410 



CONIFERS. 



more tender than those whose growth has been quicker, 

 as indicated by the width of the annual layers or circular 

 deposits of wood. Much, also, depends on soil and cli- 

 mate, and not a little, we believe, upon the habit or 

 constitution of the individual or the variety to which it 

 belongs, for there are some forms of the common Pine, 

 that, even under the most favourable circumstances, pro- 

 duce a white soft wood, destitute of the resinous deposit, 

 and without either strength or durability. On the con- 

 trary, where the variety is naturally good, timber of ex- 

 cellent quality is often produced, where the other cir- 

 cumstances considered necessary to its perfection seem 

 to be wanting ; thus, Lawson in his Manual mentions 

 a plantation of Scots fir that grew near the side of the 

 Perth and Dundee road, and which was originally stocked 

 with plants raised from seed obtained from the forest 

 of Mar, already mentioned as remarkable for the size 

 and beauty of its trees. After standing about eighty years 

 the plantation was cut down, and the timber, he remarks, 

 " although grown on a poor, damp, and tenacious clay, 

 besides attaining a great size, was found equal in quality 

 to that for which the above-mentioned natural forest is 

 esteemed.'" Mr. Matthew, also, when speaking of the 

 timber of the Scotch fir, says, " by far the best timber in 

 quality, of its age, of any we know, stands upon a very 

 adhesive coarse clay.*' 1 These exceptions, however, we do 

 not bring forward as indicative of any preference shown 

 by the Pine to such soil, but to prove that when the 

 variety or kind is naturally good, it will, at least for 

 one generation, mature its timber, even when grown upon 

 soil very different in quality to that it naturally affects 

 or upon which it is found native. 



The durability of Pine timber, when fully matured, 



