Loudon repeats and adopts a ftatement made by General Napier, that Sir Frederick Adam, in fpite
of his remonftrances, neglected to take fteps to preferve the foreft on the Black Mountain. " He (General
Napier) was particularly anxious that the foreft ridge ihould be inclofed fo as to exclude the goats, and to
allow the trees to grow up and to become timber; and, when he was Governor, made many remonftrances
on the fubjeCt to Sir Frederick Adam, the Chief Commiffioner, but without effect." But General Napier,
at the time he publifhed " The Colonies," was in a ftate of open and violent hoftility to Sir Frederick Adam.
The book was written, as he himfelf virtually tells us, as an attack upon Sir Frederick; and although he
afferts that Sir Frederick neglected his reprefentations, his own ftatement {hews that the charge was without
foundation. He fays,—" The whole time I was at Cephalonia, I in vain endeavoured to call the attention
of Sir Frederick Adam to its great value. The vaft number of goats which range at pleafure, deftroy
the young trees. . . . This foreft is of great importance; yet Sir Frederick Adam preferred the opinion
of thofe whofe flocks of goats paftured on it to that of what he pompoufly calls ' his reprejentation.
meaning the reprefentative of the Lord High Commiflioner. The goat proprietors are rich and powerful,
and no doubt proved to his Excellency the total ufeleffnefs of a foreft, and the great advantage of goats to
cultivation ! One of thefe proprietors affured me, gravely, that the goats, by biting off the leading fhoot of
the young fir, instead of harm, did good, and made the tree more vigorous. I fuppofe thefe men were believed,
for the foreft was abandoned!" (p. 337). Rather hard meafure thus to condemn a man upon fuch poor
evidence as ' no doubt' and ' I fuppofe'—the more fo when it appears that Sir Frederick actually did pay
attention to his ftatements, for we alfo read, " When I came away, I fpoke once more to Sir Frederick
Adam on this fubjeCt, and he fent to have a report upon it, which was made by Captain Kennedy; but
nothing has been done" (p. 336).
Taking the matter thus on General Napier's own fhewing, and without any other knowledge of it, it
would be difficult to attach any blame to Sir Frederick; for, putting afide the rights of the inhabitants to
the pafturage of the foreft as unceremonioufly and defpotically as General Napier feems difpofed to have
done, there remains the queftion of expenfe, who was to bear it, and where the money was to come from: a
foreft 26 miles in circumference is not inclofed for a trifle. The whole charge refolves itfelf into this, that
General Napier drew Sir Frederick's attention to the ftate of the foreft, that he made inquiry into the
matter, but did not do what General Napier recommended. This was fufficient for the General. One of
his idiofyncrafies seems to have been, that whoever differed from him muft be in the wrong.
But although Sir Frederick did not follow the General's recommendation, he was perfectly alive to
the importance of the foreft, and did take fteps to protect it. He made his inquiry into the ftate of the
foreft at the right time—viz., when General Napier was leaving the ifland, and when the care beftowed on
the foreft by him was about to be withdrawn : for we learn from a report by Mr Curling to Colonel Conyers
on another fubjeCt, publifhed in " The Colonies," that fo long as General Napier was in the ifland he took
fteps for the protection of the foreft. He fays, " This foreft at one time contained fome of the fineft trees in
the world, but was unfortunately burned down by the negligence of fome Greeks in fetting fire to their
lands; and fince then the goats have effectually prevented anything like a good tree from growing. These
animals always eat off the leading fhoot, and thus entirely ruin the tree; for the fir does not renew its leading
{hoot if it is injured; and thus only ftunted crooked trees are to be found, except a few that have fprung
up fince Colonel Napier took the pains to keep the goats out" (p. 282). On receiving this report from
Mr Curling, Sir Frederick did take fteps for its protection. Inftead of inclofing it, he appointed guards
to look after it, and took fuch other fteps for its confervation as the refources at his difpofal would permit.
We have taken the trouble to inquire into the matter, and have received the following reply from Count
George Metaxa, who is well acquainted with everything conneCted with the ifland, and knew Sir Frederick
Adam well:—He informs us that, so far from negleCting the foreft, Sir F. Adam named a perfon with the title
of Capitano del Bofco, and gave him fix men as guards to watch and proteCl the foreft, and made fevere
laws againft all that cut or deftroyed the trees. Count Metaxa adds, that Sir Frederick Adam was extraordinarily
fond of trees, and if his fucceffor had taken the fame care of this noble foreft as he did, the
Black
Black Mountain would have been a great fource of richnefs to the ifland. Ample proof of his fondnefs for
trees, and of his regard for this tree in particular, may be feen in the grounds at Blairadam, where numerous
fine plants of P. Cepkalonica (whose introduction is referable to the period of Sir Frederick's adminiftration
in the Ionian Ifles) are posthumous witneffes of his recognition of their worth.
