126 rOEESTS, WOODS, AND TREES 



latter tree ; but its timber is inferior. It is entirely at 

 home on warm sandy tracts near Bournemouth, where it 

 reproduces itself freely, and attains a large size. Usually, 

 however, it is inferior in growth to the Scots and Corsican 

 pines. At Holkham, on the coast of Norfolk, it does 

 not grow nearly so well on the sand-hills as the Corsican 

 and Austrian pines. There is, however, a flourishing 

 plantation (Fig. 20), 47 years old and nearly 200 acres in 

 extent, on the sheltered side of a sand-hill on the sea-coast 

 at Mullaghmore in Sligo. This plantation has an average 

 annual increment of about 60 cubic feet of timber per acre. 

 At Abbeyleix this species has been cheaply established on 

 a drained lowland peat-bog (Figs. 18 and 19) by sowing the 

 seeds in situ, (see p. 19). It bears wind well in the 

 milder parts of the kingdom, as on the west coast of 

 Ireland and on the south coast of England ; but inland or 

 at a considerable elevation the tree is usually a failure, the 

 stems being curved and shortened by the wind. The use of 

 the tree is distinctly limited to the afforestation of sand- 

 dunes and of certain types of lowland bogs, where most of 

 the peat has been removed for fuel. 



Pinus Montana. — This species, of which there are three 

 main varieties, occurs naturally at high elevations in the 

 Alps, Pyrenees, and other mountains of Central Europe. 

 The dwarf form (var. pumilio) is a creeping shrub of no 

 sylvicultural interest. The intermediate form (var. rostrata) 

 is a small tree, not exceeding 3 feet in height, with several 

 stems arising close to the ground, due to the rapid develop- 

 ment of the side branches which turn upwards and grow at 

 an equal pace with the leader. This form has been largely 

 planted on the heaths and dunes of Jutland, where it has 

 been found to improve remarkably the acid heath soil, and 

 render it fit for the growth of other species. It is usually 

 planted in the dunes pure at first ; and afterwards common 

 spruce is introduced, which without it could not be grown 

 on this poor soil covered with heather. The upright form 

 (var. uncinata) is an erect tree with a single undivided 



