Category: Nature: Trees and Shrubs

The Trees In Southleigh Wood In 1862

Something about the nature and folklore of the tree species in Southleigh Wood, Sutton Veny, near Warminster, as penned by K.J. McEnnes in his Gleanings In Natural History series, the following notes were first published 1st November 1862:

Suppose we visit Southley Wood [Southey Wood, a variant spelling for Southleigh Wood] again, under totally different aspects from the last, purposely to witness the changed appearance of vegetation. Not now to view the rich and varied hues of summer flowers, but inspect the many rich and glowing mantles with which the trees are now arrayed. Although partly divested of its leaves, the Hawthorn stands conspicuous, from its rich and often pendant cluster of dark red berries. Who can have forgotten the same tree when covered with its gay white blossoms? when

“From the white Thorn the May flower shed
Its dewy fragrance round our head.”

For it is not in the Spring alone that the Thorn charms us with its blossoms, or regales us with its scents, for its light and cheerful foliage lines our rural banks during the summer months, and then its autumnal fruit hangs in rosy clusters, giving a large amount of food to numerous birds in Winter. No tree is so picturesque as the Thorn when old, such specimens as may be seen ornamenting hill tops and mountain sides, or barren moorland, or forest waste – rugged and time-worn; these have been well portrayed by Wordsworth, when he says –

“There is a Thorn – it looks so old
In truth, you’d find it hard to say,
How could it ever have been young,
It looks so old and gray.
Not higher than a two years’ child
It stands erect – this aged Thorn;
No leaves it has, no thorny points;
It is a mass of knotty joints,
A wretched thing forlorn.
It stands erect, and like a stone
With lichens it is overgrown.
Up from the earth these mosses creep
And this poor Thorn they clasp it round
So close, you’d say that they were bent
With plain and manifest intent,
To drag it to the ground,
And all had joined in one endeavour
To bury this poor Thorn for ever.”

Looking around us along the slopes of Southley Wood, or the Woods of Longleat on the opposite side of the valley, how rich are the tints shewn by the decaying leaves. Amongst the most conspicuous are the Beech, Oak, Ash, Elm, Hazel, Birch, Hornbeam, and Mountain Ash.

The Beech (Fagus Sylvatica), can be distinguished by its symmetrical oval outline, and dense mass of a soft yellowish tinted brown, and bright burnt-sienna coloured leaves. The bark of this tree is remarkably thin, and tough, and, taken off in large sheets, is used for making baskets, bandboxes, &c. The nuts abound in a thick kind of oil, expressed and used as butter by the poor people in Silesia; and the nuts, called mast, were used by the ancients as food.

The Oak (Quercus Robur), or Monarch of the Forest, outstrips all others in its historical associations, and usefulness. These venerable characters of antiquity, spreading wide its wreathed and contorted branches, resisting the chilling blasts, and raging elements for centuries. Numerous excrescences, or as they are popularly called, Oak Apples, are formed on these trees, caused by the puncture of the bark by a small insect when depositing its egg. The Oak-galls, produced from a small species of Oak growing in Asia Minor, and containing a great quantity of an astringent substance called Tannin, has long been used as a black dye, and in the manufacture of black ink.

The general outline of Oak trees is not so compact as the Beech, but its decaying leaves form a pleasing contract to Autumn scenery, by its changing tints of brown and sienna. The famous Cowthorpe Oak measures in circumference 78 feet, in its hollow trunk having assembled seventy persons at a time, and is believed to be from sixteen to eighteen hundred years old. The Oak of Allonville, in Normandy, has formed within its trunk a Chapel, and an upper chamber for the officiating Priest. In Welbeck Park a road is formed through the centre of a tree, allowing the passage of carriages and persons on horseback. The highest reward the Romans could bestow was the Corona civia, made of Oak leaves.

