126 ‘TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
trees will grow at the present day: to take but two instances, 
forest-remains are abundant in the peat of the now almost treeless 
Outer Hebrides, and on the summits of the Grampians, at more 
than 3000 feet above sea-level. The great thickness of many of 
our peat deposits (sometimes reaching 30 to 50 feet), the known 
slow rate of growth of peat, and the frequent presence of two 
forest zones, is evidence that the conditions have changed con- 
siderably since the mosses began to form, and a closer examina- 
tion has shown that large areas of peat in Britain date back to 
the later phases of the Glacial period.” 
Mr Lewis shows, in the course of his paper, that in the upper 
forest zone, which may be traced in many districts in the north 
and south of Scotland, Pinus sylvestris was the dominant tree, 
particularly in the Highlands, while in Tweedsmuir and other 
parts of the southern uplands the prevailing species was birch. 
On page 249 he states that at one period occurred a wide- 
spread growth of Pinus sylvestris, of very large size, between 
2000 and 3000 feet, in the Highlands. This was followed by a 
relapse to wet, moorland conditions, which prevail to the present 
day. Accompanying the article are a very interesting series of 
illustrative photographs, also a diagram showing the succession 
of plant-remains in various peat deposits. A,’ Wags 
REMARKABLE CONIFERS IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
There are no doubt many very large and remarkable 
specimens of conifers throughout Great Britain and Ireland, 
which were not reported to the Conifer Conference of 1891, 
or to the Board of Agriculture when its list was prepared in 
1903. As a contribution towards collecting interesting details 
of this kind, I may instance the fine Adzes grandis at Madresfield 
Court, Malvern, Worcestershire, the seat of Earl Beauchamp. 
Measured on 7th September 1906, it had a height of 114 feet 
and a girth of 8 ft. 4 ins. at breast-height. It is probably 
one of the tallest trees in the United Kingdom. 
At the same place there is also a very fine avenue of Adzes 
nobilts var. glauca, now about sixty years old, but, unfortunately, 
badly attacked by Chermes on the twigs. J. Bi 
