276 ON IMPROVEMENTS ON THE ESTATE OF HALLHEAD. 



greater than ou the hill plantations. There are still some belts 

 intended to be planted near the old mansion house of Hallhead. 

 The plantations, on the whole, are doing remarkably well. Some 

 of the larches that were planted the first year are from five to six 

 feet high, and in a short time will be a very great shelter, being 

 on the west and north-west part of the estate. 



The buildings on the property are now very much improved 

 in comparison to what they were forty years ago. At that time 

 they were very much in the old style ; many of them were stone 

 and mortar walls, thatched with divot and rushes alternately; 

 but now the walls are generally built with stone and lime, and 

 a good nimiber of the houses are slated. A good scpurre court 

 of offices has been built by the proprietor on the farm of Con- 

 funderland, the tenant paying very moderate interest. The 

 square contains an improved thrashing-mill, driven by water, in 

 place of the old one driven by horses ; the byres are of the 

 double construction, with a pass from end to end in the centre. 

 The ancient mansion house of Hallhead got a thorough repair 

 last summer, and is now inhabited. It was originally built in 

 1616. 



The plantations, buildings, and road-making have been all 

 conducted under the superintendence of the present factor, 

 Harry Eoss, Esq., banker, Tarland, and the tenants on the estate 

 have lived very comfortably under just and independent man- 

 agement, with a liberal landlord, whose motto has been. Live 

 and Id live. 



ON THE SOILS AND SUBSOILS SUITED FOR PLANTING. 



By John Nisbet, Assistant Conservator of Forests, British Burma. 



[^Premium — The Medium Gold MedalJ] 



Having undergone a course of forest training in Germany, this 

 report is, of necessity, German in its views, which, doubtless, 

 nuist seem strange to the Scotch forester. Compare, for instance, 

 what is here affirmed concerning the beech, viz., "the beech, on 

 whatever formation it may occur, demands for its proper develop- 

 ment a strong mineral soil, fresh and rich in humus, or vegetable 

 mould," with the statement in Grigor's "Arboriculture," page 

 ti9, " a dry, poor, gravelly, or chalky formation, will suit best for 

 the beech, the birch, and the pines." Those two statements, 

 though at variance, may both be correct. In Germany, the 

 ])ines would first be cultivated for one term of rotation (P. 

 ausiriaca), afterwards the soil having been enriched by the 

 dec( mposition of the exuvire, the spruce fir (Picca cxcclsa), and 

 later on the beech, might be cultivated. In weigh ehing t aoveg 



