352 



THE SCOTCH FIR OR PINE. 



That the Scotch Fir was formerly very abun- 

 dant in Ireland is proved by the vast quantities 

 of timber still found in many of the extensive 

 bogs for which that country is noted. In the 

 counties of Down, Fermanagh, Donegal, Sligo, 

 Antrim, &c., peat-cutters frequently arrive at 

 layers of these trees in diflperent states of pre- 

 servation ; some are much decayed, others are 

 perfectly sound, and measure as much as seventy 

 feet in length. The depth at which they lie 

 beneath the surface varies from eight to fifteen 

 feet. In some instances they all lie with the top 

 towards the north, the base of the trunks and 

 the upper parts of the stumps, which still remain 

 fixed in the peat, bearing evident marks of fire. 

 Some had attained a large size before they fell, 

 measuring from eight to twelve feet in circum- 

 ference ; in other instances, where the trunk has 

 decayed, the stumps are found imbedded in the 

 peats till quite sound, the roots averaging more 

 than a foot in diameter, and occupying a space 

 varying from thirty to ninety feet in circum- 

 ference, but never descending to any considerable 

 depth. A single stump frequently furnishes from 

 sixty to seventy bushels of chips. Trunks of 

 Oak are often found lying in the gravel beneath 

 the peat, but Fir has never been noticed in such 

 situations. These trees are invariably rooted in 

 the peat, but at various depths, evidently proving 

 that their growth did not commence until the 

 bog was actually in the course of formation, and 

 that they succeeded each other as in the High- 

 land forests. Instances, indeed, occur in which 

 a large stump is fixed in the peat immediately 

 over another ; more rarely a prostrate trunk is 



