296 The Jotirnal of Forestry. 



the coping turf to the bottom of the ditcli. la building this fence — 

 on soils -with a suitable sod— the turf is placed in fi-ont, and the earth from 

 the ditch is used for backing the bank, sloping from the top to the surface 

 of the ground within the fence. A top bar formed of the thinnings of plan- 

 tations, and fastened to wooden uprights, on a single iron wire, usually 

 completes this kind of fence, at a small additional cost. On some surfaces 

 stones are more plentiful than turf, and they are sometimes used in the 

 construction of a durable fence at from Is. 3d. to 2s. per lineal yard, in- 

 cluding cartage (3d. to 6d., according to distance), and Is. to Is. 6d. 

 for building \.\ feet high, including the coping, and 2 feet thick at bottom, 

 diminishing to 16 inches. The wall is strengthened with a scarcement of 

 3 inches on each side at the base. 



In ornamental planting trenching is also resorted to for the purpose of 

 hastening growth, and sometimes for the purpose of burying rubbish which 

 would have encumljered the surface. But the sheltering heather on the 

 Grampians must not be buried, nor is it practicable to dig down into gneiss 

 and mica schist. Moreover, there is strong evidence that a tree — that slow 

 but sure collector of plant food — is as good at fifty or sixty years, without 

 trenching,as with it. InMr. Selby's work on "Forest Trees" he records some 

 interesting trials of the rapidity of growth of plantations planted respec- 

 tively on trenched and on untreuched land. It was most rapid during the 

 earlier years of growth on the trenched land, but afterwards the trees planted 

 on the untrenched ground overtook the others, and each plantation finally 

 advanced at the same rate of growth. Scotch planters on the large scale 

 would smile at the idea of trenching their land. They avoid destroying 

 the sheltering heather, and at the same time creating a burden upon 

 estates which in a hundred years would amount to an enormous sum, 

 without the shghtest advantage to th.e timber. 



The returns are^increased in the case of larchwood by the value of the 

 bark, which is worth from £3 to £4 per ton, for the tannage of sheep skins. 

 Larch is cut on the Athole estates during every month in the year. In 

 the case of the larger-sized timber the bark is too rough to be worth peeling. 

 The peeling of timber for railway sleepers should be delayed till August, 

 as the trees of that size may split from top to butt if peeled earlier. The 

 stripping season commences at the beginning of April, and ends early in 

 September. 



The best larch sells usually at from Is. 2d. to Is. 4d. per cubic foot. The 

 best Scotch fir is worth 9d. or lOd. per cubic foot, and spruce and silver fir 

 8d. or 9d. per cubic foot. Larch thinnings measured to 3 inches diameter 

 sell at 6s. per 100 feet, linear measurement. When they run 6 inches 

 diameter for 12 feet (barked) from the ground they are sold at 3d. per 

 lineal foot as far as they hold that girth, the buyer getting .the top; and 

 when they run 8 inches diameter up to 12 feet from the ground, they are 

 measured cubically. — H. Evershed, in Agricultural Gazette. 



