February  4,  IQC'I. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
01 
acre  all  round.  Some  of  the  lands  maj'  yield  up  to  half  a 
crown,  but  enormous  areas  yield  considerably  below  a 
shilling,  even  down  to  threepence  an  acre.  We  may  safely 
say,  then,  that  there  is  no  lack  of  land  obtainable  at 
reasonable  and  even  low  rates. 
As  regards  the  climate,  there  is  practically  nothing 
better  to  be  desired,  as  far  as  the  production  of  timber  is 
concerned,  however  unpleasant  it  may  be  in  other  respects. 
We  have,  generally  speaking,  mild  winters  and  cool 
summers.  Of  rain  we  have  plenty,  often  too  much,  while 
snow  and  ice  are  not  nearly  so  frequent  as  in  other  northern 
European  countries.  Unfortunately,  of  gales  and  strong 
wunds  we  have  more  than  a  fair  share,  but  with  proper 
management  their  injurious  effect  upon  forest  growth  can 
be  considerably  reduced.  On  the  whole  our  climate,  at  any 
rate  up  to  the  centre  of  Scotland,  though  it  may  not  be 
equal  to  that  of  a  great  portion  of  France,  compares  very 
favourably  with  that  of  Germany,  and  there  is  absolutely 
no  reason,  in  this  resoect,  why  we  should  not  grow  as  good 
timber  here  as  is  done  in  Germany.  At  any  rate  our 
climate  is  considerably  more  favourable  than  that  of 
Norway,  Sweden,  and  North  Russia,  whence  we  import 
some  6  million  tons  of  timber  a  year. 
If  home-grown  timber  has  hitherto  been  considered 
inferior  to  timber  imnorted  from  those  three  countries,  it 
is  due,  not  to  tlie  climate,  but  to  the  manner  in  which  it 
has  been  grown.  Conifers  have  been  too  heavily  thinned 
while  young,  so  that  they  yielded  knotty  timber  with  broad 
annual  rings.  Only  let  us  grow'  our  timber  in  the  manner 
followed  by  Germany  and  France,  the  countries  which  share 
the  honour  of  having  developed  the  science  and  art  of 
forestry,  and  we  shall  produce  the  same  quality  of  Scots 
Pine  (the  red  deal  of  the  Baltic’)  and  Norway  Spruce  (the 
white  deal  of  the  Baltic)  as  that  now  imported  into  this 
country.  It  is  the  non-observance  in  this  country  of  good 
sylviculture  which  is  at  fault,  and  not  the  climate.  As 
regards  hard  woods,  and  especially  Oak,  it  is  asserted  by 
leading  timber  merchants  that  the  quality  of  British-grown 
timber  is  actually  superior  to  that  imported  from  the  Con¬ 
tinent,  but  that  the  latter  comes  to  us  in  better  shaped 
cleaner  pieces,  which  again  indicates  faulty  sylviculture  in 
this  country.  On  the  whole  there  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind 
that  we  can  produce  just  as  good  timber  in  this  country  as 
that  now  imported  from  other  European  countries,  provided 
we  put  our  shoulders  to  the  wheel,  and  teach  our  land 
agents  and  foresters  correct  sylvicultural  methods. 
At  the  same  time  we  must  not  expect  immediate  results 
in  all  cases.  In  only  too  many  instances  the  land  has 
suffered  in  yield  capacity  owing  to  continued  exposure  and 
the  subsequent  dissipation  of  all  organic  matter.  In  such 
cases  there  will  be  some  difficulty  in  the  beginning,  but  if 
once  more  a  suitable  forest  crop  has  been  established  on 
the  areas,  the  producing  powers  of  the  land  will  increase  in 
the  same  degree  as  organic  matter  accumulates  in  the  soil. 
The  loss  of  increment  in  the  beginning  is  a  penalty  which 
we  shall  have  to  pay  for  neglect  in  the  past. 
FlN.-VNCI.iL  AspKCT  of  BRITISH  FORESTRY. 
