30G TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTUIIAL SOCIETY. 



swept away or severely thinned out, to make room for the planting 

 of the Spanish chestnut, ash, and alder. 



Interspersed with the old oaks referred to are numerous other 

 oaks of about one hundred years' growth, all straight, clean- 

 stemmed, and perfectly sound trees, containing on an average 60 

 feet of timber each. How to account for the present rather unsatis- 

 factory state of the old oaks — their short, hollow stems and contorted 

 appearance — is, perhaps, easy enough, for by most persons this 

 would at once be attributed to their great age and consequent 

 natural decay. This is, no doubt, so far true ; but the wind, com- 

 bined with injuries inflicted by both man and beast, perhaps 

 centuries ago, have likewise been powerful agents in the work of 

 destruction. When a limb was broken by the wind, it was allowed 

 to lie where it fell, for pruning was then but seldom thought of, 

 while the wound caused by wrenching the branch from the stem 

 formed in the majority of instances a lodgment for water, and thus 

 conducted moisture, ending in decay and rot, into the very core of 

 the tree. 



No. 2, Beech. — This tree luxuriates on the chalk formation, and 

 is, next to the oak, perhaps more plentiful in Kent than any other. 

 One of the largest and most remarkable on this estate is growing 

 in the Lake wood on the left side of the drive entering from the 

 top or Holwood side. At 3 feet from the ground this giant tree is 

 20 feet 6 inches in girth, above which it divides into ten massive 

 limbs, two of the largest girthing 5 feet 3 inches and 5 feet 4 inches 

 at a yard from the fork, the whole tree containing 235 feet of timber. 

 The head is beautifully rounded, and amply furnished with branches, 

 the diameter of the latter being fully 78 feet. As a picturesque 

 tree this noble beech occupies the front rank, and, standing on 

 the greensward at a considerable distance from any other tree, it 

 has a very striking appearance. The soil is a strong loam, resting 

 on gravel. 



Growing within twenty-five yards of the last, and on the southern 

 bank of the lake, is another beech tree of noble proportions, the stem 

 at a yard up girthing 17 feet 1 inch, and having a height of fully 

 GO feet. At 4 feet up the stem divides into thirteen limbs, and the 

 average girth of each at 3 feet from the fork is 3 feet 7 inches. 

 These branches are very uniform in size, and rise perfectly straight 

 for a considerable length before ramifying into the top branchlets. 

 Between the lower lake and the public footpath to the north of it 

 are numerous fine examples of the beech, with clean and straight 



