622 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— K. 



areas for afforestation. A suggestion that the time has come when land assigned 

 for the preservation of red deer and for stalking should no longer be designed ' forest ' 

 as it is misleading. 



Dr. W. G. Smith. — Bracken and Heather Moorland. 



These may be regarded as a heritage of former forest, the bracken replacing parts 

 of deciduous woods, the heather, &c., representing pine forest. The forest was 

 dominated by trees, but on their removal sub-dominant species, in the absence of 

 shade, may become stronger and with a wider distribution. 



Two types of bracken may be recognised : — 



(a) Dense tall bracken that allows few plants below its shade ; 



(6) Open bracken, where an undergrowth of grasses, heather, &c., can survive. 



Bracken indicates the deeper soils, and tends to follow the distribution of springs 

 and seeps where ground water emerges to the surface. Depth of soil is necessary to 

 protect the rhizomes from frost, &c. On soil." wet all winter and spring, with some 

 clay and deficient aeration, bracken is replaced by rushes and sedges. The other 

 extreme, soil-drjTiess, also limits its range. This is seen on shallow soils over rock, 

 or where the grass turf is thick, and where bracken on the deeper soils of slopes gives 

 place to heather or blaeberry on the flatter tops. 



A single bracken plant may cover many square yards, and consists of deeper 

 rhizomes (down to 2 ft.) with few buds. The fronds arise from thinner superficial 

 branches that grow up towards the surface. 



Eradication. Annual cutting of fronds leads to depletion of reserve food-supply 

 of the deeper rhizomes. Experiments (the Edinburgh College of Agriculture) indicate 

 that the better results are obtained by : — 



(a) One cutting about July 1 (fronds about 9 weeks old) ; 



(6) An early cutting of j'oung fronds, about 4 weeks, followed by another at 

 9 weeks. 



One early cutting only removes the earlier unfolded fronds, and is followed by a 

 strong crop of later fronds, sufficient to build up food supplies for the future. The 

 crop of the first year after cutting shows little effect, but considerable reduction may 

 be expected in the second and third years. The thicker rhizomes become shrunk and 

 considerable lengths die, hence a single large plant becomes broken up into detached 

 clumps, which, being nearer the surface, should be more exposed to treatment. After 

 three years' cutting numerous buds are still present, though small and starved, hence 

 the possibility of bracken re-estabUshing itself. 



Sprays, iron sulphate, &c., may kill the present crop of fronds, but no substance 

 has been proved to reach the deeper rhizomes. 



Dry dressing with sodium chlorate, recently tested, killed the fronds, but no 

 results are yet available as to effect on deeper rhizomes. 



Sheep may be induced to nibble and trample young unfolding fronds by a dressing 

 of ground rock salt in May. 



Heather Moorland for Forestry. 



The heather plant association may occur on three types of soil : — 



(a) Ling {Calluna vulgaris) favours a humus soil, the humus being derived from 

 former forest, or from decay of ling. If burned at short intervals, return is rapid both 

 from seedUngs and root stocks, and growth is strong. 



(6) Scroggy heather, of ling frequently with purple bell-heath, follows harder 

 soils with less depth and moisture. The ling remains short, and frequently the return 

 after burning is slow. 



(c) Peat heather occurs on drained parts of true deep peat deposits, frequently 

 with pink bell-heath and blaeberry. Return is rapid after burning. 



The displacement of heather by moor mat-grass (Nardus) and blow-grass (Molinia) 

 is a serious menace to forestry, grazing and game. Both grasses are extending at 

 expense of heather. This is due in part to intensive grazing by sheep, which eat 

 out the heather. Defective burning when heather is too old leads to slow return, 

 but the grasses are little affected, reappear in a few weeks, and continue to spread 

 before the heather is strong enough to suppress them. 



