THE DOUGLAS FIR. 49 



for several years now on this estate, and they have invariably 

 done well on the clay soils. 



I will now try to classify the soils in the order in which, in my 

 opinion, they are most suitable to this species. 



1. Loamy clays, as found in the hollows on the estate. As 

 is well known, this class of soil is the best for growing oak ; 

 this is shown by the large number of splendid specimens to 

 be seen in the district. It is also, in my opinion, the best for 

 Douglas fir, so that the question arises : Which is the more 

 profitable crop to grow ? First of all, the market must be taken 

 into consideration as to whether the greater demand is for the 

 hardwood or the conifer. If the demand is equal, which species 

 will give the largest return on the capital laid out on the wood ? 

 According to Dr Somerville, the Douglas fir plantation at 

 Taymount, in 1903, contained no less than 7977 cubic feet per 

 acre, |-girth measurement, at the age of 43 years from the time 

 of planting, while the highest figures for oak given by Dr Nisbet 

 in the Forester are 6280 to 6890 cubic feet per acre. It thus 

 appears that, even at 43 years, there is at least as great a volume 

 of fir per acre as one can expect from a fully stocked oak-wood at 

 the end of a long rotation. If the Douglas fir were grown on an 

 80 years' rotation (which experts think will be the most profitable) 

 it would, at present prices, give a return as large an an oak-wood 

 at 120 years, and with 40 years to spare, in which time a second 

 crop of Douglas fir would be half-way towards maturity. There- 

 fore, with a demand equal to, or greater than, that for oak, it 

 should be more profitable to grow Douglas fir on loamy soils. 



2. Limy soils. — This soil, judging from the few trees that I 

 have seen growing on it, seems to be almost equal in merit 

 to the clays and loams of Montgomery. 



3. The lighter clays. — Here the Douglas fir seems to do better 

 than any of the other commoner conifers, and should be planted 

 in preference to them. 



4. Sandy soils. — As a rule, this class of soil is thought to be 

 unfavourable to the growth of the Douglas fir; but the condition 

 of the trees in the plantation in Surrey seems to contradict this. 

 I have thought that perhaps, in the later stages of its life, 

 the growth of the tree would be unfavourably affected ; 

 the specimen in the park goes against this idea, but it is 

 well favoured by a warm situation and a plentiful supply of 

 humus collected in the hollow where it stands. The question 



VOL. XXIV. PART I. D 



