 

 all of whom think very hicrhly of it, and are most anxious to trv 

 it on a large scale. With the view of having this done, I had 

 plants reared in the Island of Bute in 1875, and about two 

 acres planted with them after the removal of a crop of earh' 

 potatoes. These plants throve well till a fall of snow took place 

 early in the winter, when the whole were destroyed by rabbits. 

 Bute was chosen for this trial in consequence of the winters on 

 the east coast being sometmies too cold for the mallow plants, 

 many of which suffer when the thermometer falls to about 15" 

 Pahr., and most of them are entirely killed when it falls much 

 below 10"" ; which excesses of cold, although occasional on the 

 ^ast coast, are never experienced en the western coasts nor in 

 the Orkney Islands, in various parts throughout which, where 

 the mallow has been tried, it has invariably been found to thrive 

 well ; and I feel confident that it might there be made to yield 

 higher pecuniary returns, from hitherto comparatively worthless 

 ground, than ordinary agricultural crops do in the best cultivated 

 districts of Britain. Having already been at considerable trouble 

 and expense in thus experimenting with the tree mallow, and 

 not caring to incur further outlay, I have handed over my stock 

 of seeds to Messrs P. S. Eobertson & Co., of the Trinitv JSTurseries 

 here, who have now plants ready for supplying any who may be 

 desirous of carrying out its cultivation, charging only 23. 6d. per 

 100 to cover expenses." 



The preceding communication was read at the first meeting 

 .for the season of the Directors of the Highland and Agricultural 

 Society, and on the 2d Xovember I was favoured with the 

 following : — 



'' Dear Sir, — At the Directors' meeting held yesterday I was 

 instructed to thank you for your communication on the tree 

 m.allow. I sent your letter to the newspapers to give the matter 

 all the publicity we could. — Yours faithfully, P. S". Menzies." 



In course of the past autumn I sent circulars of like purport 