The Ash (Fraxinus excelsior), a noble and useful tree, the bark slightly tonic, the leaves cathartic, but very much inferior to those of senna, and have been employed to adulterate China tea. The ancients believed that a snake could not endure the shade of the Ash, and used to hang branches round their childrens’ necks, to keep off gnats. In warm climates the “Manna of the Shops,” which is a peculiar saccharine substance, differing from sugar by its not fermenting with water and yeast, for which reason it is considered a distinct principle, and called “Mannite,” is procured from several species of Ash, exuding spontaneously in warm weather, collected and sold as “Manna in tears.” It is also obtained by cutting the bark, when the juice exudes and concretes in flaky masses. The fruit of the Ash is now conspicuous, brown and pendulous, with a leaf at the end of the capsule. The leaves change to a grey, and yellow, but do not form quite so prominent a feature in the landscape as many others.

The Elm is represented by several species, (Ulmus campestris, montana, &c.) in the district, and is highly ornamental and useful, and of rapid growth, and has oft been associated with many griefs and sorrows.

“Beneath those rugged Elms, that Yew-tree’s shade,
Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap,
Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,
The rude forefathers of the Hamlet sleep.” 

The inner bark slightly astringent and mucilaginous, containing extractive matter with Gallic acid, and a small portion of supertartrate of Potash, has obtained great reputation as a medicine; it has been considered to differ from every other known body, and called Ulmine. It exudes from wounds of the trunk and branches in great abundance, constituting a new and peculiar vegetable principle; decoctions of the bud, leaves, bark, or root have been supposed to be highly useful in beautifying and cleansing the skin. In the northern parts of Europe, the inner bark is used, when dried and ground into a fine powder, to make into bread.

“Now hasten to the Hazel bank,
Where down yon dale, the wildly winding brook
Falls hoarse from steep to steep. The clustering nuts
for you
The lover finds amid the secret shade.”

The Hazel (Corylus evellana), for many domestic purposes very useful, as hoops for casks, fishing-rods, &c., is well known for its production of the nut, and there is probably no period of our youth to which the mind recurs with greater pleasure than the ‘nutting season,’ when the rich brown clusters hang drooping in their matured garb –

– “It seems a day,
When, in the eagerness of boyish hope
I left our Cottage-threshold, sallying forth
With a huge wallet o’er my shoulder hung,
A nutting crook in hand, and turned my steps
Towards the distant Woods.”

The leaves are now becoming of a beautiful pale yellow, and finally to a reddish brown. The word Hasel-nut is from the Anglo-Saxon Hasel-nuter; Hasel, a cup, alluding to the form of calyx, and Knuter, a nut.

The Birch (Betula alba), upon whose beauties I offered some remarks last Spring, again calls for a few additional comments, forming as it does so graceful an addition to the features of the landscape. It is at once recognised by the light and elegant form and appearance of the tree; the leaves change to a brownish yellow, and show strong contrast to some of the more reddish tints, more especially when the trees are massed in quantity, as may be seen in this neighbourhood.

Among all our native trees there is not one that will better withstand cold, it is a native of the higher and colder parts of Asia and Siberia, and most parts of North America; its boundary line of growth being one thousand nine hundred feet below the line of perpetual snow. It forms immense woods in some parts of Russia. The bark is stripped off in large sheets by the Laplander, and on account of its durability, from the oil and pyroligneous acid which it contains, is applied to numerous useful purposes. They roof their huts as we use slates, form it into capes, legging for boots and shoes, baskets, boxes, mats, twist it into cordage for harness, burn it as candles, tan leather, and dye woollen goods a brownish yellow; when tapped in the Spring the sap is obtained for forming beer and wine. Many species of Lichen grow upon the bole of the tree, upon which the poet writes –

“Sweet bird of the meadow, soft be thy rest,
Thy mother will wake thee at morn from thy nest,
She has made a soft nest little redbreast for thee,
Of the leaves of the Birch, and the moss of the tree.”

