REPORT ON THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF PLANTATIONS. 251 



Larch, suitable for secondary general purposes, per dozen, 80s. 



Spruce, „ „ „ „ 70s. 



Scots pine, „ „ „ „ 20s. 



Branches and burn-wood from Is. 6d. to 4s. 6d. per lot (each 

 containing about one ton), according to access for loading, descrip- 

 tion of wood, &c. 



It will be observed that the sums realised at the sale for some 

 sorts of wood (as the oaks) are below the estimated value per 

 acre, but this is accounted for by the latter being peeled. The 

 value of the bark is about equal to one-third that of the trees as 

 they stand. 



The state of the plantation generally is favourable, and will 

 bear comparison with others of a mixed description and equal 

 age, yet there is a great deficiency in value, as before stated, when 

 contrasted with those of one class of trees. The spruces are 

 nearly what might have been expected, and will be found to 

 correspond in proportions to those of well-grown trees. They are 

 mostly well clothed with branches, some of them quite to the 

 ground; but as part of the soil and situations are unfavourable to 

 the growth of spruce, the trees thus situated are scarcely worth 

 half that of the others. Nothing is better calculated to prevent 

 ground-rot in spruce than abundance of branches. Of two trees 

 growing up side by side, one well clothed with branches, the 

 other not, the trees on being cut as ripe will prove the truth of 

 the above statement, at least if the subsoil is wet. The spruces 

 are best grown in the lowest situations, where the leading top is 

 preserved and the foliage fresh and healthy. 



The larch next in order is equally proportionally developed, 

 but is in some cases too small in girth for its height. It may 

 seem remarkable that the spruces and larches are so well grown, 

 while most of the other trees, particularly the oaks, are the very 

 reverse. This arises from the circumstance of the former being 

 the fastest growers, and from their having sufficient room for 

 their free development wherever the ground was suitable, so that 

 their present perfect state has been attained at the expense of 

 their neighbours. The best larches are where the Scots pines did 

 not at first succeed, and the best spruces where the larches de- 

 cayed early. 



The Scots pines suffered in many cases by the larches dash- 

 ing against and destroying their leaders, but the former were 

 mostly thinned out at an early age. Those now remaining are 

 coarsely grown, occasioned by the system of thinning and the 

 nature of the soil ; they are likely to become large trees, but of a 

 soft, inferior quality. 



The hardwoods are in general badly grown, especially upon 

 the best soil and sheltered places ; they are tall compared with 

 their thickness, have few branches, thin bark, and badly rooted. 



