AND ITS USE AS A FODDER PLANT. 267 



any circumstances, is very simple ; but where it is intended to 

 have a permanent " comfrey meadow," seeds might be sown 

 along with oats, after a well-manured root crop, at the rate of 

 6 lbs. per acre, in the month of March or April. 



On deep, rich arable land, where heavy crops of white and 

 green crops are annually grown, it might not be so profitable to 

 convert it into a " comfrey meadow " ; but as it will grow on the 

 poorest of land, it would undoubtedly be the most profitable 

 crop for waste lands, and will yield food for an additional 

 number of cattle, where formerly it yielded little or nothing. 



Being so common a plant, the value of comfrey is not so 

 generally appreciated as it ought to be, but there is every reason 

 to believe that in a short time it may be more extensively 

 grown, seeing that it is such a useful and profitable crop, and 

 one which requires so little trouble and attention, as well as 

 little expense, after once planted. All these ought carefully to 

 be considered nowadays, as it is principally to stock-raising and 

 cattle-feeding that the farmer has to look forward to and depend 

 upon his profit. 



No doubt there is considerable trouble attending the prepara- 

 tion of comfrey before it can be given to stock, but its plentiful- 

 ness and little value for other purposes would on a large farm 

 well repay that trouble. 



EXACT PROGRESSIVE MEASUREMENT OF TREES. 

 By Sir Robert Christison, Bart., M.D., D.C.L., LL.D., Hon. Y.RR.S.E. 



In accordance with a suggestion from the directors of the 

 Highland and Agricultural Society, I beg to submit a summary 

 of the inquiries I have made during the last three or four years 

 relative to tlie scientific and practical bearings of the exact 

 measurement of trees. I do so in the hope that, through the 

 intluence of the Society, forest- owners and foresters may be 

 induced to adopt the method of measurement which 1 have 

 recommended, in place of the vague, and for the most part 

 profitless, methods hitherto pursued by practical men. 



It was these vague methods, useless for most scientilic as 

 well as practical objects, that first led me to consider wh(4lier 

 a more precise and more delicate system might not be advan- 

 tageously introduced, and without such refinements as wouKl be 

 l)eyon(l the reach of the majority of British foresters. L found, 

 in fact, that tlic existing methods presented no uniformity; that 

 they did not follow any general principle, or even any arl)ilrary 

 rule ; tliat measurement was made at a great variety of Iieiglits 

 from the roots, and that the height was often not mentioneil at 



