254 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



recommendations rarely combined in one species. The timber 

 l)roduced in this country is of excellent quality, being weighty, 

 resinous, and the concentric rings firmly packed. The largest 

 specimen which I have cut down, and only stern necessity 

 compelled its removal, was, exchisive of the broken top, 72 feet 

 in height, measured 26 inches in diameter at the butt end, 

 and contained 73 feet of timber. On measuring some of the 

 annual rings near the bark, I found them to average one inch 

 in thickness, which speaks highly in favour of the tree as a rapid 

 timber-producer. When felled and stripped of its branches, 

 the balsamic fragi-ance, from the quantity of resin the tree 

 contained, was perceptible at a considerable distance — further 

 than I have ever noticed even in the Douglas fir — and 

 the circumstance was commented upon amongst the woodmen 

 employed in removing it. The average upward rate of growth 

 of A. grandis in this country is 17 inches, while the quantity 

 of timber produced in fifty yeai-s by the large specimen 

 referred to gave an annual average of nearly \^ cubic feet. 

 "When cut into boarding, the wood resembled in appearance 

 the common silver fir, but was, perhaps, darker, of greater 

 specific gravity, and of firmer texture. It works well and takes 

 a good polish, but from the rapid rate of growth the graining is 

 somewhat rough, though perfect in delineation. The timber 

 was used experimentally for many purposes, but sufficient time 

 has not yet elapsed for us to speak with certainty regai'ding its 

 lasting qualities ; so far, however — and it is now five years since 

 the tree was felled — it seems quite sound, and likely to remain 

 so for many years to come. A comparison of the timber of this 

 tree grown in Britain with that exhibited from British Columbia 

 at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, revealed but few differ- 

 ences, and nothing more than might be expected between that of 

 a partially developed and of a mature tree. 



Taking into consideration the quantity and quality of wood 

 produced by A. grandis, as also its highly ornamental a])pear- 

 ance and undoubted hardihood, we place it in the front rank for 

 economic planting in the British Isles. The soil best suited for 

 it is an open rich loam, where it will not sufler either from 

 excess or want of moisture. Introduced from North- West 

 America in 1831. 



16. A. Jlookeriana, named in compliment to the late Sir 

 William Jackson Hooker, is a highly ornamental conifer, and one 



