ii8 The Journal of Forestry. 



The prices here for oak timber are from 2s. Gd. to Is. Gd. per foot, and 

 Is. for loose tops, an exceptionally fine tree or so fetching 3s. per foot. 

 Trusting these few statements will call forth a still further supply of 

 information on the abovesubject,— I am, Sir, yours faithfully, 



ElCHAED JaNDRELL, 



Hawksione, Salop, Forester and Bailiff to Yiscount Hill. 



May Uth, 1877. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



SiR^ — Unfortunately I do not possess a facile pen, and cannot convey my 

 ideas to your columns in graceful metaphors and fiow'ing periods like some 

 of your contributors. An experience of nearly forty years in surveying, 

 marking, and valuing timber on some of the principal estates in the midland 

 counties must nevertheless have been badly spent if I have not gained 

 information which may be useful to some at least of the readers of your 

 valuable Journal. 



I have been much pleased in perusing the capital article on " Summer 

 Operations Beneficial to Plantations." I now only wish to refer to that 

 portion which relates to pruning. I observe a practice adopted -which is 

 offensive to the eye and injurious to the tree on many estates. I refer to 

 the plan of cutting off considerable limbs of trees at a distance of from two 

 to three feet from the trunk. Now if the forester instead of this unsightly 

 mutilation would judiciously prune the branch so as always to leave a living- 

 and tapering end to it, he would gain all the advantage of light and air 

 which he requires without destroying the beauty of the foliage. 



I should be glad to see some remarks from practical men on the culti- 

 vation of the abele poplar, as this species thrives well on marshy land, and 

 grows as rapidly as the black poplar, whilst its wood is by many merchants 

 considered superior to any of the poplar species. Mr. Berry, of Horning, 

 sham, should be able to give us some interesting particulars on this subject- 

 as I saw on the Longleat estate some remarkably fine specimens in the year 

 1868, and was informed that five abele trees had been blown some time 

 previously, containing respectively 550, fi61, C60, 660, and 690 cubic feet- 



With regard to your article on hop-poles I beg to say that a good supply 

 may be obtained from the thinnings of larch plantations, but these should 

 always be peeled, as the bark will pay the cost of workmanship, and the 

 poles will be much more durable and lighter for carriage. — Yours truly. 



Bridge House, BrimfieM, May 21, 1877. Wm. Mainwaring. 



PRICES FOR SAWING. 

 SiR^_I should like to have the opinion of some of your practical corres- 

 pondents as to what are the usual rates paid for having fencing material 

 manufactured by contract ; such as the rate per hundred for sawing four 

 and a half and five feet stobs, likewise the rates for sawing paling rails, 

 and the general custom as to any slabs or refuse that may be made in 

 sawing, whether they belong to the saw-miller or the party having the 

 wood manufactured. Ykm Play. 



