58 ON THE CORSICAN AUSTRIAN, AND DOUGLAS FlltS 



tliem. This specimen was planted in 1833. Of the same age we 

 found a magnificent A. Meuziesii, now 46 feet high and 11 feet 3 

 inches in girth ; also a P. monticola of same age, 46 feet high, and 

 5 feet 6 inches in girth, and all in the highest state of luxuriance 

 and health. These measurements are given for comparison of the 

 growth of those species with that of the Douglas fir, and we may 

 only further add, that there is also in the same situation a P. nobilis 

 planted in 1843 (ten years later), now 50 feet high, and 3 feet 9 

 inches in circumference. At Minto, in Roxburghshire, in good 

 loam and upon a clayey substratum, the A. Douglasii planted twenty 

 years ago is now 36 feet in height, and nearly 3 feet in girth 

 at 4 feet from the ground. At Carlowrie, Linlithgowshire, in 

 deep heavy loam resting on clay, there is also one 25 years of age, 

 and 36 feet in height, standing, however, in a rather exposed position 

 for heavy south-westerly winds, from which it seems to suffer, and it 

 has become " lop-sided." At Belstane, on the top of the Pentlands, 

 and at an elevation of ahout 900 feet, this pine thrives remarkably 

 well. Planted in 1843, they were three }'ears ago fully 50 feet 

 high, and growing in a very poor cold tilly soil. Many other 

 instances might be cited showing the adaptability of Abies 

 Douglasii to all sorts of soils and situations in Scotland. The tree 

 at Eaith, near Kirkcaldy, in Fife, planted by Douglas himself, is now 

 a splendid specimen, and grows within the influence of the sea-breeze, 

 though in a somewhat sheltered site ; and inland, on poor soil at 

 Dolphinton, Lanarkshire, at nearly 1000 feet above sea-level, it is 

 thriving in quantities. 



When young, the bark of the Abies Douglasii is covered with 

 numerous small blisters surcharged with highly aromatic and 

 resinous sap, and breaking one of these in passing through amongst 

 a group of plants quite perfumes the air around. As the tree grows 

 older, the bark becomes dry, and of a greyish and rough appearance, 

 quite different from the younger stages of its growth. The wood is 

 reported to he very durable, tough, elastic, beautifully grained, 

 and susceptible of a high polish. No doubt, the utility and 

 beauty of the fibre of the wood in old specimen sections, point it 

 out as suited for either constructive or decorative purposes; and 

 the beauty, symmetry, and gracefully branching habit of the dark 

 green-clad branches and side shoots, combined with its rapidity of 

 growth, render it equally well adapted in the live state for either 

 ornament or profitable planting. 



Considering, then, the prospective value of the timber of these 