The  next  question  you  are  likely  to  ask  me  is  “  Will  it 
pay  to  put  land  under  forest  in  this  country  ?  ”  In  answer¬ 
ing  that  question  we  meet  great  difficulty.  Most  naturally 
you  would  say  “  Let  us  inquire  what  the  results  of  forestry 
have  been  so  far.”  That  inquiry  would  lead  to  disappoint¬ 
ing  results,  because,  in  the  first  place,  it  is  almost  impos¬ 
sible  to  obtain,  in  this  country,  data  which  would  conclu¬ 
sively  prove  the  case  either  one  way  or  the  other  ;  and, 
secondly,  we  can  only  estimate  what  the  effect  would  be  if 
rational  sylvicultural  methods  were  applied  to  the  industry, 
accompanied  by  a  more  systematic  management. 
As  regards  the  first  point,  I  must  point  out  that  those 
data  w'hich  are  available  are  almost  invariably  vitiated  by 
the  fact  that  many  items  are  included  under  expenses  which 
have  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  forestry  by  itself.  For 
instance,  you  find  heavy  payments  for  fences  which  ought  to 
be  charged  against  shooting  rents  or  enjoyment  of  the 
chase,  or  even  against  the  cultivation  of  adjoining  land,  to 
keep  the  cattle  out  of  the  woods.  In  other  cases,  fancy 
roads  are  kept  up  for  the  benefit  of  the  proprietor.  As 
regards  the  second  point,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying 
that  the  returns  might  in  many,  if  not  in  most,  cases  be 
doubled  by  following  the  rules  of  rational  sylviculture  and 
by  systematic  management.  Let  me  give  you  an  illustra¬ 
tion  of  the  latter  point. 
The  Experience  of  Saxony. 
There  is  probably  no  country  in  the  world  which  has 
such  complete  records  about  the  past  management  of  woods 
as  the  Kingdom  of  Saxony.  That  State  possesses  428,000 
acres  of  Government  forests,  which  occupy  good,  bad,  and 
indifferent  land,  less  of  the  first  and  more  of  the  last.  The 
forests  go  up  to  3,000  feet  above  the  sea.  The  systematic 
management  of  these  forests  was  commenced  rather  more 
than  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  we  have  authentic  records 
since  the  year  1817  which  show  that  the  yield  in  wood  in 
1817  was  61  cubic  feet  per  acre,  and  in  1893  it  was  92  cubic 
feet,  an  increase  of  50  per  cent.  At  the  same  time,  the 
growing  stock  in  1844  amounted  to  2173  cubic  feet  per  acre, 
and  in  1893  to  2658  cubic  feet,  or  an  increase  of  22  per  cent. 
The  net  return,  after  paying  for  all  items  of  expenditure, 
amounts  to — In  1817-26,  4s.  per  acre  ;  1827-36,  4.2s  ;  1837-46, 
4.7s.  ;  1847-53,  6.3s.  ;  1854-63,  10s.  j  1864-73,  14.8s.  ;  1874-83, 
17.5s.  ;  1884-93,  18.4s.  ;  in  1900,  22.5s.  It  has,  of  course,  to 
be  borne  in  mind  that  the  average  value  per  cubic  foot  of 
wood  in  1817  was  2.1  pence,  and  in  1900  it  was  4.5  pence, 
equal  to  an  increase  of  114  per  cent.  But  the  increase  of 
net  receipts  was  463  per  cent.,  or  four  times  greater  than 
the  increase  in  the  value  per  cubic  foot  of  wood,  due  to 
improved  management.  Remember,  these  figures  refer  to 
the  whole  of  the  Saxon  State  forests,  and  not  to  any  speci¬ 
ally  picked  out  case.  There  are  forest  districts  in  Saxony 
which  give  double  the  above-mentioned  net  revenue. 
(To  be  continued.) 
Certificated  Plants. 
