PRIMITIVE WOODLAND AND PLANTATION TYPES IN SCOTLAND. I 53 



payable for loss of rent and so forth, the value of the land for 

 purposes that were no impediment to forestry would fall to be 

 deducted. Thus, in the case of sporting estates which might 

 eventually be improved rather than spoiled by planting, a 

 nominal sum would be payable, and the State would not be 

 saddled with the cares and obligations of a possessor of land. 



19. Primitive Woodland and Plantation Types in 

 Scotland. 



By G. P. Gordon. 



In various parts of Scotland there occur, either in the form 

 of small groups or of fairly extensive woodlands, remains of forests 

 which in the past have occupied large tracts of land, and which 

 have evidently reached a great age. Up to the present, tradition 

 has classed these as remnants of an ancient forest somewhat 

 vaguely styled the " Old Caledonian Forest." Now that schemes 

 to increase our forest area in Scotland are so much discussed, a 

 few recent observations on some of these older forests may not 

 be without interest. The attempt is made here to describe the 

 present condition of some of these forests with reference to 

 their composition and silvicultural value, also to bring them 

 together as far as possible under certain standard types. In 

 addition, a comparison is made with plantations in the same 

 localities. The following quotation indicates some of the 

 problems relating to existing woodlands^ : — " In a country like 

 England, much of which has been cultivated and comparatively 

 thickly populated for centuries, it may be asked, Do there remain 

 any natural woodlands at all ? Have not existing woods been 

 so altered by planting, and in other ways, that they no longer 

 represent the native plant-communities, but are rather to be 

 considered as mere congeries of indigenous and introduced 

 species ? 



"It is undoubtedly true that there is little ' Urvvald,' true virgin 

 or primitive forest, remaining in the country, though some of the 

 woods, especially near the upper limit of woodland in the more 

 mountainous regions, might make good their claim to this title. 



iC E. Moss, W. M. Rankin and A. G. Tansley, "The Woodlands of 

 England," New Phytologist, vol. ix., Nos. 3 and 4, pp. 114 and 115. 

 VOL. XXIV. PART II. L 



