SEQUOIA WELLINGTON I A. 
year, 23d June 1854 (p- 373 )- It contains little but an account of one or two of the larger trees, the 
details of which we have already given, but specially mentions the accompanying parcel of seeds. On 
receipt of the seeds, Mr Matthew, in order to multiply the chances of their success, divided them into 
three portions, one of which he retained, one was given to Dr John Lyall of Newburgh, and the other to 
Mr Duncan, then gardener at Megginch Castle. All succeeded well; and a considerable number of 
plants were distributed among nurserymen and others, of which we have been able to trace eleven, and are 
indebted to their present growers for their dimensions, the particulars of which will be found under the 
head of “ Culture .” 
Mr Lobb’s supply of seeds, however, was that which truly established the tree in this country. Its 
renown soon spread far and near; and by the time Mr Veitch had his young plants ready for distribution, 
every one was eager to possess it, and willing to pay a good price for it. Mr Veitch thus deservedly made 
a little fortune out of the IVellingtonia. 
Next year, 1854, our neighbours across the Channel had their wants supplied by M. Boursier de la 
Riviere, who then transmitted a quantity of seeds to France. We may here mention that, in the 
year following, Mr Lawson of Borthwick El all sent a water-colour drawing of the tree, from an original 
sketch, together with a branch and cone, to the Paris Universal Exposition, where it was exhibited 
with the Board of Trade collection, prepared by him, and attracted considerable attention. This drawing 
he subsequently presented to the Crystal Palace, where it remained, attached to the section of the big 
tree in the tropical department, until it shared the fate of its original in the fire already alluded to. 
Subsequent consignments have been made from time to time, one of which, viz., that made by Mr 
Black, was the produce of the Expedition in which four trees in the Mariposa Grove were cut down to get 
at the cones, as previously described. At that time shooting them down by a rifle bullet, or cutting down 
the trees, seem to have been the only means of obtaining them, or at any rate the only means of doing so 
which had occurred to the earlier explorers; but now it is found that squirrels manage the business better. 
They cut off cones, and drop them in great numbers for food, and by visiting the trees often a plentiful 
supply may be picked up from the ground. It is not improbable that this did not occur in former times ; 
for we know that, in the depth of the untrodden forest, animal life is rare. It is probably only since man 
has let in the cheerful light upon the surroundings of these groves that the squirrels have congregated 
about them, and made themselves so useful. 
By this means, at any rate, a moderate supply of seeds has of late years been obtained and sent to this 
country pretty regularly, and the plant is no longer rare or high-priced. The trees have, moreover, as 
above mentioned, begun to bear fruit in Britain : at Thetford, Redleaf, Drinkstone Park, Bicton, and a 
multitude of other places in England ; at Castle Martyr in Ireland ; and at Tillichewan Castle and North 
Berwick House in Scotland. We shall, therefore, soon be independent of seed from California. 
Properties and Uses. —We have already explained that these are yet to seek. That the bark of the 
Wellingtonia will prove a valuable substitute for oak bark for tanning we fully expect. It will be more 
difficult to find a use for the soft, light, and fragile timber, although even it too may be found sufficiently 
charged with tannin to be useful for the same purpose; but if it should not, we need not despair. 
The ease with which it can be cut may perhaps adapt it for making models to be afterwards stereotyped ; 
or, after being carved, it may be possible to infiltrate and harden it so as to combine the advantages of easy 
workmanship with manufactured durability. In the meantime, its chiefest attraction in this country is its 
interest and beauty, and its most advantageous property, its rapidity of growth. 
The wood is remarkable for its slow decay. This is the report of Mr Lapham and others who have 
seen it in California, and is fully confirmed by the accounts we have of the state of the fallen trees there. 
Mr Marsh, in his work intitled “ Man and Nature,” suggests that birds do not seem to like the 
Thujas , or strong-smelling Cypresses, as he had never observed any to settle on Thuja occidentals , &c. 
This is certainly not the case with Wellingtonia , whatever it may be with the Thujas. Mr Powell, of 
[ 20 ] 1 Drinkstone 
