Picea 95 



" The plantation occurs at an altitude of 700 to 800 feet, the aspect being 

 northerly, soil a sandy peat over boulder clay. The age of the plantation is twenty- 

 five years ; but there is no record either as to the number of the plants put out or 

 the age when planted. They were, however, notched in, and their age would most 

 probably be four years. They were planted rather irregularly, the distance varying 

 from 6 to 9 feet, and both common spruce and Scots fir have been used to fill up 

 between, to 3 feet between each plant. The average height of the Sitka trees is 

 about 33 feet ; and the girth at 5 feet taken at random is (where they had been 

 planted 9 feet apart), 24 in., 22 in., 20 in., 25 in., 22 in., 22 in., 28 in., 22 in., 26 in., 



25 in. The largest common spruces I could find on the same ground measured 9 in., 

 8 in., II in., 9 in., 11 in., 12 in., 16 in., 9 in., 10 in., 12 in., and their height was about 



26 feet. I took the measurement of a hundred Sitkas over a track 20 feet broad, just 

 as they came, and they averaged 2 2| in. Where the Sitkas had been planted at 

 6 feet apart, the common spruce and Scots fir are dominated, and the greater part of 

 them quite dead. I drained some very wet parts a year ago, where both the Scots 

 fir and common spruce had been killed through excess of moisture, but the Sitka had 

 been very little harmed by it. Judging by what I have seen of the tree here and 

 elsewhere, it will stand a greater degree of moisture than any other conifer I know. 

 The plantation is altogether in a very healthy state." 



A few hundred Menzies' spruces were planted out in 1879 on the mountain at 

 Bronydd, on the property of Lord Penrhyn in North Wales, at 900 feet elevation ; 

 according to Mr. Richards, the forester, only half a dozen trees now survive, in a 

 wretched condition. He states, however, that as the young growths come out late in 

 the spring the tree is never touched by frost in North Wales. At Penrhyn there is 

 a good specimen of the tree measuring 10 feet 6 inches in girth in 1904. 



Menzies' spruce,^ on account of its sharp needles, has been supposed to be free 

 from the attacks of deer, rabbits, and hares ; but recent observations made in the 

 royal domain of Freyr in Belgium show that out of 10,000 plants introduced some 

 years ago only 2000 remain, and these are not expected to survive long. This is 

 much to be regretted, as they had grown splendidly. 



Remarkable Trees 



One of the largest trees we know of in the south of England is at Highclere, 

 Berks, the seat of the Earl of Carnarvon, where we measured a tree in August 



1903 which was 96 feet by 12 feet. The tree, having lost its lower branches 

 owing to a heavy snow-storm, has put out new branches down the trunk, a 

 somewhat rare occurrence in large conifers. Another very fine tree is growing 

 at Barton, Suffolk, which was planted in 1847, ^"^ when measured by Henry in 



1904 was 99 feet by 9 feet 3 inches. Both of these are in a dry climate but in a 

 good soil. 



At Bicton, Devonshire, I measured a tree in 1902 which was 85 feet by 11 feet 



Bull. Soc. Cent. Forest. Belgique, April 1901. 



