51 



usually given for this is 1776. The largest of the trees at Heron 

 Court is 89ft. in height, with a girth of 8ft. 7|in. A Scots 

 pine at Canford Manor is 90ft. high, with a girth of 8ft. 7m. 



Possibly the second largest Scots pine in England is that 

 growing at Brooklands, near Romsey, the seat of Mr. Wilfred W. 

 Ashley, M.P. This in 1916 measured 105ft. in height, with a girth 

 of 13ft. 4in. It has a clean stem up to 40ft. and is a very striking- 

 object. 



Taking stock of the pine trees now met with in the immediate 

 neighbourhood of Bournemouth the Scots pines easily come first 

 in number. They are found everywhere. Next comes the Pinaster 

 or maritime or cluster pine introduced about a hundred years ago 

 from Southern France^ and lastly the recently planted Austrian 

 pines. Among the less known pines are the handsome Monterey 

 pine (P. insignis), the Stone pine, the Corsican pine, Weymouth 

 pine, Swiss Stone pine (P. cembra), and the Himalayan pine 

 (P. excelsa). The pines planted on the Horseshoe Common in 1898, 

 that is seventeen years ago, form an interesting object lesson in 

 tree names. There are at least ten species which may be studied 

 at leisure. There are also spruces and cedars. [Sketch plans of 

 the Horseshoe Common, the Upper Public Gardens, and the 

 Winter Gardens at Bournemouth were shown to illustrate the 

 position of the more interesting cone-bearing trees.] 



The most ornamental and satisfactory of the pines in this 

 district is undoubtedly the Monterey pine. The leaves are in 

 threes, of a rich grassy green, long, soft, and flexible. The cones 

 are three to five inches long and usually produced in whorls of 

 two or three. It is a rapid growing tree. Trees in good soil at 

 Lymington are known to have reached a height of 60ft. in 21 

 years. The finest specimen in this neighbourhood at Heron Court 

 measures 110ft. 8in. in height, with a girth of 13ft. 6in. at 5ft. 

 Another growing at Cuffnells, in the New Forest, in 1907, 

 measured 116ft. in height, with a girth of 8ft. 6in. The largest 

 Monterey pine at Canford Manor is 80ft. in height, with a girth of 

 13ft. 6in. At Hinton Admiral there is a tree 15ft. in girth at 3ft., 

 with a height of about 70ft. 



The interesting Stone pine (P. pinea) is highly valued for its 

 edible seeds. As their husks have been found in the refuse heaps 

 of Roman encampments in Britain they would appear to have been 

 sent for the use of the army of occupation. There are two 

 localities in this district where the Stone pine is found in a thriving 

 condition. Mr. Elwes gives the following interesting account of 

 the trees growing at Matcham Park, near Ringwood: — " If I had 

 not seen the remarkable plantation of this pine at Matchams, near 

 Ringwood, I should have supposed that it was impossible for it 

 to develop its normal character in any part of England, but here 

 it seems so much at home that the conditions under which it 

 grows are of interest. Mr. Hamilton Leigh, owner of the place, 

 informs me that the trees were raised from seed sent by Lord 

 Nelson from the Mediterranean about one hundred years ago, to 



