318 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETV. 



loss would be £2, 7s., and in the case of a 6-year old stored coppice, 

 the loss would be £1, 10s. per acre. The cost of transport and 

 labour would be additional. 



The artificial product applied to restore the loss contains, ib is 

 true, some other substances of a fertilising nature, but these cannot 

 be considered as replacing any of the nitrogen due. Mineral foods 

 cannot be substituted even for each other. Forest crops, though 

 less exhausting than field crops, nevertheless make equally imperious 

 demands for certain substances, and suffer equally severely as soon 

 as any one of the necessary elements becomes insufficient. Field 

 manures are intended for field crops, and do not produce the same 

 effects in forests. What the latter want is nitrogen, and nothing 

 else can make good the loss of the soil covering. The author of a 

 forest fire should be compelled to make good the loss, under strict 

 analytical tests, to within 1 per cent., and he should furnish that 

 manure which is most appropriate to the soil and the season. 



Railway Rates. 



The question of the injustice of preferential railway rates on 

 foreign timber was raised at a meeting of Council in April, and 

 a small committee was appointed to endeavour to collect in- 

 formation on the subject. Owing, however, to the difficulty 

 experienced in getting information from the railway companies, 

 and mistaken ideas as to the law on the part of traders and 

 foresters, very little data is available as yet. 



A few extracts from replies received in answer to inquiries 

 made will best show how matters stand. One correspondent says : 

 " I believe there is a great difference in the charges for carrying 

 foreign compared with home wood." Another says : " Foreign 

 timber has, and I am afraid will still continue to have, the 

 cheaper rate over home-grown round timber on account of its 

 being easier to handle, bought in larger quantities, and landed in 

 ports where the railway companies have to cut their prices keen 

 in competition. I know timber merchants who get reduced rates, 

 but that being a private transaction between themselves and the 

 company or companies, they, in my opinion, are quite justified 

 in keeping to themselves what otherwise might mean hundreds 

 (of pounds) per year." A third says: "In the general eff'ect it 

 keeps down home-wood prices." This writer complains of local 

 deadweight rates compared with measurement rates for long 



