NOTES ON THE FORESTS OF AUVERGNE. 35 



of the Puy de Sancy and the neighbouring peaks. Further 

 difficulties in this area are found in the ever-increasing 

 numbers of summer visitors who picnic in the woods, making 

 the preservation of seedHng trees a difficult matter, and thus 

 endangering the regeneration. Further, the townspeople are 

 agitating for the forest to be made into a public park and for 

 the extraction of timber to be prohibited entirely during the 

 tourist season, which would result in an appreciable loss on the 

 sale of wood. 



5. A Comparison of the Rates of Growth of Scots 

 Pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Corsican Pine (Pinus 

 Laricio), 



( With Plates.) 



By R. Shaw. 



Because of the approaching scarcity of timber in Great 

 Britain, and also from an economic point of view in the 

 afforesting of waste lands, the best trees to plant are such as 

 will give the greatest volume of valuable timber, in the shortest 

 space of time — a fact which is known to most people. 



In choosing the species, whether hardwood or conifer, con- 

 sideration must, at the same time, be given to the soil, to its 

 nature, depth, drainage, etc. ; also to the situation, as regards 

 aspect, elevation, shelter from cold winds, etc. 



Amongst the various conifers of importance in British forestry, 

 Corsican pine and Scots pine both take a leading place ; and in 

 this paper I propose to deal with these two species. Before 

 giving details of the comparative rates of growth of the two 

 trees, it may be well to give a brief account of the age, soil, 

 and situation of the wood in which growth studies were made. 



The Corsican and Scots pine are 22 and 19 years old 

 respectively, and both species grow side by side, forming a small 

 plantation. The, soil is a poor sand, typical of the sea-side 

 muirlands on the east coast of Scotland. The small plantation 

 is growing closely adjacent to the sea, and at so low an elevation 

 that the waves at high tides reach almost to the roots of the 

 trees. It is fully exposed to the north-east and east winds, with 

 the salt spray that is carried by them. The dunes are covered 



