l8o TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



16s. 9d. per acre. This particular lot was grown 400 feet 

 above sea-level on very rocky land and entirely exposed to 

 the prevailing south-west winds. 



Another lot of pit-wood in the same county was sold 3 years 

 ago as a first thinning at the age of 27 years. The number 

 of poles procured was 7540 and the price realised was ^950. 

 The work of felling and classifying into lots was done by con- 

 tract, costing 6d. per pole, and the poles thus classified were sold 

 lying on the ground. Had all the pit-wood been larch a much 

 higher value would have resulted. This plantation, of which I 

 have charge, is 37 acres in extent, and has an average of 500 

 standing trees per acre, with an average length of 30 feet and 

 equal on an average to 4-inch pit-wood. This works out at 

 15,000 lin. feet per acre, and at 20s. per 100 lin. feet equals 

 ^150 per acre, or ^5550 for the whole plantation at present 

 prices. 



In 1919 another lot was disposed of at the age of 23 years. 

 The outlay in planting, rates and taxes, management, etc., 

 was allowed for at compound interest, and an annual return 

 °f £,% 4 s - 5°^ P er acre was obtained. The ground was 

 approximately 400 feet above sea-level and exposed to the 

 wind. 



The foregoing has thoroughly convinced the writer that some 

 parts of Argyll at least are more adapted for growing pit-wood 

 than timber, because although magnificent larch, Scots pine and 

 spruce can be grown, the difference in price between timber and 

 pit-wood is very marked, viz. 8d. to is. for best larch; 7d. to 

 1 id. for Scots pine and spruce; while the price for pit-wood at 

 24 years works out at is. 3|d. per cub. foot. Pit-wood on a 

 19 years' rotation is, as I have attempted to show, a more 

 profitable investment for land-owners than sheep farming on 

 the same land, where the rental is not often 2s. 6d. per acre, 

 after the expense of erecting buildings. 



It puzzles the writer why such low prices are given for the 

 magnificent timber grown in the Highlands. The transport 

 difficulties are of course many and freights excessive, still the 

 quality of the timber warrants higher prices. Meantime I 

 think it would be advisable to make pit-wood the principal 

 crop in the Highlands; that produced in the Highlands is 

 the toughest of its kind, being reared mostly on exposed 

 situations. 



