REPORT OF THE ANNUAL EXCURSION. 69 



to Mr A. D. Curvven. Here the climate is mild and moist with 

 a rainfall of 70 ins., and the soil is a light loamy clay varying 

 from sandy to peaty and overlying Coniston Limestone of the 

 Silurian System — elevation 125 to 700 ft. The area of wood- 

 lands, 900 acres, most of which has been treated in the past 

 as coppice-with-standards, is now gradually being cleared and 

 replanted with conifers. Of particular interest was a plot of 

 pure Sitka, planted in 1 916-17, which was now over 10 ft. high 

 with leaders of 3 to 4 ft., and behind this, sheltered by an 

 older wood, was a plot of Scots pine being drawn up at an 

 extraordinary rate. The attention of the party was next drawn 

 to a row of grand old larches, the remnant of an old crop, 

 felled during the war, which was planted in 1802 in competition 

 for a gold medal presented at that time by some Society to 

 encourage the planting of larch. One of these measured 

 12 ft. 3 ins. in girth at 5 ft., and was estimated to contain 

 225 cub. ft. of timber. Lastly, a plot of Japanese larch and 

 Thuja gigantea, about 5 yrs. old, was inspected and the larch 

 were found to be well ahead of the Thuja. This whole district 

 gave one the impression of being simply ideal for the growing 

 of trees, with its warmth, shelter, and heavy rainfall, and the 

 growth of larch especially was quite phenomenal. Before 

 embarking once more on the launches the party inspected the 

 forest nursery of Messrs Mould & Bloomer, two Cambridge 

 graduates in Forestry. The return journey to Keswick was 

 broken for a short visit to the Lakeland nurseries at Windermere, 

 but unfortunately, owing to the occupation of Rydal Hall by 

 the Queen of Holland, the intended visit there could not be 

 carried out. 



After dinner an informal meeting of the Society was held in 

 the Queen's Hotel, when among other things the venue of next 

 year's Excursion was discussed, and the feeling of the members 

 present seemed to favour the south-west of Scotland. 



The remainder of the evening was passed agreeably in song 

 and story. 



Thirlemere. 



Friday, the 29th, the last day of the Excursion, found the 

 weather still gloriously fine for the visit to the Manchester 

 Corporation Waterworks estate at Lake Thirlemere. On arrival 

 the party was met by Aldermen Plummer and Box and 



