THE TWENTY-NINTH ANNUAL EXCURSION, 83 
favourable impression among the timber merchants present, 
its cross-cutting being more of the nature of a tear than a cut. 
Tea was served at Hulne Abbey, and on the way through the 
policies to Alnwick station some fine old silver fir, a few large 
Douglas fir, and a number of good clean-grown larch, girthing 
8 feet at breast-height, were observed. 
On Wednesday, rst August, the Excursionists visited Lambton 
Park, the seat of the Earl of Durham. Driving from Newcastle, 
Lambton was reached at 1o o’clock, and on their arrival the 
party were met by Mr Bond and Mr Smith, the forester and 
gardener respectively at Lambton, who acted as chaperons. 
In marked contrast to that of the previous day, the weather was 
delightful, and the park, which is a very extensive and finely 
wooded one, and gardens were seen at their best. 
On entering the policies, the party made a tour of the grounds 
in the vicinity of the Castle, which occupies a commanding 
position overlooking the valley of the Wear, and after an 
inspection of the beautiful garden and some other parts of the 
grounds, they drove to Bowes House Farm, where lunch was 
served. Mr Fothringham proposed a vote of thanks to Lord 
Durham for his kindness in allowing the Excursion party to 
visit his estate, and to Mr Bond for the pains he had taken in 
connection with the arrangements for the visit, and thereafter 
a visit was paid to one of the estate saw-mills and timber-yards. 
Here a good deal of discussion took place regarding the lasting 
properties of some of the timber which was being converted 
into fencing material, and Mr Bond mentioned that well- 
seasoned oak posts had been found to be quite sound after being 
twenty years in the ground. The party returned to Newcastle 
early in the afternoon in order to take part in a conference 
at the Armstrong College, and to hear a paper read there by 
Mr A. C. Forbes on “ The Value of Waste Land for Afforesta- 
tion Purposes.” ! 
On arrival at the College the party were kindly entertained 
to tea by Lord Barnard, D.C.L., the Chairman of the Agri- 
cultural Committee. Lord Barnard was unable to be present, 
and Professor Lebour, the Vice-Principal, who was introduced 
by Professor Gilchrist, welcomed the party to the College. 
Mr Fothringham, on behalf of the Society, thanked Lord 
1 Tt is hoped that the paper may appear in the July part of the Zvansactions. 
