THE DOUGLAS FIR PLANTATION AT TAYMOUNT. 



269 



XXXII. The Douglas Fir Plantation at Taymount} 



Of all the exotic conifers, this appears to be by far the most 

 important for British conditions. It grows best in Ireland and 

 the west of Great Britain, where the air holds the maximum 

 amount of humidity, but it also thrives well wherever it is 

 sheltered from strong prevailing winds, provided the soil is suffi- 

 ciently deep. It shows a marked aversion to chalk. Of the two 

 chief varieties — the green, from Oregon, and the glaucous, from 

 Colorado — the green appears to be by far the more important for 

 British conditions. It grows much faster, and yet yields better 

 timber than the other, while, although a little more delicate, it is 

 sufficiently hardy for all practical purposes. 



In the case of the Douglas tir I am able to give some figures 

 from a wood (Taymount) of eight acres planted with four-year-old 

 plants in the spring of 1860 on the estate of the Earl of Mansfield, 

 about seven miles from Perth, in central Scotland. 



Professor Schlich puts the quality of the locality in the first 

 class, but in doing so I think he estimates somewhat too highly. 

 My reasons for thinking so are two-fold: (1) the impression 

 gathered from an inspection of the soil is that there are many 



^ Abstracted from a paper entitled "Exotic Conifers in Britain," read by 

 Dr Somerville before the Congress of Forestry Experimental Stations, Vienna, 

 September 1903, and reprinted in the Journal of the Board of AijricuUiore, 

 December 1903. 



