268 



Coombe Plantation, Keswick. 



[JULY, 



by spruce and by larch from such shelter. The height is 

 about 25 ft., but both larch and spruce show considerable 

 damage to the leading shoots. 



In Plate 3 the larch have been sheltered by a group of 

 spruce to the windward side. It will be observed that the 

 trees are practically normal in development, and reach a 

 height of from 30 to 35 ft. 



The folly of planting larch in exposed situations without 

 providing an efficient windbreak cannot be too strongly 

 insisted on. 



The wood has suffered considerably at various times from 

 windfall, and especially is this the case along a low ridge 

 which runs from S.E. to N.W. through the wood. On Decem- 

 ber 22nd, 1894, a heavy gale from the west overturned some 

 300 trees, while in the neighbourhood generally a great deal of 

 damage was done to plantations. Locally, the storm was 

 considered to be the most violent since that of the year 1839. 

 In 1 90 1 about 200 trees were blown over by a strong wind 

 from the east. 



Fogs and mists are common along the Whinlatter Pass, 

 and the rainfall somewhere about 50 ins. per annum (the rain- 

 fall at Keswick, 700 ft. lower, is 44 ins.). Snow is not un- 

 common in winter, but does not lie about for long at a time, 

 and has done little damage. 



The locality suffers somewhat from both early and late 

 frosts. Frosts are fairly common as late as the end of May. 



The soil is a loam with a rubbly subsoil formed by the 

 disintegration of the underlying shales, which are of 

 Ordovician Age (Skiddaw Series). The depth of the soil 

 varies from 12 ins. to 15 ins. in the little valleys to a couple 

 of inches or less on the ridges, while the subsoil may be a 

 couple of feet deep, or practically wanting. On the other 

 hand, there is everywhere sufficient soil to carry trees, and 

 no deductions in area have to be made for crags or rocky 

 places. The number of trees per acre varies considerably. 

 In the more elevated portions of the wood, where the trees 

 are smaller, they naturally stand closer together, while in 

 the lower parts the thinnings have in many parts been so 

 heavy that they have practically amounted to partial 

 clearings. 



