KEP0RT ON THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF PLANTATIONS. 261 



There is one very prevalent error in the treatment of planta- 

 tions grown exclusively for shelter, viz., that the trees are allowed 

 to stand so long in a crowded condition as to destroy the vitality 

 of the greater portion of their branches, therefore proving next 

 to no shelter at all, and that little which is afforded is of short 

 duration. The very means employed to accomplish that one 

 object (shelter) are the identical means by which its attainment 

 is frustrated. 



The object of planting No. 3 was to beautify the country, 

 to afford shelter to the stock on two separate farms, to form a 

 cover for game, and ultimately to yield a profitable crop of com- 

 mon sized timber, suitable for country purposes and general estate 

 work. The attainment of any one of these objects has not been 

 effected, except that of beautifying the country to a certain extent ; 

 and in so far as there is now a plantation where before only a 

 wild, heathy, bleak moor existed, by so much has an improve- 

 ment been accomplished. The trees, individually, of which this 

 plantation is composed, are more like subjects of art and manu- 

 facture, being long bare poles, destitute alike of handsomeness and 

 beauty, as trees, than products of natural growth ; it therefore fol- 

 lows, that the whole must be of the same quality as the individual 

 trees are of which it is composed, and which are by no means 

 beautiful. There is another eminent defect in the beautifying 

 part, which, however, is not the result of improper management, 

 lout is the result of want of forethought in planting ; the defect 

 complained of is the absence of a few groups in certain conspi- 

 cuous places. There are spots well adapted to grow larch, spruce, 

 sycamore, beech, willow, and poplar, which would have afforded 

 a varied and lively contrast to the dull, dark Scots pine, of 

 which the plantation is chiefly composed. There are, indeed, 

 a few larch and spruce, and one single tree of Huntingdon 

 willow, sprung from a withe which was used in binding a bundle 

 of plants. This withe was stuck into the ground in a damp 

 place. It grew up, and now forms an object pleasing and agree- 

 able to the eye, forming, as it does, an excellent contrast to the 

 grey dark pine. 



There are a few larches situated principally at the east end, in 

 the centre, and at the west end ; with the exception of the latter, 

 the others are all affected with ground-rot and dry-rot, which if 

 not produced, are at least greatly aggravated by the trees being too 

 much drawn up without due branches upon them. Near the 

 centre is a group of spruce which, at an early age, was duly 

 thinned, and though neglected in this respect afterwards, yet was 

 so far benefited, that a useful crop was thereby secured. In 

 1860, the ground which these spruces occupied was at least 

 twice the value of any similar area on the plantation ; the largest 



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