EXPERIMENTS IX PLAXT1XG SAXD-HILLS. 21 



p. 101 1 as I only report on these woods so far as my experience has 

 made me acquainted with them, I recommend any one who wishes 

 further information to consult Mr Grigor's book. These woods 

 now cover about 900 acres, of which 300 acres were planted by 

 the end of 1842, and 600 acres are of natural growth. 



On my first visit, I was struck with the closeness with which 

 the trees were growing. They stood from 4 to 4| feet distant, 

 while their height was about 30 feet. It was evident they were 

 much neglected in point of thinning. On the outside of this 

 plantation the trees were larger, and not standing so close ; this 

 place being more convenient for getting wood for home purposes, 

 it was more resorted to, and showed the beneficial results of 

 thinning in time. I found also, in this place, that the trees were 

 growing in moss. To examine it more fully, I dug a pit 5 feet 

 deep, and found that the sand had been blown across a mossy 

 surface. There were 2 feet of sand above 3 feet of moss, and 

 below the moss a shingly bottom, such as is generally met 

 with in swanipy grounds ; and along the surface of the sand I 

 found the roots of the trees interwoven with one another, and 

 especially on sandy knolls. I pulled up a root, measuring over 

 30 feet long, while the tree stood only 6 feet high. The highest 

 lai*ches were 40 feet high, and the highest Scotch fir about 36 

 feet. 



Much damage was done by squirrels to the Scotch firs. These 

 animals gnaw the bark near the top of the stem ; and as the 

 trees grow they get ultimately top heavy, and the winds generally 

 break them over at the place where the bark was eaten off. In 

 1869 I commenced to thin out all the under growing trees, along 

 with those that were injured by squirrels. It was necessary to 

 be very cautious in thinning, as the trees were so much drawn 

 up, and the wood so close. I was not so much afraid of the 

 trees being blown down as of the effects generally produced by 

 the scourging winds upon such trees. These thinnings I did very 

 moderately, and effected a sale generally once a year, and have 

 only finished thinning this spring (1874). 



The trees now stand about 9 feet apart, and the plantation 

 contains about 540 trees to the acre. The tallest larches are 

 about 45 feet high, and the tallest Scotch fir 43 feet, while the 

 average of the plantation will probably be for height 35 feet, 

 with a girth of 7 inches at 12 feet. The plantation cannot now 

 be valued at less than £28 per acre, or altogether £8400. The 



