General Notices. 507 



tations, is a fine row of Picea halsamea, (the Balm of Gilead Fir,) which 

 must have been then extremely rare, and which have now attained a height 

 ranging from 30 to about 46 feet. On measuring the girth, I found one of 

 them 3 feet, 8 inches, at one foot above the ground. These were planted 

 about 34 years ago ; the trees are fresh and vigorous, and likely to continue 

 so for many years to come. The age and size they have attained already, 

 upset what Mt. Loudon has stated of this tree, in his Aboretum, where he 

 notices it as growing to 20 or 30 feet, and not of more than the same num- 

 ber of years in duration. As Mr. Loudon was cautious in his statements 

 made so absolutely, may he not have referred to an instance occurring in 

 some rich sheltered holm, instead of the originally heath-clad habitat which 

 these now occupy 1 This point deserves inquiry. I would especially direct 

 the attention to the Balsameas, as probably among the largest and finest in 

 the country. They are very handsome trees, branched to the ground, and, 

 as the wind lifts the thickly clad branches, the foliage, which is silvery un- 

 derneath, glitters as if bespangled with hoar frost. Planted round a semi- 

 circular field, outside a surrounding plantation, they produce a fine effect. 

 Thus much for what had been accomplished by his father, when the present 

 proprietor succeeded. 



At this time, and previous to Mr. Patton'a commencing his improvements, 

 this property was sub-divided into many small holdings — the tenants having 

 little capital and less enterprise. But having, at a very considerable ex- 

 pense, thoroughly drained the whole, erected suitable farm buildings, with 

 cottages for the workmen, and put the land under an improved system of 

 cultivation, he has now the satisfaction of seeing stock and crops of all 

 kinds produced, which would do credit to the most fertile districts, afford- 

 ing sufficient evidence that the increased return will amply repay him for 

 all his outlay, besides the gratification of knowing that he has, by giving 

 employment to so many workmen, largely contributed to their comfort, and 

 entirely changed the aspect of his estate. 



Mr. Patton began by planting the rarer Coniferous plants about the year 

 1844, sparingly at first, and more extensively thereafter, as he found they 

 succeeded. Those first planted were put out, up and down, in belts; but 

 more recently he has formed and planted a Ptnelvm on the higher grounds, 

 where the soil is, as I have noticed, of a peaty texture, on a sub-soil of san- 

 dy clay, drained. He has also planted in a belt of the old red sandstone 

 base, leading down the slope from the higher grounds to the Almond, on 

 the north, where, on a flat bottom rising up on the south, into a steep bank 

 of rich alluvial soil, there is another Pinetum being planted. Here the va- 

 rious species of Abies, Pinus, &c., are kept in groups, the trees of each 

 variety being kept by themselves — a much better method than promiscuous 

 planting. 



It is impossible, in a notice of this kind, to offer observations individually 

 on so extensive a collection of Coniferae ; and again, as in a previous notice 

 of the Belstane Coniferae, I must restrict my remarks to a limited selection 

 of species in each section. 



Many eminent authorities, such as Endlicher, Paxton, &.c., disapprove 



