REPORTS BY THE HONORARY SCIENTISTS. 317 



"A certain amount of soil-preparation to form a seed-bed for the acorns 

 will almost always be necessary. Unless thus enabled to come into actual 

 contact with the soil, perhaps not one-hundredth part of the acorns ever have 

 the very slightest chance of germinating on the dead foliage or weeds which 

 cover the surface of the ground. The necessary soil-preparation can con- 

 veniently be made in strips or patches, and of course additional advantage 

 is gained if the acorns are dibbled into these. Otherwise, dibbling of acorns 

 may take place over the whole area without special preparation of seed-beds ; 

 but the early development is always best, with the oak as with all other 

 kinds of trees, when the soil has been loosened, and thus aerated and 

 rendered more easily penetrable by the tiny rootlets of young plants." 



Yours very truly, 



Isaac Bayley Balfour. 



Sir Peter Ltjmsden, 



Buchromh, Dufftown 





