692 The yournal of Forestry. 



from sight. Tliere is no provision made at any of these works for 

 preventing eitlier smoke or gas from leaving them on their errand of 

 destruction. 



If properly constructed screens were erected at the calcining kilns 

 the noxious gases could be prevented from escaping from them, 

 because sulphuric acid gas is 2\ times heavier than common air, and 

 does not rise much above the top of the kilns, but when caught by a 

 strong wind it is carried to a distance of two miles or more, where as 

 already stated it has been detected by the smell. There is a small 

 cabin at one end of the kilns (which are in a line, with rails on the 

 top), where the waggons are lowered after being emptied, and here the 

 man in charge had geraniums growing and blooming as well as they 

 would do anywhere else. The bottom of the cabin is about eight 

 feet above the level of the top of the kilns. The manager's house is 

 within three hundred yards of the works, and between it and them 

 there is a rise in the ground on which the miner's cottages are situ- 

 ated. They are of two stories, and form a perfect screen on the 

 south-east side of the works. There is a border at the manager's 

 house, above one hundred yards long, planted with Lombardy poplar, 

 Austrian pine, Thujoigsis horealis, Gupressus Laivsoni, Thuja aurea, 

 Rhododendron ponticum, common laurel, and dwarf roses, and all are 

 growing vigorously, with no appearance of blight on any of them, and the 

 roses had the best blooms last summer that I have seen for many a day. 



Compensation can be obtained for the damage done to woods, 

 but net without trouble and expense on the part of the owner, and 

 where the damage is caused by different firms, the difficulty in 

 recovering the loss is increased. It would be better to prevent the 

 damage being done. I cannot understand why any man, or company 

 of men, should be allowed to destroy the property of tlieir neighbours ; 

 while others in large towns are compelled by law to prevent by every 

 known means the emission of smoke or hurtful smells from their 

 works, it would be as easy to prevent them from polluting the atmo- 

 sphere in the country, and I maintain that unless the necessary means 

 are adopted their works are not complete. The proprietor of woods 

 who has the misfortune to have his property within tlie influence of 

 these noxious gases has no choice, but is compelled to cut down his 

 woods or lose them. By their removal, the shelter to the adjoining 

 lands is lost, and in addition to the storms, they are exposed to the 

 damaging effects of the gaseous fumes, thereby lessening the value of 

 the crops, which cannot be matured in either straw or grain, and the 

 live fences being killed, other fences have to be erected, less calculated 

 to afford shelter for either stock or crop. The amenity of the estate 

 is greatly impaired, and v/hat was once a piece of beautiful scenery is 

 now a treeless desert. 