The Americans have a species of Birch called the “Canoe-Birch,” the bark being used for making canoes; these vessels are so light, that one large enough to carry four persons would weigh but fifty pounds. Name from Betu, the Celtic name of the Birch.

The Hornbeam (Carpinas betulus), forming a circular headed tree, wood white and tough, much in request by millwrights and engineers; leaves change pale yellow to brown, often continuing upon the tree the greater part of the winter. Name from the Celtic, alluding to the wood being used in making yokes for Oxen. 

The Mountain Ash, Quicken tree, Rowan tree, (Pyrus aucuparia), is now very conspicuous, from its pendant bunches of bright scarlet berries, and is, perhaps, the most ornamental of the forest trees in the Autumn.

“Decked with Autumnal berries, that outshine
Spring’s richest blossoms.”

This tree is believed to have been sacred among the Druids, and is now often planted near villages and houses in Scotland, for the supposed purpose of keeping off evil spirits. The wood is hard, and used chiefly by turners and mathematical instrument makers. The bark is astringent, and used by tanners. The berries afford a dye, and when bruised and fermented, yield a strong spirit by distillation, and boiled with sugar, form a pleasant jam. The name is figurative – from the Celtic.

Having scanned the beauties of the scenery around, pass not unnoticed those more humble portions of Creation, the mosses and lichens, as you repass the wooded slopes, and peep into the neighbouring Orchard, where

“The breath of Orchard big with bending fruit,
Obedient to the breeze and beating ray,
From the deep loaded bough a mellow shower
Incessant melts away. The juicy pear
Lies in a soft profusion, scattered around.”

Twilight lingers upon the scene around us

– “I solitary court
Th’ inspiring breeze, and meditate the book
Of Nature, ever open.”

K.J. McEnnes.

Varied Vegetation At Half Lane, Warminster

K. J. McEnnes, in Gleanings In Natural History, in the Warminster Miscellany, 1 July 1862, takes the reader on a nature walk:

“Crossing the fields at Bugley we enter the bye lane [Half Lane] by the Blue Ball and steer for Norridge Wood, the scene at once changes, the Geological formation is a total change from that we have just passed, this being on the Clay, and vegetation to a great extent is equally varied . . . ”

He goes on to describe the Meadow Cranes-bill or geranium, the spindle tree whose wood is in general request by watch and clockmakers for cleaning the pinion holes, and he also mentions sedge, wild Valerian, Herb Bennet, Butterfly Orchids, Ramsons, and Birds Foot Trefoil. He concludes by mentioning the delightful fragrance of the beans in an adjoining field.

Gleanings In Natural History

GLEANINGS IN NATURAL HISTORY
K. J. McEnnes
Nature notes first published in the Warminster Miscellany during 1862.

FEBRUARY
The ice-bound chains of winter are not yet sufficiently burst to realise much pertaining this month to the train of Flora. Yet there are some exceptions. Let those who are fond of enjoying one of Nature’s purest and healthiest breezes – determined to make the most of a morning’s recreation – start, on a glorious morning of this month, when the whole external vegetation is spell-bound by the severity of the past night’s frost, and think not there are no beauties awaiting him amid the wild scenes of nature. Flora, it is true, has not yet been burdened in her several forms of spring-tide anticipations – nor over-gorgeous in their outward embellishments. But let not the admirer of nature think that summer alone exhibits beauties worthy of admiring – that nothing short of the gaudy corn-poppy, and similar accessories can tempt them.

