MANAGEMENT AND SALE OF TIMBER. 133 



cheapness of the latter is owing not so much to the large quantity- 

 grown and sold, as to the difficulty of clearing it off the rough 

 and rocky ground, and the distance it has to be conveyed to 

 market. Comparatively little of the timber manufactured in the 

 north is used on that side of the Tweed. It is either shipped or 

 sent by rail to Newcastle, Sunderland, Glasgow, London, and other 

 places south. The local uses to which most sorts of timber in the 

 north are applied are similar to those of the south. The exceptions 

 to these are Pine, Fir, and Birch, which are manufactured into 

 boards of various descriptions, barrel staves, and sleepers for 

 railways and mining purposes, all of which are disposed of in 

 the south markets. 



The systems of measuring timber here again differ from those 

 previously mentioned, and may be stated in few words, making 

 allowance for incidental deviations. A tree is considered timber 

 size that girths 26 inches over the bark at 12 feet, and is sold 

 by the foot. Trees below that girth at 12 feet from the ground 

 are termed poles, and are denoted, according to size, spar-wood 

 and propwood, and sold at so much each, or by the dozen or 

 hundred. Timber trees (Pine and Fir) are measured out in 

 the top to 26 inches* over the bark, girthed in the centre be- 

 tween that point and the base, and an allowance of 2 inches 

 abated for bark. In measuring hardwoods, the centre of the 

 tree is also taken for the mean girth, aud 2 inches abated for 

 bark as for Pine. This rule is more capricious than just aud 

 fair. The allowance for bark upon large trees is a great deal too 

 small. 



It is generally believed that Scotch Pine produced from seed 

 naturally sown in the forest is of superior quality, but the writer, 

 who has had extensive opportunities of observation, has 

 arrived at the conclusion that suitability of soil and climate, 

 rather than spontaneous growth, produces the superiority. 

 In Strathspey, where trees of spontaneous growth and 

 planted trees are growing up side by side with each other, of all 

 ages, size, and description, there is to the writer no visible 

 difference, neither is there when cut clown, either in point of 

 durability, strength of fibre, specific gravity, lustre, or colour. 

 The shining rich surface of dressed Highland Pine is such 

 as often leads strangers to the conclusion that it is dressed with 

 French polish, or varnished. This appearance, however, is not 

 confined to Pine of spontaneous growth, but is equally manifest 

 in planted timber of similar age grown in the same district. 

 The bright reddish yellow, too, of matured Pine has much 

 the appearance of sound Larch, grown upon clay soil, but 

 this, too, is equally visible in planted as in natural timber. 

 The writer not only sees daily fencing posts of natural Pine, 

 which have stood in the ground for above 30 years, and are yet 



