SELF-SOWING OF THE COMMON SILVER FIR. 181 



pearance they generally have when so closely furnished with branches. 

 The timber is quite sound, and of good qiiality. They also appear 

 to be in perfect health, and will probably increase in value for some 

 years to come; long after the spruce, larch, and Scots fir are decayed 

 or cut down, the silver firs may remain with their progeny at all 

 ages springing up around them. The cubic contents of the silver 

 firs are considerably greater than that of any of the other trees. The 

 measurements of the largest trees will demonstrate this : — (See 

 p. 182). 



These measurements present a striking contrast in favour of the 

 silver fir, and it is even greater in reality, as the latter are not nearly 

 so much tapered as the others. This is not owing to their having 

 been grown under more favourable circumstances, as in one instance 

 two silver firs, which are bracketed in the table, are growing at 24 

 feet apart, and most of the others have been so closely mixed up 

 with the other varieties, that the larch and Scots fir were growing 

 under the drip of the silvers, and even amongst their branches. 

 These particulars are mentioned to show that the situation appears 

 to be well adapted for the growth of the silver fir. 



The soil is a light brown loam, containing a large percentage of 

 granitic and vegetable matter, with large granite boulders cropping 

 out on the surface. The subsoil is gravelly clay, resting upon granitic 

 gravel, much used for blinding metal on roads, but which on ex- 

 posure turns rather clayey and soft, especially after frost. 



Where the silver firs are growing, the exposure is north-east by 

 north. The ground is steep, rising at a gradient of about 1 in 21 

 The altitude, as per Ordnance Survey, ranges from 580 to 750 feet 

 above sea-level. The general configuration of the ground is conical, 

 steeper towards the north and east. The extreme altitude of the hill 

 is 974 feet; the average height of the surrounding cultivated land 

 being 740 feet from south-east to north-west by west, and 450 feet 

 from north-west to south-east by east. 



Seedling silver firs are found growing close to all the large trees, 

 but are more numerous in some places than in others, and particu- 

 larly in spaces that have been partially opened up by hurricanes. 

 In these open spaces the seedlings are chiefly from eight to twelve 

 years old, a few being about fifteen years. A number are from two 

 to five years old. In fact, they are to be found at all ages from two 

 to fifteen, but from eight to twelve and from two to five are most 

 numerously represented. The theory that I would advance is, that 

 the presence of these seedlings is due to the hurricanes of October 

 1860 and February 1868. On both these occasions many trees were 



