STATISTICS OF CONIFERS IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 



495 



Cheswardine. C. Donaldson Hudson, Esq. 

 Correspondent : Mr. Wm. Weeks, Cheswardine, Market Drayton. 



General Kbmarks. — The following Conifers are growing here at an altitude 

 )f 550 feet, mostly in loam that has been well trenched, resting on an open grayelly 

 lubsoil, through which water passes freely. 



Abies concolor. — Does well in sandy loam, and keeps its colour in any open place, 



A. Douglasii. — Succeeds well in trenched loam, on an open bottom, in any 

 exposure ; but the colour is much richer in sheltered places. We have cut down 

 ;rees of the Douglas Fir for cabinet work, and found the wood excellent for such 

 I purpose. A fine specimen, thirty years old, is 50 ft. high, girths 4 ft. at five feet 

 ip, and its branches have a diameter of 27 ft,, forming a very handsome tree. 



A. grandis, — Grows fast in similar soil, but is best coloured when grown in the 

 Dpen. 



A. magnifiea. — Grown in the same soil, in an open spot, forms a beautiful and 

 rich-ooloured specimen. 



A. Menziesii. — Thrives well, and retains a good colour, especially on a rough 

 ^ravelly subsoil, 



A. noMlis. — Is quite a success ; but it makes the best growth in an open clayey 

 loam, with a damp clay bottom. 



A. Nordmanniana. — Grows most luxuriantly, and is a complete success, even in 

 exposed places ; and its bright, cheerful colour makes it very suitable for a memorial 

 specimen tree. 



A.pungens. — Grows successfully in any good loam, with an open, clayey subsoil, 

 and forms a most beautiful specimen, retaining its rich glaucous hue all the year 

 round. It is the finest of all the spruces for producing a stately and picturesque 

 effect in dressed grounds. 



Arauca/ria imbricata. — Thrives well in a deep sandy loam, on an open subsoil ; 

 but it does not do so well on a cold, clayey subsoil. 



Cedrus atlantica. — Does fairly well on any soil, but assumes its best glaucous 

 blue tints when planted in a free loam on an open gravelly subsoil. A fine tree 

 growing here is thirty years old, 45 ft. high, 4 ft. 6 in. in girth at five feet up, with 

 a spread of branches 24 ft. in diameter ; a very handsome specimen. 



C. Beodara. — Does not thrive so well on the gravelly subsoil, and soon loses its 

 colour ; requiring evidently a strong soil to get it in its best condition. 



Cupressus Lawsoniana. — Thrives remarkably well, and is not in the least parti- 

 cular as to either soil or subsoil, but is most vigorous on a moist but open clayey 

 subsoil. A grand specimen is 40 ft. in height at thirty years of age. 



C. maorocarpa. — Thrives luxuriantly, and makes fine, clean growth, in a friable 

 loam, on a clayey subsoil, and has attained a height of 40 ft. in twenty years. 



Finns austriaca. — Grows vigorously on trenched loam, on any kind of subsoil ; 

 but from its coarse growth and heavy top it is rather lialDle to be blown over in 

 exposed places ; still it is one of the best kinds for quickly making a game covert. 

 It is 40 ft. high at twenty-five years old. 



P. excelscb. — Thrives well and retains its colour best in strong loam, on a porous 

 clayey subsoil. A tree twenty-six years old is 40 ft. high, and the branches have 

 a spread of 30 ft, in diameter. 



P. insignis. — Thrives tolerably well in a free loam, on gravel, and assumes a 

 better habit than when gTown on a richer soil. 



P. Lanibertiana. — Succeeds well, grows fast, and makes a fine specimen. 



Taxodium sempervirens. — Does fairly well, but requires a sheltered spot. 



Thuyopsis borealis. — Makes strong, healthy growth, and forms a beautifirl 

 specimen, standing the exposure well at this elevated spot, so that it is planted 

 everywhere. A fine specimen at thirty years of age is over 40 ft. high. 



Wellingtonia gigantea. — Thrives best in sheltered places, in deep loam, on a 

 sandy subsoil, where it makes a fine clean growth, with foliage of a good colour. 

 On a thin soil and dry gravelly subsoil, or in places where it is exposed to the cold, 

 cutting winds, it soon begins to turn rusty, and the branchlets die off next the 

 stem. On deep soil and an open rocky bottom it thrives so remarkably well that 

 it is diflScult to conceive it to be the same tree. 



