267 
OCHTERTYRE. 
Ochtertyre is situated about 2£ miles out of Crieff in a lar^e 
picturesquely hilly park, from which fine views of the surround- 
ing country can be obtained. The garden has long been famous 
for its conifers, and probably no locality, even in Scotland, is 
better adapted to the cultivation of a large number of evergreen 
trees and shrubs. Much of the present attraction that Ochter- 
tyre has for tree-lovers is due to the late Mr. Geo, Croucher, 
who was gardener there for 45 years under Sir Patrick Keith 
Murray and his father. He planted most or all of the rarer trees. 
A feature of special interest is the number of garden varieties 
of conifers. Of the Douglas Fir, for instance, there is the finest 
specimen in the country of the variety Stairii ; it is 30 feet high, 
well furnished, and of a pale greenish yellow which is not only 
distinct, but ornamental. Of the Golden Douglas Fir, a rare 
variety, there is an admirable tree 40 feet high, and the very 
glaucous variety is represented by a specimen of the same size in 
perfect health and colour. The Golden Scots Pine. Pinux 
sylvestris var. aurea, is here a big bush 16 feet high and as much 
in diameter ; this variety has the curious habit of assuming its 
highest colour in winter, turning greener as summer approaches. 
The glaucous variety of Picea Engclmannii is 25 feet high, and the 
golden variety of Gupressus pisifera (commonly known as 
Retinispora plumosa aurea) is 18 feet high, 15 feet in diameter, 
and in excellent colour. 
Turning to the spd ajanmsU impressed 
one by its magnificent health and the vivid blue-white colouring 
of the lower surface of its leaves, which is not surpassed, I think, 
by that of any other plant in cultivation ; one specimen was, 
approximately, 45 feet high. Saxegothea conspicua, a curious 
conifer with some affinity to the Yew, introduced from Chili 
in 1847, is now very rarely met with ; it is, however, in fine 
condition at Ochtertyre, a plant being 12 feet high and 8 feet 
through. The Silver Firs have the usual rude vigour of these trees 
in Perthshire, a specimen of Abi % unusually 
fine. I was unable to take its height, but its trunk was 8 feet in 
girth. Then A. magnified I saw 70 feet high and finer than 
elsewhere. This species is much less common than its ally, 
-4. nobilis, one of the most frequent of purely ornamental conifers 
in Scotland. At one time these two species were confused, but 
seen in the adult stage they are very distinct, A. magnifica being 
denser in habit: and much more slender and tapering in form. 
Picea Morinda had a trunk 8 feet 8 inches in girth and was 
66 feet high, and of the common Spruce I saw a tree 120 feet high. 
It is not only the conifers that thrive so well at Ochtertyre, some 
of the ordinary evergreens are very good also. A specimen of 
Portugal Laurel, for instance, was 30 feet high and 50 feet through ; 
Hex crenata, 7 feet high ; Rhododendron dauriewn, 8 feet high ; 
Pieris ftoribunda, splendid bushes, 10 feet through. 
Monzie Castle. 
This place, which is about three miles out of Crieff, I visited 
in a persistent downpour of rain. Although it has not much of 
