CHAP. ir. 



BRITISH ISLANDS. 



lis 



50 ft. high, 5 ft. 3 in. in girt at 8 ft. from the ground; and a 

 sweet chestnut, 10 ft. 3 in. in girt at 3 ft. from the'ground. There 

 is a myrtle hedge here at least 120 years old, which grows 

 vigorously. The shrubberies and ornamental planting at Castle 

 Ward v/ere made by Mrs. Ward, the wife of Judge Ward, 

 between 1710 and 1759; and some before that period, as there 

 were some tulip trees of large size cut down some years ago, 

 supposed to be 1^20 years old. — J. M. R. 



To Mr. Carrol, gardener at Cypress Grove, we are indebted 

 for the measurements of several trees at Howth Castle, near 

 Dublin, the seat of the Earl of Howth. It appears that some 

 foreign trees were planted here even in the 16th century, and 

 particularly an C/'lmus campestris, which is estimated to be 250 

 years old. It is only 50 ft. high, but the diameter of the trunk, 

 at 1 ft. from the ground, is 4 ft. 6 in. There is a walnut tree 

 here, considered to be 200 years planted; a Tamarix gallica, 

 100 years ; and a tulip tree, 60 years. The tamarisk has a stem 

 1 ft. 10 in. in diameter at 1 ft. from the ground ; it is 20 ft. high, 

 and the diameter of the space covered by its branches is 22 ft. 

 We should suppose it must be the finest specimen of this shrub 

 in existence. The common myrtle stands the open air at Howth, 

 protected by a wall ; there is a specimen which has been planted 

 thirty years, which has attained a stem 4 in. in diameter at 1 ft. 

 from the ground. 



At Charleville Forest, in King's County, a place where we had 

 the pleasure of staying two or three days in 181 1, when consulted 

 professionally by the Earl of Charleville, there is a common lime, 

 supposed to have been planted about seventy years, which is now 

 (1835) 110 ft. high; an A^cqv platanciides, which at 60 years is 

 68 ft. high ; a Pavm rubra, 76 ft. high ; a common holly, 45 ft. 

 high ; a Robinm Pseud-^cacia, 50 ft. high ; a Cratse^gus Aza- 

 rolus, 40 ft. high ; an flmus campestris, 85 ft. high ; a Populus 

 alba, 120ft. high; a Quercus pedunculata, planted 60 years, 

 which is 110 ft. high; aligns sylvatica of the same age and 

 height; a sweet chestnut, 45 years planted, which has attained 

 the height of 85 ft.; a yew tree, 45 years planted, which has 

 attained the height of 50 ft, ; an arbor vit^, planted 25 years, and 

 20 ft. high ; and a Zarix microcarpa, 45 years planted, and 94 ft. 

 high. On the whole, there is an excellent collection of trees at 

 Charleville, and they appear to have made extraordinary jprogress. 



At Shelton Abbey, the Earl of Wicklow's, in the county of 

 Wicklow, there are a few remarkably fine specimens of foreign 

 trees and shrubs. A tulip tree, 50 years planted, is 60 ft. high, 

 flowering beautifully every year ; a Robjnm Pseiad-^cacia, of 

 the same age, is 65 ft. high, with a trunk in diameter at 



1 ft. li-oni the ground ; a Portugal laurel, 40 years planted, is 

 35 ft. high, has a stem 2^ ft. in diameter at 1 ft. from the ground. 



