60 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



of the three species, nor is this much to be wondei'ed at. In 

 the first place, spruce can only be classed as a moderate shade- 

 bearer ; and, again, the soil best adapted for the growing of oak 

 is not by any means the best for growing spruce. But assuming 

 that the spruce would thrive under these circumstances, the writer 

 is of the opinion that it would do so to the detriment of the oak, 

 because, owing to its shallow root-system, it absorbs so much of 

 the moisture before it can reach the deeper roots of the oak. 

 There can be little doubt that the best shade-bearer, and the tree 

 which best lends itself to various soils and situations, is the beech. 

 It is deep-rooted, and is a better soil protector and fertiliser than 

 any of the firs. In Sweden, too, the beech has another recom- 

 mendation, which is that it always meets a ready market at a 

 remunerative price. A patch of matured Scotch fir was also seen 

 in Visingsci, and also a few acres of the same species in the pole 

 size, both being very interesting examples of what may be accom- 

 plished by judicious thinning. Many of the matured trees had 

 clean boles perfectly free of knots or branches to a height of about 

 80 feet ; and the crop represented about 5500 cubic feet of 

 saleable timber i)er imperial acre. 



In the State-owned woods of the Omberg, which were next 

 visited, Scotch fir, spruce, and larch were found, varying in age 

 from two to fifty-seven years. The forest comprises 3700 imperial 

 acres, one-half of which has been planted, while the remaining 

 half has been raised by natural regeneration. The first block to 

 notice was a larch plantation, fifty-seven years of age, which had 

 originally been planted as a pure crop, but which is at present 

 underplanted with spruce and beech. The trees are about 

 80 feet in height, with an average diameter of 10 inches at 5 feet 

 from the ground. As yet there is no larch disease in this part 

 of Sweden. '^ The boles of the trees were beautifully clean, and 

 their crowns were in a very healthy condition. The average 

 number of trees per imperial acre was given as 190. Here, 

 again, it was easily seen that beech would have been the proper 

 tree to underplant with. Had beech been used instead of spruce, 

 a greater number of larch could have been retained on the acre 

 for the final cutting. Instead of 190 trees the ground could very 

 well have carried 220 to the acre, and even under this amount of 

 shade beech would thrive well. 



' In more southerly parts of the country the disease is by no means un- 

 common. — Hon. Ed. 



