55§ JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 
proved itself so valuable for the production of large masses of high-class timber 
m this country, that many think it should have a preference over most other 
trees for planting under any conditions which hold out a reasonable prospect 
of success. Hitherto planters have been dissuaded from the using of Douglas 
fir unless the soil to a depth of 4 to 5 feet was fairly free of lime, but, with the 
experience of this investigation no hesitation need be felt in forming plantations, 
even where solid chalk occurs within 2 feet of the surface, and where abundant 
lumps of chalk are met with even at a less depth. 
Bog-land, 01 any land with a predisposition to slip and slide, may be fixed by 
draining and planting with those species having stoloniferous and binding root 
systems. Norway spruce is an excellent " drainer " in localities suited to it. 
On peats the Sitka spruce [Picea sitchensis) has been tried with success, notably 
in Scotland, and other trees which may be planted in such situations with pro- 
spects of success are Pinus Pinaster and Scots and Weymouth Pines, Alder 
will grow where there is the requisite moisture. 
It is very unusual for the pine beetle to be found attacking the shoots of 
larch, or any conifer but the pine, and especially the Scots pine, but it is not 
unknown. The explanation that Mr, McLaren offers is no doubt the correct 
one. Alongside the larch plantation, on an adjoining estate, the wood of Scots 
pines was felled during the past spring, and the timber was left lying on the 
ground for some months. Here was ample opportunity for the pine beetle to 
breed in large numbers. About the month of August the young broods would 
appear, and in the ordinary course would have sought the leading shoots, or 
the shoots of side branches, of Scots pines, and have bored into them. As a 
matter of fact, Mr, McLaren reports that the few Scots pines mixed with the 
larch have had every shoot excavated, but these not sufficing to supply the 
food required by swarms of insects, the latter have been driven to attack a plant, 
namely, the larch, which under ordinary circumstances they leave alone. 
On most well-managed estates there is some system in vogue for extending 
the life of the timber used in estate buildings and for fencing and other purposes. 
There are several methods used for this end, such as impregnating with naph- 
thalene or painting with solignum, &c, but the most common one is that of 
creosoting with heavy creosote oil. There are three ways of creosoting : 
(1) By pressure — the most effective ; (2) by immersing the timber in the liquid 
and boiling for some hours ; (3) by simple cold immersion. The last is the 
slowest process of all and the least effective, for the creosote cannot penetrate 
to any extent, although, as it is very cheap, it may with advantage be used on 
farms and very small estates, where the expense of a more elaborate system 
would not be justified, The boiling method is the most commonly used on 
estates, for the cost of the steeping tank and heating apparatus is far less than 
that of the large air-tight cylinder and powerful pumps necessary for creosoting 
under pressure. It affords very good results with many species of timber, 
but in others there is not the thorough saturation of the outer tissues as in 
creosoting under pressure, The latter is the most effective method in use, 
although, incidentally, it is the most expensive at the time* 
At the present time and for the past few years one of the most striking features 
in the district comprising North Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire, from an 
arboricultural point of view, is the prevalence of diseased and unsightly ash 
timber, both hedgerow and otherwise, A sound and well-grown ash tree is 
now, comparatively speaking, a rarity in this part of the country, where ash 
is by no means scarce, practically all now standing being badly shaped trees 
past their prime, or leggy saplings in the spinnies. 
Canker and malformations are woefully numerous, the damage being effected 
by Nectria ditissima, frost, bark -gnawing, and accidental wounds, or sometimes, 
in the case of hedgerow trees, from bark-scorching, Eitherof the last-mentioned 
calamities not infrequently seems to have been subsequently aggravated by the 
fungus named. The Goat Moth (Cossus ligniperda) has claimed an astonishing 
number of victims, and its larvae have done widespread damage, for the ash 
appears to be their favourite host in this part of the country. It has also been 
observed with interest that the Green Woodpecker, though active, has confined 
its attacks solely to diseased or decayed trees, — A. D. W, 
Forestry] {Trans. Roy. Scot. Arbor, Soc., Jan.-, July 191 7), — The country 
has been informed that it is the intention of the Government to make every 
available acre of land productive. This can only be done with the aid of 
afforestation. There are, no doubt, thousands of acres of agricultural land, 
now neglected, which are capable of being profitably cultivated. But beyond 
these, there are millions of acres of waste land capable of being profitably planted, 
