Plantations  and  Home  Nurseries  Competition,  1910.  231 
Soils. — The  qualities  and  constituent  parts  of  the  soils  and 
sub-soils  varied  greatly.  One  plantation  only  was  on  really 
“rich”  soil,  that  belonging  to  the  Earl  of  Derby  near  Ormskirk. 
Th % present  results  of  production  here,  on  land  adjoining  agricul- 
tural land  let  at  20s.  per  acre,  were  not  proportionately  as  good 
as  those  on  land  of  a letting  value  of  under,  say  10s.  But,  as 
the  ultimate  crop  will  be  hardwoods,  and  it  is  fairly  near  to  a 
good  market,  the  final  results  will  probably  justify  the  cost  at 
these  early  stages  of  the  formation  of  the  plantation.  There  are 
instances  elsewhere  of  plantations  on  ground  of  similar  value, 
judiciously  managed,  which  are  paying  quite  as  well  as  those 
on  “ poor  soils.”  Ash,  sycamore,  beech,  elm,  and  even  oak  will 
probably  give  a reasonable  profit  under  proper  management 
under  these  conditions,  and  especially  good  ash.  This  species 
has  also  the  useful  property  of  self  reproduction  to  so  marked 
an  extent  as  to  make  it  extra  valuable  because  of  its  reducing 
the  cost  of  starting  succeeding  crops  to  almost  a minimum. 
Unfortunately  it  is  extremely  liable  to  attacks  by  ground  game 
in  hard  wintry  weather.  It  is  a tree  which  thrives  fairly  well 
within  a somewhat  smoke-polluted  atmosphere,  as  do  also  wych 
elm,  sycamore,  and  beech,  and  as  these  produce  timbers  which 
are  in  demand  in  manufacturing  districts,  their  usefulness  in 
such  areas  is  almost  self -indicative.  The  Ormskirk  plantation 
is  on  a nearly  fiat  surface,  the  soil  is  very  good  and  varies  from 
a brown  loam  to  a light  sandy  soil.  The  ash,  sycamore,  and 
alder  are  thriving  very  well  indeed,  as  are  also  the  few  oaks.  The 
planting  was  done  thirteen  years  ago  and  there  have  been  two 
thinnings,  for  the  sake  of  game,  which  has  been  one  too  many 
from  a forester’s  point  of  view.  The  average  height  of  the 
hardwoods  is  about  twenty  feet.  The  average  girths  at  breast 
height  are,  for  ash  9^  in.,  sycamore  8^  in.,  and  alder  8^  in. 
The  ash  has  beautifully  smooth  bark,  indicating  a high  quality 
of  timber.  The  larch  is  practically  all  dead,  dying,  or 
removed — evidently  killed  by  the  larch  aphis,  and  the 
Austrian  pine  is  rapidly  disappearing  owing  apparently  to 
the  same  pest.  The  same  remarks  apply  to  the  few  spruce. 
But  as  these  conifers  were  only  planted  as  nurses,  the  circum- 
stance is  of  little  moment.  Ash  and  sycamore  are  to  form  the 
ultimate  crop,  and  as  both  are  in  great  demand  within  a 
reasonable  distance  the  management  bids  to  give  successful 
results.  The  notes  on  this  plantation  are  at  some  length 
because  (1)  it  was  the  only  one  on  very  good  soil  which  was 
in  the  competition  (Delamere,  although  on  good  soil,  was  not 
so  decidedly  such  as  Ormskirk),  and  (2)  it  is  not  generally 
realised  that  there  are  circumstances  under  which  it  will  pay 
to  plant  good  land  ; and  when  the  shelter  value  to  adjoining 
agricultural  areas  is  also  taken  into  consideration  it  will  be  seen 
