Eucalyptus 1629 



25 ft. by 2 ft., which had grown from the stump of one killed by frost in 1895-1896. 

 At Kinloch Hourn, E. globulus, when planted out, speedily succumbs, as, according to 

 Mr. Birkbeck, it is always killed by 15° of frost. 



In Ireland, the tallest specimen is at Dinas Island, Muckross, Killarney, and 

 measured in 1909 about ']'] ft. by 6^ ft. The gardener informed me that it was 

 severely injured by cold in 1879; but it was, when I saw it, a healthy tree in full 

 flower in August. A finer tree, planted about 1870, grows on the lawn of the 

 Marquess of Lansdowne's house at Derreen, Co. Kerry, and measured about 60 ft. 

 by 7|- ft. in August 19 10. At Rossdohan, Mr. S. T. Heard reports a tree, 50 ft. by 

 5 ft. 8 in. in 1910. 



At Garron Tower, on the coast of Antrim, near Larne, at 250 ft. elevation above 

 the sea, a tree,^ planted in 1857, was 60 ft. high and 12 ft. in girth at a foot from 

 the ground in 1897 ! ^'^d 75 ^t. high by 13 ft. at four feet from the ground in 191 1. 

 It branches at five feet up into two main stems; and produces flowers and fruit 

 regularly, and from its seed numerous seedlings have been raised. 



Sir Jocelyn Coghill, Bart, sent to Kew a branch from a tree grown at Glen 

 Barrahane, Castle Townsend, Co. Cork, which, at fifteen years old, was about 40 ft. 

 high in 1889. In Co. Wicklow Henry found a tree at Clonmannon about fifteen 

 years old, which was 53 ft. by 4 ft. in 1905 ; and another at Dunran, 49 ft. by 4 ft, 

 4 in., and in flower in August 1904. 



The largest tree that I have seen in Europe is in a sheltered ravine in the forest 

 of Bussaco, Portugal, a little below the hotel. It measured in 1909 about 140 ft. 

 by 12 ft. 



Timber 



In an account^ of the forests of Tasmania, compiled by Mr. J. C. Penny, it is 

 stated that the blue gum is the most valuable timber tree of Tasmania, having wood 

 of great durability, hardness, and weight. It is said to be superior to anything pro- 

 duced in the Australian States for wharf and bridge construction. A specimen of 

 this timber 146 ft. long, 18 in. wide, and 6 in. thick, sawn clear of heart and sap, was 

 sent to the Exhibition of 185 1 from Long Bay, Tasmania. 



Mr. Harold J. Shepstone, in an article in the Scientific American,^ says : The 

 erection of the great national harbour at Dover has called attention to the wonder- 

 ful properties of the Tasmanian blue gum. It is at once one of the strongest 

 timbers in the world, as well as the densest and most durable. It is so heavy 

 that it will sink like a piece of lead, whilst also practically immune from the attacks 

 of the sea-worm {Teredo navalis). It has a specific gravity of 75 lbs. to the cubic 

 foot, and being heavier than water, piles 100 ft. long and 18 to 20 in. square can 

 be sunk in deep water, without weighting them at the bottom, which is necessary in 

 the case of Oregon piles (Douglas fir) weighing only 48 lbs. to the cubic foot. Tests 



1 G. Porteous, in Gardening, 13th November 1897. lajoum. Roy. Hort. Soc. viii. 189 (1887), the tree was reported 

 to have been about 50 ft. high and quite uninjured by the severe winter of 1879-1880. 



2 Tasmanian Forestry, 3 (Hobart, 1905). 



3 Scientific American, Jan. 21, 1905, quoted by Penny, Tasmanian Forestry, 36 (1905). 



