APRIL 65 



none of the blood-red, but very many passing through 

 carmine to shades of rose and pink. The splendour of 

 these trees as I saw them on 12th April loaded with 

 blossom, so that on many of them hardly any foliage 

 was visible, was worth taking a long journey to enjoy. 



In 1916 I made some measurements of other species, 

 finding R. barbatum 17 feet high, R. campanulatum 

 20 feet 5 inches, R. nobile 17 feet 4 inches, R. Bate- 

 manni 17 feet with four stems, one of which girthed 

 32 inches, and R. niveum 16| feet. 



It is unfortunate that when these rhododendrons 

 were planted, little was known about the behaviour of 

 the Indian species in Scotland or the dimensions they 

 might attain. Consequently there is serious congestion 

 in several parts of the grounds ; what might have 

 developed into splendid specimens have, in many cases, 

 been crowded and crushed into leggy stems with a 

 crown of foliage and flower far above eye-level. The 

 present earl, an enthusiastic lover of the genus, has to 

 tackle many an excruciating problem in deciding what 

 to sacrifice in order to restore light and air to plants 

 that are to remain. 



The chief idiosyncrasies of the genus Rhododendron 

 have long been recognised as impatience of drought 

 and scorching winds and invincible hatred of lime in the 

 soil. The first of these characteristics is easily under- 

 stood, seeing that the habit of these plants is to make 

 a dense mass of roots close under the surface of the 

 ground. If, therefore, the surface is not protected from 

 the sun and wind by a natural or applied shield of 

 withered leaves or leaf-mould, the plants can never do 

 E 



