162 Report on the Forestry Exhibition at Lincoln. 
I have some doubt as to whether the conditions laid down 
for the preparation of the boards of hardwood timber in 
Class 1 are the most suitable, as I think that oak sawn on the 
quarter would show quality better, and two or three inch boards 
would probably be a less wasteful thickness for freshly cut 
timber, as most of this was, than one inch. I would there- 
fore suggest that more latitude be allowed to exhibitors in 
future with regard to the length and thickness. 
In Class 1, the Marquis of Exeter had three fine boards, his 
ash being, I thought, of better quality than that shown by the 
Duke of Wellington. The Earl of Yarborough was placed 
third, and a fine board of brown oak was shown by Earl 
Fitzwilliam, whose land is renowned for producing this 
beautiful timber. 
In Class 2, the Earl of Carnarvon showed one of the finest 
samples of larch that could be imagined, which -probably 
secured him the first place. None of the samples of spruce or 
Scots pine, however, were equal in quality to what can be grown 
farther north, and they had been grown too fast to compare 
with Baltic or White Sea timber. 
In Class 3, the Earl of Yarborough was easily first, his 
specimens of chestnut, sycamore, lime, acacia, and red oak 
being especially good. The walnut, however, was too young to 
show the quality that this valuable timber attains on suitable soil. 
In Class 4, the Earl of Carnarvon had the best samples of 
Corsican and Weymouth pine that I have seen in England, but 
the silver fir seemed comparatively poor in quality, and like all 
the pines, spruces, or silver firs, must be grown more densely 
and slowly if it is to compete with foreign timber of the same 
species. In this class, the Earl of Yarborough showed a good 
clean-grown sample of Lebanon cedar and very fair boards of 
silver fir, but the Wellingtonia, Crj-ptonieria, and Douglas fir 
were all too young to show good quality, and there was not a 
single really fine board of Douglas fir in the whole exhibition. 
After studying in America the conditions under which the 
imported timber of this fine tree is produced, I have no 
hesitation in saying that I believe it will be much more 
profitable if cut young as pit timber, or when larger for estate 
purposes, than if we attempt to grow it to maturity, as very 
few places in England will carry this tree thick enough on the 
ground for a long enough time to compete with Oregon timber. 
In Class 5, Specimens of Damage done by Insects to Forest 
Trees, Mr. Gillanders, Forester to the Duke of Northumberland, 
would have been, as might be expected, easily first, for I hardly 
think it fair to put an individual in competitipn with an 
institution like the Wye Agricultural College, where an able 
Professor like Mr. Theobald has a number of students to help 
