TRANSACTIONS 



OF THE 



ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



I. Discussion on Planting Distances. 



At the Annual Meeting of the Society, held on 12th February 

 last, a discussion took place on this subject, which was opened 

 by the following paper by Mr Geo. Leven. 



Mr Leven said : — " Notwithstanding the motto of this Society, 

 the problem of planting distances involves far more than the 

 'sticking in of a tree' at a stereotyped distance from its 

 neighbour. The whole science and practice of silviculture 

 hinges on this initial operation. 



" The history of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society is 

 the history of forestry in Scotland, as far as the matter under 

 discussion to-day is concerned, and I may be allowed to focus 

 your minds on the conditions as they existed when this Society 

 was instituted. Arboriculture was much in evidence ; open- 

 grown woods abounded everywhere, due, probably, not so 

 much to wide planting as to over-thinning. 



" Force of circumstances, in the shape of foreign competition 

 and the increased cost of labour, led to a falling off of thinning 

 in the more remote areas. More recently a gradual change was 

 brought about through the influence of forestry lecturers trained 

 in continental schools. The excursions of this Society abroad 

 brought about a marked change in ideas. Close planting 

 was perhaps carried to an extreme for a period, but I might 

 add incidentally that probably some of the 'neglected' woods, 

 in an arboricultural sense, gave the best returns, both materially 

 and financially, during the period of the late war. 



" Reaction seems to have set in, and while little more than a 

 tacit understanding exists, it is evident that the problem of how 

 to keep down the initial outlay on plantations to a minimum is 

 exercising the minds of many. How far the reduction of the 

 number of plants used on a given area may be carried, is a 



vol,. XXXV. PART I. A 



