Plantations and Home Nurseries Competition^ 1914. 191 



well-sheltered slope, with a south-west aspect, lying at an eleva- 

 tion of about 600 ft. The soil is a heavy loam, and the species 

 selected were Douglas fir and Japanese larch. The planting 

 distance was 4^ ft. by 4^ ft., the work being done by the 

 pitting method ; 2-years seedlings being used. The cost of 

 formation was 11. per acre, while 30s. per annum was spent for 

 the first three years in cleaning the area. The Douglas fir was 

 planted pure, and occupies the lower and more sheltered 

 ground, while the Japanese larch, also pure, was planted on the 

 higher parts. 



The trees here show an extraordinary rate of growth, the 

 Douglas firs measuring from 15 to 20 ft., and the larches are 

 almost of equal growth. 



Canopy is already established, grass and weeds are being 

 rapidly killed out, and from every point of view this was 

 considered a very excellent plantation. 



With species showing such a rapid rate of growth, the cost 

 of formation might have been reduced to some extent by a 

 wider spacing distance being adopted. 



The second prize was gained by Mr. J. Murray Naylor, 

 Leighton Hall, near Welshpool, for the plantation known as 

 the *' Pole Cover." This is five years old, and follows an 

 inferior crop of larch. It lies at an elevation of 1,000 to 

 1,125 ft., and is 12 acres in extent. The situation has a 

 northern aspect, the soil is cla}^ on shale, and the average 

 annual rainfall is 35 inches. 



The species selected for planting was Sitka spruce pure, 

 planted out at a distance of 3^ ft. by 4 ft., and the cost was 

 \l. 6s. per acre. The trees were purchased from the Continent 

 as 2-year seedlings, and were lined out in the home nursery 

 for two years. No filling up was necessary, and the cost of 

 cleaning the whole area was 3Z. per annum for three years. 



The general method of planting on this estate is to prepare 

 the surface and the pit with a mattock, the plant being inserted 

 with a special planting trowel. This appeared to the Judges to 

 be the most suitable method, and to give more satisfactory 

 results, than any means employed on the various estates 

 visited. 



Trees were measured up to 9 ft. in height, while the 

 average of the whole was about 7 ft. Several of last year's 

 shoots were 4 ft. long, while growths of 2 ft. 6 in. to 3 ft. were 

 common. 



The crop, which is very regular, is beginning to form 

 canopy, and when this is complete, the growth, it is considered, 

 will be even more satisfactory. For the first two years the 

 trees sufi'ered slightly from attacks of the Pine Weevil and 

 other beetles. 