The traveller upon a morning as indicated, would find, perhaps the most prominent, the common furze (Ulex europea), gladdening every portion of waste heathy and sandy soil. Upon some sunny bank, as the harbinger of spring, the common primrose will be found peering amongst the surrounding herbage. The small celandine or pilewort, or by botanists called Ranunculus ficaria, will also be found thrusting its golden blossoms from amongst its beautiful heart-shaped glossy leaves, which are often beautifully zoned towards the centre. In and near woods, several remnants of the past year may be found, of the charming fern tribe – laying claim on your attention by their delicate texture and their diversified and graceful appearance. On the northern side of banks will be found the Asplenium adiantum nigrum, or black maidenhair; the Blechnum boreale, or northern-hard fern; the fine, glossy, entire fronds of the hart’s-tongue, or Scolopendrium officinale, and the Lastrea filix mas., in much of their original beauty; and in woods will be seen the leathery-shield fern (Polystichum aculeatum), and its ally the lobed-shield fern, and the thicket lastrea, or Lastrea multiflora; and on old walls may be found the pretty rue fern (Asplenium luta muraria and Ceterach officinarum), which is rare in most parts of England, but in this district and Somerset abundant.

But the true lover of nature will find much to interest him in addition to the blossom of plants; and the lover of art also – for the artist will see spread before him rich and glorious combinations of colour, light, and shade. Let the observer pass from the chalk formation southwards upon the green sand formations, and view the masses of the common birch to be found around Crockerton and elsewhere, when, at this season of the year, although denuded of its leaves, the rich brown-purple tint of its branches is a rare subject for the painter’s pencil, more especially if the observer is on the opposite side of a valley, with the faint sun at his back. Contrast the birch tint with that of the cold ash-grey of the oak, the rich sienna-grey of the larch fir, and the dense blue-green tint of the massive Scotch fir – relieved by the fine glaucous tints of the extremity of the branches. The scene is then worthy the attention of every one, and cannot fail in elevating the mind of the observer to its Great First Cause.

MARCH
The aspect of nature has vastly changed since the remarks upon the last month were penned; part of the interval has been, in temperature, almost equalling summer, but now we are experiencing those fierce and biting easterly winds, yet, gladly welcomed by the Farmer, as the means to enable him to obtain that requisite pulverisation of his land, necessary for his properly depositing his grain for the forthcoming harvest.

Since the Ice King has departed, Vegetation has progressed, and allow me to invite you to a morning’s ramble amid the beauties of nature. Those who are desirous of “Health,” will not fail to accompany me in these pleasing and not unimportant studies, that they may bring similar tenfold delights to those engaging – And follow the Poet who kindly tells them, –

“Hie away, hie away,
Over bank and over brae,
Where the copse-wood is the greenest,
Where the fountains glisten sheenest,
Where the lady-fern grows strongest,
Where the morning-dew lies longest,
Where the black-cock sweetest sips it,
Where the fairy latest trips it:
Hie to the haunts seldom seen,
Lovely, lonesome, cool and green,
Over bank and over brae.
Hie away, hie away.”

Having reached last month to the woods at Crockerton, let us continue our ramble in that neighbourhood, and descant again upon its beauties –remembering the allusion to the Birch, calling attention to its beauties, although denuded of its leaves; we will now further examine it, and find that in proportion as the season advances, and the sap is again and more rapidly circulated, so is the beautiful colour of its branches deepened in their tints, and brought into strong contrast to the silvery white tints of the Bark upon the Bole or main stem of the Trees. This “most beautiful of forest trees, – the Lady of the Woods” – intimately connected as it is with the literary history and ceremonials civil and religious, of earlier times, is still more   forcibly associated in our memories, with the bright, happy and    buoyant days of youth, with scenes of exquisite but evanescent     mingled pains and pleasures, when to our minds “Life and its thousand joys seemed but as one long summer’s day;” that we may exclaim in the words of a French writer, “the sight of a birch tree offers a vast subject of interesting meditation; and happy the man to whom its flexible pendant branches do not recall to mind, that to him, they were formerly instruments of punishment.”

The elegant minded poet Shenstone, feelingly alludes to these well known instruments of castigation, in his “Schoolmistress:” –

“And all in sight doth rise a birchen tree,
Which learning near her little dome did stow;
Whilom a twig of small regard to see,
Tho’ now so wide its waving branches flow;
And work the simple vassals mickle woe;
For not a wind might curl the leaves that blew,
But their limbs shudder’d, and their pulse beat low;
And as they look’d they found their horror grow,
And shap’d it into rods, and tingled at the view.”

