/ d - 



T/ie yournal of Forestry 



after it had emerged from ilio wood in which the ruins of Castle 

 Campbell arc situated. The Ochils above this throughout their range 

 are practically destitute of plantations. Only this much can be said, 

 tlien, of tlie preservative powers of trees. The torrent, indeed, here 

 as in other places, carried down trunks root upwards. The north road 

 at Cowden is suri'ounded by a belt of plantation where it was partly 

 carried away. Still a dispassionate observer must conclude that the 

 woods which skirt the base of the hills greatly mitigated the clfects of 

 this calamity. Would tliey not have been nearly obviated if the 

 rain-cloud had not broken on Inire mountain sides, but on tree-covered 

 slopes ? AVe do not stay to prove how this would ultimately be a 

 more profitable investment o1' capital than grazing. Even if it were 

 not so, this is just one of the cases where private interests must suc- 

 cumb to the common weal. ]l" sucli seasons as the present are to 

 recur in cycles let us piepare for tliem, though our successors only 

 reap the benefits. The blessing of saving life and property in coming 

 years may follow our present ]ilanting of tir and larches. But Italian 

 engineers write that trees are the best preservatives against destruc- 

 tion caused by mountain torrents. The immediate cause of the 

 devastations along the Ochils was not continuous rainfall. It had 

 done so on the previous night with no perceptible effect. The mis- 

 chief was done in an hour on the morning of the 28th — the worst of it, 

 indeed, ia a quarter of an hou]-. Gi'anted a heavy rain-cloud to l»reak 

 on a mountain range at sufficient height to call in force, according to 

 the laws of hydraulics, to effect the measured results, then the whole 

 matter is explained. In our ignorance of the time of coming of the 

 rain-cloud, let us be forearmed. Mr. Coyne, C.E., superintendent of 

 the Edinburgh Waterworks, has stated that in 1876 a sudden spate at 

 Harperrig reservoir did great damage, canying away walls and em- 

 bankments. It only lasted an hour; and as the rainfall is measured 

 by the resident keeper, it is kno^^'u tiiat much heavier falls have since 

 occurred, with no damage to the city property. 



Of course Ave A\'ould have the Pent lands planted as well as the 

 Ochils. The ugly slip on the Queen's Drive above Duddingstone, 

 which occurred this summer, may suggest that the Edinljurgh Queen's 

 Park, as in King David's time, should be planted. Highland 

 travellers may call to mind many spots of their summer wanderings 

 as they muse on our theme : in special such rugged spots round Loch 

 Erne side, along which the Cullander and Oban Pailway winds, 

 streaked with silvery mountain torrents and great lichened boulders 

 ready to topple down on the application of slight impetus. The loch 

 scenery would be all the more enjoyal.)le where we saw planted 

 mountain sides keeping the rails clear of very ugly impediments. This 

 is no fancy grievance. For ujoi'c than once this summer the train 

 Avas seriously delayed by such boulders blocking the line. 



