228 EDITOR'S BOX. [Jan., 



drains are hi.ulily necessary in some grounds, but these should be 

 finished before planting is begun, so as to have the ground in good 

 dry condition to receive theplants. ' Loanleah's ' other supposed pla ii 

 in regard to roads is open to objection on the score of unnecessary 

 expense and 1 rouble. He proposes to plant his intended road, and 

 then to lift his plants and transplant them where necessary. In the 

 course of three or four years this might suit where immediate cover 

 is required, otherwise it would be cheaper to purchase his plants 

 from the nurseryman to plant where necessary, and let his roadways be 

 unplanted. Besides, after he had acclimatized his plants on the site of 

 tlie road, the part on which the plants did not grow so well, might be 

 tpiite unsuitable for making a road that would be of any service save 

 for shooting purposes, so that on the route he would by the nature 

 of the ground be compelled to take, he woidd root up as many good 

 plants as bad ones and if ' Loanleah ' did follow the part of the planta- 

 tion on which the plants did not grow so well for the site of his road, he 

 would no doubt have a shooting pass. Then in the event of this pass 

 not being suitable for carting, he would at the end of twenty years- 

 have to make other roads for carting purposes, which would be more 

 expensive than if he had marked them off first, and saved the trouble- 

 of planting and transplanting as suggested by him. 



Assuredly in this case also ' Loanleah ' should follow the plan 

 approved by IMr. ocott, and I thiidc he will find it to be the most 

 economical. And if he puts the two methods to the test of experierce,. 

 I should be verv glad to hear the result. M. B. 



The December Gale. — Great damage was done in Scotland during the- 

 recent gale which raged in the north on the 11th of December, occasioning 

 many wrecks and loss of life. A number of trees were blown down in the 

 gala policies, Selkirk, and in Fift shire, in the Markinch district, stacks were 

 toppled over and scattered, roofs of houses Avere stripped and chimney-cans- 

 broken. The woodlands bore ample evidence of the force of the storm. In 

 Balbirnie, Balgonie, and Balfour woods large trees were torn up by their roots, 

 while others were broken over half-way up their stems. lu many places, 

 the roads were blocked up by wind-tossed trees. This was the case near the 

 (Jameron Bridge Station of the Leven and East of Fife Bailway, where a huge 

 ash lay right across the road, putting a stop to all traffic for a time. At the 

 same time the telegrajih wires were broken down, stopping all communication. 

 In Roxburghshire much damage was done in Hawick. Tlie plantations in the- 

 vicinity of Hawick suffered severely. At Ormiston, a shoit distance from the 

 town, the well-stocked woods have all been damaged more or less ; while the 

 Duke's wood and Kaimend plantation jjresent a woeful picture. Here hundreds- 

 of tall Larch Fir, and Spruce trees have succumbed to the strength of the gale. 

 In consequence of trees landing on the public highway, considerable obstruction 

 to traffic was experienced. In Kilmarnock the storm caused great damage to 

 l)roperty, and many trees were uprooted, and an engineman was killed at 

 Hurlfoid by a falling tree. 



