^0 ON THE SOILS AND SUBSOILS 



ing wood, while the latter is only occasionally, and under special 

 circumstances, fitted for that purpose. 



1st, Brown peat, with an open subsoil on the granitic for- 

 mation. This is the prevalent soil on hill sides and moorland 

 that is covered with heath. It is well suited for the growth of 

 Scots fir at low and medium altitudes. In many cases the Scots 

 fir produces good timber on this sort of soil at altitudes ranging 

 above 1000 feet; but these are exceptional cases, and are gene- 

 rally found to be in sheltered and otherwise favourable situations. 

 The quality of the timber on this sort of soil depends entirely 

 on the depth of the soil and the openness of the subsoil. If 

 the peat soil is deep the young trees succeed very slowly for a 

 number of years, until their rootlets get thi'ough into the sub- 

 stratum, after which they grow more rapidly; but at the best the 

 wood is soft and rough in the grain. When the trees are cut 

 down the concentric rings for the first fifteen or twenty years are 

 found to be comparatively small, after that period they gradually 

 increase. When the soil is shallower the trees grow more equally 

 throughout, provided always that the subsoil is open, and are 

 smaller in the grain, and the timber of superior quality. Wlien 

 in a young state they generally grow with a good deal of taper; 

 but with a medium altitude and a suitable situation they will, at 

 the age of sixty, have from 30 to 35 feet of bool, and average 

 about 10 cubic feet. Some of them will be considerably larger, 

 but in all plantations of that age there is a certain amount of 

 spar-wood, and sometimes even props, which take down the 

 average size. 



This variety of peat is also very suitable for birch and plane, 

 especially the former, which in many parts of Scotland growls 

 naturally on soil of this description. Still, although the birch 

 is a graceful tree, and a rapid grower at low and medium alti- 

 tudes, and on soil and subsoil most suitable for its growth, it is 

 not to be compared, as a profitable tree, with the Scots fir, and 

 shovdd never be planted for profit except at high altitudes and 

 hill sides, where, owing to the severe exposure, Scots fir does not 

 succeed. We have never met with any large quantity of plane 

 trees growing on this sort of soil, but, judging from what we have 

 seen of it in mixed plantation, as also in groups and single trees, 

 there is no doubt that the soil is suitable for its gi'owth, especially 

 over whinstone formation at medium altitudes. 



At low altitudes this soil is also suitable for the growth of 

 spruce in masses, and wiiere a good demand exists for spruce it 

 is a remunerative crop. When grown singly or wide apart they 

 are, in general, very rough and branchy; but when grown in 

 masses they are the reverse, and are very suitable for many 

 country purposes. Willows and alders may also be grown, but 

 the former almost invariably gets stagheaded when about forty 



