16 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY, 
managed so as to preserve density as far as possible, and the 
rabbits ought to be killed down. 
At Airthrey I received the impression (which was afterwards 
strengthened) that the Scots fir is not adapted for general culti- 
vation in Scotland to the extent that I had previously assumed. 
On poor soils overlying gneiss, and on sands, the Scots fir is 
undoubtedly the right tree to plant, but several other trees will 
give a better return on granite and basalt soils, as well as on 
diluvial ground and old moraines. Under these circumstances, 
the Scots fir should be regarded as a means to, rather than 
an object of forestry. At Grantown, where I had the opportunity 
of inspecting timber that was being converted in a saw-mill, 
I found that the timber furnished by the Scots fir in Scotland 
is of much poorer quality than similar wood grown in East 
Germany, being softer, broader in the ring, and containing more 
spring wood. The low quality of such timber is probably due 
to some extent to the lower summer temperature and the 
heavier rainfall of Scotland, though it is also a result of the 
too open character of the woods. 
My impressions lead me to suppose that the oak should be more 
frequently planted on loams, and the ash, sycamore, and beech on 
calcareous soils, Satisfactory results may also be anticipated 
from the cultivation of certain American trees—e.g., Quercus 
rubra, Prunus serotina, and Betula lenta. Amongst conifers, 
‘the larch is probably the best for soils that do not suit the 
Scots fir, but as the success of this tree is now very uncertain, 
the spruce may to some extent be substituted for it. 
Although the growth of the last-named tree in pure woods 
cannot be relied upon to be always satisfactory, it will doubtless 
do well as a mixture with the larch, and the same is true with 
regard to certain exotic conifers, especially Pseudotsuga Douglasit 
or Douglas Fir and Picea sitchensis or Menzies Fir. The large 
parks which are so common in Scotland have proved an excellent 
experimental ground for testing the growth of such trees, and 
this is a subject to which I shall again refer. 
2. In Scotland the afforestation of waste land is a matter of the 
utmost importance, : 
A stranger who visits the Highlands for the first time finds the 
long railway journey through districts which show but little 
vegetation except heather, not only monotonous, but positively 
depressing. This impression is intensified by the absence of 
