FELLING TIMBER TREES. 73 



this is exceptional. Considering the value of a cubic foot of old 

 timber, we believe it to be most profitably felled when mature, 

 which, in good soil and sheltered situation, it would be when about 

 120 years old; in inferior soil and exposed situation it should be 

 cut down earlier when signs of maturity appear. 



Wittoios and Poplars. — All the timber varieties of willows and 

 poplars are fast growers, and are generally soon matured. Their 

 timber is used for railway brakes, cutting-boards, agricultural 

 implements, barrel staves and heading, and for patterns in most 

 engineering departments. They succeed only in moist soils, and 

 moderately sheltered situations, and can be profitably felled at 

 thirty-five to forty years of age, after which they become stag- 

 headed and unsightly, and liable to warp at the heart. In good 

 soil and sheltered situation they grow to very large dimensions, 

 and are longer of coming to maturity. 



Larch {Larix Europaia).- — This is the most useful and rapid 

 growing pine cultivated in Scotland, and without doubt the most 

 valuable. Of late years it has shown a great tendency to disease, 

 especially heart-rot. When lai'ches are planted in hardwood plan- 

 tations as nurses, they may be thinned out with profit at twenty- 

 five years of age. If well grown, they command a high price for 

 mining operations, fence posts, etc. In soil suitable for this crop 

 the time to remove it would be about sixty-five years old. On 

 thin soil, however, it matures much sooner. 



Scotch Fir (Pinus sylvestris). — None of our timber trees are 

 more extensively cultivated than the Scotch fir, its timber being 

 applied to almost all purposes to which common wood is applicable. 

 This tree is not particular as regards soil or situation, and it can 

 be cut down with profit at thirty-five years of age and upwards. 

 I felled a large wood of Scotch fir on an estate in the North, on land 

 worth less than 2s. 6d. per acre. The age of the plantation was 

 thirty-five years, and the net return after manufacture was £33 

 per acre. The ground is again planted, and the crop, considering 

 that the soil is thin and resting on rotten sandstone at two feet 

 from the surface, promises to do well. The wood referred to 

 showed signs of maturity, and ceased to grow. Many of the trees 

 were dying. It may be stated, however, that the quality of the 

 timber was inferior. It was sawn into staves and pit props, for 

 which the same prices were obtained as though it were superior 

 timber. The most profitable time to fell the Scotch fir is when 

 about sixty years old. 



