JAPANESE LARCH. 79 



Stands and in mixture with the evergreen conifers. Above 

 7500 feet and extending up to 9500 feet on the south side, there 

 is a remarkable dwarf forest of wind-swept larch, the stems being 

 prostrate and clinging firmly to the ground. At 8500 feet these 

 stunted larches are mixed with low shrubs of willow, alder and 

 birch. Hayata gives a photograph of a pure stand of Larix 

 leptolepis at 5000 feet elevation on the south flank of the 

 mountain. 



14. German Forest Notes. ^ 



{Continued from Vol, XXVII. p. 222.) 

 By B. RiBBENTROP, CLE. 



Dr Albert, as may be remembered by the readers of the 

 Transactions, recommended, as the result of his searching 

 inquiries and experiments, a shallow preparation of sandy soils 

 by means of hoe and spade and, under normal conditions, 

 absolute rest for the lower strata. In regard to a deep ploughing 

 up of the soil, he considered no preparation of the ground 

 preferable to a wrong one. Dr Albert's analysis, the correctness 

 of which is accepted by his critics, shows that in areas treated 

 by the steam-plough the chemical and biological activity is 

 slackest, water circulation least favourable, and the temperature 

 the lowest. 



This naturally brought the advocates of the steam-plough 

 up in arms, but they accepted, without waiting for Albert's 

 final report, his " Quieta non movere," as an unqualified con- 

 demnation of this method of soil preparation. Landesforstrath 

 Quaet-Faslem, who for forty-six years has been connected with 

 the afforestation of nearly 100,000 hectares of heatherlands in 

 North-West Hanover, leads in the controversy. However, all 

 he says is that the areas selected by Albert for his researches 

 were not sufficiently typical, and that he misses all mention of 

 the impenetrable layer of Ortstone,^ or similar formation, 

 underlying the surface soil. He maintains that both the depth 

 to which the steam-ploughs work and the cost thereof have been 

 taken at too high a figure in Dr Albert's report. For rational 



1 These Notes were unavoidably held over from the last issue owing to press 

 of matter. — Hon. Ed. Trans. 



' Ortstone or Ort soil (moorpan) is the name of the layer of soil bound 

 together and hardened by particles washed down from the surface soil. 



