200 REPORT ON A VISIT TO SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH FORESTS. 
the trees were standing about 24 to 30 feet apart, and their 
diameters measured from 12 to 18 inches, whilst their magnificent 
tops formed a perfect canopy of leaves above the bright rhododen- 
drons, in which colonies of young pheasants found a home. In the 
spring time this ought indeed to be a fairy-like spot. But, 
independently of this undergrowth, which is, after all, only suitable 
for the wealthy few, we cannot help thinking that a more careful 
study of this superb forest would go far towards clearing up some 
of the doubts which have always surrounded the difficult question 
of the cultivation of forests composed solely of oak. 
The mountain vegetation commences at about 400 feet above the 
level of the sea; beyond this we find ourselves in the domains of 
the Scots fir, the larch, and the birch. 
In selecting the Scots fir as the tree to be cultivated before all 
others in these regions, the promoters of forest plantation during 
the latter half of the past century showed no mean proof of their 
thorough appreciation of the natural requirements of the soil and 
climate of the Highlands, for not only have they ensured the 
success of their operations, but they have traced out the best line 
of action for their successors. 
Equally fortunate were they in their endeavour to introduce the 
larch into Scotland ; transported from the ice-bound summits of the 
Alps to a country where the climate is tempered by the softening 
influence of the Gulf Stream, this tree does not appear to have 
suffered to any material extent by so sudden a change of latitude. 
When, in 1737, the Duke of Athole brought home amongst his 
baggage, as a kind of remembrance of his travels in the Tyrol, the 
seeds which were sown in his park, and from which sprung the first 
larches in Scotland, he rendered a most valuable service to his country. 
From a forest point of view, the results obtained by the cultiva- 
tion of these two species (Scots fir and larch) are truly marvellous. 
Any one who has seen the beautiful larch forests planted in 1815 on 
the banks of Loch Ordie, and the vast stretches of Scots fir covering 
the flanks of the Bruarwood mouutain, cannot fail to admit that the 
question of the replanting of the Scottish Highlands is practically 
answered. 
The absence of the beech from all the forests of any standing is 
easily accounted for by the fact that it is only quite recently that 
the timber of this tree has become of any value for industria! pur- 
poses. For many cultural reasons, however, the beech is a tree of 
the highest importance, and we should strongly recommend its 
