172 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



20. Some Lessons from the Recent Gales. 



By Sir Hugh Siiaw Stewart, Bart. 



The frequent and exceptionally severe gales which have 

 ravaged the west and western centre of Scotland since November 

 191 1 have provided practical foresters with plenty of food for 

 thought as to the means of turning to the best account acres of 

 blown and half-blown timber, and of freeing encumbered ground 

 for the purpose of replanting with as little delay as possible. 

 Their plans, no doubt, have long since matured and the work 

 will, by now, be well on the way towards accomplishment, 

 and so far as they are concerned the gales are things of the 

 past. 



But it will have been an ill wind indeed if estate owners 

 do not profit by certain lessons to be derived from the 

 devastation. 



in the first place, some of us have heard of a considerable 

 estate where all, or nearly all, the plantations of the last thirty 

 years have been laid low. Obviously the mistake here has been 

 in confining the planting of young trees to exposed lands. ^ In 

 selecting planting ground it is, of course, advisable to study 

 economy and to avoid devoting to timber land which might 

 yield a higher profit under grazing or cultivation. On the other 

 hand, a large estate requires an annual supply of timber for 

 fences, gates, etc., and, in order to make sure of this, some 

 portions of ground wholly or partially sheltered from prevailing 

 storms should be devoted to the growth of timber for estate 

 purposes. In the present instance there is bound to be a large 

 gap in the supply of trees growing up to take the place of 

 older timber, and before very long the estate will be forced for 

 a number of years to purchase timber for estate purposes — 

 an expensive and extravagant proceeding. 



A still more impressive lesson is the importance of keeping in 

 touch with the market and the wood-merchants.- This can only 



^ It is believed that on this estate much of the more sheltered woodland, 

 instead of being cut and replanted systematically, has been at the mercy of 

 roe-deer and rabbits. 



^ Landowners who have any difficulty in regard to this are advised to 

 become members of the Landowners' Co-operative Forestry Association, 

 33 Queen Street, Edinburgh. 



