528 transactions of royal scottish arboricultdral society. 



Teaching op Forestry in the Provinces. 



At the request of the Aberdeenshire County Committee on 

 Secondary Education, the lecturer at the University of Edinburgh 

 has undertaken to deliver, during the month of April next, at 

 Torphins, a series of four lectures on Elementary Forestry. 



Edinburgh University Forestry Class. 



The lecturer would feel greatly obliged to any members of the 

 Society who would increase his facilities of imparting instruction 

 by sending him, to the Agricultural Class-room, specimens of special 

 interest in connection with forestry. He has not, at present, the 

 means of accommodating very large specimens. In case of doubt 

 as to the value to the class of any object the sending of which may 

 be contemplated, reference might be made to the lecturer before 

 its despatch. 



The Menzies Fir. 



Describing a mixed plantation of larch, Scots pine, spruce, 

 Douglas fir, and Menzies fir on the Durris estate, Aberdeen- 

 shire, Mr Alexander Yeats writes that the plantation in 

 question lies on a northern slope, at an elevation of about 

 600 to 700 feet. The soil, to a depth of 4 feet, is peat, with the 

 addition of a certain amount of mineral matter, which has been 

 washed down from higher ground immediately behind it. The crop 

 was planted seventeen years ago, after the ground had been drained, 

 but the drainage was imperfectly carried out. The larch has 

 almost entirely disappeared, the Scots pine struggles on, and even 

 the spruce has a yellow, sickly appearance. The Douglas firs and 

 the spruces now average about 1 7 feet in height, with a diameter of 

 4 inches at breast-height. Of these two species, the Douglas fir has 

 the healthier foliage (but, apparently, the conditions do not suit 

 it particularly well, or it would have outgrown the spruce). Mr 

 Yeats says that the Menzies fir, on the other hand, seems to rejoice 

 in its environment, dominating all the other species ; its average 

 height is now about 27 feet, with a diameter of 6 inches at breast- 

 height. While the crowns of other species growing with it on the 

 northern edge of the plantation show a permanent inward deflec- 

 tion, those of the Menzies fir are normally developed, and stand 

 out strongly against the wind. For a cold aspect, with a water- 



