324 



Exotic Conifers in Britain. 



each subscriber taking at least one share of £$, the results of 

 the expedition to be divided amongst the members according to 

 the number of £$ shares. The sum subscribed in the first year 

 was ^950 ; subsequently increased to £1,445, most members 

 taking a single share, though some — chiefly nurserymen — taking 

 four to six, and even up to ten. John Jeffrey was appointed 

 collector, and sailed for Montreal in June, 1850, reaching the 

 district west of the Rocky Mountains in the following year. 

 The Hudson's Bay Company granted him a free passage, while 

 the Admiralty promised to assist with their ships on the North- 

 West Coast of America. The first consignment of plants and 

 seed arrived from San Francisco in 1852, the postage of which 

 amounted to £135, but the Post Office authorities generously 

 agreed to waive their claim. To Jeffrey we owe Abies lasiocarpa, 

 T. merteusiana, Thuja gigantea, Libocedrus decurrens, Pintis 

 flexilis, P. balfouriana, P. murrayana, and P. Jeffrcyi* 



In 1854 an expedition was undertaken to California by 

 Messrs. Beardsley and Murray, and the result of their efforts 

 was the introduction of that fine tree, Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 

 and one or two others of much less importance. 



One other private expedition may be mentioned, namely, 

 that of John Gould Veitch, a member of a famous firm of 

 English nurserymen, who, in i860, set out for Japan, and was 

 instrumental in introducing Larix leptolepis, Abies firma, Picea 

 polita, P. ajaneusis, P. alcockiana and others. 



The number of species of conifers that find conditions more 

 or less suitable to their requirements in some part of Great 

 Britain and Ireland considerably exceeds 100. Mr. Dunn, 

 in his census prepared for the Conifer Conference of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society in 1891, gives the dimensions of 102 species. 

 I do not, however, propose to include in this paper any that 

 are not at least fairly common, and which hold out the prospect 

 of attaining the dimensions of useful forest trees. 



With few exceptions exotic trees in Great Britain are 

 grown in isolated positions, so that their stems are covered 

 with branches quite down to the ground. The result is, 



* I am indebted to Professor Bayley Balfour for access to the minutes of the 

 Edinburgh Oregon Association, and for the perusal of some of Douglas's 

 correspondence. 



