Extent of Forests in Scotland Sixty-six Years a^o-o. 807 



If will be seen iVom the annexed talile that 412,220 acres are plaiiled iroofl<!, 

 while 501,409 acres are nahinil foresfa, and no doubt comprising various 

 descriptions of timber trees ; but of the extent of natural forests at the 

 present day there are no data for ascertaining with any approach to 

 certainty, but they have undoubtedly greatly diminished in the counties 

 of Inverness, IMoray, and Aberdeen. The forests of Rothiemurchus, DutblU, 

 Abernethy, and those on Deeside are now but mere phantoms of what 

 they formerly were, although they still make up the average in the Board 

 of Trade returns. No doubt, part of those tracts have been replanted, and 

 will in due course produce profital)le timlier. There is yet much to be 

 done by way of planting in these districts, which are admirably adapted 

 for the profitable growth of timber, especially Scots fir. 



Table I. 



The following list of prices of timber extend from 1789 up to 1810. 

 The port of Leith seems to have been the mart for timber in those times, 

 and the under-noted are the " average prices " at the different dates and 

 places : — 



