TEEES FOE WATEE CATCHMENT AEEAS 123 



Conifers 



Scots Pine. — As mentioned above, this is now the only 

 native conifer used in planting. Wild forests of Scots pine 

 exist in Inverness-shire and Perthshire, occupying the heaths, 

 which are tracts of sandy or gravelly soil covered with a 

 thin layer of peat and carrying a thick vegetation of 

 heather. These forests and also plantations of Scots pine 

 occasionally ascend up to 1800 feet elevation, but only in 

 very sheltered localities. Originally planted in the south 

 of England, Scots pine spreads itself naturally and freely 

 over the heaths of the Bagshot Sands and Lower Greensand, 

 and also sows itself on the heaths of East Anglia and 

 North-east Yorkshire. Scots pine develops a deep tap-root, 

 and in consequence should never be planted on shallow soil, 

 on which its growth remains always stunted. At high 

 elevations it is liable to snow-break. It is most suitable 

 for pure sands, loamy sands and gravels of considerable 

 depth, and should not be grown on rich soils, as it then 

 produces wide-ringed soft timber of little value. It thrives 

 on lowland peat, if this is drained ; but on wild undrained 

 peat soon ceases to grow, or remains a stunted, useless tree. 

 As a main-crop tree it should be planted close and grown 

 pure, and be thinned lightly only, as in this way the stems 

 are readily cleaned, and the ground kept protected. Grown 

 in mixture with other trees it is liable to be suppressed by 

 faster-growing species, and such suppressed stems are of no 

 value as thinnings ; or if it holds its own, it retains its 

 branches and produces coarse and knotty timber. Grown 

 on sandy or gravelly soil at moderate elevations it pro- 

 duces timber of excellent quality, the average yield in good 

 situations being 70 cubic feet per annum. The follow- 

 ing measurements were taken by Messrs. E. E. Burdon 

 and A. P. Long : A plot of Scots pine, on good deep 

 sandy loam at Woburn, 95 years old, with 176 trees to 

 the acre averaging 88 feet high, contained 6391 cubic feet 

 of timber (quarter girth measurement under bark), equiva- 

 lent to an average annual increment of 67 cubic feet per 



