Crossland : Fungus Foray at Castle Hoiz-ard. 417 



planted, thanks to the forethought of the third Earl of Carhsle. 



The fine avenue, stated to be the longest in England, is formed 



of clusters of twelve to eighteen grand old beeches, the effect 



being magnificent. Plantations abound on other parts of the 



estate. An obelisk in the park, erected by the third Earl in 



1731, records, in the following words, the laying out of the 



plantations, etc., a task commenced in 1702 : — 



' If to perfection these plantations rise, 

 If they agreeably my heirs surprise, 

 This faithful pillar Mill their age declare 

 As long as time these characters shall spare ; 

 Here then A\ith kind remembrance read his name 

 Who for posterity performed the same.' 



We thank him heartily, and remember him most kindly. 

 The approximiate age of most of the trees is here indicated. 

 Signs of rapid decay are evident among them, and now and 

 again one of the monarchs, of the avenue is blown down. In 

 their old age the beeches are rapidly becoming subject to the 

 attacks of Armillaria miicida, a beautiful, white, but slimy 

 parasitic agaric. This appears to be spreading among the 

 aged beeches. It is a fungus which, so far as ob?er^'ations 

 in this country have gone, confines its attentions to this tree, 

 and here it has plen c}- of Ecope. It is a wound parasite, reaching 

 its prey, by aid of its spores, through wounds in the bark, 

 caused generalh' by the breaking awaj' of branches. It has 

 been proved possible to artifixially inoculate healthy trees in 

 this wa}'. Its brother parasite, ArniiUaria mellea, is much more 

 destructive, as it attacks various species of orchard and forest 

 trees. There was very little of it to be seen at the time of our 

 visit, however ; but it was there. Polyporus squaniosus, a para- 

 sitic polypore, was also at work on the beeches. A fine specimen 

 growing out of the stump of a broken branch was carefully 

 cut off, along \^ith the stump, and taken to Kew Museum, as a 

 specimen of a timber tree paranite. 



Ustulina vul 9G.VIS anci a fev\^ other saprophytic fungi were 

 found on decaying parts of the beech trunks. 



Respecting the general run of ground fungi, the season is 

 about three weeks later than usual, and the crop much lighter. 

 Cold summ.ers hke the last, if we can call it a summer, retards 

 the m^'celial development of saprophytic fungi in the ground, 

 in decaying timber, and among rotting leaves. There has been 

 plenty of moisture, but even this very necessary element, 

 unaccompanied bv heat, has not the desired eft'ect. The 



1909 Dec. 1. D 2 



