Chips and Slips. 143 



The japan varnish tree has been planted m great numbers in the Paris 

 parks. It resists the ravages of dust and storm better than other trees. 



The estate of Killiemore, in* the parish of Penninghame, and county of 

 Wigtown, about six miles from JSTewton Stewart, has been bought by Mr. A. F. 

 Tweedie, London, for £9,200, The estate is about 481 acres in extent, and the 

 present rental is £266, exclusive of the mansion house, which is let at present 

 along with the shooting at £175 per annum. 



A Highland Forest for the Queen.— It is stated that the arrangements are 

 almost completed for the purchase by Her Majesty from Colonel Farquharson , 

 Invercauld, of the Forest of Ballochbine, which adjoins the estate of Balmoral. 

 The forest is on the estate of Invercauld, and comprises within its bounds the 

 largest area of natural grown Scotch firs in Scotland. It is unequalled for the 

 size, beauty, and symmetry of the trees. Ballochfine has been held by the 

 Queen on lease for a number of 5'ears, at an annual rent of £1,500 sterling. 



Appointments. — Mr. Andrew Rutherford, forester to the Duke of Roxburgh, 

 has been appointed manager on the estate of Snettisham Hall, Lynn, Norfolk. 

 No man can be better qualified for such a situation tha,n Mr. Rutherford, as he 

 is possessed of considerable practical experience gained both on the Roxburgh 

 estates where he has been for eleven years, and on the Oxnam and Jedwater 

 estates of the Marquis of Lothian. Mr. Rutherford carries along with him 

 the good wishes of a very large circle of friends, who showed their appreciation 

 of his worth by presenting him with a valuable testimonial consisting of a 

 gold watch and chain, &c., and a purse of gold, on his leaving Roxburghshire. 



Mr. John Kirk has been appointed gardener to Lord Bolton, Bolton Hall, 

 Yorkshire. 



"VYe extract the following interesting facts concerning the production of 

 amber from the Revue des Eaux et i?bre%, for September last: — "Yellow 

 amber, which Eastern nations use so much for rosaries, beads, and mouth- 

 pieces of pipes, is a forest product. An analysis made by Schrutter gives the 

 following results :— Carbon, 78-82; hydrogen, 10-23; oxygen, 10-90. This 

 composition sufficiently proves the vegetable origin of amber, if, indeed, it 

 were not otherwise established by its structure and by the circumstances 

 under which it is found, that it is nothing more than a resin modified by long 

 burial in the soil. The amber which was formerly found on the coast of Sicily 

 appears to have been completely exhausted. It is now the shores of the Baltic 

 that supply the whole world. These coasts were once covered with vast resin- 

 ous forests, which have left numerous deposits of resin in the soil, and these 

 deposits are at present actively worked. In some places amber is obtained 

 from excavated mines, but more often pieces borne by the sea towards the 

 shore are fished up with nets. Several steamboats are employed on this trade 

 on the coasts of Konigsberg. The right of amber collecting is a royalty in 

 Prussia. It brings a revenue of 600,000 francs (£25,000) annually to the Stite. 

 Amber is not the only fossil resin used in industrial art. We published 

 in the number for May, 1876, a notice of the gum copal, which is the produce 

 of several Rymeneas, and of Elcocarpusl copalifem, which is found in abun- 

 dance in the forests of Eastern Africa. New Zealand also furnishes a quantity 

 of an important resin secreted by the ' Kauri ' pine {Dammara lanceolata). 

 This resin drips on to the soil, where it forms accumulated masses, which are 

 now extensively worked. Kauri resin is used in the manufacture of varnishes, 

 and is worth at Auckland 1,250 francs (£50) per ton," 



