cruickshank's puactical planter. 339 



ty of the timber may be ascribed to the richness and 

 moisture of the soil, and to the full branching of 

 the trees from their rather open arrangement. There 

 is nothing which conduces so much to the good qua- 

 lity of Scots fir as exposiu'e. Under the great shelter 

 of the close 'planted woods, the timber is soft and 

 porous, without much resin ; but under great expo- 

 sure, especially to dry air, the timber is hard, close, 

 and resinous. This is, however, considerably modified 

 by the soil. 



The quality of natural grown timber is considered 

 superior to the planted. Is this occasioned by the 

 former having generally more branches and leaves in 

 proportion to the length of the stem, and being more 

 exposed than the latter ? Can root fracture at trans- 

 planting, or the kiln-drying of the cones, have any 

 influence to diminish the strength of the fibre or 

 quantity of resinous deposit ? We have been told 

 by several old people, in the neighbourhood of 

 Dunsinane, that Scots fir plants, brought more than 

 half a century ago from Mar Forest to Dunsinane 

 W ood, succeeded much better than some which had 

 been procured from nurseries, and also produced bet- 

 ter timber. 



Clay is assuredly not the proper soil for spruce 

 and silver fir ; their exceedingly numerous, soft, fi- 

 brous, moss-like rootlets, require an easy damp soil. 



Y 21 



