the trees of great britain & ireland - Facsimile Books & other digitally ...
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186 The Trees <strong>of</strong> Great Britain and Ireland<br />
It is scarce in <strong>the</strong> dry belt <strong>of</strong> country east <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Cascade Mountains, but common<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Selkirk and Gold ranges, though, so far as I know, it never extends to <strong>the</strong><br />
eastern side <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Rocky Mountains.<br />
On <strong>the</strong> coast and in Vancouver Island it attains an immense size. I have<br />
never measured <strong>trees</strong> more than 200 to 220 feet high, but Pr<strong>of</strong>. Sheldon says that it<br />
attains 250 feet in Oregon, though no actual measurements are given. 1 As regards<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir girth, I have measured two <strong>trees</strong> which may have grown from <strong>the</strong> same root,<br />
so close do <strong>the</strong>y stand toge<strong>the</strong>r, one <strong>of</strong> which was 39, <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r 25 feet at 5 feet<br />
from <strong>the</strong> ground. These stand on Mr. Barkley's farm in Vancouver Island, in<br />
swampy land near sea level, and are figured in Plate 56.2 At over 2000 feet eleva<br />
tion in Oregon I measured ano<strong>the</strong>r, also a twin tree, which was 30 feet in girth.<br />
Mr. Anderson states that he has seen Indian canoes 6 feet and more from <strong>the</strong> level<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> gunwale to <strong>the</strong> bottom, hewn out <strong>of</strong> a log <strong>of</strong> this tree, such canoes being<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten 50 feet and more long. A hewn plank 5 feet wide by 15 feet long is in <strong>the</strong><br />
museum at Victoria, B.C., and split boards, quite straight, 12 feet long and 15 inches<br />
wide, are made from it without difficulty.<br />
The natural reproduction by seed was, wherever I saw it, very good, though in<br />
<strong>the</strong> densest shade <strong>the</strong> western hemlock seemed to have <strong>the</strong> advantage.<br />
CULTIVATION<br />
Wherever I have seen this tree growing in England and Scotland it is a<br />
vigorous, healthy tree <strong>of</strong> <strong>great</strong> beauty and promise, and one that I think is likely<br />
in fifty years or so to become a more valuable timber tree than <strong>the</strong> silver fir or<br />
spruce.<br />
It has been stated in a report by Herr Bohm, in <strong>the</strong> March number <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Zeitschrift fiir Forst. u. Jagdweser for 1 896* that <strong>the</strong> parasitic fungus Pestalozzia<br />
funerea has done serious damage to <strong>the</strong> tree in North Germany, and statements to<br />
<strong>the</strong> same effect have been made elsewhere; but I can say that out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> thousands<br />
<strong>of</strong> this tree that I have raised from English seed and planted out in a bad soil and<br />
climate, I have never had any die from any disease whatever, and have found it an<br />
easier tree both to raise and to transplant than any o<strong>the</strong>r conifer. It will grow on<br />
almost any soil at <strong>the</strong> rate <strong>of</strong> at least one foot per annum, as in damp, cold bottoms<br />
where <strong>the</strong> spruce will hardly thrive, on <strong>the</strong> poor dry oolite soil <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Cotswold<br />
hills, and seems equally indifferent to wind, damp, and spring frosts.4 It seldom<br />
loses its leader, is rarely blown down, endures heavy shade, and transplants both in<br />
1 In <strong>the</strong> Canadian Court <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Colonial Exhibition <strong>of</strong> 1886, <strong>the</strong>re was shown a portion <strong>of</strong> a bole <strong>of</strong> this species, which<br />
was taken from a tree girthing 21 feet, and having a length <strong>of</strong> 250 feet. It caine from British Columbia. Card. Chron.<br />
1886, xxvi. 207.<br />
2 An illustration <strong>of</strong> a tree growing near Snoqualraie Falls on <strong>the</strong> Seattle and International Railway, Washington, was<br />
given in The Pacific Rural Press in 1897. This is said to have been 107 feet 7 inches round at <strong>the</strong> base, and was supposed<br />
to have been over 1000 years old, but we know <strong>of</strong> no good evidence that it ever attains so <strong>great</strong> an age as this.<br />
3 Cf. A. C. Forbes, Card. Chron. 1 896, xix. 554.<br />
4 The very severe frost on May 20-21, 1905, when Io -i5 <strong>of</strong> frost were registered in many places, which killed many young<br />
beech <strong>trees</strong> in low situations at Colesborne, and checked <strong>the</strong> young growth considerably, killed none except a few <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
