104 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
yet when the problem of producing the most valuable crop of 
timber in the least possible time has to be solved, it is one that 
requires considerable foresight and judgment. 
To ascertain beforehand the exact capabilities of the soil and 
situation is nearly impossible, although in many cases it may be 
done with some degree of accuracy, and the only way it can be 
accomplished, apart from chance, is by carefully noting the soil 
and situation of existing plantations, and their condition as to 
health and growth. 
Altitude, climate, and exposure have probably more to do with 
the growth of trees than even soil itself (although the latter has 
a great influence on the quality of the timber), therefore the 
situation of the ground in regard to the first-named conditions must 
receive due consideration. As before pointed out, indigenous 
trees are more likely to turn out successfully from an all-round 
point of view, and give better results than those introduced from 
higher or lower latitudes, or from countries possessing different 
climatic conditions to those of our British Isles. It is true that 
exceptions to this rule may be found in many healthy and thriving 
plantations, composed of larch, spruce, and other introduced trees, 
but these are only found where the situation, soil, etc., are excep- 
tionally favourable to their growth, and in such cases no objection 
can be found to their having been planted. But the miserable 
appearance presented by so many plantations of larch in different 
parts of the country proves the folly of planting these trees indis- 
criminately, and without duly considering the conditions requisite 
to bring them to maturity. Mere volume of wood, too, is often 
taken as the standard by which the timber qualities of different 
trees are compared with one another, but quality should be 
synonymous with strength and durability, and unless the timber 
possesses those qualifications, its market value will be compara- 
tively small, and most of our introduced Conifer obtain their rapid 
growth at the expense of quality of timber, and therefore nullify 
any advantage they might otherwise gain over indigenous trees. 
Considerable caution should be exercised, therefore, before 
foreign introductions are extensively planted, in order to see that 
the conditions under which they will have to exist are such as 
are known to be favourable to their healthy growth and the 
production of good timber. 
Deciduous trees (with the exception of birch, alder, and aspen) 
should never be planted in any situation in which they are known 
