68 ON PLANTING IN EXPOSED AND 



above sea-level, the soil being of a cold clay loam, not well 

 adapted for the early growth of young plants. The trees are a 

 mixture of common and Turkey oak, ash, sycamore, beech, elm, 

 and a few birch, with one or two laburnums, and service hcrry 

 trees along the margin, all as near as the writer can judge from 

 their appearance about forty-five years old. The subsoil rests on 

 limestone rock, which in parts has been removed to some depth, 

 forming in some places an undulation of 12 to 15 feet, where 

 the trees are much larger than on the more level parts. This 

 may be accounted for by the dryness of the soil, from much 

 rubbish and mixtures of small stones being in the bottom, giving 

 plenty of room for the roots of the trees to extend, and also from 

 the fact of the prosperous trees not being growing so close to one 

 another as those in the other parts. Another advantage they 

 have is the shelter derived by their being placed in low ground, 

 and having the other trees growing as it were above and around 

 them. All the trees on the level are very small for their age, 

 which is mainly due to the exposure of the situation, the cold- 

 ness of the soil, and the want of thinning them in youth. The 

 trees which have made most progress are the beech and syca- 

 more, and the difference between them and their neighbours is 

 very apparent. Along the margin there is a row of ash with a 

 few Wych elm, and one or two Turkey oak, laburnum, and ser- 

 vice trees, and as these have been receiving the severest ex- 

 posure, one may judge from their appearance which are the best 

 trees for planting when severe winds are to bp contended with. 

 The Turkey oaks contain more timber than their neighbours, 

 having grown larger than either the ash or elm, but the branches 

 and young shoots of the last have stood the severity of the 

 winds better than those of the Turkey oak. The ash, on the 

 other hand, are all blown with the wind to such an extent that 

 their branches are grown towards the sheltered side, while those 

 facing the storm have made little progress. The laburnum and 

 service have both stood the exposure well. Near the outside 

 are one or two larch which have made but small progress, not 

 containing at present more than three cubic feet of timber, and 

 having the tops entirely gone. All round this small plantation 

 a young one was planted (about ten years ago), which is partly 

 enclosed by a wire fence, and partly (on the west and most 

 exposed side) with an upright paling fence 4^ feet high, having 

 the pales or spars placed li inches apart. This fence was 

 erected for the double purj)ose of (1) protecting the trees from 

 the inroad of stock and ground game (and avoiding the expense 

 of wire netting), and (2) of sheltering the plants from the severe 

 gales that blow on that portion of the plantation. At first sight 

 the erection of this fence seems a good idea, and from the shelter 

 afforded, success might very naturally have been expected. 



