7o6 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



Introduction 



The Wellingtonia was introduced by Mr. J. D. Matthew, who visited the 

 Calaveras Grove in July 1853, and sent home seeds immediately afterwards. In 

 Pinetum Britannicum, p. 318, eleven trees of this origin are traced, namely, two each 

 at Gourdiehill, Megginch Castle, and Ballendean, near Inchture, and one each at 

 the Kinnoul Nursery near Perth, Newburgh, Balbirnie, Inchry House, and Eglinton 

 Castle ; but none of these were so large when he wrote as those raised from 

 later consignments. Lobb visited the Calaveras Grove in the autumn of the same 

 year, and returned' to England in December 1853, bringing with him a large 

 quantity of seed and two living plants. The latter were planted out in Veitch's 

 nursery at Exeter, but only survived three or four years. 



Cultivation ^ 



The culture of the Wellingtonia presents no difficulty if care is taken to have 

 the roots thoroughly spread out when planted out. They are often kept too long in 

 pots, which causes their main root to curl round, and when this has assumed a cork- 

 screw shape it never loses it. If the tree is transplanted every year or so while 

 young, it may safely be removed when 4 or 5 feet high. As regards soil and 

 situation it is more accommodating than the redwood, and even in heavy soil is 

 rarely injured by spring frosts. It grows very fast in most places up to 40 or 50 

 feet high, and then, unless the soil is deep and well drained, often becomes stunted 

 and increases more in girth than height. If planted in a park or field pastured by 

 stock, it must be very carefully fenced, as horses and cattle will gnaw its bark 

 persistently and do it much injury. I noticed a good instance of this in the park 

 at Mark's Hall, Essex, where some Wellingtonias had been so much bitten by 

 cattle that they resembled the trees in a toy Noah's Ark, one about 35 years old 

 being only 12 feet high by 3 feet in girth. When surrounded by other trees, where 

 it cannot extend its branches laterally, the girth is much less in proportion. A tree 

 that I saw in a plantation at Powis Castle, which was growing extremely well, was 

 75 feet high and only 7 feet 3 inches in girth, whilst one in the lower park at the 

 same place was 81 feet by 16 feet. 



Remarkable Trees 



When first introduced this tree made such a sensation in the horticultural world, 

 that it was planted almost everywhere, and there are specimens at every place of 

 importance in the United Kingdom, many of which are very nearly equal in size. 

 The tallest at Windsor Castle was already 21 feet high in 1865, and is now, as I am 



* Hortus Veitchii, 39, 346 (1906). 



' An interesting article on the causes of success or failure in plantations on a large scale of this tree in South Hampshire 

 appeared in Card. Chron. ix. 794 (1878). 



""N* 



