106 ON SEA-SIDE PLANTING. 
to stick to the surface, and thus it affords shade and shelter to. 
the young plants in situations where they would otherwise 
perish. 
The plantations on the Culbin sands belonging to the Laird 
of Moy are now twenty-two and twenty-four years old, and 
form a very compact wood of nearly 300 acres, affording 
great shelter in their vicinity, and forming a striking contrast 
to the barren hills in their neighbourhood. The trees con- 
tinue to advance most vigorously. The tallest larches are 
about forty feet high, and the best Scotch firs about twenty- 
eight feet high; generally the wood stands from twenty to 
thirty feet high. Roads have been opened up through the 
plantations, and thinning has been practised, first to a small 
extent in 1855 and 1856, which yielded little or no return ; 
but from a statement furnished by the factor in charge of the 
property, prop-wood yielding a return of £482, 8s. 6d. was 
sold in 1864, and a further sale of £400 was expected before. 
the necessary thinning was effected. I have not ascertained. 
the cost of the operations of thinning, road-making, etc., but 
it is clear that the return already received for the prop-wood 
thinnings is more than sufficient to pay the original formation 
of the forest, with interest and all expenses up to the present 
time. From its present healthy state, 1865, the forest cannot 
be valued at less than £22 per acre, or altogether, £6556. 
Frequent thinnings will be required: from time to time, at 
intervals of only a few years, as it is easy to see that the 
vigour of the trees has a tendency to draw them up too tall 
in proportion to their girth, Allowing trees to become 
drawn up through want of thinning is the ruin of many of 
the woods of our country, and should always be guarded 
against, particularly since it unfits the timber for railway 
sleepers, so constantly in demand, and so profitable. Of late 
years a few hundred acres have been planted in addition to 
those already described, but these have failed to some extent, 
from the ravages of rabbits, which overrun the place. 
The market for pit-props has of late become somewhat 
depressed in this country, in consequence of their abundance 
