IRELAND AND WALES 
47 
first hybrids, the plants equalling in health and vigour those 
in the Cornish gardens. Castlewellan, made famous by 
the late Lord Annesley, contains a very large number of 
Rhododendrons, many of them beautiful examples of cul- 
tivation and proofs that the soil and climate of the district 
are what Rhododendrons like ; for no plants are more 
difficult to keep in health if these conditions are lacking, 
nor do any plants give less trouble or respond more readily 
to ordinary care than Rhododendrons do when the con- 
ditions are favourable. 
At Singleton, near Swansea, there is a good collection 
of Himalayan species and many of the best hybrid and 
garden seedlings. The species are said to have been raised 
from seeds collected in the Himalayas by Colonel Sykes, 
who sent them to the Director of the Edinburgh Botanic 
Garden, who shared them with Sir Hussey Vivian, after- 
wards Lord Swansea. Some of the specimens are of 
exceptional size : R. Thomsonii, 20 feet high ; R. harbatum^ 
33 feet; R. Hodgsonii, a magnificent bush, 12 feet; and 
R, Falconeri, 30 feet, the trunk 3 feet in girth and the head 
18 feet through. The height of these specimens is partly 
due to their having been planted in a valley under the shade 
of tall trees. 
The collections mentioned must only be considered re- 
presentative. There are many others ; some of them, no 
doubt, quite as worthy as any of those mentioned here. 
One of the best collections of the catawhiense race is that 
at the residence of the late Baron Sir Henry Schroder, 
The Dell, Egham, Surrey. 
