246 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



30 feet in girth, and 150 to 200 feet high. Dacrydium cupressinum, the 

 spruce fir of the New Zealand settlements, grows to a height of 200 feet, 

 and 15 feet in circumference, with pendant branches and drooping shoots, 

 clothed with leaves, that exactly resemble some of the Lycopodiums. 

 This, however, is a tender tree in Britain. The Californian redwood, 

 Sequoia sempervirens, is still more gigantic, frequently attaining 300 feet, 

 and being commonly met with over 200. " One tree," says Mr. Gordon, 

 " called by the American settlers, the ' giant of the forest,' measures 270 feet 

 high, and 55 feet in circumference six feet from the ground ; and there is, 

 at St. Petersbui'gh, a horizontal slab of the wood received from the late 

 Dr. Fischer, from the north-west coast of America, which measures 15 

 feet in diameter, and 1,008 annual rings mark its age." This brings us to 

 the Californian wonder, lately introduced to our gardens — the Wellingtonea 

 gigantea — of the marvellous growth of which, visitors to the Crystal Palace 

 have a notable example, in the shell of a specimen there set up for inspec- 

 tion, by Mr. G. L. Trask. Wellingtonea gigantea was first discovered by 

 Douglas, in 1831. The American settlers call it the " mammoth tree," 

 and, according to Mr. Trask, the following are the dimensions of the 

 largest of eighty trees, growing in a grove, viz : — height, 363 feet ; cir- 

 cumference, near the ground, 93 feet; circumference, 100 feet from the 

 ground, 45 feet ; bark, 18 inches thick ; age, according to annual rings, 

 from 3,000 to 4,000 years. As this has deservedly become popular as a 

 decorative tree for lawns and shrubberies, and as a valuable addition to the 

 Pinetum, the following measurements of specimens, now growing in 

 various places, of which particulars have lately been furnished to the 

 columns of the Chronicle, may be interesting to our readers. At the Hol- 

 gate Nursery of Messrs. Backhouse, of York, 5 feet 9 inches high, and 

 15 feet circumference of branches. At Acton Green, 6 feet, 9 inches; 4 

 feet 9 inches through, stem 12 inches in circumference. At Uffculme 

 Vicarage, Cullumpton, Devon, 7 feet, 10 inches; 16 feet circumference; 

 stem, 16 inches in girth. At North Rode, near Congleton, in the garden 

 of Thomas Daintree, Esq., 7 feet 6 inches; 17 feet circumference; 

 stem, 12 inches in girth. At Fairlawn-park, Tunbridge, 7 feet 

 high; 6 feet 5 inches in diameter; circumference of stem, 1 5 ^ inches : 

 when planted, in May, 1856, it was only 10^ inches high ; a growth 

 of more than 6 feet in three seasons. At Tortworth Court, 7 feet 9 inches, 

 by 6 feet 1 inch diameter ; at 1 foot from the collar, 1 foot 5 inches. 

 At Exeter, in the nursery of Mr. Veitch, 9 feet 6 inches high, 6 feet 

 through, girth of stem 15 inches ; and another 8 feet 9 inches high, and 

 6 feet 6 inches through, girth 19 inches. At Hillersdon, East 

 Devon, 7 feet 8 inches ; breadth, 7 feet ; girth of stem at 1 foot from the 

 ground, 4 inches. The largest is probably that at Lamorbey, at Bexley, 

 Kent, the seat of J. Malcolm, Esq., which, in September, 1857, was 7 feet 

 2 inches high, having grown 3 feet since the May previous, and is now 

 probably, nearly 10 feet high. 



The delight of the gardener is to get sports and varieties ; true species, 

 in their normal forms, do not long satisfy him. The freaks of nature, 

 and the changes which he may be capable of effecting by hybridising and 

 special modes of culture, open up the fields which he has the greatest zest 

 in exploring. In this respect, the conifers take no second place. As we 

 have stated above, and cited instances in illustration, many of the pine 



