70 ON PLANTING IN EXPOSED AND 



about ten acres, and planted with the following varieties of trees, 

 namely, oak, wych elm, Scots fir, larch, and spruce. It is situ- 

 ated about two miles from the sea, and 40 feet above its level. 

 The ground is on a slight slope or rise, and of various descrip- 

 tions of soil, part of it being pure sand to a considerable depth, 

 parts light, thin, poor loam and sandy subsoil, and parts poor 

 loamy clay with a clay subsoil. The geological formation is 

 limestone, but at a considerable depth. The plantation is pro- 

 tected on the one side by a wire fence, and the remainder partly 

 wire fence, and old hedge and ditch, which had been the division 

 between the fields before the ground was planted. The ground 

 had, some years previous to being planted, been under ovfurroio 

 drained with pipe tiles to a depth of oh feet, and at the distance 

 of 30 feet between the drains, and on the ground being planted 

 it was well turned over to as great a depth as possible with four- 

 horse ploughs, and again drained with open drains 30 feet apart, 

 and to a depth of about 15 inches. 



On the east or sheltered side of the plantation is a strip of 

 old oak trees ; also younger wych elm, sycamore, and birch, but 

 which have little or no effect in the shape of shelter towards 

 the younger trees. The plantation is now twenty years old, and 

 has been several times thinned, during which process the larch 

 and spruce were principally removed on the west or exposed side 

 of the plantation, giving preference to the hardwoods and Scots 

 fir as standards, while on the east and sheltered portion the 

 spruce fir have had the preference with the hardwoods, and the 

 larch and Scots removed. 



There is every appearance of health throughout the whole 

 plantation, amongst the hardwoods, Scots fir, and spruce, with 

 the exception of the extreme margin, where any few larch and 

 spruce that have been left in the thinning are not thriving. 



The larch show less signs of hardiness than the spruce, and 

 although j^lanted and growing on the margin of the ditch, which 

 is about 3 feet deep with the soil thrown inwards to the planta- 

 tion, therefore rendering the soil perfectly dry. There is not a 

 single larch that lias not lost its leader, and is not bent and 

 twisted with the Mind. In most cases they are dead several 

 feet from the top downwards, and in the thinning many were 

 found dead altogetlier, or in a dying state. The same stunted- 

 ness is also shown in the larch on the sides of the drive, where 

 there is an opening lor the wind to strike against them, while 

 any that are growing towards the sheltered side are in a much 

 more healthy state. This shows that the larch is not well 

 adapted for planting in exposed or maritime situations. The 

 spruce on the exposed margin, although keeping growing make 

 but little progress. There have been few deaths among this 

 class resulting from the exposure, although many of the trees 



