184 Plantations and Home Nurseries Competition, 1914. 



escaped damage by squirrels, which had destroyed the Scots 

 pine some years ago, although the two species were growing 

 side by side. A few of the larches had also sufEered slightly 

 from squirrel damage. Very little canker had been seen, and 

 the trees are now past the stage when any damage is likely to 

 arise from this disease. The density and surface conditions 

 here are very striking, especially so in a plantation where the 

 greater proportion of the crop is composed of such lightly 

 foliaged trees as larch. Scarcely any grass is found in the 

 wood, the surface being covered by a layer of needles and 

 leaves. This desirable state is doubtless due largely to the 

 influence of even the small percentage of beech present in the 

 crop. The system of thinning practised here has been to 

 remove only suppressed and dying trees, and the methods are 

 justified by the present condition of the crop, which is composed 

 of vigorous trees with long, straight clean boles. This wood 

 we have recommended for the award of the Gold Medal of the 

 Royal Arboricultural Society for the best plantation entered in 

 this competition. 



The second prize plantation was found on the Kerry Estate, 

 in Montgomery, the property of the executors of the late Mr. 

 John Naylor. It is known as "Cwmgolog." The wood extends 

 to 113 acres, and was formed 24 years ago by planting larch 

 and Scots pine, which were notched in land formerly used as a 

 sheep walk. The trees used were 4 years old, and were set 

 put at 4 ft. by 4 ft., the cost including fencing being given at 

 51. per acre. The soil is clay, overlying shale, and the situation 

 is a steep slope with a westerly aspect at an elevation varying 

 from 1,000 to 1,500 ft. The average annual rainfall is 36 in. 

 The crop is practically pure larch, the Scots pine having been 

 more or less suppressed, which is not altogether unlocked for, 

 considering the heavy soil and high elevation. Disease has 

 been prevalent, and has caused some damage, but the trees are 

 recovering and have reached a stage when little further injury 

 may be feared. After thinning, the stems had all been 

 " brushed up " to a height of 5 ft. or so, only dead branches 

 being removed, and it was claimed that this operation had a 

 great deal to do with checking the disease by admitting more 

 air and light. It is probable also that by the time this was 

 done the trees were at a stage when they would be less liable 

 to suffer, having foi-med a thick, rough bark, and the stronger 

 stems were beginning to throw off the effects to some extent. 

 The average height of the trees is 45 ft., and the average girth 

 of measured trees 21 in. The crop has been once thinned, and 

 dead trees removed every two or three years, the material being 

 used for estate purposes. For a larch wood of this age there is 

 a very good overhead canopy, and the surface soil conditions 



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