CHAP. CIII.

flALICA'CEAE. SA'LIX.

1527

species, which stand on the margin of a pond, and were planted as cuttingsthere in 1808, and measured for us in 1836. The height of these trees wasrespectively 60 ft., 63 ft., 60 ft., 70 ft., and 71ft.; and they contained in thetrank 17 ft., 20 ft., 16 ft., 42 ft., and 22 ft., and, with the addition of thebranches and bark, 55 ft., 85 ft., 40 ft., 101 ft., and 60 ft. It thus appears thatthe largest tree had increased in its trunk at the average yearly rate of exactly1) cubic foot, and, in the trunk and head taken together, at the rate of morethat 3) cubic feet; which increase accords in a very satisfactory manner withthat above recorded by Mr. Gorrie.

Pontey calculates that an acre of land worth 31 . 10s annually for rent andtaxes, if planted with the Huntingdon willow in sets cut from shoots of twoyears’ growth, and 10 in. or 12 in. in length, would, in 7 years, be worth67/. 10s. per acre ; thus affording a clear profit of 39/. a year . (Prof. Plant,4th ed., p. 72.)

Sir J. E. Smith, in speaking of this willow, says that the bark is thick, fullof cracks, good for tanning, and for the cure of agues, though inferior inquality to that of S. Russellidrca, “the true Bedford, or Huntingdon , willow.”We are certain that in Scotland , and, we think, frequently in England, the term“ Huntingdon willow ” is applied to S. alba.

Salix alba is one of the few willows which Gilpin thinks “ beautiful, and fitto appear in the decoration of any rural scene. It has a small narrow leaf,with a pleasant light sea-green tint, which mixes agreeably with foliage of adeeper hue.” In ornamental plantations, care should be taken never to plantthis species of willow with trees which are not of equally rapid growth withitself; for, with the exception of poplars, no tree so soon destroys the characterof young plantations of hard-wooded trees, such as pines, oaks, beeches, &c.Perhaps one of the best situations, in point of ornament, is on the banks of abroad river or lake, ample room being allowed for the head to expand onevery side; but, when the object is to produce clean straight timber, the treerequires to be drawn up in masses. It is observed by Sang, that, if “ theHuntingdon willow were not so very common, and so frequently met with inlow or mean scenery, it might, perhaps, be reckoned more ornamental thanmany of the other kinds. They certainly are very elegant plants when young,and in middle age; and, if not picturesque when grown old, yet there is some-thing very striking in their hoary and reverend appearance.” (Plant. Kal.)

1316

Statistics.—Recorded Trees. Mitchell speaks of a Huntingdon willow, near the Lodge of MiltonHouse, Northamptonshire , 70 ft. high, with a head 60 ft. in diameter, and the stem 13 ft. in circum-ference. There is a holt of this willow, he says, in Cheshire, between the river Weaver and theManchester canal, the trees in which are 70 ft. high. In Farey’s Derbyshire Report, it it stated, thatattee of Sklix alba, felled at Wilksworlh, produced 156 ft. of timber, which sold at 2 s. 6d. per foot.

alba in England. Near London , at Ham House, Essex, it is 79 ft. high, with a trunk 2 ft.3w. in diameter; on the Common of Turnham Green, the tree of which a portrait is givenour last Volume was 65 ft. high, but it was blown downin the hurricane^ of the 29th of November, 1836. In-Devonshire, at Killerton, it is 65 ft. high, with a trunk10 in. in diameter. In Gloucestershire , at Dodding-ton, 46 years planted, it is 60 ft. high ; the diameter ofthe trunk 2^ft., and of the head 50 ft. In Cheshire,at Eaton Hall, 17 years planted, it is 50 ft. high. In Den-bighshire, at Llanbede Hall, 45 years planted, it is 57ft.high. In Oxfordshire, near Oxford , on the banks of thetnerwell, it is 60 ft. high; the diameter of the trunk.4 ft.,and of the head 60 ft. In Pembrokeshire, at StackpoleV» rt 1 ’ y ears planted, it is 60 ft. high. In Rutlandshire ,

U voir Castle, 26 years planted, it is 50 ft. high. In0 u’ at Bur y St. Edmunds, near the site of the ancient s _.. .enurch a tree of this species, in 1835, was75ft. high : thecircumference of the trunk 18 ft. 6 in., and that of the twoprincipailimbs 15ft. and 12ft. respectively; the circum-t ! le s P ace covered by the branches was 204 ft.,hpr al' Cuhic contents °f the tree were 440 ft. of solid tim-Ahea ho v e dimensions were taken fromMr. Strutt’sJ(? a > has given an engraving of the tree, fromThi C t is reduced to the scale of 1 in. to 50 ft.

fJZ ec , h ^ n t0 deca y in 1835; and in November, 1836, as we are informed by Mr. Turner, threev°i lfc ' vere dead ; so that it now presents a splendid ruin. In. Yorkshire , at Hornby Castle, it isSAr ga • e diameter of the trunk 41 ft, and of the head 80 ft.

4ft of aiba 1 a Scotland. Near Edinburgh , at Hopetoun House, it is 70ft. high; diameter of trunk■ yin. ;_and of the head 65ft. In Haddingtonshire , at Tyningham, it is 36ft. high; the diameter