Quercus 1287 



At Goodwood there are many fine trees in the grounds and in a belt north of 

 the house. Here I measured in 1906 a tree 83 ft. by 7 ft. 7 in. 



At Siston Court, Gloucestershire, there is a well-shaped and spreading tree 

 which in 1908 was about 60 ft. by 17 ft. At Epping House, Hertford, Mr. H. 

 Clinton Baker measured a tree 60 ft. by 16^ ft. in 1909. 



At Godinton, near Ashford, the seat of G. Ashley Dodd, Esq., there is one of 

 the finest that I have seen in England. This beautiful tree has a short bole 18 ft. 

 I in. in girth, dividing into many large spreading branches which reach a height of 

 about 75 ft., and spread over an area no less than 102 paces in circumference. It 

 is a symmetrical tree, in perfect health, and must be considerably over 100 years old. 



At Betteshanger, in the same county. Lord Northbourne showed me a tree of 

 the same character, which measures about 50 ft. by 17 ft. at 3 ft. from the ground, 

 and shows the suitability of this tree for a chalky soil, in the south-east of England. 



At Cobham Park a beautifully shaped tree measured in 1905, 80 ft. by 15 ft., 

 with a clean bole 20 ft. high. Lord Darnley thought it was surpassed by a tree at 

 Faringford, Lord Tennyson's place in the Isle of Wight ; but when I measured this 

 in 1906, I found that, though it covered an area 94 paces round, its trunk, which 

 consists of several stems fastened up by chains, was much inferior to the Cobham 

 tree. 



In Somersetshire, Sir C. T. D. Acland showed me a big Ilex at Holnicote, 

 a stool with four trunks, about 70 ft. by 1 7 ft. 



In the eastern counties near the coast this tree also thrives at many places, 

 among which Holkham is pre-eminent for numbers and size. The Ilex seems to 

 have been a very favourite tree with the late Earl of Leicester and his father, 

 who planted in the park what is now the largest grove of evergreen oaks that I 

 know. In this grove, known as the Obelisk Wood, I measured one in 1903, 75 ft. 

 by 10^ ft., with a clean bole 28 ft. long ; and another with a remarkable twisted 

 trunk (Plate 324). A third tree on the outside of this grove, with wide-spreading 

 branches, is shown in Plate 325. At Ken Hill near Snettisham, in Norfolk, the 

 seat of Sir E. Green, there are two fine trees, the largest of which measures about 

 75 ft. by 19J ft. at 2 ft. from the ground, dividing at 4 ft. into two main stems. 



In Wales the finest I know of is a tree mentioned by Loudon at Stackpole 

 Court, said to be 100 years old in 1838, and then 78 ft. high by 7^ ft. in girth. It is 

 probably the same as one which in 1 906 measured 80 ft. by 9 ft. 8 in, and though split 

 to the ground, was kept together by a chain. The best Ilex now at Stackpole is 

 a tree on the lawn measuring about 60 ft. by 14 ft. 5 in., whose trunk is curiously 

 gnarled and distorted. 



In Scotland the Ilex grows well on the south-west coast, especially in the Earl 

 of Stair's grounds at Castle Kennedy, where there is a tree remarkable for its very 

 weeping habit. This tree has five stems forking close to the ground, where it 

 measures 12 ft. 8 in. in girth, and is about 47 ft. high. Another large tree is re- 

 ported by Mr. Renwick to grow at Mount Stuart, in Bute, the seat of the Marquess 

 of Bute, and to measure 10 ft. 5 in. in girth. At Fullerton House, near Troon, a 

 tree is recorded by Paxton in Remarkable Trees of Ayrshire, 1 1 ft. 9 in. in girth. 



