1038 



subslaiu'o aic (jiiilc delenceless againsl the rre(|uenl attacks of frosl 

 in the months of spring.« 



To return however to the Færoes, where according to iny ex- 

 perience at least the trees planted are much more numerous and 

 stronger than at Shetland, as appears also from the account given 

 above, it will certainly be possible, where the conditions of shelter 

 are somewhat good, to lay out small plantations here and there in 

 the Valleys and to cultivate gardens near dwellings. But this de- 

 mands great care in the choosing and treatmenl of the soil, intelli- 

 gent watching of what is planted and a prudent choice of the 

 species of trees in order to reach a satisfactory result; and the 

 piauting of woods can scarcely ever be considered as a renumera- 

 tive undertakiug. 



I shall not discuss here more in detail the queslion of the 

 choice of species for planting, but it must appear from the fore- 

 going that the experiments should be made chiefly with species of 

 rowan (especially Sorbus scandica and allied species), maple and a 

 few others. It is remarkable that the birch which might well have 

 been expected to be very suitable seems to fair right badly at the 

 Færoes. At least we do not Ond it common in Ihe gardens and in 

 the few examples I have seen, the ends of the shoots were dead. 

 The main reason is certainly that the birch cannot stand the mild 

 Færoese winter. 



For the rest, referring as regards the choice of species of trees 

 to C. E. Flensborgs paper »Om Plantning paa Færoerne« (Hede- 

 selskabets Tidsskrift, 28. Aarg. 1903, p. 82), I should like just to 

 mention in this connection, that it might be worth while possibly 

 to experiment with some of Ihe Tierra del P'uego trees. On sludy- 

 ing for example the summary tables given by C. Skottsberg^ of 

 the average temperature there in the different months, it cannot be 

 denied, that the resemblance with the Færoes is very great, and 

 not only as regards temperature but also in the heavy rainfall and 

 the gray, cloudy sky. In Tierra del Fuego, as is well-known^, we 

 find quite a tlourishing and partly evergreen forest vegetation con- 

 sisting of two species of beeches, Nathofagiis anlartica and N. betii- 

 loides, and two other trees Drimijs Winteri and Maijtemis magellanica. 



^ c. Skott.sberg; On the zonal distribution of soutli Atlantic and antartic 

 vegetation (The Geographical .Journal for December 1904). 



^ vide Skottsberg: Some remarks upon the geographical distribution of 

 vegetation in the colder southern Hemisphere (»Ymer«, 1905). 



