2 20 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



In the home section attention was drawn to the many kinds 

 of timber that may be grown successfully in the British Isles, 

 and also to their economic importance. The Society sent a 

 useful exhibit of home-grown timbers, also the unique collection 

 of photographs of Scottish woodlands and forests in process 

 of utilisation, prepared, under the direction of Sir John Stirling- 

 Maxwell. 



Forests and Water Supply. 



The question is often discussed as to the effect of forests on 

 rainfall and the subsequent supply of water to springs, wells, 

 and water-courses. While doubt still exists as to the effect of 

 forests on the amount of aqueous precipitations, there is a 

 general consensus of opinion that forests affect the supplies of 

 springs and rivers, but opinions differ as to whether these 

 supplies are decreased or increased. Cases are cited, on the 

 one hand, where the removal of adjacent woodlands has resulted 

 in the reappearance of dried-up springs and water-courses, while 

 on the other hand it is held that the reverse has been observed. 

 It would be interesting and valuable to have the experience of 

 members and others on this subject, and those who have 

 studied the question are invited to contribute the result of their 

 observations to the Notes and Queries section of the Transactions. 



The Dunkeld Hybrid Larch. 



Prof. Augustine Henry, in collaboration with Miss Margaret 

 G. Flood, has contributed to the Proceedings of the Royal Irish 

 Academy a detailed study of this hybrid, based chiefly upon 

 material obtained from Murthly. To the tree, as a first cross 

 between Larix leptolepis^ and L. europaea £, he gives the name 

 of Larix enrolepis, A. Henry, and he finds that in characters, 

 both macroscopic and microscopic, it is remarkably intermediate 

 between the two parents. 



The naked-eye features he describes as follows: — The young 

 shoots are either glabrous or slightly hairy, but always with some 

 bloom on their surface, though this is less marked than in the 

 Japanese larch. The second-year twigs resemble those of the 

 European larch. The buds are non-resinous, light reddish- 



