CHAP. ir. 



BRITISH ISLANDS. 



109- 



rubrum, of the same age, 44- ft. ; a Pavm flava, of the same age, 

 31ft.; Sopfibra japonica, 50 years planted, 35 ft.; an Aris- 

 totelm Mdcqui, 20 years planted, upwards of 16 ft., though on a 

 strong clayey soil; the ^'rbutus .4ndrachne seems to grow at the 

 rate of 1 ft. a year; the Portugal laurel, 50 years planted, has 

 attained the height of 35 ft., and its branches cover a space the 

 diameter of which is 45 ft.; the common laurel, of the same age, 

 is 40 ft. high, and its branches cover a space of 36 ft. in diameter; 

 Populus canadensis, 40 years planted, is 72 ft. high ; y^lnus 

 laciniata, 34 years planted, is 44 ft. high ; Quercus palustris, 50 ' 

 years planted, is 41 ft. high; and Q. fastigiata, of the same 

 age, is 54 ft. high ; Q. exoniensis, 60 years planted, is 67 ft. high; 

 and Q. -^^'gilops, of the same age, is 55 ft. high ; the purple 

 beech, 55 years planted, is 54 ft. high; and that beautiful variety 

 of the common beech, i^agus sylvatica pendula, at 35 years' 

 growth, is 33 ft. high ; the arbor vit^, 30 years planted, is 30 ft. 

 high ; the Pinus Cembra, of the same age, 34 ft. high ; the hem- 

 lock spruce, 35 years planted, 32 ft. high ; the Cunningham/^ : 

 lanceolata, in 12 years, 7 ft. high ; the Zarix pendula, in 55 

 years, 62 ft. ; the cedar of Lebanon, in 35 years, 33 ft. ; and 

 that singularly picturesque, and yet elegant, tree, the cedar of 

 Goa (Cupressus lusitanica), 32 ft. high, the branches covering a 

 space of 35 ft. in diameter, in 24 years. This cedar was origin- 

 ally brought from the Portuguese settlement at Goa, in the East 

 Indies, to Portugal ; and the seeds were brought from that 

 country to Ireland by Lord Ferrard in 1809; and, being sown, 

 produced abundantly. The plants were first kept in a green- 

 house; but, on some of them being transplanted into the open air 

 from want of room, they were found to grow so vigorously, that 

 in three seasons any one branch surpassed in size the entire 

 plant contained in the green-house. A jRhododendron ponticum, 

 at 60 years of age, is 16 ft. high, and the diameter of the space 

 covered by its branches is 38 ft. There was a tree paeony here 

 of extraordinary dimensions. It was 12 ft. high, and was pro- 

 tected during winter by a glass case. About the year 1827 this 

 case was left off, to try to inure the plant to stand without cover- 

 ing, but the winter unfortunately proving severe, it was killed. 



At Antrim Castle, also the seat of Lord Ferrard, are some 

 remarkably fine trees and shrubs. There is a yew tree, estimated 

 at 200 years old, which is 35 ft. high ; the diameter of the trunk, 

 at 1 ft. from the ground, is 2 ft. 9 in. ; and the diameter of the 

 space covered by its branches, 33 ft. There is a Portugal laurel 

 150 years planted, which is only 18 ft. high : but the diameter of 

 its trunk, at 1 ft. from the ground, is 3 ft. 7 in. ; and that of the 

 space covered by its branches, 36 ft. There are an evergreen oak 

 100 years old and 25 ft. high; and a variegated holly of the 

 same age, 20 ft. high. There are a juniper 18 ft., at 90 years of 

 age ; and an arbor vitse 24 ft. high, at the same age. 



