284 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
coming to any great height, and is, therefore, practically free 
from danger. 
I lately made a measurement of a young plantation of Scots 
pine, only twenty years of age, showing 2000 poles of 20 feet 
in height and 3 inches in diameter at the small end, which 
would have provided 40,000 lineal feet of pit-props. This, at 
4s. 6d. per 100 feet (the present price of Swedish props delivered), 
would equal the handsome sum of £90 per acre, exclusive of 
several thousands of sheep stakes. I estimated that the outlay 
and cost of producing this crop amounted to 435 per acre, 
which included cost of planting and fencing, beating up, cutting, 
snedding, and carting to the pits close at hand, also a rental of 
Ios. per annum, rates, and compound interest at 4 per cent., 
made up from year to year on the original outlay, expenses, 
rent, etc., incurred from year to year. I do not consider that 
this plantation showed any exceptional growth, and am well 
aware that a very much larger return might be expected from 
Scots pine or spruce in a more advantageous soil and situation. 
Larch also, on a suitable situation, might well be risked for 
its quick growth and much higher value. I have often seen 
larch do well on a dry, gritty, well-drained north bank; and in 
spite of the more or less universal disease, I think that it is 
well worth growing in moderation for a quick crop, and on 
chosen situations. 
It is true that on poor clay soils, or on high exposed situations, 
a smaller crop might be expected from Scots pine or spruce 
than the plantation I have instanced, but even in these cases the 
crop would prove a very profitable one, if the trees were planted 
in large areas to provide as much shelter as possible. 
I do not wish to advocate the cutting of pit-wood at twenty 
years growth. A larger profit might well be expected by wait- 
ing for another ten or twenty years, and without undue risk from 
gales. I only want to demonstrate that a good return may be 
obtained in a short time, if so desired. There are many who 
would hesitate to cut young woods, believing that they will 
obtain a much larger profit by waiting; but it must not be lost 
sight of that not only does the risk of destruction by gales 
increase with time, but compound interest on the outlay, rent, 
etc., mounts up to a pretty big sum, and, in addition to this, 
further fencing will be necessary. 
The colliery companies obtain excellent pit-props from abroad. 
