308 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURxYL SOCIETY. 



introducer. But suum cuique trihuto. The first seeds received in this 

 country were sent by Mr. Matthew, and the oldest plants are those 

 which were raised from them. Mr. Lobb returned from California 

 in December 1853, bringing his seeds with him, as appears from an 

 article by Dr. Lindley in the Gardeners' Chronicle of 24th December 

 in that year. "The other day," says he, "we received from 

 Mr. Yeitch branches and cones of a most remarkable coniferous tree, 

 also Californian seeds, and a living specimen which had just been 

 brought him by his excellent collector, Mr. William Lobb, who, we 

 are happy to say, has returned loaded with fine things " (" Pinetum 

 Britannicum "). 



The tree is one of the largest known on the face of the earth, 

 perhaps the largest. It is not so thick as the Adansonia from West 

 Africa, or as some of the Leguminosse from South America, nor so 

 tall as the gum trees of Australia, some of which reach 450 feet in 

 height. Nor does its ally, the Sequoia sempervirens, come far short 

 of it in size, although it stands a little in the background. Still, the 

 Wellingtonia is perhaps the most striking of them all, combining 

 more than any other both enormous height and thickness. Its average 

 dimensions, when full-grown, are about 300 feet in height and 90 

 feet in girth at the base. The dimension of one of the fallen trees, 

 whose top had been broken off, is estimated at 425 feet if the top had 

 remained. Lord Richard Grosvenor (Gardeners' Chronicle, 7th Janu- 

 ary, 1860) speaks of one he had seen as being 450 feet high and 116 

 feet in circumference — a height greater than that of St. Peter's at 

 Home, and little less than the Pyramids. Mercantile men may 

 bring home to their minds the enormous size of these trees in another 

 way, viz., by calculating the quantity of wood in a tree, and its 

 price at a penny per foot of inch deal, which gives the astounding 

 result of £6,250 as the value of a single tree. Although this is a 

 good mode of showing the enormous quantity of timber in one of 

 these trees, it would not do for practical calculations of its value. 



Sequoia gigantea does not become fully developed in all parts of 

 Denmark. The finest plants are to be seen in the eastern part of the 

 country. In 1883 some fine trees, whose age was about 25 years, 

 were measured in Giorslev Park ; the height of the biggest tree then 

 was 40 feet, and the circumference of the stem, breast high, was a 

 little more than 4|^ feet. I have since that time observed the trees, 

 which are continuing a fine growth and produce very well-developed 

 cones. 



In other gardens and parks trees almost as tall are to be seen, 

 but often the lower branches are somewhat spoilt. 



In Norway Sequoia gigantea has been tried in several places along 

 the coast between Christiania and Molde (62° 44'), In the Botanic 

 Gardens at Christiania Professor Schiibeler planted a sapling 2 feet 

 high out of doors. It lived for several years, but each summer's 



