VALUE IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS OF INTROriUCED dONIFERS. 81 



quantity, thriving well in the woods, under ordinary treat- 

 ment, along with the common coniferous trees, and occasionally 

 forming plantations by itself, as on the Scone estates. The 

 tallest tree recorded is the famous Douglas Fir at Dropmore, 

 Buckinghamshire, which is 120 ft. high and 11 ft. in girth. The 

 equally famous trees— there are two of them — at Lynedoch, Perth- 

 shire, are respectively 91 ft. 9 in. high and 12 ft. in girth, and 

 72 ft. 2 in. high and 11 ft. 2 in. in girth. These fine trees grow 

 in a free loamy soil, at an altitude of 3'±0 feet, in a tolerably well- 

 sheltered spot, near the small river Almond. They are the oldest 

 trees of the Douglas Fir in the district, and were planted in the year 

 1831. The smaller tree is the prolific seed-parent of the many 

 thousands of the Douglas Fir now growing on the Scone estates. 

 Two plantations of pure Douglas Fir have been formed on the 

 estates, of trees the progeny of the seed-bearing one at Lynedoch. 

 The one at Scone was planted in 1857, and the other at Tay- 

 mount, a few miles distant, in 1860. They both stand at about 

 the same altitude, 250 to 300 feet, on a moorish soil with a tilly 

 subsoil ; and the dimensions of some of the trees at the present 

 time, given in the table furnished by Mr. Bayne, forester to the 

 Earl of Mansfield, for this Conference, tells a very satisfactory tale. 



Other trees of the Douglas Fir recorded in the tables that are 

 over 90 ft. high in Scotland, are at Dunkeld, 94 ft. high and 12 ft. 

 in girth; at Castle Menzies, 92 ft. high and 7 ft. 1 in. in girth; 

 and at Durris, Kincardineshire, 90 ft. high and 10 ft. 3 in. in 

 girth. Nine more trees are recorded from 80 to 90 ft. in height 

 and from 6 to 12 ft. in girth. It is notable that three trees (at 

 Lynedoch and Dunkeld, Perthshire, and at Buchanan, Stirling- 

 shire) are all recorded of the greatest girth — 12 ft. ; and that eight 

 others in Scotland girth over 10 ft., one of these growing as far 

 north as Dunrobin, Sutherlandshire, and girthing 10 ft. 10 in. 

 To return to England for a moment, where the splendid tree at 

 Dropmore bids fair to rival at no distant time its stately pro- 

 genitors in British Columbia, we find the Douglas Fir thriving 

 well in every part, except in the chalk districts and on strongly 

 calcareous soils, for which it is not adapted, and should not be 

 planted thereon if profitable trees are desired. In the cooler 

 soils in the north and west of England it thrives admirably ; 

 at Hewell, Worcestershire, it is 75 ft. high and 6 ft. 6 in. in 

 girth, growing on ''the highest tableland in England;" at 



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