170 THE PINE TREE. 
sandy peat earth ; the subsoil of rich brown clay, which feels 
quite soft, and forms a great part of the subsoil in the glen. 
Perhaps no district in Scotland is better calculated than this, 
so far as quality of soil goes, for growing larch, oak, or various 
kinds of valuable hardwood. 
The herbage consists of Calluna vulgaris, Juniperus com- 
munis, Tormentilla officinalis, Polygala vulgaris, Agrostis vulgaris, 
Narthecium ossifragum, Vaccinium Vitis Idea, Erica tetralia, and 
Prunella vulgaris, ete. 
Along the outside of this forest young wood to the extent 
of several square miles has sprung up since the removal of the 
old forest. 
These trees grow slowly until they reach the age of twelve, 
which perhaps is owing to their roots not penetrating earlier 
into the rich subsoil. They are of all sizes under fifty feet ; 
some crowded, and others quite thin. This young forest is of 
the usual age for bearing seed, but very few cones are to be 
seen ; and on examining the ground around the trees, few of 
those of former years are found, and those are smaller and 
rounder than the cones of the low-country planted trees, as is 
invariably the case in native forests. 
The largest trees to be found in Strathspey at the time 
stood on the outskirts of the forest of Abernethy, the property 
of the Earl of Seafield, some of which were fifteen feet in 
circumference, but short in the bole, and bushy. But in the 
close parts of all these native forests throughout Strathspey, 
trees of great girth display their clean boles to the height, in 
many places, of upwards of forty feet, in figure as straight 
and in taper as elegant as that of a billiard cue. 
Strangers to those forests are surprised at seeing the size 
and closeness of the trunks to each other, and must admire 
the value of timber contained in small space. The forests 
in Strathspey however have lately been greatly reduced, 
owing to the high price of timber, enhanced by the introduc- 
tion of two railways into the district; but although a great 
quantity of fine timber has disappeared, the young native 
woods are better protected, which, with very extensive plan- 
