300 



EDITOB'S BOA'. 



Feb. 



^-tTI 



SOOT ABSORPTIO^n 



tIFi, — Until lately I believed it to be conclusively proved tliat aU 

 plantations by means of their roots retained a considerable 

 portion of the moisture which fell upon them, thus storing it 

 up — after the manner of a reservoir, if I may use such an expression 

 — for future use. Lately having taken up ' Foeestey ' for May, 

 1883, and oi;>ening at page 54, 1 read a short article headed ' Scotch 

 Firs,' •which leaves an impression on my mind to the effect that all 

 spine or needle-bearing trees absorb all moisture, even to a consider- 

 able depth below the surface ; while leafy trees have exactly the 

 opposite effect. If some of your correspondents wiU kindly enlighten 

 me on the subject they will much oblige. 



An Ekqutree. 



KATS DEXLROMETER. 



SrE, — In your November issue you have an article on ' Kay's 

 Dendrometer,' with drawings of the sama The instrument described 

 is a very old one, and is commonly known in Germany as Koenig's 

 Messbrett. "Whether Roenig invented it, or simply introduced it to 

 the foresters of his day, I am now unable to say ; but it is fully 

 described in Koenig's ' Forstmathematik,' and has been brought to 

 the notice of English foresters by 'Sli. Amery, in his ' Xotes on 

 Forestry,' Triibner 6: Co., 18751 



It seems strange that a silver medal should be awarded by the 

 Scottish Arboricultural Society for an old and weU-known instrument 

 of this kind, especially as its use has been almost entirely superseded 



