NOTES AND QUERIES. 1 47 



certain nurseries that Sitka spruce is prone to develop a re- 

 markable purple shade, the true colouring of this species being 

 a healthy glaucous-green. This distinct purple colouring 

 appears to be more pronounced on the needles of the lateral 

 branchlets than on the needles of the main axis. Two-year 

 seedlings and two-year-one transplants seem to be the most 

 susceptible to this discoloration, which, though not fatal, 

 undoubtedly does affect the vitality of the plant to some extent 

 as it loses much of its robust character, the stiff erect needles 

 reclining in a somewhat oblique posture thereby detracting 

 from their prickly nature. The annual growth also appears 

 to be checked when such change in colour takes place. 



I have seen such symptoms developed both in a wet and 

 in a dry area; the nursery in the former locality wa,s situated 

 in the vicinity of Fort William, Inverness-shire, where a mean 

 annual rainfall of about 80 inches is experienced. The second 

 district was at Fordell, Fifeshire, where the rainfall averao:es 

 about 31 inches per annum. From the disparity in the rainfall 

 of these two localities one can hardly assign climatic reasons 

 for this strange hue, though it might have been supposed that 

 these would affect such a moisture-loving plant, by the pre- 

 cipitation proving either deficient or excessive. 



The true reason, I believe, lies in the mechanical conditions 

 of the soil as related to nursery operations. The nursery near 

 Fort William was roughly prepared by ploughing and harrowing 

 over a piece of low-lying ground ; no trenching of the ground 

 took place, consequently the weeds typical of the west coast 

 were abundant. On the other hand, on the east coast nursery 

 in Fifeshire the soil had been trenched and was in a good state 

 of division, but the rapid seasonal growth of weeds had tem- 

 porarily overtaken the labours of the forestry squad and the 

 surface soil had formed into a thin crust. In both of these 

 instances the rather beautiful characteristic blue colouring of 

 the needles had given place to an inferior purple shade. 



After summarising results and comparing the state of the 

 soil in both cases, I am of the opinion that the competition 

 of the weeds had a detrimental effect on the natural growth 

 of the plants, and also that the soil conditions played an import- 

 ant contributory part in the effect produced, not only by beino- 

 conducive to the growth of weeds but by interfering with the 

 normal development of the spruce in preventing the natural 



