Plantations and Home Nurseries Competition, 1914:. 183 



growth. Some larch had been included in the original 

 planting, but on this light, poor soil, these had never done well. 

 Fortunately, they had not been numerous enough to affect the 

 crop as a whole. 



Class IV. For Coniferous Woods of the same descrip- 

 tion as Class III., but up to the completion of the second 

 thinning. There were several entries in this class, but the 

 Judges had no difficulty in awarding the first prize to an out- 

 standing plantation on the Stokesay Covirt Estate in Shropshire, 

 known as '* Stokewood," the property of the trustees of the late 

 Mr. H. J. Allcroft. 



This plantation is situated at an altitude varying from 50i) 

 to 700 ft. on a light loamy soil with gravel patches, and occupies 

 a steep slope, having a northern aspect, near the river Onny. 

 It extends approximately to 127 acres, and the age is 28 to 30 

 years, having been planted in sections. It was formed on land 

 which had been previously under scrubby hardwoods. This 

 was cleared and the ground worked and cropped with potatoes 

 before being again afforested. The trees for re-planting were 

 bought from public nurseries, and planted out by pitting at 

 6 ft. apart, and the species originally chosen were European 

 larch and spruce, with a mixture of sycamore, beech and 

 chestnut, and a small proportion of other species. Throughout 

 the whole area, groups of Oregon Douglas fir and a few plots 

 of Corsican })ine and Scots pine were introduced. Very little 

 cleaning was done, and little filling up required. The crop 

 now consists mainly of larch, with single trees of beech and 

 sweet chestnut, with a few sycamore scattered through it, and 

 groups of Douglas fir and Corsican pine. The spruces have 

 entirely disappeared, except where bordering the rides. Many 

 of the larches in the more favourable situations have attained a 

 height of 65 ft., the average of the whole crop is from 50 ft. to 

 60 ft. The following are the average girths of a large number 

 of trees measured in different parts of the wood : — 



Laich . . . . . 24: in. 



Chestnut 22 „ 



Beech 20 „ 



Some of the larger trees gave girths of — 



Larch 47 in. 



Douglas fir . . . . . . 51 „ 



Spruce ....... 38 ,, 



Corsican pine 36 „ 



Sweet chestnut . . . . . . 40 „ 



Beech .S4 „ 



Larch, not the largest trees, has been felled containing 

 35 cubic ft. It is interesting to note that the Corsican pine, 

 which were ])i'Actically e<jual in lieight growth to the larch, hud 