The  Genus  Primula— contij.Merf, 
Primula  Sieboldi. — It  was  in  the  early  sixties  that  there 
came  to  this  country,  as  one  of  the  results  of  thci  late  Mr.  John 
Gould  Veitch’s  visit  to  Japan,  some  fine  Primroses  repre.senting 
greatly  improved  forms  of  P.  cortusoides,  and  originally  known 
as  P.  cortusoides  amoena.  It  being  di.scovered  eventually  that 
Siebold  was  the  first  to  bring  the  type  to  notice,  it  was  re-named 
P.  Sieboldi:  it  had  large,  deep  rosy  flowers,  the  segments 
rounded  and  of  a  bright,  deep  rosy  colour.  This  received  a 
second-class  certificate  in  April,  1864,  under  the  name  of 
P.  cortusoides  amoena,  and  a  year  after  it  obtained  a  first-class 
certificate.  I  may  state  in  passing  that  the  Floi'al  Committee 
long  since  gave  up  the  questionable  practice  of  awarding  certifi¬ 
cates  of  the  second  class,  whereby  many  things  good  in  them- 
selvets  were  branded  as  second-rate.  With  the  type  came  alba, 
a  white  laciniated  floiver ;  albida,  blush  white;  and 
grandiflora,  having  a  creamy  surface  and  a  rosy  reverse;  these 
also  were  awarded  first-class  certificates  in  1865.  These  all  were 
exhibited  by  Messrs.  Veitch  and  Sons. 
Two  later  introductions  from  the  .same  firm  were  .striata,  in 
1868,  a  pale  ground  flower  with  slight  rosy  violet  stripes  ;  and 
in  1869  lilacina,  a  pretty  pale  lilac  form ;  both  receiving  certifi¬ 
cates  of  merit.  About  1874,  my  brother,  Mr.  A.  Dean,  was 
successful  in  obtaining  seed  from  some  of  the  best  varieties  by 
cro.ss-fertilising  them  at  my  seed  grounds,  then  at  Bedfont,  and 
at  the  .same  time  Mr.  James  Allen,  of  Shepton  Mallet,  Somerset, 
was  equally  fortunate.  Such  varieties  a.s  coerulea  alba, 
laciniata,  maxima,  purpurea,  and  others  raised  at  Bedfont 
received  first-class  certificates  of  merit.  Mr.  Geo.  Geggie,  a 
nurseryman  in  the  north  of  England,  also  proved  successful  as  a 
cross-fertili.ser,  and  during  the  eighties  he  obtained  certificates 
of  merit  for  Brilliant,  crimson;  and  Purity,  white. 
At  the  end  of  the  eighties  and  in  the  early  nineties,  Messrs. 
Ryder  and  Son,  of  Sale,  had  obtained  new  varieties,  and  secured 
awards  of  merit  for  Alba  Magnifica,  wdiite  ;  Bruce  Findlay,  rosy 
crimson;  Distinction,  rose  flaked  with  white;  General  Gordon, 
pale  pink;  Mi.ss  Nellie  Barnard,  ro.sy  blush;  Mr.  Ryder,  white, 
with  rosy  reverse;  and  Queen  of  Whites.  Mr.  T.  S.  Ware 
obtained  a  certificate  of  merit  for  Ware’s  White  a  year  or  two 
previously.  Since  1890  no  new  additions  have  been  made,  and, 
indeed,  the  race  appears  to  have  gone  much  out  of  cultivation. 
The  type  P.  Sieboldi  remains  one  of  the  best,  and  when 
Mr.  Charles  .Iordan  was  the  superintendent  in  the  Regent’s 
Park  he  used  it  largely  and  with  excellent  effect  during  the 
spring  months.  • 
The  pretty  free  flowering  P.  floribunda  obtained  a  certificate 
of  merit  in  1886,  when  shown  by  Mr.  T.  S.  Wares  Some  pale 
coloured  varieties  have  been  produced  from  seeds,  though  the 
range  of  shades  is  a  veiy  limited  cue,  a  variety  of  a  pale  h'liion 
colour  being  tlie  best  known,  but  a  decided  advance  has  been 
