1885.] LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 137 



I^ETTERS TO THE ^DITOR. 



THE TREE CONUNDRUM. 



SIE, — I enclose some guesses for the very excellent " Tree 

 Conundrum " in your last issue. A few of them I cannot 

 make out ; had I been able to do so, I would have arranged them 

 in rhyming order. — Yours respectfully, Lillian King. 



Ivy Cottage, Bulstkode Pauk, Slough. 



1. Pear tree. 2. Caper. 3. Beech. 4. Spruce. 5. Tulip. 6. 

 Bay. 8. Judas. 9. Fir. 10. Pine. 11. Date. 12. Weeping 

 Willow. 15. Aspen. 16. Upas. 17. Locust. 18. Plane tree. 

 19. Crab. 20. Yew. 21. Apple. 22. Cocoa. 23. Plum. 25. 

 Dogwood. 26. Spindle. 27. Sevice. 28. Bamboo. SO. Moun- 

 tain ash. 31. Sloe. 32. Elm. 33. Lignum vit«. 36. Cork 

 tree. 37. Mystery. 38. Elder tree. 39. Poplar. 40. Alder tree. 

 41. Birch. 42. Lime or Ash. 43. Coffee. 44. Palm. 45. Iron. 

 46. ISTight-shade. 47. Industry. 



[We reserve our complete answer till another issue. — Ed. 



AN IRISH CUFRESSUS MACROCARPA. 

 CilPt, — I had recently occasion to cut down a magnificent 

 k^ Cicprcssus macrocarpa, and the many remarkable qualities it 

 exhibited leads me to believe that it is a species worthy of a much 

 more extensive cultivation than it has hitherto received. The tree 

 was planted about twenty-eight years ago, and considering the 

 quality of the soil in which it grew, and the bleak, exposed cha- 

 racter of this part of the country, it attained to wonderful dimensions 

 in this limited time. At 2 feet from the ground it girthed 

 exactly 7 feet, and was as near as possible 50 feet in height. Its 

 timber, too, is exceedingly close-grained, and is particularly rich in. 

 resinous matter, which is well known to be an indispensable requisite 

 to fir and other timber of this class where durability, exemption 

 from insect attacks, fungi, etc., are deemed important. I have not 

 the slightest doubt, had this tree been allowed to stand until it 

 reached maturity, its timber could not have been surpassed. This 

 tree, however, does not succeed so well when planted in close 

 proximity to the sea as some imagine. On an adjoining property, 

 which is distant about 1^ miles from the sea, and where it has 

 been extensively planted during the last thirty years, compara- 

 tively few good specimens exist ; which are generally in positions 

 from which they have derived considerable shelter from trees 

 surrounding them. Those that are fully exposed to the sea-blast pre- 

 sent that weather-beaten, one-sided appearance which characterizes 

 most of our forest trees in that region. Irish Forester. 



