1906.] 



Diseased Scots Pines. 



115 



the end of August. Conifers, except the Scots Pine, were found 

 to suffer more than hardwoods ; the Weymouth pine, larch, 

 and Norway spruce were most affected, while Ailanthus 

 glandulosa and Scots Pine suffered least. 



It was only below an altitude of some 1,300 feet that damage 

 was done ; at high elevations good growth was recorded. Some 

 interesting facts are available as to the influence of the season 

 of planting. Conifers planted late in autumn suffered more 

 than those got in early, while scarcely a tree survived that was 

 put in late in spring. The conifers which suffered least were 

 those planted early in the spring season, that is, about February. 

 Sowing was even less successful than planting. Keeping the 

 surface of the ground open and clear of weeds by the use of the 

 hoe was found to give good results. Side shelter from an adjoin- 

 ing wood was always beneficial, and the same was true with 

 regard to considerable overhead canopy. Curiously enough, the 

 effect of standards scattered thinly over the ground was distinctly 

 bad. 



Drought and heat are, of course, most injurious on south 

 slopes, and to guard against their prejudicial effects the follow- 

 ing points should be observed : — (i) Regenerate under consider- 

 able overhead canopy ; (2) Where clear felling is practised take 

 down the wood in narrow bands running from north-east to 

 south-west ; (3) Preserve bushes naturally present : these will 

 shade the young plants to some extent ; (4) Avoid opening up 

 the wood by too early thinning ; (5) In thinning retain all 

 underwood capable of growth. — {Zeit./tir Forst-und Jagdwesen^ 

 March, 1906.) 



It is not infrequently noticed that when a wood of Scots Pines, 



partly on land that has never been under the plough and partly 



on old arable land, reaches the age of 



Diseased Scots twenty to thirty years, the trees under the 

 Pmes on Land , ^ . ' , , , 



formerly Arable, la-tter conditions become unhealthy, and 



subsequently begin to die off In the early 



years of the life of the wood the trees growing on the land 



originally arable were probably the more vigorous, but in the 



K 2 



