194 ON THE CAUSE OF KINGSHAKE IN TREES. 



Scottish food— otherwise his frame would become a complete 

 wreck — as believe that the soil is the only cause. The antiquity 

 of this belief carries no weight with it, and the cause must be 

 sought for elsewhere. Certainly, if any particular soil is better 

 adapted for the growth of certain trees than others, none can be 

 more suitable than that on which they are found growing 

 naturally unaided by the hand of man. But it does not follow 

 that all trees, even though planted on such soil, will be exempt 

 from ringshake. My experience, gathered in various Scotch 

 counties and on various estates, has led me to the conclusion 

 that ringshake is often attributable to the subsoil ; in other 

 instances, to the form of the tops of the trees oq certain 

 exposures ; while, in not a few, it may be attributed to both the 

 above causes ; and in some cases, I believe, continued severe 

 frosts may be the cause. The following facts have convinced 

 me that ringshake is not attributable to the soil only ; and 

 by asking and answering a series of queries, I hope to make my 

 views intelligible to others. In Perthshire, I am asked to take 

 to the sawmill a considerable quantity of peeled oak timber 

 and have it manufactured. I find it has been growing on 

 various classes of soil, resting upon different kinds of subsoil. 

 The woodlands have a southern exposure at an elevation of 

 800 feet above the sea, on either side of which a crop of oak 

 copse is growing; the ground is somewhat irregular, — some 

 knolls 60 or 80 feet higher than the general level of the 

 ground. I find this oak timber I am requested to manufacture 

 is the oak standard trees which have been cut down along 

 with the annual cutting of copse grown upon the same ground ; 

 they are 70 years of age, more or less, I carefully examine 

 them, and I find numbers of them have grown very straight, and 

 seem to have had very regularly formed tops, others quite the 

 reverse, and have had a number of heavy limbs. I am asked. 

 Do you expect they will turn out a given number of cart spokes ? 

 I answer, According to the cubical contents, they should ; but a 

 good many are not sound, and I am therefore afraid they will 

 not. We are often caused considerable loss by ringshake 

 amongst our oaks. "What do you think is the cause ? Some 

 authors ascribe the cause to the soil only, but this I have never 

 been thoroughly able to prove. I do not believe that the soil is 

 the only cause ; and suppose we get tools and examine the 

 various classes of soil on which these oaks have been growing. 

 Here is a sound oak ; let us try and find out what class of soil 

 it has grown upon. Black loamy soil 18 inches deep, resting 

 upon porous gravel. Now, try round this stool ; this oak is 

 much ringshaken we find. Sandy loam 20 inches deep resting 

 upon a very hard gravelly pan. Now, then, do you believe that the 

 soil here has anything to do with the cause of ringshake ? It may 



