228 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH AKBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Name of Copse 



or 



Plantation. 



No. of 

 Estate 

 Block. 



Highfield Copse, 



Wolmer 



Plantation. 



IV. 



Acres 

 2+ 



IV. 



Soil and Situation. 



Method of 

 Treatment. 



Description of Timber Crop. 



A good, deep fresh 

 soil, varying from 

 sand to loamy 

 sand; slopes very 

 gently towards 

 W., at which end 

 the soil is a loamy 

 clay. 



Partly 

 copse, 

 partly H i^ 



Forest. 



10| Deep sand, belong- 

 ing to the Lower 



Oreensand, level 

 to undulating. 



A mixture of oak, from 4 to 6 

 feet in girth, originally stand- 

 ards in copse, with sycamore, 

 maple, elm, lime, beech, and 

 other trees, planted between 

 1868 and 1871. Some of the 

 maple and sycamore now girth 

 up to 3 feet at breast height. 

 The crop now forms full canopy 

 in some places, while in others 

 there are blanks ; and in some 

 of these blanks self-sown syca- 

 more are coming up abund- 

 antly. Where it still exists, 

 the coppice is mostly of hazel, 

 but patchy, with birch here 

 and there. 



High Crop consists mostly of Scots 

 Forest. pine at N. end, planted in 



lines somewhat irregularly at 

 4 to 6 feet apart. This portion 

 is now just forming normal 

 canopy, but a growth of bracken 

 covers most of the ground. 

 The growth in height varies 

 from about 30 to 50 feet, and 

 the stems girth up to 2 feet 

 3 inches in maximo. 

 The S. and W. portions were 

 planted at same time (1869) 

 with larch, chestnut, birch, 

 and a few Corsican pine. Here 

 the larch is doing well on the 

 W. side, where it girths up to 

 2 feet 3 inches, while some of 

 the chestnut range up to 2 feet 

 6 inches. On the poorer soil 

 at the S. end there was much 

 more birch planted, which now 

 forms the principal tree, the 

 larch having become so can- 

 kered that most of it had to 

 be removed, while the chest- 

 nuts were cut out 5 years ago, 

 in the hope that they would 

 grow better by shooting from 

 the stools, — a hope which is 

 not being realised. 

 All parts of the plantation, 

 except the pine, are open, and 

 the soil is covered with bracken 

 for the most part, except on 

 the poorest portion, where 

 birch forms the crop. 



