Abies 789 



them have shown a tendency to produce cones in such quantity and so prematurely, 

 that the trees have ceased to produce a straight leader, and have often become 

 unsightly and ragged. This applies specially to those which were planted on lawns 

 or on pleasure-grounds, without much shelter. 



An avenue of this tree was planted in 1868 at Madresfield Court, Worcester- 

 shire, with grafted trees of the glaucous variety from the Worcester nurseries. It 

 was figured in Veitch's Manual of Coniferce, ed. 2, p. 524. Though every care has 

 been taken by top-dressing, and removing the cones to keep these healthy, they do 

 not seem likely to remain so, as the lateral branches are, in many cases, covered with 

 the knotty swellings described under Abies amabilis, p. 784, note i. 



Mr. W. E. Gumbleton of Belgrove, near Queenstown, tells me that many years 

 ago when Abies nobilis was still scarce, the Duke of Leinster, whose tree 

 was one of the first to produce cones, sold the seed of it for ;^40. The 

 cones were artificially fertilised by shaking out the pollen from the male 

 catkins at the foot of the tree, and dusting it from a ladder on the female flowers 

 at the top. 



It is often stated that this is one of the few silver firs which grows well on 

 limestone, but my own experience disproves this, and I have never seen a really fine 

 tree where there was much lime in the soil. A deep sand resting on rock or a hill- 

 side, where good drainage is combined with plenty of humus, seem to be the best 

 conditions for the noble fir ; and if the glaucous variety, of which seedlings are difficult 

 to obtain, is desired, I would graft it on A. Nordmanniana, which is usually a most 

 vigorous grower, and endures spring frosts better than the common silver fir. 



In woods the noble fir is often healthier than in the open, and in some cases 

 has reproduced itself, though not abundantly. I have raised numbers of seedlings 

 from grafted trees, but they were always sickly and died young on my soil, and in 

 any case their growth is slow at first, six to ten years being required to produce trees 

 fit to plant out. But in Scotland seedlings raised from home-grown seed are healthy 

 and vigorous. 



The tree is quite hardy in all parts of the country, even in the severe climate of 

 upper Deeside, where at Balmoral it thrives well, and has endured several degrees 

 below zero without injury.' It enjoys a fairly wet climate, but will also grow well 

 in the drier parts of England if the soil is deep and cool. 



Remarkable Trees 



The largest noble fir that I know of in England is at Tortworth, where, on a 

 deep bed of sand sloping down to the lake, it had attained in 1901 a height of about 

 100 feet and 9 feet 6 inches in girth in forty-seven years from the date of planting, 



> A. nobilis, one of the hardiest and best wind-resisting conifers in cultivation, thrives well on gneiss or granite, and may 

 be planted on the most exposed sites. It is the most prolific of all silvers in seed bearing, and readily reproduces itself. 

 Commercially it may be placed next to A. grandis amongst exotic firs. The timber, like all the west North American trees 

 of the genus, is white, soft, and light, but closer in texture than A. grandis. Root formation ruined by frequent transplanting. — 

 (J. D. Crozier.) 



