COMPARATIVE VALUE OF EXOTIC CONIFER.^ IN BRITAIX, 283 



when maturity is arrived at, we may expect much better results. 

 The appearance of the timber in a sample now before me is of a 

 pleasing brick-red colour, close-grained, and free from knots. It 

 is light in proportion to its bulk as compared with most other 

 woods, and takes on a tine, silky polish. Being long-grained it 

 splits more readily than any other British grown timber we know 

 of. For these reasons we anticipate that it will, when grown in 

 quantity, be largely used for fencing purposes, and in the making 

 of packing-cases, boxes, etc., where neither great strength nor long- 

 lasting qualities are of importance. In the making of furniture 

 it would seem to be a most valuable wood, as any one could 

 perceive who had the chance of seeing the several suites sent by 

 the Redwood Company to the Forestry Exhibition at Edinburgh, 

 The Redwood is a tree of very rapid growth when suitably placed, 

 the annual upward rate of growth of several specimens of which 

 we have kept a record being almost 30 inches. It is a native of 

 California. Introduced in 1846. 



102. Taxodium disticimm (Deciduous Cypress) is a tree of 

 great beauty ; the soft, feathery foliage, which during summer is 

 of a bright, pleasing green, slowly changing as autiimn advances 

 to a dark i"ed, rendering it distinct from any other conifer in 

 cultivation. Even during winter, when leafless, this tree is very 

 attractive, for the highly-coloured twigs and branches are re- 

 splendent in the evening sun, and appear at a short distance off 

 as if all aglow. Why this tree should have been so neglected of 

 late years is a mystery diiiicult to solve, for, whether regarded as 

 an ornamental tree or one of the easiest culture, it can well hold 

 its own. It is specially adapted for planting in quagmires, where 

 few other trees succeed, thriving under such conditions in a 

 manner that is quite surprising. As a timber tree in the British 

 Isles, the Deciduous Cypress is, however, not likely to attract 

 much attention, for the simple reason that our summers are too 

 short and cold for its perfect development. A native of North 

 America, principally the South-eastern States, and intx'oduced 

 about 1640. 



103. T. Mexicanum (Mexican Deciduous Cypress) is a pretty 

 but little-known tree, which we have found to be perfectly hardy 

 in the warmer poi-tions of these islands. I know of no other 

 conifer so delicately beautiful, none that in autumn changes to 

 such a lovely golden red its light, fresh, green foliage of the 

 summer, and none that is better fitted for adorning a shady, well- 



