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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



generally a rather thick stem. Both varieties grow vigorously, 

 and are among our hardiest Conifers when grown on well-drained 

 land and in situations not too much affected by spring frost. 

 The species has been freely planted, and when standing clear 

 of other trees it forms a very handsome and well-furnished speci- 

 men. As a forest tree its clean rapid growth, and the quantity of 

 timber it makes in a given time, render it a fit subject for a 

 wider trial than has yet been given to it. The finest tree recorded 

 is at Linton Park, 64 ft. high and 8 ft. 7 in. in girth. The tallest 

 tree in Scotland is at The Cairnies, where it is grown as a forest 

 tree, 55 ft. high and 6 ft. in girth ; the tree with the greatest 

 girth being at Brahan Castle, Koss-shire, and is the thick- 

 stemmed variety Loioiana, a very fine ornamental tree, girthing 

 7 ft., but only 40 ft. high. In Ireland the tallest is at Coollattin, 

 Wicklow, and is 46 ft. high and 4 ft. 3 in. in girth ; but the tree 

 recorded at Abbeyleix, Queen's County, girths 6 ft. 10 in., and is 

 45 feet high. These figures indicate vigorous growth and excel- 

 lent wood-producing qualities in the forty years which have 

 elapsed since the seed of this tree arrived in Britain. 



Abies Douglasii (Douglas's Fir) — now known to botanists 

 as Pseudotsuga Douglasii — is a grand tree in every respect, 

 and so far has proved to be the most valuable Conifer intro- 

 duced to Britain since the Larch reached our shores early in 

 the seventeenth century. It was one of the first Conifers sent 

 home by Douglas to the Eoyal Horticultural Society, in 1827, 

 from the North-west of America, and worthily bears the name 

 of that intrepid explorer of the primeval forests of the Far West. 

 It has long been a favourite with the tree-planter, and under 

 suitable conditions no tree grows more satisfactorily. Of late 

 years it has been freely used as a plantation tree, raised chiefly 

 from home-grown seed, which is produced in abundance. It is 

 thus raised in large numbers at a comparatively small cost, so 

 that it can be planted in quantity as a forest crop at about the 

 same rate as ordinary forest Conifers, all of which it quickly 

 leaves far behind in height and girth of stem. To see it at its- 

 best as a forest tree at the present time one has to visit some 

 of the Perthshire estates, where for many years it has been 

 more frequently planted than any other one of the newer 

 Conifers. At Scone (of which David Douglas was a native), 

 Marthly, The Cairnies, and many other places it is planted in 



