1887-88.] Annual Increase in Girth of Trees. 267 



The Scots fir does not thrive generally in the Edinhurgh 

 district. Certainly the record of my measured specimens is 

 a miserable one. No. 19, almost the only Scots fir in the 

 Botanic Garden proper, had begun to decay in 1878, although 

 but 4 feet in girth. It did not increase at all in that year 

 or in 1879 ; actually decreased in 1880 and 1881 ; and was 

 then cut down. 



Nos. 36 and 37, among the best of a considerable number 

 of poor specimens in the easterly groves of the Arboretum, 

 had small heads of foliage, although they looked healthy 

 enough, in 1878, but they have degenerated ever since. The 

 gh'th of No. 36 dmiinished in several seasons, and the nett 

 result of ten years was an mcrease of three-fourths of an inch. 

 No. 37 grew a quarter of an inch in 1878, but never in- 

 creased again, and suffered a decrease of very nearly an inch 

 in nine years. Though evidently dying, both these trees are 

 only about 4-| feet in girth. Occasionally the Scots fir 

 does better than this in our neighbourhood. No. 11, in the 

 low ground of the Arboretum, for example, has a tall straight 

 stem, 7 feet 10 inches in girth. But it too has degenerated 

 since 1878, when an increase of 0*30 was registered, as 

 the nett result of the decennial period has been a decrease 

 of nearly an inch ; and during the last six years, when it 

 was measured with pecuHar care, its average loss was a tenth 

 of an inch. In appearance this tree also grows shabbier year 

 by year. 



In 1878 a really fine Scots fir stood on the lawn of 

 Cammo, 5 miles west of Edinburgh. It measured upwards 

 of 10 feet in girth, and had a large healthy head of foliage, 

 accommodating a rookery of some thirty nests. It was 

 increasing very slowly, however, at the rate of only 0'20, in 

 1878 and 1879 ; in 1880 there was no increase, and since 

 then the foliage has progressively decayed. 



It is remarkable that in 1878 four of these five trees 

 were still growing, although slowly, but that in the next 

 year or two growth ceased, and decay of the foliage set in. 

 It seems fair to conclude that in 1878 they were in a feeble 

 state, and that the succeeding severe season gave them the 

 cmqj d& grace. 