The trunk of the birch is subject to the production of large knots of a reddish tinge, marbled, light, and solid, much in request by turners; – and should the tree be growing in a boggy soil, on the branches grow large masses of intertwined twigs, which is probably caused by the extravasation of sap caused by the puncture of some insect, and at a distance resemble Rook’s nests; the white Epidermis or outer covering of the bark, is proverbial for durability, and, as a defence against humidity, and was extensively used by the Ancients for their manuscripts, previous to the introduction of paper. An oil distilled from the bark, imparts that powerful fragrance peculiar to Russia leather. The sap abounds in saccharine matter, and is formed into a pleasant pungent Wine. The whole tree diffuses an agreeable odour, and is noticed by Burns as the “Fragrant Birk.”

Passing on our way, the Hazel or Nut bushes attract our attention, from the numerous pendant Catkins suspended from every branch; but these are not the embryo of the future nut: examine the branches carefully, and studded throughout almost every branch, you will observe the bright and beautiful flower of a rich crimson, called Stigmas, looking like three small pieces of worsted, attached, and at the base of those Stigmas is a small bud, that encloses what in Autumn is found to yield the nut.

Retracing our steps towards Warminster, – the fair maids of February, as the Poet calls them – the Snowdrop, still lingers upon some neighbouring bank, and on crossing a meadow “the wee tipped crimson, modest flower” the daisy, narrowly escapes being trodden upon.

We now hasten homeward, determined during the next month to renew our acquaintance with those endless, diversified beauties of creation which are –

“Pleasant to know, and worthiest to be all
Had in remembrance always with delight.”

APRIL
Spring has certainly now dawned upon us, for the late mild weather, combined with the constantly humid atmosphere so prevalent during the last week of March, has certainly driven Vegetation at a somewhat railroad pace, and developed many beauties often retarded towards May.

I will this month, request nature’s admirers to accompany me in a new path, striking off from the New or Weymouth Road, by the Swan-River, noticing on our way, the Elms in blossom, feeding large numbers of winged Insects. Proceeding across the meadows, by Marsh-Mill, the Willows attract our attention, more particularly that division of them termed Sallows, so conspicuous from their erect rich yellow Catkins, when fully-developed resembling a small brush, formed by the numerous parts of the flower called Stigmas, previous to expansion the heads of blossom are white, one of the largest and best known kinds is called Palm, and often largely gathered on Palm-Sunday.

Suddenly across our sight flies an Insect, bearing a somewhat Butterfly resemblance, what is it? that is not a Butterfly, but a species of Moth, attracted by the rich honied sweetness of the Palm Catkins, and the Moth is noticeable as belonging to a family or group of Spring Insects, which appear but that once in the perfect state during the year, (other groups appearing in two or more broods during the season).

But, you will ask, how am I to distinguish between the Butterfly and the Moth? That is comparatively an easy task:- first the Butterfly: In popular ideas, all insects favoured with a rich and gaudy colouring upon their wings are considered Butterflies, this is a gross error, as many of the British Moths are equal, and many, excelling in colour most of the British Butterflies.

The first, and most conspicuous mark of distinction in their classification is this:- Butterflies in the termination of their Horns or Antennae, always have either an oval or round knob, while the Moths have a gradual thickening from its base to the middle, diminishing to its point, – or increasing from the base to within half-an-inch of its extremity, with a suddenly acuminated point, a glance will therefore serve at all times to decide.

Should the reader feel desirous of forming a more intimate acquaintance with the Moths, visit the Sallows shortly after sunset, with his Insect collecting net, – expand the net beneath the Sallows and let a companion give a gentle rap with a stick among the Catkins, he will find them falling into the net, the Moths which have been feeding, and also many of their Caterpillar, or Larva, feeding upon the expanding leaves.

