THE BIRCH IN THE SCOmSH HIGHLANDS. 85 



another question in these difficult times whether the birch woods 

 in many places should not give way to plantations of more 

 valuable timber in the commercial sense. The birch is 

 frequently to be met with in areas where no other tree is to 

 be seen, nestled away from the wind in ravines that shelter it. 

 In these areas good soil is uncommon and shallow in depth, 

 and it can hardly be possible that the soil is not better than 

 the average where the birch grows, or that it is not enriched to 

 some extent by the humus of the dead leaves dropped perhaps 

 for centuries. The position of these groves is of course relatively 

 favourable owing to shelter from gales, and although the area 

 of these ravines is not great, the site might possibly repay 

 planting with spruce or fir, in certain circumstances. 



But there are other and far larger areas covered by birch 

 in the Highlands, besides these small isolated ravines, which 

 certainly call for more profitable employment. 



Such areas are frequent in the districts surrounding my own 

 home and attain many square miles in extent, notably on the 

 south shore of Loch Eishort in Skye, while similar tracts border 

 the West Highland Railway from Mallaig to Fort William and 

 beyond. Should it be thought advisable in future to substitute 

 any other timber for the birch now growing on these lands, the 

 disposal of the birch itself to the best advantage becomes a 

 question of importance and one well worthy of investigation. 

 And surely if some of this woodland comes to be cleared it will 

 be found possible to make a better use of the timber than as 

 bobbins, not to mention birch brooms or birch rods. 



A proportion should be good enough to furnish pit-props 

 which are so greatly in demand, and there remains also the use 

 (previously referred to) for household furniture. The writer 

 is not aware of how far furniture in the past has been constructed 

 of birch, nor of its special qualifications for this purpose, 

 having only the information that this is the case. It is, 

 however, more possible to speak with some certainty as to the 

 need which exists for this industry to be more developed in 

 Britain at the present juncture. Very great dependence in the 

 past has been reposed in the Austrian bent-wood furniture of 

 all kinds, especially chairs, etc. ' And it would seem, from what 

 is thought in the trade, that these articles will no longer be 

 forthcoming after the war, and that a home-made substitute 

 is greatly needed. 



