THE NEW FORESTRY. 



inferior timber-tree, owing to its rigid and thick horizontal side 

 branches, which are not soon shed unless the tree is planted 

 thickly by itself, hence its timber is very knotty and rough, 

 but otherwise it is equal to the Scotch. Owing to the bushy 

 habit of the tree it is apt to be blown to one side and conse- 

 quently grows up with a bent trunk. 



WEYMOUTH PiNE. Pinus strobus. This tree has never 

 been really tested as a timber-tree in this country, and descrip- 

 tions of it given hitherto, of British-^rown specimens, are 

 clearly taken from park and lawn examples where neither the 

 height-growth of the tree nor its suitableness for plantation 

 culture could be tested. It is the Scotch fir of America, its 

 timber being more extensively used than that of any other. 

 In Germany it is one of the few exotic species that has been 

 favourably reported on. We saw fine examples, taller and 

 bulkier than the Scotch fir among which it grew, at over two 

 thousand feet elevation, not far from Eisenach. It is said to 

 be more fastidious as regards soil than the Corsican fir, doing 

 best in cool, moist situations and deep soils, in which respect 

 it forms a suitable companion to the spruce. 



COMMON NORWAY SPRUCE. Abies excelsa. As at present 

 grown in our over-thinned woods, where it is more or less 

 branched too near the ground, this tree is one of the most 

 worthless to the producer. Thinnings and small poles are 

 practically unsaleable, and large trees only fetch from one 

 penny to threepence per foot if within a reasonable distance 

 from the consumer. Trees of large size, free from knots, are 

 in fair demand for waggon bottoms and other purposes, but 

 only a portion of our home-grown trees can be used, the upper 

 portion of their trunks being usually a mass of large bulging 

 knots which are sawn off as useless, except perhaps for firing 

 the engines of the saw mill. Good, clean trees of cylindrical 

 shape, like our telegraph poles, would find a ready market, as 

 they make good deals and are also likely to be by-and-by used 

 as railway sleepers, as they are now used in the spruce regions 

 of Germany. Spruce is now also used to such an enormous 

 extent for making paper that an early scarcity is feared both 

 in Europe and America. It likes a cool, damp soil and situa- 

 tion, and is a good subject for under-planting, as it bears shade 

 well. Dry, exposed situations and dry soils do not suit it, but 

 it will grow in a dense plantation where it will scarcely live 

 standing by itself. It is one of the best subjects to plant as 

 covert for pheasants. 



SILVER FIR. Abies pectinata. This tree lays on wood 



