PREFACE. 



lx this revised edition of VEITCH'S MANUAL OF CONIFERS I have 

 endeavoured to collect from the best available sources every item of 

 information that should prove useful and interesting to amateurs of 

 this remarkable family of trees and shrubs and also to foresters and 

 horticulturists. The descriptions of the species have been drawn 

 up from fresh materials and from an inspection of the subjects 

 themselves wherever practicable, and trees of the same species 

 growing in different and distant parts of Great Britain have been 

 visited with this object. In the comparatively few instances in 

 which this has not been done, the descriptions are those of 

 the authorities quoted. With the view of conveying an idea as 

 accurate as can be obtained of the condition and aspect of the most 

 important coniferous trees as seen in their native forests, the 

 accounts of them given by those who have explored the forests are 

 transcribed wholly or in part in preference to any studied 

 paraphrasing of their statements. Especial attention has been given 

 to the geographical distribution of the species and the climatic 

 conditions under which they grow in their native homes, on the 

 conviction that correct information on these points affords material 

 aid to the successful cultivation of them in Great Britain. 



My obligations to those who have assisted in the compilation of 

 the work either by their writings or by supplying materials for 

 critical examination and description are very great ; to Dr. Maxwell 

 T. Masters my best thanks are due for permission to use the 



