REPORT ON LARCH FORESTS. 337 



good on the top, but bad underneath ; upon such the trees occa- 

 sionally grow till about twelve years old, and all of a sudden 

 die. But here, though the trees in some cases show signs of 

 impaired health, they yet remain in a paying condition, and 

 continue growing for a number of years longer, especially if duly 

 thinned and the surface dried. 



There is probably as much good larch timber, and as large an 

 area of plantation of all ages, sound and healthy, to be found upon 

 the banks of the Findhorn, or, more properly speaking, " the laigh 

 o' Moray," as in. any other district of similar extent in Scotland. 

 The larch on Darnaway estate, justly celebrated, has for many 

 years been a source of great traffic. Both the extent and 

 quality of the Darnaway larch have long commended it to just 

 admiration. 



The ground originally was planted at 3 feet to 4 feet apart ; 

 but for want of early thinning much of the future value of the 

 crop was lost, and being mixed in some cases with Scots pine 

 and Norway spruce, also tended materially to detract from the 

 value of the crop. 



The practice of mixing larch and pine will by degrees cease, 

 as the conditions under which each grow best become more 

 fully known and understood. 



Notwithstanding various unfavourable circumstances, the larch 

 on Darnaway estate yielded very profitable returns ; but as most of 

 the wood was disposed of as thinnings, no definite statement can 

 be given of the value per acre, or of any particular plantation. 

 The greater part of the larch was planted between 1800 and 1820, 

 and soon began to yield profitable returns, and would have paid 

 as a clearing at forty years' old, and might have been so cleared 

 to great advantage, but for a partial mixture of other species of 

 trees. 



The soil on Darnaway estate, and especially where the larch 

 best succeeded, is a dry, sandy, and gravelly mixture of earth, 

 and the subsoil in general is either sand or gravel ; but the trees 

 are of soundest quality upon granite rock or stones. The tallest 

 and best of the trees are in hollows, where sheltered by higher 

 ground ; and as the surface in many parts is very undulating, 

 the difference in value of the crop varies accordingly. 



The Darnaway woods are most exposed to the north, but the 

 surface of the ground, being so very irregular, neutralises all 

 effects of exposure from any particular point. The woods referred 

 to are inland from the Moray Firth from 4 miles to 6 miles, but 

 are generally protected from the influence of the sea by interven- 

 ing high ridges of ground. 



In any isolated cases where the larch has failed of making pro- 

 fitable returns upon the above-named estate, it is either from 

 having been planted upon ground too hard, with a stratum of 



