Remarkable Trees
The two finest deodars, as regards size and symmetry, that I have seen in Great Britain are at Bicton, where cones were produced, according to Pinet. Brit., as long ago as 1858. One of these on the lawn measured in 1902 was 80 feet by 11 feet 8 inches (Plate 140). The other is near the ornamental water in a more sheltered situation, and was then 90 feet by 9 feet 1 inch.
Another of about the same height at Beauport has an erect top, and looks as if it might become much taller. The tallest reported at the Conifer Conference was at Studley Royal, and was then 70 feet by 7½ feet; but when I visited that place I saw no very large tree of the kind.
At Dropmore there is a handsome tree which in 1905 was 77 feet by 8 feet 10 inches, and had many of the woody knots embedded in the bark that are sometimes seen in the cedars, It is said to have been planted[1] in 1834.
At Westonbirt, a tree, planted by the late Mr. Holford, about 85 feet by 8 feet 9 inches, is one of the largest and best shaped that I have seen. A deodar of peculiar habit at Linton Park, Kent, reported to be 79 feet high, is figured in Gardeners' Chronicle, December 12, 1903, fig. 159.
At Barton there is a fine tree branched to the ground, which in 1904 was 76 feet by 9½ feet. At Highclere there is a handsome tree about 75 feet by 8 feet 4 inches, which was planted by the then King of Spain in 1844. At Williamstrip, on rather heavy soil, there is a healthy tree of 72 feet by 8 feet.
At Ombersley Court, near Worcester, there is a very fine tree 84 feet by 8 feet 4 inches, which has the erect habit of atlantica; but the drooping branchlets show it to be a deodar.
At the Frythe, near Welwyn, Herts, a large deodar was cut down some years ago; and from the side of the stump there is now (1906) a young tree springing up, quite vigorous and healthy, and about 25 feet high. At Chart Park, Surrey, there is a tree 89 feet by 8 feet 11 inches; and adjoining this place, in the Tunnel Park, Deepdene, there is another fine tree 77 feet by 9 feet, both measured by Henry in 1905. At Fulmodestone, Norfolk, a tree planted in 1861 was in 1905 66 feet by 7 feet 4 inches in girth. At Shiplake House, near Henley, a tree, planted in 1852, was 73 feet by 7 feet 9 inches in 1905, and is bearing numerous cones in the present year. A deodar, growing on Haddington Hill, near Wendover, at 800 feet elevation, is 63 feet by 5 feet 10 inches.
There are many trees of from 60 to 70 feet in other parts of England, but we have seen none which call for special notice.
In Scotland the deodar is only hardy in the warmer parts of the country, and does not seem to have attained anything like the same dimensions as in England or Ireland. At Poltalloch, notwithstanding the wet and windy climate, it grows fairly well and has attained over 50 feet. At Rossdhu, on Loch Lomond, it is even taller.
In Perthshire there are good specimens at Abercairney, Castle Menzies, and Dunkeld, which seem to have been planted after the great frost of 1860–61, which
- ↑ Gard. Chron. xxv. 138 (1899).
