30 THE WOODLANDS. 



is common throughout Europe. It is the inner bark 

 of this tree which is used in Russia for the manufac- 

 ture of the " bast " matting so commonly used in this 

 country by nurserymen and others. The leaves are 

 heart-shaped, sharp-pointed at the apex, and seated 

 upon a long foot-stalk. The perfume of lime trees 

 about midsummer, when in full bloom, is powerful 

 and agreeable. At that time they are very much 

 frequented by bees. These trees attain to consider- 

 able dimensions, and will live and thrive for two 

 hundred years. Eight miles from Worcester there is 

 a wood of about five hundred acres, the undergrowth 

 of which is principally lime. In the same county are 

 trees estimated to be upwards of two hundred years 

 of age. At Ditton Park, in Berkshire, there is a tree 

 known to be upwards of two hundred years old, the 

 trunk of which has a diameter of twenty-two feet ten 

 inches at one foot from the ground. At Moor Park, 

 in Herefordshire, is a lime, the trunk of which 

 measures twenty-three feet three inches, and contains 

 eight hundred and seventy-five feet of timber. 

 In Worcestershire, between Horford and Ombersley r 

 is a tree with a circumference of thirty feet at eight 

 feet from the ground. The celebrated avenue of 

 lime trees in Berlin is now historical. 



The wood of the lime has been largely used for 

 carving, many of the fine carvings at Windsor Castle 

 and Chatsworth being of this wood ; and it is said 

 that the blocks employed by Holbein for wood 

 engravings were of the same material. Lime-tree 

 honey, which has obtained some repute, is said only 

 to be obtained at a small town in Lithuania, which is 



