TWO FOREST ARBORETUMS NEAR BRUSSELS. 7 



Libncedrus decurrens. At i6 years has a maximum growth in 

 this plot of 8 inches diameter by 30 feet high ; a tree that seems 

 hardy and well worth more extended planting in Belgium. It 

 grows with the aspect of a very vigorous churchyard cypress 

 {Cupressiis semperiirens) in the sub-tropics: and seemingly, 

 may be planted very close. It is less a tree of a temperate than 

 of a sub-tropical climate, and I was surprised to see it doing 

 so well here. It looked as well as the trees I saw in the Villa 

 Borghese at Rome. M. Drion says that in the Pare Royal 

 d'Ardenne are trees that at 30-40 years have diameters up to 

 20 inches, and heights of 46 feet. 



Thuja gigantea. Is growing well here, as it generally does in 

 Belgium, says M. Drion. 



Picea Otnorica of Servia. Looking very well : it seems quite 

 worthy of trial in Belgium against the common spruce, says 

 M. Drion. 



Finns Pinaster. This, it will be remembered, is the pine which 

 has been more planted, and has spread more rapidly, than any 

 other pine (or than any other tree) in South Africa. In the 

 arboretum plot here, cluster-pine at 16 years of age runs about 

 3 inches diameter, and in height the trees are growing with 

 strong leading shoots like spruce. At 20 years the average 

 diameter of dominating trees is 5 inches. The Leiria (Portugal) 

 tables give 4 inches by 39 feet as the normal for cluster-pine at 

 age 20 years. These trees look better than any I have seen in 

 England ; but they have a stunted look compared to the cluster- 

 pine in South Africa, and a lower rate of growth. They 

 suffered badly from the snow this spring (1913), and bad 

 winters, like that of 1879, almost wiped out the cluster-pine 

 in Belgium and the centre of France. Nevertheless it is con- 

 sidered that cluster-pine is worth planting on the Belgian dunes 

 as a temporary nurse for other species. M. Drion is much in 

 favour of planting cluster-pine near the coast. It does quite 

 well, he says, near the sea in Belgium. 



Pinus Strobus. These trees show splendid covert and a clean 

 soil, but many of them are yellow with a leaf disease. Growth 

 now very regular and good. At 20 years the tree averages 

 5 inches diameter by 25 feet high. 



Abies Nordmanniana. From the Caucasus. The growth of this 

 tree is one of the best among the conifers here. It is about the 

 same age as the common silver fir below and shows a better 



