694 T^he Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



Introduction 



It is stated by Kent in Veitch's Conifera that Hartweg, who collected .in 

 California and Mexico for the Royal Horticultural Society in 1846 and 1847, was 

 the introducer, but there is no evidence to confirm this statement, either in Hartweg's 

 letters, which are printed in the Journal of the Society, or in Gordon's account of 

 the conifers of which he sent home seeds. 



The first mention I can find of the tree in the Gardeners Chronicle is on March 

 17, 1849, when James Duncan, gardener at Basing Park, wrote that he had planted 

 out in July 1847 ^ plant 9 inches high, which had stood two winters without 

 protection. In the same journal for 1851, p. 246, it is stated that in 1845 there 

 was a plant 2 feet 7 inches high at Holker, near Ulverston ; ' and on the authority of 

 Mr. Frost that a grafted tree planted at Dropmore in 1845 was 18 feet high in 185 1. 

 It is evident that all of these must have been raised earlier than 1848, when 

 Hartweg returned to England, and in his letter, received by the Society on 

 November 4, 1846,^ though he speaks of having seen the tree on the mountains 

 of Santa Cruz, he says nothing about having collected or sent home seeds. 



In ^ Synopsis of the Coniferous Plants grown in Great Britain and Sold by 

 Knight and Perry, at Chelsea, published by Longmans, London, without date, but 

 probably about 1850, it is stated on pp. 45, 46, that the redwood was introduced in 

 1843, when plants were sent to Knight and Perry by Dr. Fischer of St. Petersburg, 

 who received seeds of it from America. I have inquired of M. Fischer de 

 Waldheim, Director of the Botanic Gardens at St. Petersburg, whether he knew 

 who was the actual collector, but he replies that there is nothing in the archives 

 which will give this information. 



Cultivation 



I have never seen a plant raised from seed grown in this country, though I 

 believe it will ripen in the south-west. Imported seed, so far as I have tried it, 

 germinates badly, and the seedlings are tender at first, and should not be planted 

 without protection till they are two or three years old, as the young growth will 

 usually suffer from frost. 



I am inclined to think that many of the plants sold by nurserymen are raised 

 from cuttings, and purchased plants certainly seem hardier than the seedlings I have 

 raised, most of which were killed to the ground in 1905 and 1907, though they shot 

 up many suckers the following year. I have no evidence to show whether trees 

 raised from cuttings will grow into tall, straight trees, as in the case of Cryptomeria. 



According to a note' by Mr. Frost in 1851, the first plants sent out by Knight 

 and Perry were grafted, but this seems very unlikely, as there is no stock except 

 that of the Wellingtonia which would seem at all suitable. 



Mr. Fenner tells me that this tree is now only 65 feet high by 6 feet in girth, and has been damaged by wind at the 

 top. Suckers are growing from roots two feet from the main stem. 



* /oum. Hon. Soc. ii. 124 (1847). 8 Corrf. Chrotu 1851, p. 246. 



