250  Forestry  ExliiJntion  at  Gloucester. 
leader.  The  damage  done  by  woodbine  and  mistletoe  was 
turned  to  useful  purpose  by  conversion  into  walking  sticks  of 
a fantastic  kind,  of  attacked  oak,  ash,  hazel,  and  sallow. 
Sixteen  kinds  of  witches’  brooms  were  shown,  that  of  the 
Douglas  Fir  being  the  rarest.  Twenty-six  kinds  of  burrs, 
besides  many  other  curious  growths,  were  also  exhibited. 
However,  a complete  catalogue  of  this  remarkable  collection 
of  abnormalities  would  take  up  too  much  space — that  of 
damage  done  to  ash  by  hornets  being  perhaps  the  most  curious. 
I may  also  mention,  as  showing  the  noxious  character  of  the 
rabbit,  that  Mr.  Braid  pointed  out  specimens  of  strong  plants 
which  were  killed  by  this  animal,  even  after  they  had  been 
plastered  with  much  advertised  protective  compositions. 
Earl  Beauchamp  and  Lord  Sherborne  also  contributed  to 
the  exhibits  of  specimens  of  trees  damaged  in  various  ways, 
and  a good  show  of  similar  character  was  sent  from  the  Forest 
of  Dean  by  the  Commissioners  of  Woods  and  Forests.  Mr. 
Benjamin  St.  John  Ackers  exhibited  several  remarkable 
specimens,  illustrating  the  injuries  caused  to  even  sound 
trees  by  the  attacks  of  woodpeckers. 
In  Classes  10,  11,  and  12  there  was  a large  show  of  gates  of 
various  kinds,  mostly  of  such  excellent  quality  that  the  task  of 
the  Judges  in  discriminating  the  best  and  second  best  for 
prizes  was  very  difficult. 
In  Class  16,  Seedling  Trees  and  Transplants,  only  one  public 
nursery  entered,  the  King’s  Acre  Nurseries,  Ltd.,  Hereford,  who 
sent  a fine  collection  of  plants  in  earth  in  boxes.  Amongst 
the  rarer  kinds,  I noticed  excellent  examples  of  Gupressus 
arizonica.,  a beautiful  ornamental  tree,  which  appears  to  be 
quite  hardy,  and  is  worthy  of  a place  on  the  lawn  or  in  the 
park.  A good  collection  of  varieties  of  the  Lawson  Cypress 
included  var.  pygmaea,  a plant  only  3 ft.  high,  which  had  been 
in  the  nursery  more  than  twenty-four  years.  There  were  also 
fine  specimens  of  Picea  pungens.,  with  a good  colour.  I need 
not  allude  to  ordinary  forest  trees,  which  were  well  represented. 
The  trees  appeared  to  be  fairly  accurately  named,  though  such 
errors  occurred  as  Abies  excelsa  instead  of  Picea  excelsa-  It 
is  high  time  that  the  nomenclature  of  trees  should  follow 
established  rules,  and  as  the  Kew  Handbook  can  be  obtained 
for  a few  pence  there  is  no  excuse  for  error.  Picea  nigra  was 
correct,  though  usually  the  confusion  between  this  tree  and 
Picea  alba  is  extreme. 
There  were  good  examples  of  the  common  oak,  Quercns 
pedunculata,  but  I looked  in  vain  for  Q.  sessiliflora,  which  is 
the  better  tree  on  many  soils.  It  is  still  astonishingly  difficult 
to  procure  in  England  either  acorns  or  plants  of  the  sessile  oak ; 
and  one  is  obliged  to  refer  inquirers  to  German  nurseries, 
