206 COLLEGE GARDENS 



The Walk was made in 1717, and was at first known as the 

 White Walk, on account of the colour of the stone rubbish 

 used to raise it. Hence " Wide Walk," whence " Broad Walk." 



The largest of the two ivy-covered stumps at the end of 

 the New Walk measures about 4 ft. 8 in. through. Gaps 

 in the Avenue are being filled with the quick-growing 

 Huntingdon Elms, U. montana vegeta, but it is not certain 

 that they will prove as satisfactory in the long run as the 

 ordinary variety. 



THE CHRIST CHURCH GARDENS.* The doyen of all the trees 

 is the Plane in the Garden of the Lady Margaret Professor of 

 Divinity at Christ Church, which is supposed to have been 

 planted by Dr. Pococke when Professor of Arabic in 1636. 

 It is truly a magnificent tree. Its girth, 18 ft. 10 in. in 1887 

 (Gardeners' Chronicle), seems to have increased to 19 ft. 3 in. 

 in 1911. The trunk soon divides into two enormous limbs, 

 with girths of 13 ft. 9 in. and 10 ft. 2 in. respectively; the 

 branches cover an area of about 30 yds. in diameter. The 

 trunk-girths of other trees in the garden are : Walnut, 5 ft. 4 in.; 

 Mulberry, 3 ft. 5 in ; Box, 2 ft. 2 in. The nearest Yew, in the 

 corner of the Cathedral burying-ground, has a girth of 6 ft. 1 1 in., 

 which is of course small as compared with the old yew in 

 Iffley Churchyard. 



In Canon Driver's Garden the most noteworthy tree is a 

 wreck of a fine Catalpa, girth 7 ft., with a spread of branches 

 of 13 yds. Only one branch is now living. Among the other 

 trees, a wall Pear measures i ft. 6 in. across the longer 

 diameter of its oval stem ; a Double Cherry has a trunk-girth 

 of 3 ft. 3 in., and a straight-stemmed Robinia, a diameter of 

 i ft. 6 in. More famous than all is the large Fig-tree, the 

 numerous suckers of which have covered a length of wall of 

 25 yds. The tree is of exceptional interest, because it was 

 almost certainly brought from the East by Edward Pococke, 



* I am greatly indebted to the owners of these gardens for permis- 

 sion to measure their trees. 



