44 TRANSACTION'S OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



district (namely, Coombe Plantation, near Keswick). This was 

 formed in 1848 ; it is now being felled, and a complete record 

 and account of expenses and income having been kept, the 

 result is very instructive. The plantation extends to 198 acres, 

 and was planted by contract at a cost of ^{^565, los., or 

 ;^2, 17s. 2d. per acre. In 1909, after allowing for 3 per cent, 

 compound interest on rent and all expenses it shows a clear 

 profit of y^2o,45o, 19s. For full particulars of the above planta- 

 tion, see the Journal of the Board of Agriculture, volume xvii., 

 Nos. 4 and 5, from which the appended financial summary is 

 extracted (see end). For the benefit of those who have not 

 read the above article, I will quote one sentence : " There has 

 therefore been obtained from this land 12s. 5d. per acre per 

 year more than would have been obtained under sheep, or the 

 rental from forestry is six times as great as from grazing." 



We will now deal with the forming of a plantation at a 

 high altitude for the sole object of obtaining a timber crop. 

 Taking the larch again as the main element, it would be 

 advisable to mix it with beech; and the method adopted here 

 is to plant three larches to one beech in the row, then three 

 rows of pure larch, the next row again having beech in the 

 same proportion as before. This method allows for the removal 

 of every alternate larch in the thinning ; and as small thinnings 

 of larch are more valuable than those of small beech, while the 

 young plants of the former cost only about half as much as 

 those of the latter, it is an advantage to plant only a small 

 percentage of beech. But as it is not everywhere that larch 

 will succeed, it will be necessary to make plantations of various 

 species. Pines will often do better than larches, especially if the 

 situation is very much exposed to winds, but they can be treated 

 in the same manner as larch. It may be that in some districts 

 there would be a better demand for spruce or silver fir than for 

 beech ; if this were so then one or other of those species could 

 be substituted for it. 



To grow silver firs and spruces to perfection they should be 

 grown pure, so as to ensure a density of canopy sufficient for 

 branch suppression. In the case of Coombe Plantation, it was 

 found that at the higher altitudes spruce made more timber 

 than larch, and it is the belief of the writer that at the higher 

 elevations spruce timber would be more profitable than larch. 



Admitting that the sale price of spruce timber is only from 



