266 



Coombe Plantation, Keswick. 



[JULY 



from the fragments tables which would go far to bridge the 

 hiatus now existing. Such work would, at any rate, have to 

 be done before any scheme of afforestation could be 

 seriously undertaken. 



It is hoped that the following account of Coombe Planta- 

 tion may prove interesting in throwing some light on these 

 points. The wood, which is the property of R. D. Marshall, 

 Esq., of Castlerigg Manor, Keswick, is remarkable in several 

 particulars. Mr. Marshall remembers seeing the planting 

 when a boy, and now sixty years later is witnessing the clear- 

 cutting of the wood. During that time he. has kept close 

 accounts of all costs and of all returns, and, further, in the 

 year 1873, picked out experimental groups of trees of which 

 he periodically measured the girths. To Mr. Marshall's fore- 

 sight and public spirit we are indebted for the data on which 

 the present paper is based. 



The plantation is situated on the north side of the Whin- 

 latter Pass about 3J- miles from Keswick, and lies for the 

 most part between the 900 ft. and 1,500 ft. contour lines. The 

 planting was begun in 1848, so that the present age is sixty- 

 one years, and in 1903 the work of clear-cutting was begun. 



In the present article an attempt will be made to discuss 

 the effect of elevation and exposure on larch and spruce.* 



General Description of the Plantation. — The wood is prac- 

 tically even-aged throughout, as the planting was completed 

 in two years. The total area is 198 acres, distributed with 

 regard to elevation as follows: — 



Below 900 ft. contour line ... ... ... .3 acres 



Between 900 ft. and 1000 ft. contour line ... 16 J ,, 



1,000— 1,250 ft. „ ... 85 



1,250— 1,500 ft. ... 69^ „ 



Above 1,500 ft. ,, ... 24 ,, 



198 „ 



The stock below the 1,250 ft. contour line is practically pure 

 larch, with spruce and Scotch pine interspersed singly and in 

 small groups. In this part of the wood the last two species 

 do not aggregate more than 1 to 2 per cent, of the whole. 

 Above the 1,250 ft. line the proportion is greater, and aver- 

 ages about 10 per cent. A few silver firs were growing 



* A financial account of the plantation will appear in the next issue of the Journal 



