DARNAWAY FOREST. 



13 



"At the present time (1924) only 108 of the cedars remain. 

 Sixty of them stand on the edge of a drive on a thin layer of 

 poor gravelly soil overlying ch^^t/^^lkne of these have reached 

 a height of 70 feet, and the girth of the trunks at 3 feet above 

 the ground vary from 10 feet to 16 feet. These measurements 

 compare somewhat unfavourably with the trees mentioned later 

 in these notes growing in a deeper and richer soil. 



" The remaining forty-eight trees are to be found in different 

 parts of the park growing under various conditions as to soil and 

 shelter. Some are in deep well-drained soil and sheltered from 

 most of the gales, here are to be found four or five of the finest 

 trees. Others are in thin Downland turf with only a few inches 

 of soil covering the chalk, but where sheltered from the prevail- 

 ing south and south-west gales they have made excellent trees. 

 Some are on wind-swept slopes of the Downs with only the 

 thinnest of turf between roots and chalk. These are compara- 

 tively poor specimens. 



" From one to two dozen of the trees stand out from the 

 remainder by reason of their height, girth, and spread. 



" The following measurements will show what fine specimens 

 some of them are : — 



No. I, which is considered by many observers to be the finest 

 specimen in Great Britain, measures 98 to 100 feet in 

 height, and the trunk girths, at 3 feet up, 29 ft. 4 ins. 

 (June 1923). Its branches cover an area the circum- 

 ference of which equals 468 feet. At different periods 

 the girth of this tree has been measured and the following 

 records are in existence : — 

 In 



The bole is very short. At 5 feet above the ground 

 it is divided into about twenty-four huge limbs, many of 

 which have a girth of 12 feet. They rise (most of them) 

 perpendicularly, and from these countless horizontal 

 branches spring. 



The height of the tree is exceeded by a few cedars 

 in Great Britain, and its girth almost equalled in one or 



