Thinnings of Plantations. 503 
twigs should be formed into handfuls, and laid on over a layer of 
straw thatch, which will by this means be protected from wet, and will 
last for many years. Larch thatch answers extremely well for cow- 
houses, cart sheds, peat houses, &c. ; and frames covered in this way 
would be found an excellent covering for hay-ricks, corn stacks, and 
the like. In gardening, light frame-work so covered might be useful 
for protecting alpines and bulbs in frames, or they might be used as a 
screen for wall trees while in blossom. 
The tejider shoots on the branches of Larch and Scotch Fir have 
been found valuable as fodder for cows, sheep, horses, and deer, in 
severe wnters. The trunks of these, when of the thickness of a 
man's arm, or less, form an excellent fence for detatched trees against 
injury from cattle. For this purpose, they are fixed in the ground quite 
close together, and only a few inches from the trunk of the tree. The 
upper ends being four or five feet from the ground, are nailed to a 
hoop, which is of such diameter as barely to admit of the vibration of 
the tree without chafing the bark. A figure and description of this 
kind of fence will be found in the "Planter's Guide," by Sir HenrV 
Steuart, \vith this difference, — that in the figure, and in Sir Henry's 
practice, the upper ends of the stakes are brought in contact with the 
trunk of the tree, and are prevented from rubbing it by having somef 
soft substances, such as tow or the like, placed between the stakes 
and the bark. 
The former of these methods is much the better, as with the utmost 
care injury from rubbing can scarcely be prevented, when Sir Henry's 
plan is adopted. This I observed to be the case on examining many 
of the ti-ees in Alanton Park, whilst those at the Duke of Hamilton's, 
and at Eaton Hall, in Cheshire, which are protected in the way first 
described, are not in the least injured. 
But the purpose to which thinnings of Fir plantations are most gene- 
rally applied, particularly such as have attained a few inches in diameter, 
is for post and rail fences. When sound, the tree is either fastened to 
the post entire, or a cut is run up it, so as to "divide it in equal parts? 
In either case the bark is left on, and the fence, if well formed, possessed 
considerable durabilityj''^^'*'^*'^ , ■<■!:■-. :v:jw-\ {....-. : 
I must not conclude these unconnected observations without noticing 
the means pursOed by the late Duke of Athol, by which that spirited 
improver created a market for the thinnings of his Fir plantations, which 
extend over more than ten thousand acres of land, most of which was 
formerly of no value, except as affording subsistence to the grouse and 
ptarmigan. To leave the plantations unthinned, he v/ell knew would 
defeat the object he had in planting them ; and to cut down trees to the 
extent his woods required, and expect a demand for them, he also knew 
