190 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



At Dartrey, in co. Monaghan, the Earl of Dartrey planted in 1882 a considerable 

 area of slightly hilly ground with a mixture of larch, spruce, Douglas fir, and 

 Thuya. In 1904, twenty-two years after planting, of the four species, all grown 

 densely under the same conditions, the Thuya had made the most timber, the trees 

 averaging 40 to 50 feet in height by 4^ feet in girth. The Douglas fir was slightly 

 taller, but not so stout in the stem, averaging about 3^ feet in girth. The Earl of 

 Dartrey speaks very highly of the timber of Thuya, which he considers to be 

 superior to that of the best larch. 



At Brockley Park, Queen's Co., the residence of Mr. Wm. Young, there are 

 trees growing on light soil on limestone, which have made 40 cubic feet of timber in 

 30 years, and 50 feet in 35 years. The tallest tree, 30 years old, was in 1906 

 64 feet high by 7 feet 9 inches at a foot from the ground, and 3^ feet girth at 24 feet 

 up ; and its branches were 105 feet in circumference. 



Timber 



Sargent says. Garden and Forest, iv. p. 109 : " The wood is very valuable ; it 

 is light, soft, and easily worked, and so durable in contact with the ground, or when 

 exposed to the elements, that no one has ever known it long enough to see it decay." 



The great value of the cedar for shingle-making has long been known, and 

 several instances were mentioned by reliable people in Vancouver Island of hand- 

 made shingles, or " shakes " as they are called, remaining good 40 to 50 years 

 on roofs without decaying in the wet climate of this island. 



They are now manufactured on a very large scale by machinery in all the 

 Puget Sound mills, and exported largely to the middle and eastern states in neat 

 bundles, and I have no doubt that, if carefully selected and laid, such shingles would 

 be very suitable for roofing in England. Sargent says. Garden atid Forest, iv. 

 p. 242, "that nearly 100 mills were in 1891 exclusively devoted to making Red 

 Cedar shingles, and that the combined output of half of these operated by one 

 company was 3,50x5,000 per diem. They are now supplanting the Pine shingle of 

 Michigan, the Cypress shingle of the south, and the Redwood shingle of 

 California." 



As a rule in the American forests, they begin to decay at the heart long before 

 they attain their full growth, and the trunk seems to continue growing round the 

 hollow centre for an almost indefinite time, as in the case of the yew. On drier 

 land it keeps sound longer, and if cut when 2 to 3 feet in diameter the wood is 

 probably at its best. It resists decay for an immense time when fallen. 



For inside finish the wood is excellent, though not hard enough for flooring and 

 wainscot, or strong enough for joists. For ceiling and panelling it is most orna- 

 mental when well cut, as I saw in the Hotel at Duncan's, Vancouver Island. 



Mr. Stewart has found at Benmore that it is very suitable for all estate 

 purposes, and prefers it to larch for planking and fencing, as he finds it less liable to 

 warp and crack. (H. J. E.) 



