THE FORMATION OF PLANTATIONS. 283 
reached the height of 15 or 20 feet, it assumes a more robust habit 
of growth, and the buds on the top shoots being later in coming 
into leaf, it is much less liable to be damaged by late frosts. 
The Newer Coniferw.—A great variety of these exotics is now 
cultivated in this country, but chiefly for ornamenting lawns and 
pleasure grounds. A few bid fair to prove valuable as timber. 
Among these may be noted Abies Douglasit, Abies Menziesia, 
Picea nobilis, Picea Nordmanniana, Pinus Laricio, Wellingtonia 
gigantea, Cupressus Lawsoniana, Thuia gigantea. 
The various species of Picea, Pinus, Cupressus, Wellingtonia, and 
Thuia seem to thrive best on light dry soils, while those of Abies 
prefer moist or peaty soils. Perhaps as regards quality of timber 
the first place must be given to the Douglas fir, and if accorded 
the proper sylvicultural treatment, it may yet prove a formidable 
rival to the larch, the timber of both very much resembling each 
other. The Douglas fir will not succeed on exposed situations, 
nor within the influence of the sea-breeze, but the same remarks 
may, with equal propriety, be applied to the common spruce fir. 
One thing is evident, the Douglas fir will flourish where the larch 
almost refuses to grow at all. In a soil and climate far too moist 
for the larch, it will form valuable timber if provided with sufficient 
shelter. It should be observed, however, that until we are better 
acquainted with the timber-producing qualities of the pines and 
firs of recent introduction, they should be used experimentally 
rather than generally. It certainly would be an egregious 
mistake, and one that would likely lead to great disappointment 
and loss, to use them promiscuously until we have acquired some 
such knowledge. 
9. GENERAL REMARKS. 
When planting is done with a view to profit, the more valuable 
of the broad-leaved timber trees should not be used in situations 
where their growth is known to be slow, for not only is there a 
loss in quantity of timber in such cases, but the quality also is 
of an inferior description. Some of the hardier of them may very 
properly be used in forming shelter belts for the more surface- 
rooted coniferous trees; for though they will not form valuable 
timber, they afford sufficient shelter to permit of plantations of 
conifers being formed, with much better prospects of success, 
Trees can be grown at a much greater elevation inland than near 
the coast. Deciduous trees withstand the sea-breeze better than 
