ARBUTUS OR STRAWBERRY TREE 21 



and gardens, with a clean stem that is of ten 15 inches 

 in diameter, and being of rather upright growth is 

 suitable for planting in confined spaces, where taller 

 growing trees would be out of place. The amber- 

 coloured timber with irregular longitudinal markings 

 of a lighter shade is one of the most distinct and 

 beautiful of any that is grown in this country. 



Good seed is freely produced by the Almond, and 

 when deprived of the outer fleshy covering by keep- 

 ing in moist sand for a year the ' stones ' may be planted 

 in light, rich earth or placed singly in pots. In two 

 years they should be transplanted in lines, and when 

 four or five years old, when they are usually 5 or 

 6 feet high, they may be placed in the permanent 

 position. 



Arbutus or Strawberry Tree 



(Arbutus Unedo) 



THOUGH only a few specimens of the Straw- 

 berry Tree are to be found in the Metropolis, 

 yet for planting in the more open and airy dis- 

 tricts it is to be recommended. By far the finest 

 Arbutus in London is that in Waterlow Park, the 

 bushy, thickly foliaged head having a diameter of 

 fully 30 feet. Near the ground-level it divides into 

 five large stems, each about a foot in diameter, while 

 the foliage is of the healthiest description, quite equal- 

 ling in that respect the trees we have seen in its native 

 wilds at Killarney. 



Near Hanover Gate, in Regent's Park, there is 

 growing an old and weather-beaten tree that in all 

 probability dates from the laying-out of the grounds 

 a century ago. Both flowers and fruit are freely pro- 



