AND ROBERT MARSIIAM. 253 



cb in Backinghamshire*, where the handsomest Tree (us i 

 was informed by a friend to be depended on) runs 75 feet 

 clear, & tben about 35 feet more in tbe head. I went on 

 purpose to see it. 'Tis only 6 F. 6 I. round, but straight as 

 possible. Some Beeches in my late worthy friend Mr. 

 Naylor'sf Park of Hurstmonceaux in Sussex, ran taller & 

 much larger ; but none so handsome. Norfolk is too flat a 

 Country to try the difference of the growth of Trees on y e 

 cold or warm sides of hills ; but i entirely agree with you in 

 the great advantage of warmth. This County is very un- 

 genial to Elms, which are generally hollow before they are a 

 foot square, & Ash does not thrive with me. I have left off 

 planting Chesnuts ; but they grow quick, and, i conclude, to 

 the largest size of any Tree in this Island. I have one i 

 raised from the nut, which was 2 feet round at 55 high in 

 1781. 'Tis a very handsome plant, & holds clear above eleven 

 yards, with a fair head. I have seen several Chesnut-trees 

 above ten yards round ; & Lord Ducie's } i measured above 

 15 yards ; which i conclude is the greatest. But i find they 



* [Probably at Shardeloes, near Amersham. A. N.] 

 f [Francis Hare (son of a Bishop of Chichester) was born in 1713, and 

 assumed the name of Naylor in 1 734, on succeeding to the estate of his 

 uncle George Naylor, who had bought Hurstmonceaux. In his youth he 

 is said to have been guilty of extravagance and dissipation of every 

 description, joining the notorious " Medmenham Brotherhood." He died 

 in 1775, when the estates passed to his half-brother, Robert Hare, whose 

 grandsons were the accomplished Francis, Augustus, Julius, and Marcus 

 Hare. Hurstmonceaux Castle was destroyed by Wyatt in 1777, and now 

 remains a ruin. A. N.] 



\ [This magnificent Spanish chestnut at Tortworth, in Gloucestershire, 

 has been mentioned by nearly all writers on trees from Evelyn's time to 

 our own. The particulars of it given in the text a few lines lower down 

 seem to be taken from Ducarel's paper ('Phil. Trans.' 1771, p. 168), 

 where they are quoted from the 'London Magazine' for 1758 (p. 482). 

 A very fair representation of it, taken in 1824, is given by Strutt (* Sylva 

 Britannica,' pi. xxix.), and Loudon says ('Arboretum Britannicum,' 

 p. 1988) that " it may, indeed, possibly have been one of those planted by 

 the Romans." I saw it in August, 1875, and Lord Ducie kindly informs 

 me that its " present girth is about 17 yards; but each measurement will 

 vary, as the trunk is covered with ligneous warts, and a tape may either 

 cover or miss one of these, thus altering its dimensions." A. N.] 



