ATHROTAXIS 207 
taken of them? That.is a question that, as futurists, 
we may derive some little interest in conning over. 
Perhaps, then, their popularity will have mounted 
to zenith, and owners of large groups of “ Grisly 
Giants ”’ will, in the pangs of pride in their priceless 
possessions, simply and quietly bow their acknow- 
ledgments as proprietors, and we hope not altogether 
gracelessly— 
Gather as their own 
The harvest that the dead have sown-— 
The dead, forgottem and unknown. 
ATHROTAXIS.—‘‘ Better a wee buss than nae 
bield,”’ was reported to be a favourite expression of 
the Scotch poet Burns. ‘“‘ Bield ” in Scotland signifies 
a shelter, and the words quoted, interpreted into a 
more usual vernacular, would read : ‘‘ Better a small 
bush than no shelter at all.” 
By indirectly hinting, from the use of these words, 
at a comparison between the Athrotaxis and a wee 
bush, it may be said that we have belittled the 
pretensions of the Athrotaxis. 
In the reduced area of its only remaining natural 
habitat, the island of Tasmania, we hear stories of 
long-stemmed trees, with thick bushy heads, towering 
to a height of 100 feet and producing useful timber. 
The same tree here—that is to say, the A. Selagi- 
noides, which i§ the big brother of the trio—breaks 
the record in Great Britain at a considerable drop 
from half that height. Whatever claims to greatness 
they assume out there, in our more perfidious climate 
they have assuredly—with the fewest possible 
exceptions—fallen from their high estate, and de- 
generated into the lesser and more humble com- 
panionship of bush society. 
The Athrotaxis ranks among the unusuals and 
curiosities of tree life domiciled in Great Britain. It 
