360 FOREST AL NOTES. [March, 



It is also said of coiiiferse that their leaves, from their needle-like 

 form, have a special power of attracting electricity, and of absorbing, 

 by the aid of its influence, the ammoniacal gases in the atmosphere. 



As for the hygrometric action of grasses, heather, and other weeds, 

 in my Colonial and Continental experience I have found them all — 

 with the exception, perhaps, of some lichens — to dry up the soil in 

 hot weather, though they might keep it wet in rainy seasons. The}' 

 retain moisture, but what they do absorb they use for their own 

 benefit ; they intercept the dew before it can fall to the ground ; and 

 their roots,^binding and matting the soil, prevent the penetration of 

 moisture and the circulation of air below the surface. 



On the other hand, they may sometimes be of service by shading 

 the collar and the tender stem of the young plant from the glare of 

 the sun and in hiding it from the notice of the hare and the rabbit, 

 so^often fatal to its young life, and especially by preventing wash on 

 bare and exposed hill-sides. On the steep slopes of the Alps, with a 

 view to extinguishing destructive torrents, or to mitigating their 

 ravages, jwherever planting is not yet practicable attempts are made 

 to clothe the soil with grass, as a second best, or as a provisional 

 resource. 



It strikes me, therefore, as being impossible to lay down an absolute 

 and universal rule as to the advisability of partial or complete 

 paring of the soil before planting. The forester must, I believe, be 

 guided in this matter, as in most others connected with his art, by 

 the circumstances he has to deal with : by his climate ; by the nature 

 and the exposure of his land ; by the species of tree he plants, more 

 or less hardy, and by the size of plant he uses ; by the cost of labour, 

 the difficulty of obtaining it, &c., &c. In sylviculture, as in every 

 other art, ^though principles are fixed, their practical application is 

 ever-varying. 



David Cannon. 



A Pine Tree was lately cut near Frederickville, which was nearly G ft. in 

 diameter at the stump. It was cut into live logs, three 12 and two 16 ft. long, 

 and contained 8,216 ft. of stuff", so good that it was estimated to be worth 

 50 dols. a thousand. The total value of the tree, at this rate, was 246.48 dols. 



Effects of a Gale. — In the recent gales 200,000 trees were blown down 

 within ten miles of Ayr, on the Countess of Stair's estate, 100,000 on the 

 Marquess of Ailsa's estate at Mochran Hill, and 205,000 at Culgean. 



Mahogany. — The value of mahogany for ship-building may be calculated from 

 the fact that a Spanish line-of-battle sliip, built at Havana, of the finest picked 

 timber, when captured by the English and broken up, more than 100 years after 

 she had been launched, was found to have every timber sound. 



Rosewood. — There are several species of rosewood, and the botanists have 

 not entirely conquered this branch of their study. Not every one knows why the 

 name 'rosewood' was applied to the dark wood so highly prized for various 

 purposes. When first cut the fresh wood of the tree gives out a fragrance that 

 is strono' and agreeable, ^much resembling the odour of roses. 



