NOTES AND QUERIES. T I3 



In 1916 a block of about 12 acres, consisting of large and 

 heavy trees, was sold to the Government, and the timber was all 

 removed in the course of eighteen months. The soil was heavy 

 clay, and while the trees were standing had little other vegetation 

 on it. A certain amount appeared later, but when the rubbish 

 was burnt and the ground fenced in and prepared for planting, 

 in the spring of 1920, it looked comparatively bare, and it was 

 decided to re-plant it with 2-year i-year plants. Since then, 

 however, a mass of weeds, principally rushes, has sprung up, 

 which, as the ground has been fenced in from rabbits, has had 

 nothing to check it, and the young trees have been completely 

 smothered. As far as can be seen at present 85 per cent, will 

 have to be replaced, and that with trees very much larger than 

 the 2-year 2-year plants which would have succeeded at first. 



A second block of 5 acres, also consisting of very large hard- 

 woods, was felled and cleared in 19 19, and re-planted in the 

 spring of the next year, with 2-year i-year plants of Douglas fir. 



The ground in this case was lighter, a good deep loam, and 

 was absolutely bare of any vegetation. By the end of the 

 summer, however, it was pretty evenly covered with a variety of 

 different weeds of strong growth. Though the small plants 

 have had a struggle the result has been very much better than 

 in the previous case, the re-planting being only about 15 per 

 cent. It was, however, necessary to give them a certain amount 

 of assistance by cutting the worst of the rubbish. 



From the above experience, it seems doubtful whether any 

 advantage in economy is to be gained by using small plants, 

 and in any case the only chance would seem to be when re- 

 planting took place immediately after the removal of the 

 previous crop, and under conditions which are probably 

 exceptional. C. S. 



A Little-Known Pine Beetle. 



Among the many pine-dwelling insects of our Scottish wood- 

 lands it is interesting to find a representative of the Anobiidae or 

 furniture beetles, not as might be expected in logs or sawn 

 timber, but in the pith of the young shoots. This is the black 

 Ernobius, E. nigrinns, Sturm. It is a near relative of the 

 larch Ernobius {E. mollis, L.), which is probably familiar to most 

 foresters as an almost constant dweller in the bark of larch and 



VOL. XXXVI PART I. H 



