82 PLANTING. 



factory condition in October 1867, excepting on the 

 very high, dry, exposed parts, where the trees have 

 not made much progress. On the lower and middle 

 ground the larches are now, on the average, 5 feet 

 high, several having grown as high as 9 feet. The 

 Scots pine will average 2 feet high. Both larch, 

 Scots pine, and spruce have made the most progress 

 on a light soil with a gravelly bottom. The expenses 

 for the last five years, in the general maintenance of 

 the plantation, has amounted to £85, or nearly at the 

 rate of 4|d. per acre annually. This expenditure has 

 been for fencing, clearing drains, and looking over the 

 plantation, but does not include foresters' wages, or the 

 value of the timber used in repairing the fence." 



No. 5 is what is generally termed a mixed fir 

 plantation, composed of Scots pine, larch, and a small 

 portion of Norway spruce in Strathspey. The planta- 

 tion comprises about 550 acres, planted between October 

 1857 and January 1861, both inclusive. It is fully 

 and freely exposed on every side, being higher than the 

 surrounding ground ; and with the exception of one 

 ravine, the trees are all fully exposed to the elements. 

 The climate is generally considered cold, but the air 

 is dry and bracing. The soil is of various qualities, but 

 generally of a moorish and gravelly nature. The pre- 

 vailing rock is granite, which in some parts is near 

 the surface of the ground, and occasionally above it. 

 Moss also prevails in some places ; and there are also 

 patches of sandy loam. 



Planting was commenced in October 1857, and 

 continued when weather permitted till the following 

 May. The work was again resumed in October 1858, 



