34 FOREST LIFE AND 



deeply interesting, that, although long, I insert it, hoping the ex- 

 ample may be followed in appropriate positions in this country : 

 " The estates of the Dukes of Athol are in the north of Scot- 

 land, in the latitude of nearly 50° north. Between 1740 and 

 1750, James, duke of Athol, planted more than twelve hundred 

 Larch-trees in various situations and elevations, for the purpose 

 of trying a species of tree then new in Scotland. In 1759 he 

 planted seven hundred Larches over a space of twenty-nine Scotch 

 acres, intermixed with other kinds of forest trees, with the view 

 of trying the value of the Larch as a timber tree. This planta- 

 tion extended up the face of a hill from two hundred to four 

 hundred feet above the level of the sea. The rocky ground of 

 which it was composed was covered with loose and crumbling 

 masses of mica slate, and was not worth above ,£3 a year alto- 

 gether. Before he died, in 17G4, he was satisfied of the supe- 

 riority of the Larch as a timber over other firs, even in trees only 

 eighteen or nineteen years old. His successor, John, duke of 

 Athol, first conceived the idea of planting Larch by itself as a 

 forest tree, and of planting the sides of the hills about Dunkeld. 

 He planted three acres with Larches alone, at an elevation of five 

 or six hundred feet above the level of the sea, on a soil not worth 

 a shilling an acre. He also planted over four hundred acres on 

 the sides of hills before his death, in 1774. His son, Duke John, 

 continuing the execution of his father's plans, had planted in 1783 

 279,000 trees. Observing the rapid growth and hardy nature 

 of the Larch, he determined to cover with it the steep acclivities 

 of mountains of greater altitude than any that had yet been tried. 

 He therefore inclosed a space of twenty-nine acres on the rigid 

 summit of Craig-y-barns, and planted a strip entirely with Larches 

 among the crevices and hollows of the rocks, where the least soil 

 could be found. At this elevation none of the larger kinds of 

 natural plants grew, so that the grounds required no previous 

 preparation of clearing. This plantation was formed in 1785 



