USES OF DEMONSTRATION FOREST IN FORESTRY EDUCATION. 57 



estates, or for similar posts. They receive class-room instruction 

 at Armstrong College (six weeks at a time) in such subjects 

 as botany, chemistry, entomology and geology of soils, and 

 silviculture. In the forest, during the summer, they get 

 instruction in mensuration, chain surveying, forest mensuration, 

 and other branches of forestry. 



The Demonstration wood, from a variety of causes, is far from 

 being in ideal condition, but it is typical of much of the wood- 

 land in the district, and for this reason has a special value of 

 its own ; for the work of improvement now being undertaken 

 is just the kind of work that most of the young men in training 

 will be called upon to undertake. 



The working-scheme is intended, ultimately, to lead up to 

 conditions which will result in a continuous and regular yield of 

 timber. In the present condition of the woods this necessitates 

 two main lines of action. On the one hand, the most worthless 

 and over- mature portions are being gradually cleared and 

 replanted, while, on the other, works of improvement, such as 

 thinning and underplanting, are being carried on in the younger 

 and better portions so as to maintain a profitable annual 

 increment there as long as possible. These works provide 

 favourable opportunities also for the study of such subjects as 

 surveying, forest mensuration, etc. (see Plate II.). 



Experimental Work. \ 



Experimental plots are also being laid down annually to 

 test the suitability of various species for underplanting^, the 

 advantages and disadvantages of various mixtures or pure 

 woods, the effects of various degrees of density in planting, and 

 so forth. These experimental plots are arranged so as not to 

 interfere with the main objects of the management of the woods. 

 Experiments in selecting and testing tree seeds can also con- 

 veniently be carried out in the tree nursery within the woods. 

 As an example of this, several plots of Scots pine have been set 

 out with plants raised from seeds collected from selected trees 

 of different ages in Chopwell Woods and from other home 

 localities. It is to be feared that we are not making the best 

 out of our native trees by the selection of seeds from good 

 types, and there is still a wide field for investigation in these 

 matters. 