weakest Thuyas which were freshly transplanted ; but <strong>the</strong> autumn frost <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> following October, when <strong>the</strong> <strong>trees</strong> were still in<br />
growth, seems to have done more harm, though <strong>the</strong> young <strong>trees</strong> did not die till <strong>the</strong> following spring.<br />
f<br />
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Thuya 187<br />
early autumn and late spring with <strong>great</strong> readiness. It has, <strong>the</strong>refore, every good<br />
quality a forest tree can have, except <strong>the</strong> as yet unproved one <strong>of</strong> cleaning its trunk<br />
from branches without pruning.<br />
And as this has not yet been properly tested by thick planting, I venture to say<br />
that <strong>the</strong>re is no conifer better worthy <strong>of</strong> an extensive trial as a timber tree for such<br />
purposes as <strong>the</strong> larch is now used, and especially for fencing posts, for which its<br />
remarkable durability in <strong>the</strong> ground seems to make it most valuable. 1<br />
I should <strong>the</strong>refore recommend that this tree should be planted at distances <strong>of</strong> 6<br />
to 8 feet apart in situations where larch will not thrive, and not thinned as long as<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>trees</strong> keep healthy.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> New England states it is not hardy enough to live in many places, but<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Sargent tells me that a variety raised from seed from <strong>the</strong> Coeur d'Alene<br />
mountains in nor<strong>the</strong>rn Idaho is hardy at Boston, where <strong>the</strong> form from <strong>the</strong> Pacific<br />
coast is tender, just as in <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Douglas fir.<br />
No reliable tests, so far as I know, have yet been made in England or America<br />
as to <strong>the</strong> breaking strain and strength <strong>of</strong> this wood, but Sheldon states that it is used<br />
for telegraph posts in Oregon, and though its branches die <strong>of</strong>f so slowly that <strong>the</strong><br />
home-grown timber may probably be knotty, it is certainly not worse in this respect<br />
than spruce, to which I should consider it in every respect a superior forest tree.<br />
The seed usually ripens about <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> October, and is very freely produced<br />
in most seasons. It soon sheds when ripe, and should be sown in boxes or in <strong>the</strong><br />
open ground in early spring. I have tried both plans with <strong>great</strong> success, and find<br />
it best to plant <strong>the</strong> seedlings at two years old in nursery lines, and plant out<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>trees</strong> finally ei<strong>the</strong>r in <strong>the</strong> early autumn or spring, when <strong>the</strong> deaths will be very<br />
small if <strong>the</strong> roots are not allowed to dry before planting.<br />
There is very little variation among <strong>the</strong> seedlings, which grow rapidly in moist<br />
soil, and are less liable to suffer from spring frost than most <strong>trees</strong>, though if planted<br />
in mid-winter <strong>the</strong> tops are liable to die back.<br />
There is no reason why this tree should not be sold in nurseries at <strong>the</strong> price <strong>of</strong><br />
spruce except <strong>the</strong> absence <strong>of</strong> a regular demand, as it can be got up to a proper size<br />
for planting in two years less time.<br />
The tree seeds itself very rapidly on sandy soil in many parts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> west and<br />
south <strong>of</strong> England, though liable to be thrown out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ground by frost during<br />
<strong>the</strong> first year, and <strong>of</strong>ten destroyed by rabbits. On <strong>the</strong> lower greensand at Blackmoor,<br />
Hants, self-sown seedlings were quite numerous, both <strong>of</strong> this tree and <strong>of</strong> many o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
conifers, but rabbits are not allowed here, and both Lord and Lady Selborne take<br />
<strong>great</strong> interest in self-sown seedlings.<br />
REMARKABLE TREES<br />
The giant Thuya has not been long enough in cultivation to show whe<strong>the</strong>r it<br />
1 I have recently been shown hy Mr. Molyneux a plantation <strong>of</strong> Thuya gigantea and larch called Mays hill, made by him<br />
in 1888 on poor, heavy wheat land overlying chalk at Swanmore Park, Hants, <strong>the</strong> seat <strong>of</strong> W. II. Myers, Esq., M.P. Here<br />
<strong>the</strong> Thuyas have completely outgrown <strong>the</strong> larch, and in many cases suppressed <strong>the</strong>m, and are 15 to 20 feet high, and quite<br />
healthy ; whereas where <strong>the</strong> larch were planted alone in <strong>the</strong> same place <strong>the</strong>y are diseased and sickly.