76 
THE PINETUM. 
The closing walk of the afternoon proved to be a long and most 
interesting one, although, through a misunderstanding of the route, 
the main body of the visitors drove right on to Boldrewood and 
missed it. The smaller party struck out through the woodlands, 
and at a smart pace, under the lead of Mr Lascelles, they greatly 
enjoyed their ramble through the Pinetum, where all kinds of home 
and foreign trees of a hardy nature were seen growing in a most 
luxuriant manner. A large plantation of Deodars and Douglas Firs 
was examined with special interest. It extended to over 80 acres, 
and was about fifty years old. It furnished a splendid “ object 
lesson,” in respect to the relative merits of these two fine coniferous 
trees from widely-separated parts of the world, of how they are likely 
to prove useful forest trees in this country. The experiment is ona 
sufliciently large scale, and has been long enough at work, to prove, in 
an unmistakable manner, the superiority in this country, as a forest 
tree, of the Douglas Fir, from beyond the Rocky Mountains in North- 
West America, over its beautiful rival, the Deodar, from the sunny 
slopes of Northern India. Many of the Deodars are showing signs 
of distress, while the Douglas Firs are pushing ahead in luxuriant 
style, and will ultimately be the sole crop on the ground. The soil 
here seemed to be of a character well suited for the growth of 
most of the hardy Conifers; and the Douglas Fir in particular 
appeared quite at home in it. 
On the party tramped through a long stretch of rich wood- 
lands, in which tree life was seen in the wildest luxuriance. The 
ferns in places were taller than the travellers, and in some of the 
more sheltered spots, laburnum and thorn had assumed tree-like 
dimensions, and even the barberry bushes had run up to the height 
of respectable trees, their branches being literally covered with beauti- 
ful ruddy berries, shining against the darker woodland with excellent 
effect. In many a cosy corner and well-sheltered spot along the route 
were seen healthy and vigorous examples of Pinus insignis, P. pon- 
derosa, P. Jeffreyti, P. excelsa, and others of the Pine tribe; 
Abies Albertiana, A. Douglasit, A. concolor, A. nobilis, A. grandis, 
A. cephalonica, A. Pinsapo, A. Menziesii, and other Firs and 
Spruces; Araucaria imbricata; Cupressus Lawsoniana, C. macro- 
carpa, C. nutkaénsis ; Thuja gigantea; and Wellingtonia gigantea ; 
beside many Cedars, Cryptomerias, Sequoias, Junipers, and gigantic 
Hollies, all commanding a glance of admiration in the passing. 
