166 THE DOUGLAS FIR. 
tree cannot be considered as at home, for the twisted, weather- 
beaten appearance of the foliage in such positions betokens any- 
thing but that the tree is properly situated. Even when planted 
along the outskirts of the woods surrounding the park, where the 
elevation hardly exceeds 100 feet above sea-level, the results 
obtained from this tree are by no means encouraging, certainly not 
sufficiently so to warrant its being extensively used in such 
situations. In passing, it should, however, be noted that, owing 
to the peculiar situation of this estate, and being both mountainous 
aud maritime, the storms are at times particularly severe, more 
especially when the wind is blowing from the south or south-west. 
Where planted as a general forest tree, the Douglas fir does exceed- 
ingly well for the first twenty or thirty years, but, on out-growing 
its neighbours, the leader and upper branches being, from their 
rapid growth, somewhat fragile, generally get destroyed, and present 
from their naked, leafless appearance, anything but a desirable 
feature in well-managed woodlands. Still, this might, to a great 
extent be averted, and should certainly not be a deterrent to 
the extensive planting of the tree in suitable situations, as I believe 
that a plantation formed of this tree alone, or along with the silver 
fir—whose rate of growth most nearly approaches that of the Douglas 
fir—would succeed better, and be less liable to injury during a storm, 
than when mixed up with the general run of forest trees. This 
has indeed, to some extent, been already proved here, as in a few 
of our woods where belts of this fir alone were planted, they have 
succeeded better, and are not nearly so lable to injury during 
stormy weather as those placed singly throughout the same planta- 
tions. With this end in view, we, some time ago, formed a small 
plantation of the Douglas fir in a low-lying, well-sheltered piece of 
ground within a short distance of the sea. The plants used were 
strong, bushy, well-rooted specimens from 3 to 4 feet in height, and 
planted at 8 ft. apart, the intervening spaces being filled up with 
larch for removal at an early date. The Douglas fir as standards 
can thus be left at 16 or 24 feet apart, as afterwards found practicable. 
The soil is good strong loam, from which, as well as the sheltered 
position, I have every reason to expect more satisfactory results 
than have hitherto been obtained here from this fir. 
The timber of this tree is clean-grained, elastic, and durable, of a 
colour almost as deep as yew, and susceptible of a fine polish. 
Several spars grown here have been used by boat-builders on the 
Menai Straits, and which, from information elicited a few days 
