22 THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF 
Scotland, early in the eighteenth century, a spirit of plant- 
ing on a large scale, for profit, began to awaken. Among the 
chief promoters of this description of planting was Thomas 
Earl of Haddington, who formed large plantations, and wrote 
a treatise on the subject. It is recorded that the Countess of 
Haddington, at the same time, became so enthusiastic in im- 
provements by plantation, that she sold her jewels to enable 
her to plant Binning Wood, which comprehended 1000 acres, 
and was formedin 1705. The plantations of Archibald Duke 
of Argyll were also at the period very extensive in Scotland 
as well as in England. By these extensive improvements the 
taste for plantations is said to have been imbibed by the Duke 
of Athole, the Earl of Panmure, Sir James Naysmith, Sir 
Archibald Grant, and others; and by the example of these 
landowners, planting became very general throughout Scot- 
land. The great success of the larch forests of the Duke of 
Athole occasioned that tree to be planted to some extent on 
almost every property in Scotland. 
The introduction of new timber trees during the present 
century has been extensive, and in some instances very valu- 
able, particularly in the Conifer. Some of the best of these 
have been introduced by Douglas, a native of Scotland, who 
went to North-west America as a botanical collector, and 
introduced from the banks of the Columbia the Abies (spruce 
fir) Douglasiz, the Picea (silver fir) nobilis, and many other 
firs and pines of great beauty, though perhaps less valuable. 
From other sources there have been introduced the Welling- 
tonia gugantea, Cupressus Nutkaensis (known as the Thuiopsis 
borealis), and the C. Lawsoniana, all of which are hardy, of 
rapid growth, and of American origin. Of Indian importa- 
tions, the Cedrus deodara is the most celebrated. A. silver 
fir introduced from the mountains of the Crimea, Picea Nord- 
manniana, is said to be hardier than the common species. 
From the great size that these trees generally attain in 
their native countries, it is reasonable to expect that many of 
the recent introductions will become valuable additions to the 
British forests, particularly after a few generations of the 