Properties and Ufes.—General Napier's remark as to the hardnefs of the timber of old trees of this
fpecies has been already quoted. He further informs us that in pulling down fome old houfes in the town
of Argoftoli, which had been built from 150 to 300 years before, all the woodwork of the Black Foreft fir
was as hard as oak, and perfectly found.
It appears incidentally from Mr Curling's report, above quoted, that the refin of the tree is collected
for economical purpofes. He fays that the young trees in the Black Foreft " are in danger of being
deftroyed by the women who collect refin, who take off about a foot of the bark of the leading flioot, and,
of courfe, the tree dies " (p. 282).
Culture.—Mr Loudon gives the following account of the firft introduction of the feeds fent by General
Napier, which may be worth tranferibing, for the fake of tracing the probable whereabouts of the oldeft
trees in Britain. " In 1824, in compliance with a requeft of Henry L. Long, Efq. of Hampton Lodge,
near Famham, who was defirous of knowing the fpecies of fir defcribed by the antient writers as the peuke
and the elate, Colonel Napier fent a packet of feeds of the Cephalonian Fir to England. The feeds were
without the cones, and were fent to the Colonel's fifter, Lady Bunbury. The packet was duly forwarded
to Hampton Lodge, but fome feeds having dropped from it, Lady Bunbury gave the feeds to Charles
Hoare, Efq. of Lufcombe. . . . Three of the plants raifed from them were given to Mr Pince of the
Exeter Nurfery, and one to Mr Pontey of the Plymouth Nurfery. Four plants remained at Lufcombe.
The largeft of thefe in 1837 was 3 feet 10 inches high, and the branches covered a fpace of 4 feet 3 inches
in diameter. The plant fent to the Plymouth Nurfery was, in 1837, fold to the Duke of Bedford for 25
guineas. Two of thofe fent to the Exeter Nurfery were fold to the Rev. Theodore Williams, of Hendon
ReCtory, for about the fame fum each; and the third is retained as a ftock plant to propagate from. The
feeds fent to Hampton Lodge were fafely received, and vegetated without difficulty. Mr Long, in a letter
dated Dec. 3, 1837, fays, I loft a great number of plants by fpring frofts and by rabbits, owing to want of
care while I was on the Continent. I have only three plants left, and they are in full vigour, and have
made {hoots during the paft fummer from 6 inches to 7 inches in length. I gave fome plants to Lord
Oxford for his Pinarium at Wolterton, in Norfolk; fome to Lord King for his ColleCtion at Ockham
Park, Surrey; two to Robert Mangles, Efq. of Sunninghill; three I have planted out myfelf; and the
remainder I gave this year to Mr Penny, the nurfery-gardencr at Milford. We are thus enabled to
account for all the plants raifed from the feeds fent home by General Napier."
There are many fine young trees at Craigo, in Forfarfliire, about three miles from the fea, growing
on dry fandy foil, which overlies foft fandftone rock. Thefe had been raifed from feed by the late Mr
Carnegie, and planted by him about the year 1840. They had reached the height of 12 and 15 feet in
1858, and as they were then making yearly fhoots of 12 and 15 inches in height, they muft be now nearly
20 feet high. Judging from thefe, it would appear that the tree prefers a drier foil than mod other
Silver Firs.
We do not know of any trees of very large fize in this country. The talleft we have met with does
not exceed 30 feet; and when the tree thrives, the rate of growth feems to be about a foot in each year.
In Meffrs Waterer and Godfrey's Nurfery at Knaphill, near Woking, there are trees about 23 feet in
height, which have borne cones for fome years. At Elmham Hall, in Norfolk, growing on fandy
loam, there is a plant 30 feet high. At Nettlecombe, in Somerfetfhire (300 feet above the level of the
fea) is one 27^ feet high and 13 feet in the diameter of the fpread of the branches; the foil is rich loam.
At Linton Park, in Kent, there is a very handfome tree, the fpread of whofe branches is 18 feet, but its
[ 2 ] c height