Sequoia 695 



Though in this country the tree has proved fairly hardy in most localities, it is 

 certainly more susceptible to frost in spring and autumn, especially when young, 

 than Wellingtonia, and cannot be looked on as a really hardy tree except in well- 

 drained soils, and in situations where it is well sheltered from dry frosty winds. All 

 the really fine specimens I have seen are in unusually favourable places, and I should 

 not recommend the tree for planting largely except in the south-west and west of 

 England and Scotland, though in Ireland it seems to be more generally flourishing. 



It does not dislike lime in the soil, and though the top is always killed back in 

 hard winters, grows fast even at Colesborne, a tree planted on the site of the old 

 house here about 1855, being now no less than 1 1 feet in girth though only about 55 

 feet high. Another planted later on thin dry soil is only about 35 feet by 4 feet. 



Its long feathering branches, which droop to the ground and sometimes take 

 root, make it a very ornamental tree, but as a timber tree its value remains 

 doubtful. Whilst young it is very liable to be barked at the ground by mice, 

 which have destroyed more than half of those which I have planted, and Sir W. 

 Thiselton-Dyer tells me that squirrels* attack the bark at Kew. 



Specimens of its timber grown in England are very inferior to the imported 

 wood, on account of the rapid increase in girth which the tree makes unless crowded ; 

 and the only places I have seen where it seemed at all likely to be profitable are 

 at Whitfield and Penllergare, though in Ireland there may be better hopes of its 

 economic value, in favourable situations. 



The following opinions, taken from the reports^ published by the Conifer 

 Conference, express very well the condition of this tree in twenty selected places : 



England 



Pampisford, Cambridge . . . Often injured by frost. 



Golden Grove, Caermarthen . . Leader sometimes frosted. 



Scorrier, Cornwall .... Requires shelter from wind. 



Tortworth, Gloucester . . . In a shady place. 



Linton, Kent . . . . . Lost 3 feet of top last winter. 



Howick, Northumberland Not thriving well. 



Inveraray, Argyllshire . 



Whittinghame, East Lothian . 



Fordell, Fife . . . . 



Murthly, Perth 



Scone, Perth . . . . 



The Cairnies, Perth 



Castle Leod, Ross . 



Scotland 



Often loses its leader. 

 Vigorous ; well sheltered. 

 Very fine specimens. 

 Fine in damp places. 

 In fine health ; grows well. 

 Doing well in shelter. 

 Fine specimen. 



' Squirrels are fond of making their nests out of the bark, but do no injury to trees, which have attained a considerable 

 siie. C Card. Chron. 1866, p. 413. 



"^ Journ. Roy. Hort. Soc. xiv. pp. 483 seq. (1892). Cf. also Card. Chron. 1866, p. 1043, where an abstract is given of 

 Mr. Palmer's statistics of the effects of the severe winter of 1860-1861 on this tree, planted in 113 different places in England, 

 Scotland, and Ireland. 



