a] 
) 
Cy 
resting-place. Returning to the avenue, the party walked up the 
hill, admiring on all sides the thriving condition of the trees and 
shrubs, strong evidence that their requirements were fully met in 
the soil and climate at Keir. 
Arriving at the stately mansion through a fine lime-tree 
avenue, the artistic taste and skill of the late Sir William Stirling 
Maxwell, Bart., were revealed on every side. Spacious terraces 
and flower-gardens surround the mansion, and the extensive 
ornamental grounds are noted for their wealth of choice trees and 
shrubs, especially those of the coniferous family, and the great 
skill displayed in their arrangement—the art of the landscape 
gardener being exhibited in some of its choicest aspects, 
Proceeding through the grounds, notice was particularly taken 
of the use to which Cupressus sempervirens was put in the 
decoration of the front of the mansion-house. It was trained up 
between the windows, from the ground to the top of the wall, 
in closely cropped columns, about 2 feet in diameter, and formed 
a unique ornamental feature. Near the mansion-house were seen 
some beautiful specimens of Cupressus macrocarpa, 55 feet high, 
and among other examples of the newer conifers specially noted 
were Abies Pinsapo, 30 to 35 feet high; A. Nordmanniana, 15 
feet high ; Cryptomeria Japonica, 40 feet in height, and with a 
spread of branches of 25 feet in diameter; Abzes nobilis, 60 feet 
high ; Pinus insignis, 50 feet high ; andaWellingtonia, 45 feet high. 
Among the older trees were a hoary Spanish chestnut, supposed 
to be five hundred years old, and 15 feet in circumference, and two 
“original” larches, 12 feet 9 inches and 11 feet 6 inches in girth—the 
latter being 80 feet high. A number of fine oaks were also met with. 
Everything seemed to grow well in this well-sheltered spot; and 
on the admirable condition in which the gardens were found— 
extending as they do to something like 45 acres—Mr Lunt 
was warmly complimented. In the course of the walk the 
members halted at a spot called ‘The Globe,” shaded by beeches, 
through openings in which the most charming views of the 
surrounding country can be seen, the prospects embracing Ben 
Lomond, Stirling Castle, the Wallace Monument, and the river 
Forth. 
While driving along the road to Doune, the party left their 
carriages to visit the Keir nurseries, which are about 2 acres in 
extent, and have been quite recently established. There Mr 
James Watt, J.P., Carlisle, in a few well-chosen words, moved 
