BRITISH FOREST TREES 63 



other coniferous species, owing to its superior recuperative 

 capacity in this respect. 



Sylvicultural Treatment of Scots Pine. As a light- 

 loving species, hardy in respect to frost, Scots pine offers 

 many contrasts to spruce and silver fir. Pure forests of 

 pine are usually to be found only on the poorer classes of 

 soil, where of course it does not attain anything like so good 

 growth as on more favourable soils and situations. How 

 great are the differences in average yield between the best 

 and the poorest classes of pine soil may be seen from the 

 table on page 44, the outturn on the latter at no time even 

 approaching the half of that on the former, the average on 

 soils of medium quality being, however, about 4,700 cubic 

 feet per acre, at sixty years of age, and 5,700 cubic feet 

 at eighty years. 



The influences 01 soil and situation are apparent in every 

 aspect of its development. The root-system is cramped, 

 short, and branching on loam, and quite a contrast to the 

 well- formed tap root in deep, fresh, light sand, whilst moor- 

 pan and poor, dry situations, as well as those which are 

 too marshy and wet, cause the formation of long, thin 

 strands that ramify in all directions throughout the surface- 

 soil. Even in the foliage the quality of the soil and 

 situation may at once be noted from the length of the 

 needles and from their persistence, for whilst on the average 

 and better situations they still depend from the two-year-old 

 twigs, on the poorer sites they are mainly confined to the 

 one-year-old sprays, a circumstance of no little importance 

 with regard to the sheltering of the soil and the retention 

 of soil-moisture. The amount of resin contained in the 

 timber, its length of bole, and its general quality, are all in 

 like manner greatly dependent on the nature of the soil 

 and situation, which also to a very great extent determine, 

 or at any rate unmistakably indicate, the period at which 



