594 The Journal of Forestry. 



otherwise it is a fine tree of its kind. It is growing in a light gravelly but 

 wet soil within fifty yards of the river Avon, and on a level with its banks. 

 The second and smaller tree is, I think, a good specimen of the deciduous 

 cypress^ and is growing almost in the centre of an angle fornted by the 

 confluence of the rivers Avon and Chalk, and within thirty-two yards of the 

 latter and thirty-five yards of the former. It is about 45 feet high, with 

 branches touching the ground, and 36 feet through. The trunk at four feet 

 from the ground measures 4 feet 6 inches in circumference. — K. W. Ward, 

 Longford Castle, in " Gardeners' Chronicle." 



Eailway Planting of Eucalyptus. — The Central Pacific Eailroad Company 

 are doing a good work in tree planting, having already planted 40,000 

 EucalyjAus trees along the line of their road. This enterprising company 

 intend, according to the American Naturalist, planting certain species of the 

 Eucalyptus on each side of their right of way through five hundred miles 

 of the Californian valleys, and it is estimated that 800,000 trees will be 

 required for this purpose. 



How TO APPLY Manure. — When planting trees, shrubs, and vines, no 

 manure should be placed in contact with the roots, but put it above them 

 when the holes are nearly filled, so that it will be covered several inches. 

 Cow manure is best ; well-rotted stable manure is almost equal ; but as winter 

 approaches, coarse manure, mixed with considerable straw, spread over the 

 ground rather thick around the stems or trunks, as far as the roots extend, 

 will be useful in preventing injury from severe frost, also enriching the 

 ground and benefiting the trees. — Land and Water. 



The Eain Teee of Peru. — The Consul of the United States of Colombia, 

 in the department of Lereto, Peru, writing frow Turimagus, states that in 

 the woods adjacent to the city of Moyobamba exists a tree called by the 

 natives Tamai-caspi (rain-tree), which possesses some remarkable qualities. 

 It is a tree of about fifty feet high when at maturity, and of about three 

 feet in diameter at the base, and has the property of absorbing an immense 

 quantity of humidity from the atmosphere, which it concentrates and sub- 

 se(|uently pours forth from its leaves and branches in a shower, and in such 

 abundance that in many cases the ground in its neighbourhood is converted 

 into a perfect bog. It possesses this curious property in its greatest de- 

 gree in the summer, precisely when the rivers are at their lowest and 

 water most scarce ; and the writer proposes that it should be planted in the 

 more arid regions of Peru for the benefit of agriculturists. 



A Venerable Wild Cheery. — The following dimensions of an old wild 

 cherry tree, now in a decaying state at Gordon Castle, N.B., are given by 

 Mr. V7ebster in the Gardeners' Chronicle : —Circumference of stem at surface 

 of ground, 18 feet; at 3 feet up, 14 feet circumference; at 5 feet up, 14 feet 

 circumference ; circumference of spread of branches, 189 feet ; and height of 

 tree, 33 feet. 



New Forest. — The Queen has been graciously pleased to appoint the Right 

 Honourable George Sclater Booth, M.P., to be the official verderer of the JNew 

 Forest. 



Submerged Piles. — Among the numerous instances of the hardening of 

 oak under water, Earthier mentions remains of bridge piles at Eouen, which 

 were driven in 11.50. They resembled ebony in texture and colour, and the 

 change was attributed to peroxide of iron. M. Charil Marsaines, in destroying 

 the remains of a dyke which was built by Vauban in 1681, found that the oak 

 timbers had the same appearance. He did not examine them chemically, but 



