THE PINE. 403 



and of excellent quality, though not of equal diameter 

 to the pines of Grlenmore : Mr. Grigor, in his report,* 

 states that he found the trees averaging, at six feet from 

 the ground, about four feet six inches in girth, the bole 

 diminishing but little for upwards of thirty-five feet in 

 length. The average height of the trees was about seventy 

 feet, and their age from one hundred and twenty to one 

 hundred and twenty-five years. 



The soil of this forest, except the hollows, which are 

 peaty and moist, he describes as dry and sandy; the 

 substratum being a hard granitic gravelly loam. Lower 

 down upon the south side of the Spey, near the southern 

 extremity of Morayshire, is the ancient forest of Aber- 

 nethy, the property of the Earl of Seafield. It stands 

 upon a tract diversified by hill and dale, the soil of which 

 consists for the most part of a thin sandy peat, with a 

 subsoil of hard, yellowish-brown, granitic, gravelly earth. 



The timber of this forest is esteemed for its superior 

 quality, being very resinous, and consisting almost wholly 

 of matured red wood. The Duthal Pine forests, the pro- 

 perty of the same nobleman, to the west of Abernethy 

 and on the north bank of the Spey, occupy a mountainous 

 surface ; the finest timber, as might be expected, growing 

 upon the sloping bases of the hills and lowest grounds. 

 In this forest, the prevailing soil of which is a thin sandy 

 peat, upon a rich subsoil of brown granitic mould, the 

 timber is also of excellent quality. Many of the trees 

 examined by Mr. Grigor, girted from six to twelve feet 

 at one foot from the ground, and exhibited from one 

 hundred and twelve to one hundred and twenty-five an- 

 nual rings ; the sap wood upon each tree did not average 

 more than one inch and a half in thickness. 



* See his report in " Trans, of H ighland Soc." 



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