PRIMITIVE WOODLAND AND PLANTATION TYPES IN SCOTLAND. 177 



"The Vegetation of Woodlands,"^ wind is a climatic factor of 

 great importance in forestry, and tree-growth ceases whenever the 

 wind attains such a force that the formation of young shoots is 

 prevented. It would, therefore, seem advantageous to determine 

 this wind zone, and it is suggested that the birch and Scots pine 

 " Urwald," along the upper limits of tree-growth, may assist in 

 its determination. 



Then again the question of shelter, especially in the Highland 

 portion of this area, is of considerable importance from an 

 afforestation point of view. The shelter afforded by primitive 

 woodlands has been recognised and made use of to a limited 

 extent in the past. In the present, the feasibility of converting 

 certain of these natural woodlands into shelter-belts might not 

 be altogether unworthy of consideration. Finally, it may be said 

 that the following quotation has a special application to the 

 greater part of " hill pasture " and " deer forest," not only within 

 this area but all over Scotland : — " There is, however, one great 

 drawback in the case of afforesting land which has been lying 

 waste for long periods of time, inasmuch as it has suffered in 

 yield capacity owing to continued exposure and the dissipation 

 of all organic matter." ^ In addition, land of this type has 

 borne the strain of producing wool and mutton for many years 

 past, without any appreciable return being made to it in the 

 form of manure. From a study of natural woodlands it is 

 concluded that while these vitiating factors have influenced all 

 classes of " Urwald " in the past, in no case did they exercise so 

 powerful an effect as on hill pasture, and in certain woodlands 

 their influence was reduced to a minimum. While these facts 

 would indicate that the sites of such woodlands might be used 

 as nuclei from which to afforest the surrounding land of this 

 nature, it must not be forgotten that they usually occupy the 

 more inaccessible portions of this class of land. 



In conclusion, I desire to thank the many friends who have 

 given me assistance in my work. I am specially indebted to 

 Dr Smith, under whose supervision this research has been carried 

 out, and also to Dr Borthwick for many valuable suggestions. In 

 addition, my thanks are due to various members of this Society for 

 the facilities they have given me in carrying out field observations. 



^ See Transactions of Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society, vol. xxiv. 

 p. 13. 1911. 



- See Manual of Forestry, by Sir William Schlich, K.C.I.E., vol. i. p. 184. 



