CULZEAN 



things, whereof a very rich collection is being raised 

 in the kitchen garden. That garden, a spacious 

 enclosure within brick walls, lies about a quarter of 

 a mile south of the castle, well sheltered by lofty 

 beech woods and approached through an avenue of 

 splendid silver firs. This tree, the loftiest European 

 species, seldom receives the treatment of close canopy 

 required to bring it to perfection. It is usually seen 

 isolated or at wide intervals in mixed plantation, 

 where its head, towering above all others, becomes 

 ragged and bent by the prevailing winds. Moreover, 

 unlike others of the genus Abies, it is a shade-bearer; 

 hence, unless it be grown in dense mass, it throws 

 out a multitude of strong side branches, which ruins 

 the timber, naturally of fine quality. In this avenue 

 the firs stand in close rank, their silvery boles rising 

 straight and clean, a truly beautiful sight when the 

 sunbeams slant through the dark canopy overhead. 

 The largest of these trees has reached a height of 

 120 feet, with a circumference of 15 feet at 4 feet 

 from the ground. 



In the garden itself, attention is first claimed for 

 things of mature growth. A single plant of Rhodo- 

 dendron ponticum measures 243 feet in circumference 

 and 21 feet high, and, when in full flower, shows 

 what a truly splendid thing is this common shrub, 

 so often vulgarised by use in the wrong place. It 

 may surprise many people to see Buddleia colvillei 

 already four feet high, flowering freely in the open 

 border without any protection in winter. On the far 



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