172 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The disease does not show itself until the ti-ees are about 1 6 feet 

 in height, but after that its progress is rapid, the rot penetrating 

 in a very few years to half the height of the tree. Cutting down 

 the plantation would, of course, be the most practicable way to 

 set matters right ; but as it is visible from the mansion-house 

 windows and the grounds, and helps to hide some imsightly build- 

 ings, its removal would mar the landscape to such an extent that 

 it has been allowed to remain as it is. 



No. 12 is 45 acres in extent, and the greater part of it is oak 

 coppice, with some spruces and silver firs along the side of the 

 public road for shelter and ornament. There are likewise a few 

 specimen conifers, including Finns Pinaster and F. strobus, Abies 

 canadensis and A. Douglasii. 



As the ground is poor and rocky, and exposed to the south- 

 west, from which point the worst winds blow, the oaks are not 

 of great size, nor will they ever be of much value, and although 

 planted over thirty years, they have not attained to a greater 

 height than about 16 feet. Five years ago the plantation was 

 thinned, the best oaks being carefully pruned and left as standards. 

 As a game-preserve this wood is of much value ; the trees, being 

 deciduous and standing wide apart, allow of the free growth of 

 natural underwood, 



No. 13 is 31 acres, facing the north, 200 feet above sea-level, 

 and consists of oak and spruce, planted twenty-seven years ago. 

 The soil is of two kinds — a free rich loam where the oaks are 

 planted, and a damp, boggy loam carrying the spruce. 



The oak and spruce have both done well. The plantation has 

 been well attended to, the oaks having been thinned and pruned 

 with care and discrimination ; while the spruce portion, by timely 

 draining and the filling up of gaps caused by uprooted trees 

 during storms, is all that could be desired. 



A few larch were planted with the oaks as nurses, but these have 

 nearly all been removed in the course of thinning. The average 

 height of the oaks is 22 feet, that of the spruce neai'ly 30 feet. 



No. 14 extends to 33 acres, is at 400 feet altitude, and has 

 a north-western aspect. The soil is a free peaty loam, resting at 

 no great depth on broken slate-rock. This is a mixed wood, con- 

 sisting chiefly of oak and larch, with a small admixture of elm, 

 beech, birch, ald(3r, Scots fir, lime, and sycamore. About 4 acres 

 at one end of the plantation are })lanted entirely with alder, the 

 ground being boggy and unfitted for bearing a better crop. The 

 soil, though rocky, is fertile, and produces excellent timber, especially 



