ON SEA-SIDE PLANTING. 109 
deciduous trees above named, are quite suitable, together 
with the sycamore, and other hardy maples, the Scotch elm, 
Scotch laburnum, evergreen oak of all sorts, the moun- 
tain ash, and the common ash. The last-mentioned tree is 
found to be very dependent on the quality of the ground. It 
becomes vigorous in places where the soil is rich, loamy, or 
partly mossy, and moderately moist. The tree is very hardy, 
and stands the wind very well. It forms its growth during 
a few of our warmest months, and is not readily injured dur- 
ing any other period of the year. But being bare for a long 
period, the ash does not furnish a good shelter where such is 
most required. 
Many years ago I inspected a large plantation made in one 
of the islands in the Hebrides, and found it a great failure. 
It was formed on a scale of great magnitude, and was com- 
posed of a considerable variety of plants. The ground ranged 
apparently from 40 to 100 feet above the sea, and extended 
from the sea for several miles inland, and was exposed to all 
quarters, except here and there, where a stream had formed 
a channel, and afforded sheltered slopes along its bed. 
Seldom is a more trying situation for a plantation to be met 
with, as the surface generally affords an extensive and unin- 
terrupted sweep to the wind; nevertheless, there was ai 
greater obstacle than the exposure to contend with in the 
successful growth of timber. The soil was peat moss of the 
purest quality, of immense depth, often eight, ten, or even 
twenty feet,—and so pure that sand could not readily be 
found in its composition. Numerous ditches had been formed 
to drain the ground, and deep as they were, they seldom 
reached the subsoil, and if they had, their influence would 
have been of little avail to the plantation, on account of the 
purity of the vegetable substance which formed the soil, and 
the humidity of the atmosphere continually acting on its 
spongy surface. The vegetation on the ground formed a 
rough grassy heath; and scarcely any part of the soil was so 
dry that water would not be found to drop by squeezing a 
portion of it with the hands, even in moderately dry weather. 
