70 THE AGE FOR PROFITABLY 



VI. On the Age at which various Timber Trees in Scotland may be 

 most Profitably Felled. By D. F. M'Kenzie, Forester, Mel- 

 drum House. 



The question discussed in this paper involves the consideration 

 both of bulk and quality. It is the producer's interest to have 

 the greatest possible bulk of timber in a given time. Any one 

 who has given attention to arboriculture, knows that after a cer- 

 tain time most trees, though growing and apparently healthy, 

 cease to produce sufficient timber to warrant their being left to 

 occupy the ground. It is therefore the producer's interest to have 

 the crop removed as soon as this is determined, and replaced by 

 another crop. Were consumers of timber fully alive to their own 

 interests, they would look more to good quality than they do ; 

 it would then pay the producer to let the crop stand till full 

 maturity. Distance from market and places where large quanti- 

 ties of timber are consumed, has much to do with the time at 

 which to fell timber to advantage, as for example, near mining 

 districts ; but this is the exception, not the rule, for generally 

 when pit and spar wood fetch high prices, larger sizes also increase 

 in value. 



Ash (Fraxinus excelsior). — The ash is one of our most useful 

 timber trees, and can be cut with profit from thirty years old and 

 upwards. It luxuriates in a rich deep loam, well drained by the 

 natural formation and position of the ground. It does not suc- 

 ceed on poor soil, especially in exposed situations. Though found 

 in a natural state in some parts of the Highlands, it is only pi*o- 

 fitable when planted in good soil. In exposed situations the wood 

 is brittle and almost useless for many purposes to which it is 

 generally applied. 



Alder (Alnus glutinosa). — The wood of the alder is more 

 valuable now than many imagine. It is in great demand for 

 herring-barrel staves and heads, and this season (1875) I received 

 for alder the same price per thousand superficial feet, as for the 

 best larch for the same purpose. In 1868 alder was scarcely 

 worth felling, except for bobbins, powder works, etc. ; this year 

 it fetched 100s. per thousand superficial feet, 31 inches broad, by 

 | inch thick ; free on rail, two miles from the saw-mill. It thrives 

 best in damp soils along the margin of lakes and streams, and can 

 be cut to advantage after a growth of thirty-five years. 



