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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



North America are a thousand times worse than those of the noted 

 Cape Horn." 



At last, on the 7th of April, at 4 p.m., the ship came to ancho)r 

 in Baker's Bay, just north of the mouth of the river, and " thus 

 terminated my long and tedious voyage of eight months and fourteen 

 days." But at once his circumstances change. " The night following 

 I reckon as among the happiest moments of my life. " ' ' The greater 

 part of the country," he states, " as far as the eye could reach, was 

 covered with Pines of various species." 



The Conifers (all called Pinus in his day) which gladdened the 

 soul of Douglas a few days after on that promontory of Cape Disappoint- 

 ment were anything but disappointing to the storm-tossed botanist. 

 There were at least eight species, representing as many genera, as we 

 now know them, all within the radius of his vision : Pinus contorta 

 growing on the drifting sand of the outer shore ; Tsuga Mertensiana 

 and Picea sitchensis next in the moist, swampy slopes of the promon- 

 tory ; the great Thuya gigantea, forming the greater part of the brow 

 of the promontory, with the monster Fir, Abies grandis, and the great 

 False Spruce, which was thereafter to bear his name, Pseudotsuga 

 Douglasii, crowning the elevation ; while in deepest shade, by spring or 

 stream, shone the bright-leaved Alaska Cedar, Chamxcyimris nutkaensisy 

 and the Western Yew, Taxus hrevifolia. 



On stepping out of the boat he picked up Bahus spedahilis and 

 Gaultheria Shallon, and the first tree he peached was a new one which, 

 on account of its great size, he named Pinus grandis, though he did 

 not report his discovery until five years later (1830). 



In 183G he published it under that name in the " Companion to> 

 the Botanical Magazine." Subsequently (1837) Dr. Lindley published 

 it in the "Penny Cycloptedia" as Abies grandis, and this being the 

 present reference, he thus becomes the author of the species (J. G. 

 Lemmon, " California Board of Forestry," 1889-90). 



Introduced in 1831. This is not only a grand ornamental tree^ 

 but the most rapid grower of all the Silver Firs. In its native habitat, 

 in low, moist situations, it grows to 280 feet in height, and often girths 

 21 feet. Such enormous growth may well tempt us to plant it more 

 frequently. It is extremely well adapted for ornamental planting, 

 the soft, rich green foliage, densely branched stem, and symmetrical 

 habit being recommendations rarely combined in one species. The 

 timber produced in this country is of excellent quality, being 

 weighty, resinous, and the concentric rings firmly packed. The 

 largest specimen which I have cut down — and only stern necessity 

 compelled its removal — was, exclusive of the broken top, 72 feet in 

 height, measured 26 inches in diameter at the butt end, and contained 

 73 feet of timber. On measuring some of the annual rings near the bark 

 I found them to average an inch in thickness, which speaks highly 

 in favour of the tree as a rapid timber-producer. When felled and 



