198 The Journal of Forestry. 



Sir— The tree Wx. ]\rcLarcD, forester at llopetoun, lias taken notice of 

 in his letter in page 9 of your first number is certainly a large one. The 

 tree was fifty- three years of age, contained eighty cubic feet, and was sold 

 at £8 12s. 6d. 



Some thirty years ago I cut down a black Italian poplar tree in one 

 of the grass parks here, which measured eighty-four cubic feet at forty 

 years of age. It was sold at Is. per foot. 



It stood between two other fine poplar trees, and it was removed to make 

 way for the other two to develop themselves ; and the largest of these 

 now, I have no doubt, will measure 150 cubic feet. 



I know a very enterprising proprietor near Aberdeen, who hns planted 

 probably not less than 3,000,000 black Italian poplar trees within the last 

 seven years. 



To a limited extent and upon a suitable soil, there is no question that a 

 crop of black Italian poplar is the most remunerative crop of any tree that 

 can be planted of all our forest trees. 



Permit me to inform your amateur correspondent, that some of the 

 principal purposes for which poplar timber is used are the following : — 



Brakes for railway carriages, and for trucks, for which there is a large 

 and steady consumption at all times ; for cleading (lining) railway trucks, 

 stone carts, wheelbarrows, &c, &c. 



Scone, Pertli, June 2Qik, Wm. McCoii quod ale. 



SPRUCE TIMBEPt. 



Sir, — Like many others I have been much gratified by the perusal of 

 the two first numbers of our journal. The catholic spirit manifested in 

 its pages is sure to commend it to all those whom it proposes to benefit. 

 It will be necessary, however, for a time to exercise a little caution when 

 taking notice of the various matters that come under our consideration, 

 for we must remember that foresters have been living in akiud of enforced 

 isolation in the past, being almost entirely shut out from that mutual 

 intercourse that does so much to help forward the general good, and as 

 a necessary consequence of that, there has grownup almost unconsciously 

 amongst us a restricted view of each other's work and experience. Eor 

 example, the discussion on the merits of spruce timber which has already 

 appeared in our paper, has brought before us two conflictiug views on the 

 subject, and I believe the gentlemen holding these views have gcodand 

 substantial reasons for so differing. Mr. Smith, in the Thuher Trades 

 Journal, has spoken very strongly against it, both as regards its quality 

 and durability, while on the other hand we have the opinion of two gentle- 

 men who speak with all the weight of many years' experience, and who say 

 that it is an excellent wood suitable for all ordinary purposes, as well as 

 being very durable. Now the question is, which of the two opinions are 



