26 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



been done, however, but it may be mentioned that some galls 

 were found on the Sitka spruce, as well as on the common species. 



Of fungi, the disease that is dreaded most is, of course, the 

 larch canker. .Special efforts have, therefore, been made to 

 prevent this fungus from obtaining a hold. Not only were all 

 plants examined for signs of weakness or injury at the 

 time of planting, and suspicious-looking plants rejected, 

 but all the larch stakes and posts required for fencing were 

 charred before use, in order to burn out any traces of disease 

 from the bark. But in spite of all these precautions, 

 individual plants here and there have been attacked. These 

 have been uprooted and burnt, but the danger is always with 

 us. It may be added that the soil and situation are most 

 suitable for the healthy growth of the larch, and there are no 

 trees of this species within at least half a mile of the area. A 

 few plants, mostly Scots pine, have succumbed to Agaricus 

 melleus and Trametes radiciperda. 



The cleaning of plants has necessitated the expenditure of a 

 good deal of labour, the gorse, bracken, etc., proving decidedly 

 troublesome. Still, the cost has not exceeded jQ^o since the 

 commencement— equivalent to an expenditure of about 2S. per 

 acre per annum over the area planted. Maintenance charges, 

 including the payment of a fire insurance premium and regular 

 examination of the fences, come to an almost precisely similar 

 sum, ;^i9, 2S. 3d. 



The carting of the plants to the hill from the railway station 

 and home nursery added is. 3d. per 1000 to the cost. The 

 expenses on plants which passed through the home nursery 

 must be given as 8s. 4d. per 1000 for each time of trans- 

 planting. This sum is higher than it ought to be, owing to 

 the fact that it includes all the original cost of forming and 

 fencing the nursery, the ground having been previously under 

 pasture and only used for a few years as a nursery. It includes 

 expenditure on trenching, annual soil cultivation, transplanting, 

 weeding, trimming of the roots, rent, etc., and is calculated 

 upon the number of plants actually removed to the planting 

 area, not upon the number originally lined out. If allowance 

 is made for money received from the sale of surplus plants, the 

 sum mentioned above would be reduced by more than half. 



A total of 108,000 plants passed through the nursery, most of 

 these being lined out as seedlings, and a few propagated from seed. 



