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THE SILYEK AND DOUGLAS FIRS. 



Sir, — No one admires the silver fir more than the writer, but be- 

 yond its majestic appearance adorning the side of an avenue, I fail to 

 see its merits as a forest tree. Mr. McCorquodale, of Scone, passes a high 

 encomium on this tree when he sajs, " As gate and common wire fence-posts 

 I consider silver fir the most durable of all our commonly grown firs, 

 larch excepted." If we visit the north of Scotland and inspect some of 

 the old houses and fences in Eannoch, Badenoch, and Strathspey, we shall 

 See what has often been advocated, that matured ■native pine, Scots fir, is the 

 most durable of all our firs, because in Strathspey there are fences erected 

 with bog deal which have stood for the last 40 years, and were nothing 

 the worse for the wear four years ago. As to Abercairney and Braco estates 

 being at one period famous for their silver firs, I may say that the trees 

 are still standing, and are magnificent specimens, and highly ornamental. 

 Mr. McKenzie, forester, Murthly, predicts, with considerable confidence, 

 "that^J?es Bouglasii v:i\\ sooner or later take the place of our larch." 

 Now, living as we do in an age of inquiry, no forester is worthy of the 

 name, unless endowed with an insatiable desire to acquire knowledge ; 

 therefore the writer, in common with many others, will be glad to see this 

 subject discussed on the principle of pounds, shillings, and pence. Facts 

 and figures are often widely divergent. The latter are easily committed 

 to paper, but the former must be realized. This is necessary, because the 

 value of an article is not what it is worth but what it will bring or realize 

 when produced andoff"ered for sale. In 1870 I conducted a sale of timber 

 in Strath-Oykle, Sutherlandshiro, one lot of which was a field of seven 



mperial acres. The trees were classed as follows : — Scotch fir timber 615, 

 spars 1,795, props 520, larch timber 1,3S5, spars 2,400, props 340, spruce 

 and other trees 305, total 7,360. The plantation was 45 years of age, 

 seven miles from a railway station, but close to a good road. The lot 

 realized, for the time it occupied the ground, £4 per annum, per acre. 

 The highest rent for arable land in the same Strath at the time (it has 

 been realised since) was only 14s. per acre. I will state another case on 



