ON THINNING PLANTATIONS. 87 
twenty acres of larches; although a thinning is now going on, 
it is doubtful if the trees left will make much more progress. 
The chances are, these will fall by the first hurricane of wind ; 
if they escape that, their roots are sure to be strained and 
injured, if not broken, by the trees being top heavy. Dead 
roots connected with mutilated live ones give rise to Mycelia, 
which are imbibed into the trunks, and occasion the well- 
known disease called “dry-rot,” “pumping,” etc. The Scotch 
firs which were interspersed have been chiefly removed, and 
such as remain, although too tall for their girth, are not in so 
hopeless a state, and in course of time, if not uprooted by 
winds, may regain their vigour. Gradual thinning is to be 
recommended generally; and although in the present case it 
cannot be practised with much assurance of success, yet 
repeated thinnings over a space of a few years is better than 
doing it all at once. The only question is, whether it would 
not be better to clear the trees off at once by rooting them 
out, taking advantage of their stems to facilitate that work 
before cutting them. Had the ground been in a conspicuous 
situation, I should have had no hesitation in recommending 
that course ; for however common, few scenes more unsightly 
are to be met with in woodlands than the display of unshapely 
trees struggling for an existence, and diseased through mis- 
management. In the absence of proper thinning, it is far 
more profitable where ground is good, with moderate shelter, 
to plant only half the usual number per acre, more especially 
if the tree is the larch. 
Another plantation is worthy of notice, and instructive on 
account of the treatment it has received during the last six or 
eight years. It was formed by me in the spring of 1841, and 
is now twenty-five years old. It extends to 119 imperial 
acres, of which about 100 acres consisted of a dry bare moor- 
land, with a surface of stunted grassy heath and a gravelly 
subsoil. The other part was more or less overspread with 
furze, which required to be grubbed out and planted with 
stout transplanted plants. Qn the whole, two-thirds of the 
plants employed were native Highland pine, partly two years’ 
