434 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



attack was preceded by serious damage to the Scots pine roots by 

 Trametes radiciperda, and was followed by wind-storms and 

 bark beetles, this revier is in rather a dilapidated condition at 

 present. 



Bischofswald, at Weferlingen, showed differences in tree-growth 

 and species in accordance with changes in the soil. The geo- 

 logical formations run in long narrow belts from S.E. to N.W., 

 and comprise lias, new red sandstone, weald clay, carboniferous 

 sandstone, and alluvial soils. Where lime is present, the beech 

 grows with great vigour, and other species in mixture with it 

 have to be carefully protected against suppression. The sandy 

 parts are occupied by the Scots pine. Of the wooded area, oak 

 occupies 32 per cent., beech 28 per cent., conifers 40 per cent. 

 Fellings take place in the case of oak at 160, beech at 120, and 

 conifers at 100 years of age. 



On the banks of the Elbe, directly opposite the small town of 

 Schonebeck, lies the revier of Griinwalde. Formerly the system 

 here adopted was that of Coppice with Standards ; but since 1884 

 the forests have been undergoing conversion into High Forest. 

 In these woods the elm occurs abundantly (about 30 per cent.), 

 and also both the common and the American ash. Oak, 

 which occupies about half of the area, has its rotation fixed at 

 140 years, while elm and ash will fall at 80, and 30ft woods 

 at 40 years of age. 



Bavaria — The Spessart and Rhon. 



The finest oaks in Europe are to be found in the Spessart. 

 The great trees, many of them with a circumference at breast- 

 height of over 10 feet, and with long, clean boles, rising without 

 a branch for 50 and 60 feet, stand with their crowns clear of the 

 underwood of beech. The function of the beech is, of course, 

 to guard against the deteriorating influence which a crop of pure 

 oak of advanced age always permits upon the soil. Properly 

 regulated, the two species make an ideal mixed crop : there is 

 the highly valuable oak, fostered and fed by the shade-bearing 

 beech, whose dense foliage shelters the ground from drought 

 caused by wind and sun, and whose fallen leaves keep the soil in 

 excellent heart. 



The object of management all over the Spessart is the same, 

 namely, to produce oak timber, the quality of the soil being 



