THE DOUGLAS FIR AS A COMMERCIAL TIMBER-TREE. 33 



difference in their cones, as may be seen from the accompanying 

 photograph. (Fig. 3 Plate VII.) 



On the estate of Durris, Kincardineshire, the Deeside 

 property of Henry Robert Baird, Esq., the Douglas fir was 

 first planted about seventy-two years ago, and since that date it 

 has been reared and planted out on a more extensive scale than 

 on any other estate in Britain. The original tree has now 

 reached a height of 114 feet, girths 12 feet 6 inches at 5 feet 

 above ground-level, and contains over 300 cubic feet of timber. 

 It is, of course, of the green or Oregon variety. 



The Colorado tree was not introduced until about thirty 

 to thirty-five years later, but about that date considerable 

 numbers were planted in admixture with Scots pine and 

 spruce in various parts of the estate. It has not, however, 

 proved a success as a timber-tree, being considerably slower in 

 growth than either of the species with which it had been mixed, 

 and in many cases it has been quite suppressed before reaching 

 its thirtieth year. These results are being verified by later 

 experiments, but its suppression seems destined to take place at 

 an even earlier age. As a commercial tree, it is of no account 

 in our climate, but it is capable of withstanding severe exposure, 

 transplants well, and is quite frost-hardy. Its principal uses 

 will probably be found in the formation of shelter-belts, and for 

 planting in those positions where it is not desirable to see trees 

 of large stature. 



In the Douglas fir of Oregon, however, we have a tree of a 

 totally different character, and one which, after an extended trial, 

 has proved its suitability for all practical purposes. On the 

 estate already mentioned, occupying the northern slope of the 

 eastern extremities of the Grampian Hills, the plantations rise 

 from 100 feet to 900 feet elevation, but these are backed up, 

 towards the western part of the estate, by a still higher range of 

 hills, which in a measure tends to break the severity of the 

 gales which blow from that direction. The soil alternates from 

 a light loam overlying gravel, in the valley of the Dee, to a 

 gritty boulder clay, in parts mixed with peat, at the higher 

 elevations, and overlies gneiss, the principal geological forma- 

 tion of the locality. The Douglas fir has been tested on all 

 classes of soil, and at elevations varying from the lowest up to 

 the highest point, and in no case has it failed to make satis- 

 factory headway. At an altitude of 850 feet, it may be seen, 



VOL. XXI. PART I. c 



