KERRY WOODS. 19 



It was growing under similar canopy conditions to the first and 

 was the best tree which could be found at the elevation. About 

 50 per cent, of its fellow trees had damaged leaders. 



The third tree (4 L) was one of the best trees of what was formerly 

 a mixed crop of larch and Scotch pine growing 1 at 1,460 feet eleva- 

 tion under exposed conditions. A sample area (Group IV.) was 

 laid out here but was not worth the trouble of measuring'. Tree 

 4 L was the best tree in the area, and at 54 years of age had the 

 following dimensions : 



v== 6 '96 cubic feet. h = 42 '2 feet. d=7'8 inches. f=o*5oo 



The group lay in a section 60 yards by 150 yards with two-chain 

 shelter belts of spruce on three sides. The shelter belts had 

 apparently been introduced some years after the plantation was 

 formed. On the sample area (0^225 acre) there were 330 larch 

 trees per acre, of which 60 per cent, had either two or more 

 leaders, leaving, say, 100 sound trees per acre averaging 40 feet 

 in height. The few Scotch pines present were wretched specimens. 



As with the Groups L x to L 6 in Cwm Golog, the conclusion is 

 reached that above 1,300 feet elevation larch should not be planted 

 pure in masses. In small areas protected by spruce shelter belts 

 it grows quickly enough to form a payable crop above this 

 elevation, but in any extensive planting- scheme it could play only 

 a minor part. 



The height-growth curves of these three trees, together with 

 the sample trees felled in Groups L a to L 5 , are shown on p. 20. 



From this diagram it will be seen that the sample trees of Lj to 

 L 4 all show a better height-growth than that of tree 8 L, which 

 reached a height of 70 feet in 51 years, and the probability is that, 

 apart from accidents, they will attain this height under proper 

 treatment. Tree L 5 lies between the best two of the older trees 

 felled but shows a slight tendency to fall off in growth. 



The Larch on Exposed Slopes. 



For the determination of the growth of larch on southern and 

 western slopes there were present in this district one large wood 

 known as Cefn Golog lying between 1,250 feet and 1,530 feet 

 elevation with southern aspect, and several smaller woods lying 

 at various elevations of from 1,250 feet to 1,400 feet with south to 

 west aspects. Cefn Golog is practically a continuation of Cwm 

 Golog wood with a mixture of the same species. 



No groups were laid out or sample trees felled on these slopes. 

 The preliminary inspection showed that it is only in the bottom 

 of valleys on the south side of Kerry Hill that a pure crop of 

 larch is at all successful at elevations up to 1,250 feet. For in- 

 stance, between the elevations of 1,300 and 1,350 feet in Cefn Golog 



B 2 



