1 8 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Many other witnesses for the pursuer — foresters, botanists, 

 and timber merchants — were also examined, and testified that 

 the plantations were properly planted and drained, that the 

 trees were suitable to the locality and generally free from 

 disease previous to the commencement of the operations com- 

 plained of. Several of these witnesses also stated that the 

 injury to the trees was typical of the action of sulphurous 

 fumes on vegetation, with the effects of which they were 

 familiar in other parts of the country. 



So much for the main lines of the pursuer's evidence. For 

 the defence it was attempted to prove that the decay of the 

 trees was not due to any evolution of sulphurous fumes from 

 the burning ironstone, but to a variety of natural causes. It 

 was alleged, first of all, that the fumes could not be the cause 

 of the damage, as sound trees were found alongside decaying 

 ones all through the woods, and that the trees nearest to the 

 burning bings were sometimes not affected, while those farther 

 back showed marked signs of decay. It was pointed out in 

 answer to this, however, that the nearer trees sometimes escaped 

 the fumes owing to differences of level and the direction of the 

 prevailing winds, more than trees farther back. Then it was 

 further alleged that the planting had not been properly done ; 

 that the trees were too crowded, that the roots of the trees 

 previously in the plantation had not been removed, that the 

 ground had not been properly drained, and that it was water- 

 logged, and that the trees were suffering from the effects of an 

 attack of fungi. With regard to the fact that the damage began 

 to appear soon after the bings started burning, it was maintained 

 that the real cause was the various natural agencies mentioned 

 above, together with the excessive rainfall of 1877 and the 

 previous year. The average rainfall at Glencorse is 36 inches. 

 In 1876 it was 45 inches, and in 1877 54 inches, both years 

 being exceptionally wet and cold. With regard to the sulphurous 

 fumes, it was also urged for the defence that, long before the 

 fumes had reached the trees, the free acid had been diluted 

 so much by the air, and neutralised to such an extent by 

 ammonia, which, it was said, was also given off in the process 

 of burning, that there was not sufficient free sulphuric acid 

 present to do any harm. The evolution of ammonia from the 

 burning bings, in sufficient quantity to have any appreciable 

 effect in neutralising the acid vapours, was, however, denied 



