Trees best Adapted for Various Soils 129 



haphazard kind of way, without any consideration of their 

 individual requirements. For all practical purposes with 

 reference to tree-culture, soils, generally speaking, may be 

 divided into six distinct classes peaty, chalky or limey, 

 gravelly, clayey, loamy, and such as contain ironstone, 

 coal, etc. 



(1) Peat. Few trees will succeed well on an unreclaimed 

 peat bog, but, where draining and soiling have been attended 

 to at the outset, the number that grow and produce a fair 

 amount of valuable timber is almost without limit among 

 our generally cultivated species. Among conifers that have 

 proved themselves suitable for bog planting are the larch, 

 Scotch pine, and common and black spruces (Picea excelsa 

 and P. nigra). The larch grows rapidly, and is less subject 

 to disease on peaty than any other soil indeed, up to a 

 few years ago, I cannot remember having seen a trace of 

 any of the diseases which have rendered the life of the tree 

 so precarious of late years in this country. In thinning a 

 larch plantation of fully sixty years' growth I found the 

 trees felled to be perfectly healthy, and of exceptional 

 quality, with, on an average, 72 ft. of wood in each. The 

 subsoil in this case was clay, and the bog, previous to being 

 planted, had been cut over for fuel. The Scotch pine 

 grows almost as freely as the larch the average in over 

 fifty trees measured being about an eighth less under similar 

 conditions. Natural reproduction of the Scotch pine goes 

 on so rapidly that it must be considered one of the very 

 best trees for planting on peat bog. The spruces are 

 excellent trees for planting on reclaimed peat bog, where 

 they produce a fair amount of timber and afford excellent 

 shelter to other trees. Of hardwoods, the beech is one of 

 the best for bog planting, as it grows rapidly and produces 

 a large amount of clean timber. The alder grows luxuri- 

 ously on peaty soils, and shows no traces of disease or canker. 

 Another excellent bog tree is the Gean or Wild Cherry, and 

 this may likewise be said of the holly. Ash and oak are 

 not generally of large size, nor are they always healthy on 

 peat bog, even when it has received a great amount of 

 attention in the way of reclaiming. Birch, lime and poplar 



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