PSEUDOTSUGA 



GONIFEBS 



ABIES 1001 



beautifully feathered down to the ground ; 

 and also by one at Powderham Castle, 

 Exeter, the seat of the Earl of Devon, 

 about 53 years old and over 106 ft. high. 



In many parts of the country the 

 Douglas Efc has received a bad reputa- 

 tion, and one often sees a miserable speci- 

 men which has been planted just in the 

 most exposed positions. There is plenty 

 of evidence, however, to show that when 

 grown in sheltered places the Douglas 

 Fir attains magnificent proportions in all 

 parts of the British Islands, and particu- 

 larly in Scotland. Grand specimens be- 

 tween 70 and 100 ft. high are to be 

 found in the foUowing gardens: Wales, 

 at Golden Grove, Carmarthen ; and Pen- 

 rhyn, Carnarvon. In England, at Carclew, 

 Cornwall ; Orton Longueville, Hunts ; 

 Eevesby Abbey, Lines ; Howick HaU, 

 Northumberland ; Hewell Grange, Wor- 

 cester ; and Mulgrave Castle, Yorks. In 

 Scotland, at Haddo House, Aberdeen ; 

 Inverary Castle, and PoltaUock, Argyll ; 

 CuUen House, Banff ; Marquis of Bute's ; 

 Rossdhu, Dumbarton ; Jardine HaU, and 

 Whittinghame, Dumfries ; Fordell, Fife ; 

 Kinnettles, Forfar; Durris, Kincardine- 

 shire ; Dolphinton, Lanark ; Dalkeith, and 

 Oxenford Hall (var. glauca), Midlothian ; 

 Altyre and Brodie Castle, Morayshire; 

 Abercairny, Castle Menzies, Cultoquhey, 

 Dupplin Castle, Methven Castle, Murthly 

 Castle, Ochtertyre, Eossie Priory, Scone, 

 The Cairnies, Braham Castle, Castle Leod, 

 and Oonan House, in Perthshire ; Bu- 

 chanan Castle, Stirling; and Hopetoun, 

 West Lothian. In Ireland, at Fota Island, 

 Cork ; Killarney House, Kerry ; Carton, 

 Kildare ; Abbey Leix, Queen's Co. ; 

 Markree Castle, Sligo ; ShanbaUy Castle, 

 Tipperary ; Waterstown, Westmeath ; 

 Courtown, Wexford ; and Coollattin and 

 Powerscourt, Wicklow. 



There is great variation in the Douglas 

 Fir when raised from seeds — the most 

 easy way to increase it ; hence it is not 

 surprising to find several varieties more 

 or less distinct. The following are among 

 the best : pendula, with elegant drooping 

 branches ; Standishi, a remarkable form, 

 with larger leaves than the type, being 

 deep green above and quite silvery be- 

 neath ; taxifoUa, a small handsome tree, 

 with horizontal branches and straight 

 twigs covered with leaves much longer 

 and of a deeper green than the type ; 

 Stairi, a distinct form which originated 

 at Castle Kennedy, Wigtonshire, the seat 



of the Earl of Stair, and is almost white 

 in spring, becoming greener in summer, 

 and silvery tinted in autumn. It is dwarf 

 in habit and suitable for lawns. There 

 are other forms, such as compacta, elegans, 

 glauca, macrocarpa, monstroaa, and re- 

 vohita. 



ABIES (SiLVBE Fir). — A genus of 

 evergreen trees having whorled branches 

 and narrow, flat, needle-shaped leaves, 

 arranged in 2 rows, and leaving a circular 

 scar on the branch when they fall. Flowers 

 monoecious ; male catkins scattered, axil- 

 lary ; female ones soHtary. Cones erect, 

 more or less cylindrical in shape, ripening 

 the first year. Scales deciduous when 

 ripe, leaving a central, column. Seeds 

 with a large wing, more or less wedge- 

 shaped. Seed leaves 4-8, flat. 



Culture amAPropagation. — The Silver 

 Firs have been a good deal confused with 

 the Spruce Firs (Picea) and the Pines 

 (Pvaus) and also other genera, but the 

 following names are those now most 

 generally accepted. They require the 

 same treatment and may be increased by 

 means of seeds sown when ripe in the 

 same way as the Pines and Piceas. They 

 flourish in good loamy well-drained soil, 

 and are very ornamental plants for the 

 lawn, isolated specimens being as a rule 

 more effective than groups. 



A. amabilis {Picea and Pinus grandis). 

 Bed Fi/r. — A magnificent Conifer, native 

 of British Columbia, Oregon &c., where 

 it attains a height of 100-150 ft., with 

 a trunk sometimes 4 ft. in diameter. It 

 has stiflEish shoots furrowed with elon- 

 gated cushions densely covered with dark 

 hairs, and having blunt linear leaves, 

 dark green above, silvery white beneath. 

 Cones cylindrical, about 6 in. long. 



Culture dc. as above. 



A. balsamea {Picea and Pinus hal- 

 samea). — Balsam Fir. — A slender-grow- 

 ing N. American tree 70-80 ft. in a native 

 condition, or at high elevations reduced 

 to a low prostrate shrub. The dark green 

 leaves, about f in. long, are silvery white 

 beneath, and the narrow erect cylindrical 

 cones, 4-5 in. long, are violet in colour. 

 At Saltoun HaU, East Lothian, there was 

 a fine and weU-fiimished specimen 68 ft. 

 high, growing in deep rich soU in a weU- 

 sheltered spot, but it was swept away by 

 a great flood in 1891. It was supposed 

 to be one of the oldest trees in the king- 



