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On Thursday, June 27th, Ballogie and Finzean estates were 
visited. These are situated in Kincardineshire, about 10 to 15 miles 
west of Banchory, in what is said to be one of the heaviest timbered 
districts in Scotland. 
Ballogie, the property of Mr. W. E. Nicol, includes about 3000 
acres of forest, which is in all stages of development from newly 
made plantations to woods ready for cutting. One section is now 
being clear-cut, and two sawmills are at work converting the timber 
into posts, rails, boards for building purposes, staves for fish 
barrels, &c. For the latter purpose there is a good demand in 
Aberdeen and the neighbourhood. The Scots pine occupy the 
major portion of the woods, but there is also a good deal of larch. 
The custom prevails on this estate of leaving woods unthinned 
until the thinnings are of scaffold pole size, which may be 30 years 
from the time of planting. A wood of Scots pine extending over 
200 acres, which had been planted about 27 years, now numbers 
about 2500 trees to the acre, and although no systematic thinning 
has been done, the number of suppressed trees is not very con- 
siderable, although in the past small ones have died and fallen. 
So far as can be seen, the trees generally are making satisfactory 
height and girth growth. The ground had previously carried 
Scots pine and larch. This had been cut in blocks of 50 acres, 
When replanted, trouble was caused by pine weevils, but this was 
overcome to some extent in the later plantings by thoroughly 
loosening the surface soil before réplanting. The cost of planting 
was about £2 15s. an acre. An older wood composed of pine and 
larch carries 200 trees to the acre, the cubical contents averaging 
about 4000 feet. The trees are about 90 years old. In this wood 
the little ground orchid Goodyera repens was pleutiful. ; 
In the gardens surrounding Ballogie House numbers of very fine 
Scots pine and larch were seen. Of the former species, the largest 
upwards. Amongst specimen conifers the following were notable :— 
Abies nobilis, 77 feet high, girth 6 feet 11 inches; 4. Nordmanniana, 
height 79 feet, girth 9 feet ; A. Lowiana, 74 feet by 5 feet 10 inches; 
Pseudotsuga Douglasii, 107 feet by 9 feet 5 inches ; another of the 
Same species, 97 feet by 10 feet; Picea sitchensis, 86 feet by 
11 feet 9 inches ; Libocedrus decurrens, 30 feet. In another part 
of the estate, Ballnacraig, two walnut trees, each about 55 feet 
high, girth 9 feet 1 inch and 9 feet 6 inches respéctively, the former 
at 5 feet, the latter at 3 feet above the ground. These are growing 
at an elevation of 600 feet and ripen fruits occasionally. An ash 
hd a by girths 15 feet 8 inches and measures 16 feet to the first 
_ Finzean—Dr. Farquharson’s woods at Finzean contain probably 
the heaviest stands of timber seen during the tour. A wood of 
natural-grown larch 200 acres in extent, known as Easter Clune 
Plantation, contains a fine lot of trees about 40 years old. About 
the lower parts the cubical contents are about 1800 feet to the acre, 
the crop being somewhat lighter about the higher points. 
