28 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



FOREST-TREES FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES. 

 Treated with Reference to Soil, &c. 

 By Mr. Edmund J. Baillie, F.L.S. 



In a conference of this character the time allotted for each 

 paper must necessarily be brief, and when there is such a wide 

 subject to be put into a thus needfully confined space, there must 

 obviously be many things left unsaid, whilst nothing can be said 

 as fully, perhaps, as the importance of the theme, or of the 

 section of the theme, should warrant. 



I conceive, then, that the proper method of treatment will be 

 to let my paper be of a suggestive character upon many points, 

 rather than of an exhaustive character over a narrowed area, and 

 the discussion that is invited after the delivery of the paper will 

 doubtless serve the purpose which was intended. 



There is a word that should be said also to explain what 

 must appear as a very obvious omission. The title speaks of 

 " Forest-Trees for Commercial Purposes," but the paper does not 

 touch the subject of Conifers. We are simply dealing with the 

 Hard-woods. At first sight this must immediately appear as an 

 inexplicable omission, but it will be remembered that the 

 Conifers had an entire conference * to themselves quite recently, 

 so that whilst a paper dealing with forest-trees could not be 

 complete without including such trees as Larch, Scotch Fir, 

 Austrian Pine, Corsican Pine, Spruce, and others, still we have 

 to assume, on this occasion, that they have had due attention in 

 the separate treatment to which they have been subjected so 

 recently, and to which I have just referred. 



Then there is a further aspect of the question which needs a 

 passing word. A number of the hardwood trees may hardly 

 be considered as coming within the scope of our purpose. But 

 they should be mentioned, if only as a catalogue, for there are 

 occasions when, for one reason or another, some one or other of 

 these are brought in. We would, therefore, group the hard- 

 woods somewhat as follows : Oak, Ash, Elm, Sycamore, Beech, 

 Birch in the first group. Spanish Chestnut, Horse Chestnut, 

 Poplar, Hornbeam, Alder in the second. Lime, Plane, Service, 



* See Conifer Conference Keport, E.H.S. Journal, Vol. XIV., 1892. 



