THE TWENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL EXCURSION. 



307 



beauties of this fine old place. After luncheon, which was served 

 in the Whitehai't Hotel, Ampthill, the party drove on to 



Ampthill Park. 



This park, which is the property of the Duke of Bedford, is 

 one of the oldest in the kingdom, and is said to be even older 

 than Windsor Great Park. It is here that what is considered to 

 be the largest oak tree in England is to be seen. Its dimensions 

 are — Circumference (5 feet up), 29 feet 6 inches; height of bole, 

 25 feet ; height of tree, 75 feet. Other trees measure as under: — 



Oak, 



Of course most of these trees are unsound, some of them being 

 quite decayed away with the exception of a mere shell. 



After viewing the stone cross on the summit of the hill over- 

 looking Ampthill House, erected to commemorate the memory of 

 Catherine of Arragon, the company proceeded to 



The Woburn Experimental Fruit Farm. 



The printed catalogue of the experiments, which had been 

 kindly presented to each of the members, contains the following 

 description: — "The farm was established in 1894, The ground 

 consists of 20 acres of heavy loam land overlying a deep bed of 



