CHAP. CXI 1 1. CONl'FERiE, PI^NUS. 2165 



the debris of granitic rock ; there is a considerable extent of surface, in which 

 rocks of granite, porpliyry, and gneiss rise in the most precipitous manner; 

 and some other parts entirely covered with peat bog ; but, on the rocks, the 

 trees, where they occur, have dwindled to mere bushes ; and great part both 

 of the rocky surface and of the bog is entirely destitute of vegetation. A Re- 

 port on the native Pine Forests of Scotland, by Mr. John Grigor, nurseryman 

 and seedsman of Forres, and for which he received the Highland Society's 

 silver medal, will be found in the Transactions of that body, vol. xii. p. 122. 

 The following is a brief abstract of this Report : — 



Ahernethy Fine Forest, the property of the Earl of Seafield, stands on the 

 southern extremity of Morayshire, on the south side of the Spey, and is one 

 of the most ancient forests in Scotland. The surface is partly hilly and partly 

 level. The soil is principally composed of thin sandy peat, with a subsoil of 

 hard, hazelly-coloured gravel ; and, in some parts, it is a black mould mixed 

 with sand, and very stony. The timber produced is very resinous. Great 

 part of it was burnt down by accident in 1746; but a new crop of trees has 

 risen from the ashes, and the forest now produces excellent timber. Mr, Grigor 

 saw trunks barked, and prepared for floating, 10 ft. 7 in. in length, 6 ft. in girt 

 at the root end, and 5 ft. 2 in. at the other end. The number of annual 

 layers indicated 73 years of age. The finest specimens are understood to be 

 at Reynloit, one of the largest of which Mr. Grigor found from 10 ft. to up- 

 wards of 13 ft. in circumference, at 1 ft. from the ground ; and at 8 ft. from 

 the ground from 9ft. to 12 ft.; tapering with a clean trunk to the height of 

 from 20 ft. to 35 ft., and shooting up to the entire height of from 40 ft. to Q5 ft. 

 These very old trees stand on low and level ground, on the side of the Nethy ; 

 but perhaps the finest tree in this forest stands on a steep hill side adjoining, 

 though not highly situated, which measures in circumference, at the height of 

 1 ft. from the surface, 13 ft. 3 in., and at 8 ft. high, 12 ft. It tapers to 32 ft. of 

 trunk, its whole height being about 50 ft., with a top branching like an oak ; 

 to which all the large trees, in point of form, bear a strong resemblance. A 

 few yards distant from this tree, one of similar dimensions had lately been 

 felled, the stump and roots remaining to indicate its size. The annual rings 

 of this root indicate the age of 242 years, and that of the top, 224. The top 

 lay at the distance of 27 ft. from the root, and Mr. Grigor imagines that the 

 tree had grown about that length in 18 years ; that being the number of 

 years intervening between the ages of the root and top. Several others had 

 been felled of neai'ly the same size, which had almost attained the age of 200 

 years. Mr. Grigor observed, from the size of the interior layers, that the trees 

 had rapidly advanced in growth between the ages of 8 and 70, the growth 

 having afterwards diminished ; and, eventually, the outside layers, although 

 distinct enough to be numbered, are very minute, and the whole timber is 

 equally strong, hard, and red, to vvithin less than an inch of the bark. Many 

 of them had been thrown down by the great flood of 1829; the stumps of 

 which still remain, and show that the roots had derived all their nourishment 

 from the surface soil, none of them being more than 1 ft. from the surface, 

 where the subsoil is hard and gravelly. They are discernible above ground ; 

 and each forms a rib, to the height of several feet, on the side of the trunk. 

 The soil on which these lai'ge trees have been produced is sandy moss, to the 

 depth of from 4 in. to 8 in., lying for the most part on a brown gravel of se- 

 veral yards in depth ; and in some parts the subsoil is more fertile, and of a 

 blackish colour, with a mixture of large stones. These soils produce only 

 the following small variety of plants : — Calluna vulgaris, Faccinium Fitis 

 idae^a, V. Myrtillus, /fypochaeVis radicata, ^lechnum boreale, and a species of 

 iScirpus. {High. Soc. Trans., xii. p. 124.) 



Dutliel Pine Forests, also the property of the Earl of Seafield, stand north 

 of the Spey, to the west of Abernethy. The surface is mountainous, and the 

 best trees grow in the lowest grounds, and on the sloping sides of the bases 

 of the mountains. The soil is a thin peat, on a rich subsoil of thin brown 

 mould. Mr. Grigor examined several trees, varying from 112 to 12(3 years of 



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