AKBOKKTL'.M AND F KUTICE1TM. 



noble specimen at Dunmore, which is con- 

 sidered to be the most picturesque tree in 

 the Lowlands of Scotland, and of which fig. 

 20,>[. is a portrait after Strutt, to a scale 

 of -Jl ft. to 1 in. The height of this tree was, I 

 in 1830,67 ft.; and the diameter of the trunk, j 

 at 1 ft. from the ground, 3 ft. 9 in. ; and it j 

 was estimated to contain nearly 300ft. of i 

 timber. Among the finest specimens in the i 

 Highlands of Scotland are those in Strath- ( 

 spey, of a group of which Jig. ^05^., to a j 

 scale of 24- ft. to 1 in., is a portrait by W. A. | 

 Xesfield, Esq. The tallest of these trees is ' 74ft n /. 

 75 ft. high. 



The quality of the timber of the Scotch i 

 pine, according to some, is altogether depeu- ! 

 dent on soil, climate, and slowness of growth ; ; 

 but, according to others, it depends jointly ; 

 on these circumstances, and on the kind of : 

 variety cultivated ; and this is our opinion. ; 

 It is acknowledged, that the timber of the 

 Scotch pine, grown on rocky surfaces, or j- 

 where the soil is dry, sandy, or hazelly, is, i 

 in general, more resinous, and redder in co- ' 

 lour, than that of such as is grown on soils * 

 of a clayey nature, bougy, or on chalk : but ; 

 this is not always the case ; for an instance i 

 is given, in Lawson's Jhiniiftt, of "a planta- i 

 tion, recently cut down, which stood on the 1 

 north side of the Perth and Dundee road, j 

 nearly 10 miles from the former, the seed of j 

 which was, 70 or SO years since, received i 

 from the Forest of Mar ; and the timber, al- i 

 though grown on a poor, damp, tenacious ; 

 clay, besides attaining to a great size, was 

 found equal in quality to that for which the ; 

 above natural forest is esteemed." (;\g. A fan. \ 

 p. 3^O. , note.) Scotch " pine timber," Sir ; 

 T. 1). Lander observes, " is best in the \ 



colder situations. In the warmer regions, i ' -'^trr 



it contains a great deal of white, or sap, 



wood. At what time the sap wood is transformed into durable, or red, 

 wood, has not \et been determined by vegetable physiologists ; ami, though 

 most writers believe that the ligneous matter is deposited in the second 

 year, we are disposed to doubt the fact. More than a do/en layers of sap 

 wood may be counted on some trees ; and, what is a very interesting ob- 

 servation, where trees have been much exposed to the mid-day sun, the whole 

 southern half of the tree is sometimes found to be little better than sap wood, 

 whilst the northern half may contain only a layer or two of it at the cir- 

 cumference." (Land. (,'///>., i. p. 171.) 



The durability of the red timber of the Scotch pine was supposed, by the cele- 

 brated engineer, lirindley, to be as great as that oi the oak ; and Dr. Smith, in his 

 Essay on the 1'roduc tion of Timber, in the 'I'mnsdctioim of tin- Highland Society 

 of Srol/(intl, vol. i. j). I <).';., sa\ s that he has seen some Scotch pine thrown in the 

 North Highlands, which, \\lien taken do\\ n after it had been 300 years in the 

 roof of an old castle, was as fresh and full of resin as ne\\ l\ imported timber 

 from Mcmel ; and that part oi it was actually wrought up into new furniture. 



(it ogi-fijilnf. I'. s\!\estris and its varieties are indigenous throughout the 

 L'lcater part of Europe, from the Mediterranean on tin -outh, to 70" N. hit. 



