68 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



comer of the triangle with a spade, the triangle is then turned 

 over and over on the 4 feet side all along the line, and the 

 operation repeated until the first row is marked out ; after this 

 the line can be dispensed with, the triangle being laid down with 

 the corners on the 4 feet side exactly in the notches made for the 

 preceding row, and the extreme point of the triangle marked 

 every time it is turned over. The correct distance will then be kept 

 without the least trouble, and with the greatest regularity. With 

 this simple device a man can mark out from 2500 to 3000 holes 

 a day, and his last line will be as straight and the pits as 

 regular as the first. 



Douglas Surpassed by Cypress. — A case of Douglas fir being 

 surpassed in growth by cypress came under my notice quite 

 recently. The wood or rather strip might be thirty years old, 

 light penetrated from each side to the centre, and the plantation 

 was sheltered on the most exposed side by a high embankment 

 thrown up to carry the public road over a railway which skirted 

 one end of the wood. This shelter one would naturally think 

 should have proved most favourable to Douglas fir for the first 

 few years after planting. 



The trees in the plantation were all planted at one time, 

 and they now principally consist of Cupressus macrocarpa^ 

 Cupressus Lawsoniana, Austrian pine, Pinus rigida, Crypto meria 

 japonica, larch and Douglas fir. The Douglas are now all sur- 

 passed in height by the larch, and the larch are in their turn 

 overtopped by the Cupressus macrocarpa, Austrian pine, and 

 Pinus rigida, which species are now entirely dominant. 



