2 2 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



for existence, with the remarkable result that, on good and 

 moderately good soils with all species, as much as 50 per cent, 

 of the original trees are dead before the twentieth year. In 

 some cases it may be as high as 70 per cent. With planting at 

 6 feet square, with Douglas fir at least, only about 10 per cent, 

 are lost, yet this in itself is interesting as it indicates that even 

 at that distance there is a certain amount of competition. 

 Danger from snow, wind, insects, fungi, and fire is less in the 

 more open wood, and thinning is not so risky. The volume of 

 timber in the open wood is at least as great as in the close 

 wood, the average size of the logs being larger. Soil conditions 

 are better. As arguments for close planting on the other hand, 

 we have, first, a small improvement in the timber, probably 

 confined to the first cut from the butt. With those species 

 which yield small thinnings of value, provided the wood is 

 reasonably accessible, a useful early return is possible. It is 

 also important to recognise that most of the advantages of open 

 spacing can be obtained by early and careful thinning in a 

 close wood, and that there is considerable choice of stems. The 

 neglect of proper attention to closely-grown plantations in the 

 period of competition, effectively wipes out all the advantages 

 gained by this method of planting during the period of 

 formation. 



The Financial Aspect. 



We now come to deal with the financial side of the question, 

 and will begin with the period of formation. 



1. The closer the planting, the larger the number of plants 

 and the greater their cost. 



2. The greater the number of plants, the greater the costs of 

 planting — the time question coming into play. 



3. The closer the distance, the less urgent is the need for 

 beating up. It should be noted, however, that, the proportion 

 of failures presumably being the same, the number of failures 

 increases with a decrease in the planting distance. 



4. With wider planting distances a smaller staff is required, 

 which results in a saving of expense. 



There is no need to point out that from a financial point of 

 view a very great saving is made by adopting open spacing, 

 and this is especially important with expensive species. High 

 costs at the beginning of the rotation are most undesirable. 



