REPORT OF THE ANNUAL EXCURSION. 1 37 



trees, notably a large elm and oak, can still be easily recognised, 

 even after the lapse of over eighty years. 



The ruins of Fountains Abbey, the most complete of the 

 Cistercian abbeys in Yorkshire, were next visited. The great 

 cloister, 300 feet long and 40 feet wide, is unique in extent and 

 style, and is in a remarkably good state of preservation. 

 A very fine cedar of Lebanon grows in the cloister court. To 

 the west of the ruins still stands the English yew under which 

 the monks lived before the building of the Abbey in the middle 

 of the twelfth century, and which must have been a large tree 

 even at that time to serve such a purpose. 



Before leaving the grounds the members were entertained to 

 tea, and a vote of thanks was passed to the Marquess of Ripon 

 for entertaining the party, and to Mr Wade for his kindness in 

 conducting them round. A vote of thanks was also given to 

 Mr A. P. Long, Divisional Forest Officer for the Northern 

 Counties, for his able and cordial assistance throughout the 

 tour and in making the preliminary arrangements. 



The evening was spent in song and story, and thus an 

 excursion of exceptional interest was brought to a successful 

 close. The arrangements throughout were excellent, and were 

 carried through without a hitch, for which the special thanks 

 of the Society are due to Mr Charles Buchanan, Convener of 

 Committee, and Mr Robert Galloway, S.S.C., the secretary and 

 treasurer. J. W. Mackay. 



19. Experiments on the Storage of Seeds of 

 Forest Trees.^ 



As far back as the sixteenth century the method of preserving 

 oak and beech mast in sand was known- and practised. The 

 artificial formation of woods which was first adopted in the 

 fourteenth century in Germany led to investigations being made 

 regarding methods of storing seed. Most of these methods 

 have been forgotten, like so much experience in the practice 

 of forestry. Others have been handed down by tradition 

 to succeeding generations. W. G. Moser in his Fundamentals 



' Translated from an article by Dr E. Zederbauer, in the Mitteihing aus 

 den forstlichen P'ersuchswesen Osterreichs, Vienna, 1910. 



- Schwappach, A. , Forstgeschichte in Lorey's Handbuch der Forstwissen- 

 schaft, 4 B, 547. 



