214 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



to move, even when five or six feet high. As the tree is liable to form large side 

 branches, the buds should be rubbed off the stem early in order to form a clean 

 trunk, though it bears pruning well as a young tree. 



Though somewhat liable to suffer from cold winds and spring frost, which injure 

 the foliage and flowers, the tree is hardier in this respect than many of our native 

 trees, though coming from a warm southern country. 



As regards the chemical nature of the soil it is quite indifferent, for though 

 it grows faster on a good loam and does not come to perfection on sandy soil, 

 it attains a large size on dry, rocky, calcareous soils, and even at an elevation of 

 800 feet and upwards resists wind better than many trees. I have seldom seen 

 horse-chestnuts blown down, though large heavy branches are often torn off by 

 violent winds. 



As an ornamental flowering tree for parks, lawns, and avenues it has no superior, 

 though on account of its branching habit it requires considerable attention in order 

 to form tall shapely trees. Its principal defect is the tendency of the leaves to 

 become brown and ragged early in the autumn, but they fall quickly, and being 

 easily removed make less litter than the leaves of the beech, oak, or sycamore. 



The large branches when allowed to rest on the ground in damp situations 

 frequently take root and become naturally layered, the best instance of this that I 

 have seen being at Mottisfont Abbey, Hants. 



For town planting, on account of its beautiful flowers and dense shade during 

 the hottest months, the horse-chestnut is perhaps, next to the plane, one of the best 

 trees we have, and does not seem to suffer much from smoke. In parks it is 

 valuable for its fruit, which are so much liked by deer that they are eaten as fast 

 as they fall, and would perhaps be worth collecting for winter food. 



The extraordinary hardiness of this southern tree is proved by the fact that 

 it will grow to a large size as far north as Trondhjem in Norway, lat. 63 26', a 

 tree figured by Schubeler near this place being 37 feet by 8 feet 9 inches. Another 

 in the Botanic Garden at Christiania, which is considered the largest in Norway, 

 measured in 1861, 16.62 metres by 2.45 metres, and when I saw it in 1903 had 

 increased to no less than 28 metres high by 3 in girth, though it has been exposed 

 to as low a temperature as - 18 to 20 Rdaumur. 



As regards the age which the horse-chestnut attains we have few exact records, 

 but it does not seem a very long-lived tree. J. Smith states* that an avenue 

 running south-east from the front of Broadlands House, near Romsey, Hants, was 

 planted in 1735; but in 1887 only two trees remained, which were 11 feet and 

 12 feet 4 inches in girth. 



Remarkable Trees 



There are so many fine trees in almost every part of Great Britain that I need 

 not go into great detail as to their dimensions, but though it is possible that in 

 Bushy Park, or other places near London, taller trees exist, I have only at 



1 Trans. Scot. Arb. Soc. xi. 540 (1 887). 



