REPORT ON LARCH FORESTS. 397 



feet apart, and, as a natural result, some of the trees died when 

 young, which gave the surviving ones double advantage, winch, 

 as may be seen at the present time, they fully availed themselves 

 of, and enjoyed. Some of the trees so favoured now contain 75 

 cubic feet and upwards, and are from 80 to 90 feet in height, 

 while the average trees, though quite as tall, contain only about 

 25 cubic feet of timber. This plantation is now partly cut down, 

 hence cannot be properly valued ; but, seven years ago, it con- 

 tained an average of about 200 trees per acre, at 25 cubic feet 

 each=5000, which at Is. per foot amounts to L.250, being the 

 maximum value it was capable of attaining. The plantation, as 

 it now stands, is worth about half the latter sum per acre. 



The trees in this plantation are of largest size, and altogether 

 best upon the north side, which is sheltered from the south by 

 the rising ground, at an altitude of about 600 feet. The ground 

 is upon an incline of about one in four, and the surface smooth 

 and regular. The soil is a hazelly loam, with a dry gravelly 

 subsoil, except where " rotten rock " prevails, which is wet. 



One portion of this plantation, at the medium altitude, presents 

 some ground rot ; and the writer being anxious to know the 

 cause, on examination, found, at a depth of about one foot, a com- 

 pact solid substance known as " rotten rock." This soil being 

 impervious to the roots, and surcharged with water, had caused 

 the central roots to decay, whence proceeded the rot in question. 



The gross return per acre per annum from this plantation 

 throughout the period of its growth is over L.3. Deductions, 

 however, must be made for general maintenance, and compound 

 interest upon the original outlay : with due allowance for the 

 latter sums, the planting of larch in this case has proved a profit- 

 able investment. The surrounding ground in its uncultivated state 

 is worth about 10s. per acre for grazing purposes, while the grass 

 in the plantation is, and has been during the last twenty years, 

 worth about two-thirds of the value of that unoccupied with trees. 



Loch Ordie and Loch Hoshnie plantations may be regarded as 

 one, or at least described here as such, being all within one 

 boundary, and in most other respects much the same. The com- 

 bined contents of the two plantations amounts to 5190 Scotch, or 

 6545£ imperial acres — the largest larch plantation probably in 

 Britain. The planting was completed in eleven years, being com- 

 menced in 1815 and finished in 1826, and is perhaps the greatest 

 undertaking of planting ever executed 1 >y one person. The total 

 number of larches planted upon the estate between 1738 and 1826 

 amounted to 14,096,719 plants, which at the rate of 2000 plants 

 per acre (some of the ground only 1200 per acre), covered an area 

 of 10,324 imperial acres. 



The instructions were to plant larch (alone) at distances apart 

 of 6 feet ; but they seem not to have been duly attended to, as 



2 i) 



