282 



Farming of Cumherland, 



hlack-topped soils of what were commons the Scotch fir is the 

 only plant that will thrive properly, which is the reason that so 

 many were planted. The late Mr. Liclclel tried several varieties 

 of trees in his extensive plantations near Carlisle (towards Kirk- 

 bampton), and found nothing answered so well as the Scotch fir^ 

 The late Rev. Mr. Matthews, of Wigton, also tried the larch 

 and other trees in his plantations, on what was Wigton Common,, 

 without success : so that on such sort of uneven land it is not a 

 matter of choice, but of necessity, that has induced the planting 

 of Scotch fir so extensively. 



Most of these sandy soils are too shallow, as well as too poor^ 

 for the more valuable kinds of deciduous trees, and contain a con- 

 siderable portion of a ferruginous gravel, intermixed with an oxide 

 of manganese, which may account for their barrenness as well as 

 unsuitableness to the growth of timber. 



However this may be, the Scotch fir {^Pinus sylvestris) alone 

 seems to thrive ; but it is greatly to be regretted that in the 

 selection of this class of tree, which has been so extensively 

 planted in East Cumberland, a better variety was not adopted : 

 for, from a treatise by Mr. MacGregor (to which the Highland 

 Society awarded their silver medal in 1837), we find that the 

 native pine growing in the old Scotch forests is vastly superior in 

 quality to what is generally raised and sold by nurserymen. The 

 latter is supposed to be of American origin, and the true Scotch 

 fir has been distinguished from it by the designation of Pinus 

 sylvestris liorizontalis. Its growth seems slower than the kind 

 commonly planted, and its branches more horizontal. It is said 

 to bear smaller cones, and fewer of them, which accounts for the 

 inferior variety being more generally propagated. There seems 

 to be no doubt, however, of its vast superiority as timber, as the 

 timber from the forests of Abernethy, Rothiemurchus, Glenmore, 

 &c., sufficiently testifies ; and as an instance of the size of these 

 trees in their native soil, we find a table presented to the late 

 Duke of Gordon, made of one single plank, 5 feet 5 inches broad. 

 It is needless to observe how infinitely more valuable these ex- 

 tensive plantations, which now ornament the country, would have 

 been at this time had the plants been raised from native seed. 



Many of the bleakest districts of the last century are now 

 studded with plantations, which are highly beneficial in their 

 several localities ; but very many over the eastern division contain 

 too great an admixture of the Scotch fir. The larch is a more 

 valuable kind of tree as to timber, and affords as good a shelter 

 when planted in a body as the Scotch fir, but does not thrive 

 long, except in dry soils. 



The oaks of the mountain-valleys produce timber which turns 

 quite black with age, as may be seen in the boarded floors of 



