196 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



are thoroughly suited to them ; and conifers, such as Scotch pine, 

 spruce, Corsican pine, and perhaps others on the rest, in either 

 case with a sprinkling of larch. On wet lands, probably, poplar 

 pays best. There can be no doubt that it is desirable to make 

 experiments with such exotics as are likely to suit our climate 

 and soil, but we must be careful not to be carried away by 

 enthusiastic recommendations. It stands to reason that the 

 indigenous species have stood the test of climate, soil, and other 

 conditions, and we know what we may expect of them. Planting 

 exotics, except on an experimental scale, is always a risky matter, 

 until actual experience has shown decided results ; and that 

 takes, unfortunately, a long time. There is no knowing what 

 diseases exotic trees may develop, and I think the case of the 

 larch is a case in point. Still, the larch has done us good service, 

 at any rate for a time, and there are other exotic species which 

 may do the same. Amongst the latter, the three most promising 

 are the Douglas fir, the Weymouth pine, and the Corsican pine. 

 The last-mentioned produces a straighter stem than Finns 

 sylvestris, and suffers less from rabbits. The Weymouth pine 

 gives heavy crops of timber ; it is the species which yields the 

 Canadian white pine. Above all, however, the Douglas fir 

 deserves attention. There are two varieties of it, the Atlantic 

 or Vancouver variety, and the Colorado variety. The former is 

 a marvellously fast grower, but it is not quite so hardy as the 

 other. The Vancouver variety is to be recommended for the 

 south and west of England and Ireland ; the Colorado, or slower 

 growing variety, for the north of England and for Scotland. 

 The Douglas fir gives a yield that beats the larch in its jjalmiest 

 days, and I may mention a wood of it on the estate of Lord 

 Ducie which made a most favourable impression upon me. There 

 are, no doubt, other exotic trees which deserve attention, but, as I 

 have said already, we should be careful to avoid planting them 

 on any considerable scale until actual experience has shown that 

 they are superior to our indigenous trees, for, as the old proverb 

 puts it, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." 



In Conclusion, 



Dr .Schlich said forestry was an industry based upon science. 

 It could not Vje studied in the class-room only, but there must 

 be instruction and observation in the forest. The treatment of 

 woods differed with every change of conditions, and it was 



