222 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Arboriculture and Arable Land. 



If it be true that nothing is more beautiful than the hedgerow 

 timber and the scattered oaks and elms of the English Midlands, it 

 is equally true that nothing is more destructive to agriculture than 

 much of our " ornamental " timber in Scotland. A great deal 

 could be done both to increase the value of arable land and to 

 beautify the landscape, through a gradual process of change in 

 the allocation of trees and in the varieties used. A really good 

 tree, wherever situated, is worth some sacrifice to keep, and the 

 general effect of the whole landscape should always be held in 

 view. Subject to these considerations, much might be done in 

 Scotland both for the adornment of the countryside and to 

 increase the value and utility of our timber. 



Trees planted round farm and other houses for shelter 

 frequently exclude light, and spoil the gardens or roofs — whereas 

 vacant spaces could be utilised, and real shelter provided in 

 lieu of the original plantations, which, in many cases, serve only 

 to create a draught instead of a " bield." 



The " scrunty " elm, often an eyesore, at the roadside should 

 disappear, along with the obnoxious weeds which flourish 

 beneath its fostering shade ; so also with the battered beech 

 which lingers on to spoil the hedge or ruin the neighbouring 

 crop. No tree should be left in an arable field that is not a 

 fine tree and a feature of the landscape. Such trees are rarely 

 necessary, as in the south of England, to shelter stock on the 

 pasture lands. 



Shelter-strips should always run north and south to protect 

 the crops from prevailing winds, and to give every field its fair 

 share of the sunshine. Hedgerow timber should consist mainly 

 of oak, Lombardy poplar, birch, Scots fir, etc., and other 

 varieties which throw least shade and therefore do the minimum 

 of harm to hedge and crop. Probably the ideal border for a 

 road is a beech hedge with oak standards, but a thorn hedge 

 with Lombardy poplar and similar combinations is not to be 



