SELF-SOWING OF THE COMMON SILVF.tt FIB. 183 



uprooted ; and after the trees were cut and cleared off, the roots 

 were taken out for fuel. Portions of the surface were thus opened 

 up, and the seeds germinated and grew readily. 



Seedlings heing most numerous between the ages of eight and 

 twelve, and between two and five, would seem to confirm this 

 theory ; but apart from this, seedlings of all ages are most numerous 

 in a partially opened space near the outside of the plantation, where 

 roots for fuel have been periodically grubbed out. It has also been 

 observed that larch and Scots fir seeds germinate most readily in 

 plantations where roots have been holed, and after wind-blown trees 

 have been cleared off. All this is only theory, and I will not 

 pursue it further, but the fact remains that seedlings of the common 



silver fir are growing in K plantation. That fact having been 



ascertained, the circumstances most favourable for their further 

 development or reproduction can be observed and noted. 



Seedlings are not to be found beyond a radius of GO yards from 

 the old trees, and this extreme distance is invariably up the hill. 

 Throughout the plantation within this radius of the old trees there 

 are several silver firs from thirty-five to forty years old, about 38 

 feet high, and from 2 to 2J feet in circumference at 3 feet from the 

 ground ; these may also be natural reproductions. In some parts 

 of the plantation there are a few self-sown plants of the common 

 spruce, as also a few larches, but the almost total absence of Scots 

 fir seedlings is curious. Indigenous birch, rowan, raspberry, and 

 holly grow freely from seed, and broom in some of the more open 

 spaces, along with Vaccinium Mtjrtlllus and Calluna vulgaris. The 

 natural herbage in the plantation where the silver firs are growing 

 consists principally of the following : — 



Flowering plants. — Qardamine liirsuta, Digitalis purpurea* 

 Galium saxatile* Goodyera repens, Hypericum pulchrum, Luzula 

 pilosa, Oxalis Acetosella, Ranunculus acris and repens, Rumex Ace- 

 tosa and Acetosella, Stellaria Holostea, Tormentilla officinalis, Trien- 

 talis europcea, Scabiosa succisa, Viola canina, Veronica Ghamoedrys 

 and officinalis ; as also the beautiful and rare Linncea borealis. 



Grasses. — Agrostis vulgaris and canina* Aira flexuosa,* Anthox- 

 anthum odoratum, Festuca ovina, IIolcus mollis and lanatus. 



Ferns. — Pteris aquilina, Blechnum boreale, Asplenium Fili.r- 

 1 '"■hi inn, Aspidium FiJix-mas and dilatata, Poly podium Dryqpteris. 



Mosses. — Dicranum scoparium ; Hypnum loreum, purum, proli- 

 ferum, splendens* triquetrum, and undulafum ; Pulytrichum com- 

 mune. 



* Those marked * are most plentiful. 



