PREFACE 



The importance of coniferous timbers will be 

 realised when it is stated that in 1913 our imports 

 reached the enormous figure of ;f30,ooo,ooo. 

 Since the war commenced, vast quantities of 

 home-grown wood have been utilised, while there 

 has been a corresponding demand for informa- 

 tion regarding coniferous trees and their timber, 

 particularly with reference to the best kinds to 

 ;j plant from a purely commercial point of view, 

 ^ and the value of timber produced. 

 . The following notes on these trees, which have 



S been compiled as opportunity offered during the 

 ^ past thirty years, are taken in the main from 

 ^ specimens cultivated in the grounds at Penrhyn 

 • Castle, Wobum Abbey, and other places of which 

 the writer has been in charge. To the owners of 

 H several well-knowii Pineta and nurseries through- 

 out the country and on the Continent I am in- 

 debted for specimens and information regarding 

 c^ some of the rarer species and varieties. 

 » P Numerous articles, monographs, and essays 

 ^ on hardy Conifers have, at various times, been 

 contributed by the author to The Gardeners' 



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