FORESTRY EXHIBITION AT THE NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE SHOW. 93 



In the competitive section, two classes may be specially 

 mentioned, Class VI. and Class VIII. The former included 

 "Specimens showing comparative Quality of any Timber 

 grown on different Soils and Situations, and the respective 

 Ages at which it reaches Marketable Size and Maturity. 

 Exhibits to be accompanied by a short descriptive 

 statement." 



This class was certainly a very important one, inasmuch as it 

 professed to give an epitome of the life of the wood from a 

 commercial point of view, and to indicate the age at which 

 certain crops may, under varying conditions, be cleared off 

 the ground. The value of the exhibit was, however, considerably 

 reduced in consequence of there being no guarantee that the 

 sample exhibited, and the statement given, were a correct 

 representation of any particular crop. It is to be hoped, 

 therefore, that future exhibitions in connection with this class 

 will demonstrate, or suggest, further points on which informa- 

 tion is desirable. 



Class VIII. included "Specimens of Stems, and of Boards 

 cut from them, not exceeding 6 feet in length, illustrating the 

 effects of Dense and Thin Crops in Branch Suppression, and 

 in the Quality of the Timber." 



In this class both the prize exhibits were very much admired, 

 and received a considerable share of attention. The various 

 specimens showed that, in order to get valuable timber, the 

 plantations must be grown as dense crops throughout the whole 

 period of growth, but more especially in the younger stages. 

 It is no exaggeration to say that the poverty of prices and 

 the apathy of demand at present are due to the results of over- 

 thinning young plantations. 



In the division on articles for Exhibition Only, the majority 

 of the exhibits were outside the building, but one very interest- 

 ing lot was exhibited inside, viz., that from the Armstrong 

 College, Newcastle-on-Tyne, per Mr J. F. Annand, Lecturer 

 on Forestry. This was certainly a very interesting stand, 

 and displayed a large variety of articles such as seeds, 

 cones, and fruits of Forest Trees, in bottles; a number of 

 specimens illustrating various tree diseases ; leaves, buds, and 

 twigs of Forest Trees ; sections of woods, timber transparencies, 

 etc., in addition to those which were used in class-room 

 demonstration. The stand showed that those in charge of 



