.174 TRAN'SAC'TIOXS OF KOYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



No. 18 is almcst wholly composed of sycamore scattered thinly 

 over an extent of fully 100 acres. 



The trees have, in the majority of cases, attained to full 

 maturity, many being about 80 feet in height, and containing 

 120 feet of wood. In nearly all the trees the timber is of 

 excellent quality, the stems being large, straight, and unusually 

 clean. The ground on which these fine trees are growing is a 

 deep yellow loam, the aspect northern, and the altitude 350 

 feet. Many of the largest trees have been felled, but generally 

 speaking there is yet a fair crop of averaged size and clean speci- 

 mens. They have been planted about 150 yeai-s. 



No. 19 consists of a series of small plantations that lie contigu- 

 ous to each other, were all planted about the same time, and 

 contain the same class of trees — larch, Scots fir, and a few 

 hardwoods, principally oak and ash. These plantations are on 

 the top and sides of an abruptly rising hill, which runs inland 

 from the sea for several mUes. Throughout the whole the soil is 

 of almost uniform quality, being a rich, though shallow, red loam, 

 resting on greenstone and felspathic rock, which in many instances 

 crops above the ground, and renders timber growing quite out of 

 the question. Wherever a little soil is present the trees have, 

 however, done well, and are now, on an average, 30 feet in 

 height, although planted only thirty-one years ago. 



It should be stated that there are many trees of less size than 

 the dimensions given, but in all cases this may be attributed to 

 the scanty amount of soil occasioned by the rocks cropping up to 

 within a few inches of the surface. 



Thinning has been well attended to, indeed in many of the 

 individual woods this operation has been carried to excess, so as 

 to allow of the free gi'owth of brambles and other natural under- 

 cover. The bare rocky peaks of the hill being visible from the 

 mansion and the surrounding grounds, were formerly an eyesore, 

 but the well laid-out plantations have given it quite a picturesque 

 appearance in the landscape. 



No. 20 is 12 acres in extent, at an altitude of 250 feet, and was 

 planted eighteen years ago. The crop is larch, Scots fir, and 

 birch, this latter ti-ee being well suited for the dampish loamy soil 

 of which the ground is mainly composed. There are many gaps 

 in the plantation, owing to patches of the larch having died out 

 through excessive damp, but these have been filled up from time 

 to time by moi-e suitable trees, particularly birch and alder. 

 The Scots fir and birches first planted look well, and are from 15 



