210 



at one time it must have girthed upwards of twenty 

 feet above the ground ; the healthy part of this tree 

 is still sending out most luxurious branches, extend- 

 ing upwards of 200 feet round ; many of these 

 branches bending downwards to the ground have of 

 themselves taken root, and are sending up most beau- 

 tiful young trees, one of them, as will be seen by the 

 engraving, is a large tree. The aged parent, as if loath 

 to leave the princely mansion on the one side, and a 

 flower garden on the other, is rearing up a numer- 

 ous progeny, and enfeoffing them in the beautiful 

 situation they at present occupy, to propagate their 

 name to generations yet unborn. I would advise all 

 v^^ho attempt to deny the layering system, to go and 

 see this tree ; it is also worthy a visit from all the cu- 

 rious lovers of trees, and must at once remind tra- 

 vellers of the Indian Banjan tree, to which it bears a 

 striking resemblance. See an engraving of this pro- 

 lific tree in frontispiece* 



Like the fam'd Banjan tree whose pliant shoot, 

 To earthward bending, of itself takes root ; 

 Till like their mother plant, ten thousand stand 

 In verdant arches on the fertile land ; 

 Beneath her shade the tawney Indians rove, 

 Or hunt at large through the wide echoing grove. 



The care taken to cultivate this tree by the pro- 

 prietor and his young family, will very soon enable 

 it to stretch its progeny with their beautiful shelter- 

 ing foliage round one whole side of the mansion. 



Old Trees West Side the Garden at Prestongrange. 



In this grove of old trees, stands a Spanish ches- 

 nut, amongst the largest of the kind in Scotland as 



