256 TRANSACTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE [Sess. Lxvi. 



damage was seen on the bark of branches more than two 

 inches thick. Coppice-shoots seem to have suffered most, 

 as the bark was necessarily tender, owing to their rapid 

 growth. The wounds on such shoots seem also to have 

 much more difficulty in healing. In all cases, trees with 

 a natural tendency to throw out horizontal branches, and 

 especially when they were grown in the open, seem to 

 have suffered most. The branch had then to encounter 

 the full force of the blow from the hailstones, and thus the 

 newly formed wood was often badly bruised. On the 

 other hand, trees which tended to form vertical branches, 

 and those grown in close woods, seem to have suffered 

 less, as they had not to meet the full force of the blow, 

 and the hailstones glanced off, leaving a comparatively 

 narrow and clean cut which could soon heal. This can be 

 very well seen in the case of the apple trees standing in 

 the gardens here. Standard trees, which are allowed to 

 grow naturally, have not suffered nearly so severely as 

 those grown on the espalier system, with the branches 

 trained horizontally. 



THE AMOUNT OF DAMAGE DONE TO DIFFERENT VAEIETIES 

 OF TKEES. 



Coniferous trees seem to have suffered the least per- 

 manent damage ; owing to the narrowness of their needles, 

 their foliage practically received no damage, and any 

 wounds formed on the stem were soon covered by the 

 exudation of resin. The wounds may, however, at some 

 future time, impair the quality of the timber of conifers. 



Larch appears to have suffered most, owing most likely 

 to the sparseness of its foliage, and to the fact that the 

 needles come off in whorls, and leave the greater part of 

 the stem bare. So far as I have observed, no larch cancer 

 has yet made its entrance by any of these wounds. 



Scots pine appears to have been damaged to a consider- 

 able extent, though not so badly as the larch. This is 

 most likely due to its heavier foliage, which would more or 

 less protect the stems. 



Spruce seems to have suffered the least damage, perhaps 

 because being a shade-bearing tree, its living needles are 



