40 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Ministry, directing that, in all suitable localities, experiments 

 should be made to ascertain the practical value of raw humus 

 as a forest manure. Areas were to be selected which had the 

 same conditions of growth throughout ; on parts thereof the raw 

 humus was to be mixed with the underlying soil ; in others the 

 dry peat covering was to be removed, and the soil was to be 

 prepared in the customary manner. Both portions were to be 

 cultivated with conifers in an identical way either by sowing or 

 planting. The experiments were to take place both in nurseries 

 and in the open forest. The reports on three years' experiments, 

 received from a large number of forest divisions, were placed by 

 the Government at the disposal of Dr Moeller, and extracts from 

 them are now before me. In nurseries, where the necessary 

 attention can be given to the preparation of the soil and to 

 weeding, dry peat has, almost unanimously, been accepted as 

 preferable to all artificial manures. But the necessity of covering 

 the prepared soil with a thin layer of sand was soon recognised 

 as advisable, in order to ensure a more regular germination, to 

 protect the young seedlings against drought, and to give them a 

 start of the weeds, which also grow more luxuriously on manured 

 soils. As might have been expected, the reports regarding the 

 advisability of peat-manuring in open forests vary considerably ; 

 for whereas the opinions received from some thirty forest divisions 

 are decidedly favourable, those from an even larger number are 

 against it. The chief objections urged are : — bad germination 

 of the seed on a surface of which dry peat forms a large part, 

 greater danger from drought, a more vigorous growth of weeds, 

 and, finally, the increased cost. However, it is frequently 

 acknowledged, even where adverse opinions prevail, that plants 

 which have escaped the calamities to which manuring with dry 

 peat has exposed them, show a development superior to that of 

 those grown on corresponding unmanured areas. 



