i9.io.] 



Coombe Plantation, Keswick. 



2/3 



hillside to the east (leeward side) of Coombe Plantation, and 

 to a less degree to the west also. The seed from the Coombe 

 larch have been carried by the wind, and although the hill- 

 sides are thickly covered with heather and have been con- 

 tinually grazed by sheep, natural regeneration has taken place 

 over a considerable area. Plate 4 is a general view of the 

 regeneration area to the east of Coombe Plantation, and 

 shows the crop of young larch. The seed has in some cases 

 been carried over 300 yards. Plate 5 is a close view of the 

 same area, and shows the heavy covering of heather on the 

 ground. The young crop is naturally somewhat uneven, and 

 some of the stems are cankered from wounds made by sheep, 

 but the trees are, on the whole, growing very well, and at 

 a comparatively small cost a successful wood could be formed. 

 The example shows that with the exclusion of sheep and a 

 little working of the ground, natural regeneration of larch 

 under such conditions should not be a very difficult matter. 



Spruce grow T s well at all elevations, and everywhere attains 

 a greater volume than larch under the same conditions. The 

 growth is particularly good along the shallow water-courses, 

 where specimens of up to 80 cubic ft. (quarter-girth) have 

 been cut. Generally, however, this great volume has been 

 obtained by growing the trees in too open stand, with the 

 result that the boles are of large diameter but knotty and 

 fluted, and taper rapidly. 



In the bottom parts of the wood isolated spruce have at- 

 tained a height of 80 ft. and a volume of 44 cubic ft., but 

 the volume falls off in much the same way as does that of 

 the larch with increasing elevation. At 1,150 ft. the average 

 volume is 32 cubic ft.; at 1,250 ft., 26 cubic ft.; and a + 

 1,500 ft., 8 cubic ft, quarter-girth. Here and there a few 

 seedling spruce have sprung up naturally under the larch, 

 but nowhere in considerable numbers. 



Scotch pine occurs chiefly as isolated specimens or in small 

 groups among the larch, and is mainly confined to a com- 

 paratively small area between the 1,250 ft. and 1,500 ft. con- 

 tour lines. The average cubic contents of some 66 trees felled 

 here in 1907 was 0/6 cubic ft. quarter-girth, and the average 

 height about 33 ft. This tree has suffered from the heavy 

 thinnings which have been made in the larch, and is con- 



