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THE PINE TREE. 161 
quantity of seeds of the P. sylvestris, from the most celebrated 
forests in the Highlands of Scotland, with satisfactory evi- 
dence that the seeds were sown, or sold for sowing ; and also 
for raising the greatest number of plants from seeds of this 
description. The offers by the Society extended over a period 
of upwards of ten years; and all the premiums, both for col- 
lecting the largest quantity of native seeds, and for raising 
the greatest number of plants, were awarded to Messrs. 
Grigor and Co. of the nurseries, Forres. The effect was a 
reform in the cultivation of the tree, and planters generally 
now obtain native seeds, or plants raised from such seed, 
taken direct from the indigenous forests. Since notice was 
directed to this subject by the Highland Society of Scotland, 
the first extensive planter of the true native pine was the late 
Sir George M‘Pherson Grant, Baronet; but by far the most 
extensive planters of the tree have been: the late Duke of 
‘Sutherland and the late Earl of Seafield, each of whom has 
formed forests composed of several millions of the plant. 
Large plantations of it have also been made by Lord Lovat, 
Mr. Ellice of Glenquoich, Mr. Dempster of Skibo, and Mr. 
Mactier of Durris, and, on a smaller scale, the tree has been 
employed in the formation of plantations in almost every: 
county in Scotland and England. Few Scotch landowners 
have interested themselves more in the cultivation of forest 
trees than the late Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Bart. Respect- 
ing this tree, he gives the following advice in his edition of 
Gilpin’s Forest Scenery, vol. i. p. 177 :-—“It should be care- 
fully remembered by planters that sundry wretched and 
worthless varieties of the Scotch fir have crept into use, 
which in some measure accounts for the miserable appear- 
ance of the low-country planted trees. The greatest care 
should be taken to plant nothing but those trees raised from 
the seed of the true Pinus sylvestris of the mountains.” 
A succession of unfavourable seasons since 1860 has occa- 
sioned a great scarcity of Scotch pine seeds, and consequently 
of young plants of the native tree of this country. This gave 
rise to large importations of the seed from the Continent, from 
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