B On the Native Forests of Aberdeenshire. 



2. *' At what elevation above the sea may be the bases of these 

 forests ?" 



3. " What do you suppose is their extent ?" 



4. " Do you consider that they may formerly have extended 

 down the vaUies almost to a level with the sea ?" 



5. " Is the wood more valuable than that of the cultivated fir ?" 



6. " Have you any idea of what may be the age of the finest of 

 those trees ?" 



1. To the first of these inquiries, a resident gentleman whose ac^ 

 quaintance I enjoy, will probably, at a future time, furnish an answer. 

 In the meantime, I may state that I have just now conversed on the 

 subject with a very intelligent person, in my neighbourhood, who had 

 occasion to be in that country twenty-four years ago, and gave me 

 then an account of some remarks he had made on those forests, 

 which he now confirms. His estimate was that the trees did not 

 rise more than 600 feet above the river, which we know from other 

 sources to "be about 1000 feet above the sea ; so that by this esti- 

 mate the highest trees would be 1600 feet. He remarked that 

 what he considered the highest trees of the forest of Mar Lodge, 

 were large serviceable trees ; but these were, at their upper side, 

 bounded by a morass,, into which they could not extend. Had the 

 soil fitted them, the vigour of growth showed that they might have 



fone higher. The region of this, which is the upper forest of the 

 )ee, consists of a mass of moderately sized mountains, penetrated by 

 deep glens, in which flow the Dee, and several of its tributaries ; 

 and the whole bounded and sheltered on the west, north, and south 

 sides by still loftier mountains, some of which, as we learn from Dr. 

 Keith's survey, attain an elevation of 4000 feet. The finest trees 

 are found in the edges of the most sheltered glens. * 



2. There is a valuable native forest, that of Glentanner, on a 

 tributary of the Dee, much nearer the coast than Braemar, about 

 35 miles from Aberdeen, while Braemar is 60 miles. It is the 

 property of the Earl of Aboyne. I am somewhat acquainted with 

 that district, and am disposed to estimate the elevation of the low- 

 est trees at 600 or 700 feet. 



3. Although these forests may be deemed extensive when com- 

 pared with any other native forests in Scotland, and are a source 

 of much wealth to the owners, yet when we view them in reference 

 to any supply of timber needed in this kingdom, that which they 

 could furnish is very trifling. The forest of Mar Lodge has been 



* A very remarkable circumstance attends the upper boundary of these trees 

 in the aged forests. They form a full wood of large serviceable timber close to 

 that boundary, and do not gradually dwarf out like the birches. I had several 

 opportunities of observing, in plantations on very elevated ground, how this is 

 to be accounted for. The young trees planted in a region too elevated for them, 

 had yet struggled on for many years, and then died off altogether in broad masses, 

 probably during some unusually severe season, leaving those lower down of 

 good sizes immediately contiguous to the dead trees. 



