24 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



I have been unable to verify whether Major Chadwick was 

 the paity who bought the estate in 1865. At any rate he was 

 proprietor in 187 1 when he began planting. At first his object 

 seems only to have been that of beautifying his miniature desert, 

 and of providing shelter for game and for the house which he 

 had erected. Later on, he became more and more interested in 

 the work in its forestry aspects ; and it is gratifying to note that 

 his son, Mr James M. Chadwick, is carrying it on with the same 

 enthusiasm. 



As already indicated, the areas on which trees have been 

 planted in Binsness can be divided into three groups, in much 

 the same way as those at Brodie — low ground 2 to 3 feet in 

 depth overlying a substratum of moss, middle-sized dunes and 

 large sand-hills. 



The first planting was carried out on the more level areas in 

 the neighbourhood of Binsness House, a sum of ^214 being 

 expended to begin with. Scots pine, birch and spruce were 

 used. The spruce, as one would expect, proved a failure, but 

 the branches came in useful later on for fixing the sands in the 

 more recently formed plantations. The birch did extremely well, 

 but is now proving somewhat of a nuisance, naturally regenerat- 

 ing itself where the Scots pine might otherwise obtain a footing. 

 Later on, in 1S85, Maritime pines were planted. They have 

 now reached a height of 33 feet, and are exceedingly graceful. 

 Some twelve years ago, the spruce and some of the Scots pine 

 were removed, and the vacant ground planted with Japanese 

 larch and Douglas fir. While in both cases the results are 

 promising, the Douglas is in parts badly attacked by Tnitnetes 

 radiciperda^ but this seems to happen only where the sand is 

 shallow and resting on a water-logged mossy subsoil, permeated 

 with iron. Groups of Japanese larch and European larch were 

 planted side by side in another part of the estate in 1903. The 

 European larch has become somewhat yellow in the foliage, and is 

 badly cankered ; while the Japanese larch shows every sign of 

 being healthy. The first Orsican pines were planted in the low 

 ground in 1898. 



The larger proportion of the woods at Binsness have been 

 planted on the medium-sized dunes, the species chiefly employed 

 being Scots pine. Twenty-five acres of this species were planted 

 on the exposed portion of the ground called Findhorn Hill, in 

 J875. The plantations are all in a satisfactory condition, but on 



