ARBORICULTURE IN ABERDEENSHIRE. 237 



sive scale have been entered into and begun lately— 25s. per acre 

 being the price of plants and planting. As a rule, the planting at 

 these places has not kept pace with the cutting, but at Balmoral 

 some belts and clumps of mixed hardwood trees, as also some of the 

 newer conifers, have been introduced, principally it is said at the 

 instance of the late Prince Consort. These have been most judi- 

 ciously arranged, and considering the district are doing remarkably 

 well. Natural birch grows freely throughout this part of the 

 district, but it can seldom be grown profitably. 



At Invercauld large quantities of first-class wood have been recently 

 cut, but a good deal of the ground thus cleared has been replanted, 

 so that the arboricultural prospects of that district and of Upper 

 Deeside may be said to be fully as good as the past. A large extent 

 of ground has been planted on the right bank of the river, between 

 Invercauld and Braemar, as also on the lower slopes of Benavon 

 and Benabuird, but the extent is small when compared with the 

 available waste land suitable for the growth of trees, and it is apparent 

 that the banks of the upper part of the Dee are not nearly so well 

 wooded as they ought to be, large tracts of land which would grow 

 good Scots fir and larch, being occupied with natural birch, aspen, 

 alder, rowan, &c. 



The remains of old forests are still found in the district, con- 

 spicuous among these are Glen Derry, Glen Lui, and the remains of 

 an old pine forest near the source of the Quoich, and farther down 

 this glen both banks are well wooded with fine thriving Scots fir. 

 In Glen Derry and Glen Lui little now remains except a few 

 straggling trees and clumps of old Scots fir. It is said that a few 

 years ago, when clearing out the dam of Derry, which was formerly 

 used for floating timber, some fir logs were found bearing the date 

 1656. These logs when taken up were comparatively fresh and 

 sound. 



In the district between the Dee and the Don, including Cromar, 

 Tarland, Kincardine O'Neil, Cluny, Midmar, Echt, and Skene, there 

 is some very useful wood, principally larch and Scots fir. The 

 larches are in general not very heavy, but they are good and useful. 

 About Tarland and Cromar some good plantations, chiefly Scots fir 

 and larch, may be seen at all stages of growth. These have been 

 mostly formed during the last forty years, and are chiefly on the 

 estates of Cromar, Tillipronie, Blelack, Melgum, Coldstone, &c. 

 Some plantations in this district have been formed remarkably 

 cheap; for instance, in 1862, the hill of Craigton, near Lumphanan, 



