2") [ TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



a number of bogs situated in the vicinity of Bremen and Hamburg. 

 There I visited more particularly the reclamation works which 

 have been carried out in the bogs of Hellwege, Augustendorf, 

 and Burgsittensen. 



Hellweger Bog. 



This bog has a depth of up to 25 feet. On parts where the 

 peat had been cut, and the upper part only, unfit for fuel, left on 

 the mineral soil, I found very flourishing woods of oak, spruce, 

 and Scotch pine. On the uncut bog, of an original depth of 

 24 feet, where draining operations were commenced nearly a 

 hundred years ago, and in the vicinity of a settlement, I found 

 very fine spruce and oak woods. Both were about forty-two 

 years old, and the trees showed the following average dimen- 

 sions : — 



Spruce — Height, 54 feet ; diameter, 12 inches, measured at 

 4 feet from the ground. The trees were straight and in 

 every way well grown. 



Oak — Height, 45 feet; diameter, 16 inches, measured at 4 feet 

 from the ground, with clean boles up to 23 feet long. 



I also found apple trees close by laden with fruit. 



All these trees were in the immediate neighbourhood of the 

 settlement, on an area which had been drained for a considerable 

 number of years before the trees were planted. Cattle, pigs, 

 geese, and fowls were constantly straying into these woods, so 

 that the soil had the benefit of their droppings. 



Here, then, is an instance which shows that good trees can be 

 grown on bog-land which has been drained for some time, and 

 which has to some extent been manured. 



Axigustendorfer Bog. 



Of this bog an area of about 2800 acres has been planted up 

 with forest trees. 



The depth of the bog ranges from 20 to 26 feet, and its com- 

 position resembles in every way the deeper bogs found in County 

 Galway. The surface is covered with heather, with here and 

 there a little grass. Under the heather lies a thin layer of 

 humus produced by the heather, then comes a layer of light 

 yellowish-brown peat (used for the manufacture of litter), and 

 this goes gradually over into a darker mass, which is cut and 

 used as fuel. 



