432 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORIUULTURAL SOCIKTY. 



of the many disappuintmeiits suffered by the planter — the result 

 of storms, droughts, or the ravages of vermin — nor is the distance 

 from market considered. What I have aimed at is, to bring out 

 clearly the approximate difference in the returns which the planter 

 may expect from various species of trees grown under similar 

 conditions. 



The figures given, as to size and rates of growth, of the various 

 species of trees, apply to a locality where hardwood and coniferous 

 trees thrive equally well. No sensational figures are quoted, 

 for although individual trees may and do grow much faster, all 

 practical men know that the average size of a regular crop of trees 

 on an acre of land, is a very different thing from that of an 

 individual specimen. The prices qiioted for the various timbers 

 are the rates prevailing in 1889, in a district with good railway 

 facilities, and distant twenty-five miles from the consumer. 



The Oak, Quercus Rohur. 



The Oak, as " Monarch of the Woods," claims first consideration. 

 Its almost exclusive use in former days in building the " Wooden 

 Walls " for the protection of our country, and also, I believe, by 

 Government giving premiums to landowners for planting oaks on 

 their property, caused it to be planted very extensively till about 

 50 years ago. Since then, the use of iron and foreign timber in 

 shipbuilding have greatly lessened the demand for oak, and its 

 value has decreased in proportion. Still, well-matured timber 

 brings a good paying price at the present time, and scarcely any 

 mixed plantations are formed without a fair sprinkling of oaks in 

 them. This is as it ought to be, as for many purposes its timber 

 cannot be superseded by that of any of our forest trees. The oak 

 has also the advantage of its bark being of considerable value, 

 although this, like many other articles of native produce, does not 

 now command the price it did a few years ago. 



On an acre of No. 1 soil, 1 find 600 trees growiiig at 30 

 years old (in speaking of the age of the trees, I give the years that 

 have elapsed since they were planted), their cubic contents varying 

 from 9 inches to 5 feet, or an average each of 3 cubic feet ; value 

 at 6d. per cubic foot, £45 ; to which has to be added 9 tons 

 of bark at 35s. per ton, giving a total value of £60, 15s. At 

 32 years, 200 trees sold for £25, including bark. At 40 years, 



