2168 AllBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



in Britain about the end of the 17th century; and about tlie middle of that 

 following, some planted trees, more especially in Scotland, having been cut 

 down, and employed as timber, were found to be of inferior quality to imported 

 timber, or to that grown in natural forests. Dr. Walker, writing near the 

 end of the last century, observes that the Scotch pine had been planted every 

 where in abundance, but had not yet had time for its timber to arrive at per- 

 fection. The timber of this tree, he adds, is depreciated, because it is white, 

 soft, and perishable ; though he argues that this is merely from want of age 

 in the tree. In the course of years, he says, this white wood will become 

 red ; and the planted fir will become more and more valuable in quality, and 

 be held in greater estimation. The prejudice against the wood of the Scotch 

 pine seems to have been at its greatest height between 1790 and 1810; for 

 Marshal, writing in 1796, says, the Scotch pine "should be invariably ex- 

 cluded from every soil and situation in which any other timber tree can be 

 made to flourish. The north aspect of bleak and barren heights is the only 

 situation in which it ought to be tolerated ; and even there the larch is seen 

 to outbrave it. In better soils, and milder situations, the wood of the Scotch 

 fir is worth little ; and its growth is so licentious, as to overrun every thing 

 which grows in its immediate neighbourhood ; and this renders it wholly un- 

 fit to be associated with other timber trees ; we therefore now discard it 

 entirely from all useful plantations." (^Plant. and Bur. Om., i. p. 146.) Soon 

 afterwards (in 1798), Mr. Thomas Davis, a planter and manager of timber of 

 great experience, and high and deserved repute, who had then had the care 

 of the Marquess of Bath's plantations, near Warminster, for 35 years, and who 

 had planted upwards of 25,000 trees a year on poor heathy land, at the foot of 

 the Wiltshire Downs, published a paper in the Transactions of the Society of 

 Arts, vol. xvi., in which he refutes the generally received opinion, that the Eng- 

 lish-grown Scotch pine was of no use as timber, by facts that had come within 

 his own knowledge. " I can assert from experience," he says, " that, for strength 

 and durability, English-grown fir is equal to any foreign deal whate\ er. I allow 

 that the Scotch fir (although it is, undoubtedly, the real yellow deal) is sel- 

 dom of so fine a grain as the foreign yellow deal; but this is certainly occa- 

 sioned by the rapidity of its growth, and its having too much room to throw 

 out large side branches. Lord Bath's Scotch firs, which are known to have 

 been planted in 1696, are from 2ft. to 3ft. in diameter; whereas the best 

 Christiania deal, although evidently 100 years old, is seldom above 1 ft. in di- 

 ameter ; and its knots, which denote the size of its side branches, are small 

 and inconsiderable, therefore evidently appearing to have grown slow and close 

 together. We have a cart-house on Lord Bath's estate, which was built 

 above 80 years ago, out of small firs, which is now perfectly sound and up- 

 right ; and, for the last 20 years, all the carpenters of the country have used 

 small firs for rafters, &c., with success ; and no timber is more ready of sale." 

 (p. 125.) In Lambert's Piiius, ed. 2., vol. ii. p. 177., is published a letter to 

 nearly the same effect, from the same writer ; and the same facts have been 

 lately (1837) confirmed to us by Mr. Davies's son and successor, the present 

 Thomas Davies, Esq., of Portway House, near Warminster. Pontey, in his 

 Forest Pruncr, published in 1805, also defends the Scotch pine against the 

 " almost universally prevalent " prejudices against it. " At first sight," he 

 says, " it seems natural to suppose such prejudices nuist be well founded; 

 though, in fact, they rest upon no better foundation than the prejudice that 

 prevailed, less than a century ago, against foreign fir timber; namely, a pre- 

 judice, the effect of inexperience. At that time, no workman could be found 

 credulous enough to suppose that a roof made of it would answer the purpose 

 as well as one made of oak; and yet now the tide of opinion is completely 

 turned. An article which, a|)parcntly, has but little of cither strength or 

 durai)ility is found, l)y experience, to possess a very extraordinary degree of 

 both." (Forest Pruncr, p. 52.) Mr. Pontey traces the prejudice to the use 

 of ) oung trees as timher ; the absurdity of wiiich, he says, where strength and 

 durability are required, every one will admit. 



