AMONG THE PINES AND FIRS 231 
have done remarkably well, and are very -profit- 
able to grow. As an instance, a portion of a 
plantation was recently cut hand-smooth, and 
consisted of about 220 matured trees per acre, 
which realised as many pounds. The original 
number was about 2700, and from the time that 
the poles were large enough to use for cutting 
through the centre for rails, &c., this plantation 
has always yielded its annual quota to the estate 
account. The age of the trees is known to be 
about seventy years, one man having been found 
who assisted in planting the original stock.’ 
This plantation was apparently formed at about 
4 feet by 4 feet. Remunerative indeed as these 
results are, it seems almost certain that, even 
though the first outlay would have been greater 
if the plants had been put at 3 feet by 3 feet, 
or 4840 per acre, thinned sparingly from time 
to time during their most vigorous period of 
growth in height, and then more freely thinned 
and underplanted when their long boles were fully 
developed, the monetary returns would have been 
even more satisfactory. The returns from thin- 
ning would have been earlier and more frequent, 
and the mature crop would have been larger and 
