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A few Notes on the damage to Trees caused by the Frosts of 

 1870-80, and following years, in the Merse, Berwickshire; 

 after five years' observation ; with four drawings of 

 Frosted Oaks. By Charles Stuart, M.D., Ed. 



Several years having elapsed since the Arctic winters we 

 experienced in 1879-81, a "better idea can now be arrived at, 

 relative to the permanence of the injury sustained by the trees, 

 especially the Oaks, from frost. No one can travel over the 

 district comprised in the flat of Berwickshire, without observing 

 the crippled condition of many of the trees. A few are killed 

 outright, but after four years' observation, there seems to be life 

 in a number of them. In many instances the tops of the Oaks 

 are killed forty feet down, a few of their lower branches, although 

 seemingly dead, have thrown out a few bushy sprouts, which 

 another severe winter would finish off entirely. The winter of 

 1884 was one of the mildest on record, and favoured the recuper- 

 ative process. Others of these oaks have all their branches 

 killed, but the bole seems to retain a certain vitality, for round 

 its whole circumference, a forest of short shoots and large leaves, 

 contrast in an extraordinary manner with the barkless skeleton, 

 forming the top of the tree. A few oaks are killed outright, 

 and show no signs of sprouting anywhere. After a time the 

 bark becomes detached, and falls off in large pieces, leaving a 

 complete skeleton of the tree. Several of these entirely dead 

 trees occur all over this district, and many others that it would 

 not take much frost to finish. It is most interesting to observe 

 where these crippled and dead trees are to be seen, for a good 

 general rule can be applied as to the cause. It is always in low- 

 lying damp localities where most destruction is to be seen, 

 certainly not on the heights. When the valleys are full of cold 

 damp mist, the higher ground is entirely clear. The sheep know 

 'this, and in such circumstances quickly shift their quarters to a 

 more comfortable region. It is in the course of the rivers, with 

 an elevation above sea level from 100 to 200 feet, where all thiw 

 destruction has taken place. One entirely dead oak at Hutton- 

 hall Barns road, is situated 150 feet above sea level, as marked on 

 the trigonometrical map, and there are many others close to it 

 almost entirely crippled, but with some life still in them. 

 Several others entirely dead were cut down in the hedge-rows 

 close by, shortly after the severe frosts. In the course of the 



