324 On Plantations, bfc, Aug. 



twenty-five years at the rate of 30I. or 50I. per afere, the pur- 

 chafer being at nil cxpencts of cutting, carriage, &c. Tliis is from 

 24s. to ^os. per acre per annuniy independent of the value of the 

 timber trees left, 2co of which m\y ftand on each acre. 



If the foil and expofure of thefe woods be taken into confi- 

 deration, the growth of the trees will appear confiderable ; bat 

 I have obferved that oaks do not grow half fo faft at Dunkeld as 

 they do in the low and comparatively fheltered lands of the 

 more fouthera diftri^ts of Scotland-, and am confident, if oak 

 woods were planted (or at leafl undergrowths of oaks in woods 

 of any other deciduous tree) in thefe diflrici:s, they '.vould afford 

 double the profit they do in the Highlands; would grow equal 

 in fize to Dunkeld undergrowth in twelve or thirteen years, and 

 afford two cuttings in place of one. At Dunkeld, many places 

 of the woods are too thin, and other parts covered vvith Sirches; 

 but, in the Lowlands, they could be planted regularly thick, and, 

 of courfe, would produce a more uniform crop, which would 

 alfo make them more profitable. 



However, left I (liould be thought in any degree to make oak 

 undergrowth appear more profitable than it really is, I fhall only 

 fay, that, in moft fituations in Scotland, it will produce upwards 

 of 2l> ; and in many places of the Lowlands, upwards of 4I. per 

 acre per an?2um ; and I do not hefitate to add, that it would far 

 exceed thefe fums, in both cafes, were pr >per culture beftowed 

 upou thf plants. This profit is Independent of the produce of 

 the timber trees ; ^nd if we fuppofe 250, or fay only 200, arc 

 cut do'>. n every fifty years fiom each acre, at 3I. each, this is 

 I2l. m^AC per zcxe per annum for woods ; and I am fure none can 

 fay thefe calculations are in the lead degree overrated. * 



Another thing which ought to be fome inducement to plant 

 oaks, is the eafy charge with which it may be accompliOied. 

 It is, beyond a doubt, the fpeedieft, and in every refpe£t the 

 beft method to raife oaks from the acorn, f by fowing them at 

 once where they are finally to remain. Now, 3 or 4 budiels are 

 abundantly fufHcient for an acre; which, at 5s. per^bufliel, is, 



for 



* It is proven beyond difpute, that plantations properly made and 

 managed will ultimately pay bttter than arable crops; but fo few are 

 to be feen properly managed, that men are unu'illing to believe the fatfi 

 upon the teftlmony of others. S^e Mar/Jjal, ylgricolay Du HamcU ^"<>""^> 



f An acre of oaks afford a greater quantity of vegetable produft 

 than tl)« fame fpacc occupied with any other tree. This is owing to 

 the top root of I'o oak penetrating many feet below the furface, and 

 'i'jr'ving the principal part of its nourilliment in the bowels of the 



e^rth, 



