CHAP. CV.

CORYLA CEAi. CUE'RCUS.

1839

13 ft. 8 in. in circumference, and has attained a good height; the branches spread in the form of a domeand nearly touch the ground, in all parts of the circle sheltered by the luxuriant foliage of thissplendid specimen ; the diameter of this circle is 95 ft.” In Wiltshire, at Longleat, 260 years old,it is 60 ft. high, the diameter of the head 75 ft., and girt of the trunk 19 ft. 6 in.; at Wardour Castle,200 years old, it is 50 ft. high, the diameter of the head 45 ft., and girt of the trunk 25 ft.; at Long-ford Castle it is 60 ft. high, the diameter of the head 80 ft., and girt of the trunk 15 ft ; in SavernakeForest there are many large and noble oaks, besides those mentioned in p. 1771. and p. 1792.

The British Oak North of London. In Bedfordshire, at Woburn Abbey, Q. peduncul&ta is 75 ft.high, and the circumference of the trunk is 18ft. 6 in.; Q. sessiliflbra is 90 ft. high, the diameter ofthe head is 63 ft., and the girt of the trunk 21 ft. 6 in. Near Bedford, on an estate also belonging tothe Duke of Bedford, stands a remarkably fine growing tree, called the Oakley Oak, which girts 15 ft.9 in. at 2 ft. from the ground ; the height is 75 ft., and the diameter of the head, from the extremitiesof the branches, is 116ft. In Howe’s Park, Q. peduncul&tais 85 ft. high, and the girt of the trunk15 it.; and Q. sessiliflbra is 90 ft. high, and the circumference of the trunk 29 ft. At Flitwick Housethere is an old oak 60 ft. high, which girts 18 ft.; it has a straight trunk about 35 ft. high before itforms any branches; there is also a young oak,planted in 1818, which, in 1836, was 30ft, high, and2 ft. 5£ in. in circumference. At Ampthill Park there are two fine old oaks : the first (Q . peduncul&ta)is 59ft. high, and the trunk girts 25ft.; the second (Q. sessiliflbra) is 60ft. high, girting 24ft.,and with a head 100 ft. in diameter. In Breconshire, the largest oak is one (now in a state of decay)which girts 25 ft. at 5 ft. from the ground : it grows with some other fine trees near the old mansionof Pantycored, near Brecon, and belongs to Dillwyn Llewelyn, Esq. Iti Buckinghamshire, at ClaydonHouse, the seat of Sir Harry Verney, are two very fine oaks : the circumference of the trunk of thelargest is 27 ft., and the diameter of the head 120 ft.: the circumference of the trunk'of the other tree,at the smallest part, is 21 ft. At Harlcyford is an oak 16 ft. in girt, and dividing into two enormouslimbs, each from 9ft. to 12ft. in circumference. Waller’s oaks, near Beaconsfield, are about 100ft.high, and 8ft. in circumference: they were planted by Waller in 1730. In Caermarthenshire, atGolden Grove, are many fine oaks, supposed to be about 300 years old, above 80 ft. high, and withtrunks from 15 ft. to 18 ft, in circumference. In Cambridgeshire, at Wimpole, is an oak 75 ft, high,with a trunk 13ft. in girt, which is clear to the height of 50 ft. In Cheshire, at Combermere Abbey,there is a pollard oak 80 ft. high, the circumference of the trunk 24 ft., and diameter of the head75 ft.; there are also some oaks in a growing state, about 70 ft. high, with heads from 75 ft. to 80 ft. indiameter, and trunks girting about 12 ft. (For other oaks at Combermere see p. 1756.) At BucklandHill, according to Mitchell, there is an oak with a trunk 24ft. in circumference at 5ft. from theground, and which, at 8 ft., branches out into four large limbs, about 60 ft. high, and spreading overa diameter of 120 ft In Derbyshire, the approach to Kedleston House, the seat of Lord Scarsdale,is through one of the finest oak groves in the kingdom. We have received the following account ofthese trees from the Honourable and Reverend Frederick Curzon :—“ The largest oak, called, parexcellence , the ‘ King Tree,’ measures in girt, at 6 ft. from the ground, 24 ft.; it has a noble trunkof 60ft. without a single branch, and appears in a healthy and growing state. The late Lord Scars,dale refused 300 guineas for it about 20 years ago, when he sold a tree standing near it for 204guineas. There are about a dozen more trees in the same grove, with trunks girting from 19 ft. to20 ft. each.” In Durham, at Ravensworth Castle, there is an oak which is supposed to be the largestin the county : it is 70ft. high, with a trunk 18 ft. 4 in. in circumference at 1 ft. from tlie ground,and 17 ft. at 9 ft.; the head is 80 ft. in diameter. In Essex, the Lawn Oak, at Writtle Park,according to Burnet, is 25ft, in girt at 5ft. from the ground; and the great Northfield Oak, inthe same park, girts 31 ft. 6 in. at the same height. At Hempstead, near Saffron Walden, is an oldoak, the trunk of which, we are informed by J. Pease, Esq. M.P., girts from 50ft. to 53 ft. InFlintshire, at Gredlington, the seat of Lord Kenyon, there are two oaks, one of which is 96 ft. high,and girts 13ft. 9in.; and the other is 83ft. high, and girtsl5ft. In Glamorganshire are severalfine trees; and among others the Sketty Oak. We have received the following account of this treefrom that excellent British botanist and ardent lover of trees, L. W. Dillwyn, Esq., M.P.:—“ Thistree grows at Lower Sketty, about 2 miles from my house. When I first came into this neigh-bourhood, in 1802, it was a magnificent tree; but, a few years afterwards, it was much damaged bylightning; and one of the main branches, within these 3 or 4 years, has been torn off by a.storm.The trunk is quite hollow, with a circumference of 37 ft. 9 in. at the base; and it measures 24ft. 2 in.at 4 ft. 6 in. from the ground, before any of the enlargement occasioned by the branches begins.”We have received the following account of the Lanelay Oak, also, from Mr. Dillwyn: —“ It growsabout a mile and a half from Lantrissant; and my friend the Rev. J. M. Traherne has sent me itsdimensions as follows : —‘ 38 ft. 6 in. round the base, and 27 ft. 2in. at 3 ft. from the ground.’ Thistree is in a much more shattered state than the one at Lower Sketty : one side of the hollow trunk

6 D