Acer 683 



it has never become common, and is not often to be had from nurserymen. It is 

 well worth cultivation on account of its large and beautiful foliage, and should be 

 planted in deep moist soil in a warm aspect where it is sheltered by other trees at 

 first. It ripens seeds in England, and I have raised plants from some sent me by 

 the Earl of Ducie in 1900, which are now over 8 feet high. 



It does fairly well as a planted tree in the lighter alkali lands of the San 

 Joaquin valley in California, where only a few species will thrive, owing to the 

 nature of the soil.^ 



Remarkable Trees 



The largest specimen I know of the Oregon Maple is one at Boynton, 

 Yorkshire, which Sir Charles Strickland to the best of his recollection planted 

 himself about sixty years ago. It is not a well -shaped tree, as it is rather 

 crowded, but measures 70 feet high by 6 feet in girth. There is another at 

 Hildenley, probably of the same age, which measures 50 feet by 5 feet and 

 bears fruit. There are several trees in Kew Gardens, the largest of which, 

 near the entrance to the nursery, is 49 feet high by 3 feet 8 inches in girth. 

 At Tortworth there is a tree in a rather exposed situation which is 45 feet by 

 5 feet 6 inches. At Syon a grafted tree is 50 feet high but only 3 feet in girth, 

 and bore some fruit in 1905. In the Royal Avenue at Bath there is a tree 50 

 feet by 6 feet 2 inches, but it is not in a thriving condition, the soil being too 

 dry to suit it. At Bicton, now the property of Lord Clinton, one of the most 

 thriving young trees which I have seen grows near the house; and was in 1906 

 about 50 feet high but only 2 feet 9 inches in girth. 



At Smeaton- Hepburn, East Lothian, there is a wide-spreading tree, with a 

 bole of 6 feet, which Henry measured in 1905 as 50 feet high by 7 feet in girth. 



At Glasnevin, Dublin, there is a fine tree, which in 1907 measured 51 feet high 

 by 5 feet 4 inches in girth. There are two others about 40 feet high, with wide- 

 spreading branches, growing in the quadrangle inside the main gate of Trinity 

 College, Dublin. 



Timber 



This wood, though unknown in Europe, is equal in beauty, and similar in 

 character to that of the eastern maples, and is more valued than any other native 

 hardwood in British Columbia and Washington. In old trees it is often very 

 well figured, though the figure is larger, bolder, and less regular than in the sugar 

 maple, and the colour not so uniform ; some parts of the heartwood being of a rich 

 red brown. Some of the best houses in Victoria are decorated with this wood, that 

 of the Hon. J. Dunsmuir, Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, being a good 

 example. If carefully selected and well seasoned it is fit for the finest cabinet- 

 maker's work. I had a bedstead made from it by Messrs. Weiler of Victoria which 

 shows the beauty of the wood very well ; and it could be procured in fair quantity if 

 desired, as there are many large trees still standing in accessible places. 



(H. J. E.) 



HUyard, Soils, 481 (1906). 

 Ill 2H 



