30 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
strength. We have, unfortunately, no Forestry Department of 
our own where tests might be carried out with home-grown 
specimens,! but these figures of the U.S. Bureau of Forestry 
furnish evidence that, so far as regards rate of growth in girth, we 
ought to be able to grow these kinds of trees so as to produce 
timber of first-rate quality. 
SUMMARY. 
The reason why I have taken this group of shade-bearers and 
dealt almost entirely with them is that it is quite too large 
a subject to discuss in detail for each kind of tree and for each 
mixture by itself. Looking at the question broadly, I eliminated 
the hardwood ‘trees, not because they cannot be grown at a 
profit (as I am aware that on occasions they have proved most 
remunerative), but because, as a rule, they must be grown 
on land of fairly good quality. They are not generally suitable 
for planting on waste land of any description. They are usually 
planted in the interior of landed estates, and here they are 
subject to so many outside influences (for the purpose of game, 
ornament, or shelter) that they cannot be, and as a matter 
of fact are not, looked upon as plantations made for profit. 
I was left, therefore, to deal with the coniferous trees on land 
of medium to poor quality. Much of this is suitable for larch, 
but I need not go into the reasons why extensive larch planta- 
tions have become a hazardous class of speculation. In any 
case, what we want is to produce timber that will supply in 
part the enormous demand for building and joinery purposes. 
The price of larch is kept up by the great quantities used 
in the collieries. It is quite conceivable that within the next 
fifty years some substitute may be found for this, and in 
such case the price of larch would probably fall considerably.? 
The demand for timber for constructive and general indoor 
1 An article by Professor T. Hudson Beare on ‘‘ Timber: Its Strength, and 
How to Test It,” in which some home-grown timbers are dealt with, occurs 
at page I of this volume of the Zvansacttons.—HON. ED. 
? With creosoting, naphthalining, and saccharising at 3d. to 4d. per cubic 
‘ foot, softwoods of all sorts that readily take antiseptics become more durable 
(so far as the action of damp and warmth, fungi, insects, etc., are concerned 
—apart from the action of strains and other mechanical effects) than the best 
larch or oak. This fact is bound to produce its natural economic results 
wherever planting for profit is being considered henceforthk— Hon. ED. 
