254 REPORT ON THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF PLANTATIONS. 



bottom of the glen was never cultivated, owing to the presence 

 of several springs and the general spongy softness of the ground, 

 which is rich in mossy vegetable remains. 



The plantation was originally formed with the view of afford- 

 ing cover for game, to beautify the appearance of the estate, and 

 for the ultimate object of yielding a remunerative crop of hard- 

 wood timber. Though the area is small, the soil throughout the 

 plantation is various. On the upper parts of the slopes it is a stiff 

 reddish clay — what farmers term a wheat soil ; near the bottom 

 the soil is a sandy loam, and at the bottom what might appear a 

 rich black loam, but which is moss well decomposed and variously 

 mixed with the soil which has been washed down from the higher 

 ground — the whole resting upon sandstone rock and white sand at 

 various depths. The soil on the slopes is retentive of water ; this, 

 together with the dampness of the ground at the bottom of the 

 glen, the rough herbage which abounds, and the sheltered situation, 

 render the plantation what may be termed a damp one. 



The plantation when formed, was in two different divisions, 

 or of two separate classes of trees, each planted regularly through- 

 out with one general mixture. Upon the soft ground all sorts 

 died or degenerated save the spruces alone, which, in consequence 

 of plenty of space and air, soon developed themselves to great 

 perfection ; some of them at eight years' growth were over 10 feet 

 high, girth of stem at bottom 10 inches, spread of branches 8 feet, 

 and were making top shoots of from 30 to 36 inches. It was, 

 however, far different with the plantation on the sloping hard 

 ground on the west side in particular ; here one mass of trees 

 stood which from the first grew with great rapidity. This part 

 of the ground was under fallow at the time of planting, which 

 promoted the early growth very considerably. The trees in a 

 general mixed plantation at any age are never so equal in size 

 as in that of one sort only; so in this instance the smaller ones, 

 and those of slowest growth, as the hardwoods, were speedily 

 overgrown by their more flourishing neighbours the larch, spruce, 

 and Scots pines — all striving for existence, and growing at so 

 great a rapidity, that, as a natural consequence, they very soon 

 suffocated and maimed each other. Only eight growths were 

 completed upon the trees of this part (10 acres), from time of 

 planting to time when thinned ; yet the plantation, with the ex- 

 ception of the spruces referred to, and one division almost entirely 

 planted with larch, suffered so much that never, even under the 

 ablest future management, can they properly recover themselves. 

 The trees of which the plantation is composed are larch, spruce, 

 Scots pine,' oak, ash, elm, and sycamore. The two former were 

 planted to act as nurses to the three latter, as the ultimate crop. 

 The reason of the writer's having selected this plantation as one 

 of the subjects of his report, was to show — 