Let us now direct our attention to another quarter, and passing to private property, enter the Southley Woods; not in pursuit of game, but to view the beautiful assemblage of minor beauties of Creation. Upon the surrounding banks the beauteous but humble primrose rears its head, where it is often “born to blush unseen, and waste its fragrance on the desert air.” Near it will be found the small white whitlow-grass (Draba verna), the leaves of which are arranged star like, close upon the ground. The fragrant coltsfoot (Tussilago), with its pendant yellow blossom, and large heart-shaped leaves is also plentiful; the blossoms dried and smoked like tobacco, is often considered efficacious to persons suffering from Asthma. Another charm awaits you, and one which has already greeted you by its fragrance, the beautiful violet (Viola odorata). Every bank – every hillock – every nook and hollow, is covered with hundreds of forms – of sizes – and of tints of elegant mosses, tints ranging from the most dense dark green, and lighter shades, some tinted with yellow; that to view them from a distance they appear almost golden. Quite as varied are their forms, the hair-moss or Polytrichum, the plume mosses or Hypnum, the cushion moss or Bryum, the star moss, the brilliant scarlet fruited lichen Schyphophorus cocciferus, and the grey cupped lichen Schyphophorus pyxidatus, and that valuable plant to the Laplander upon which exists the great portion of the year the Reindeer. This, the Cladonia rangiferina, constitutes its whole food, the Deer scraping away the snow with its feet, to enable it to feed. These lichens, as well as the mosses, are very variable in the form of fructification or seed-vessels; and the mosses are in some instances acted upon by the dryness or moisture of the atmosphere, particularly one growing upon walls and banks called Funaria hygrometrica, which at the approach of wet, the seed stalk twists      itself round several times; and another noticeable character is conspicuous in Bryum pulvinata so abundant upon old walls and housetops – which recoils its stalks and twines its seed-vessels among the numerous downy-like points of the leaves. The seed capsules of the hair-mosses are covered with hairs – from whence the name. The Hypnums are urn-shaped, others are pear-shaped, apple-shaped, &c., &c., and the whole covered at the extremity by a mitre-shaped or calytriform cap.

Proceeding on our walk, we can well exclaim with Thompson –

“Nor is the mead unworthy of thy foot
Full of fresh verdure and unnumbered flowers.
The negligence of nature, wide, and wild;
Where, undisguised by mimic art, she spreads
Unbounded beauty to the roving eye.”

In marshy places will be found the great Butterbur (Petasites vulgaris), with a dense spike of flesh-coloured flowers, fragrant, and long after the blossoms have disappeared, the leaves expand, and when full-grown, are the largest of any British plant. A companion with this is the marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) with its large, rich golden flowers making the willow beds glow in beauty. Pass not unseen the barren strawberry (Potentilla Fragariastrum) decking every bank with its blossoms.

Onward now must be the watchword –

“For the bloomy blush of life is fled,
All but yon widow’d solitary thing,
That feebly bends beside the plashing spring;
The wretched matron, forced, in age, for bread,
To strip the brook with mantling cresses spread.”

We hasten homeward, convinced that the more we extend our researches into the Vegetable Kingdom, the more will every susceptible mind be excited to proceed. We shall find the most delicate and elaborate processes in ceaseless progression on the mountain and in the valley, the meadows and recesses of our woods, all subject to immutable laws. We shall find colours unrivalled, odours inimitable, and forms exhaustless in variety and grace, daily developed in the grand laboratory of nature, demanding only to be seen, to extort our unqualified admiration, and leading irresistibly to contemplate the glory of that Almighty Being, from whom so many wonders emanate.

The Growth Of Timber Noted By Richard Colt Hoare Of Stourhead

Some notes written by Richard Colt Hoare, of Stourhead, in 1814:

The Growth Of Timber

Whilst, at a period when the population of Great-Britain has been ascertained to be rapidly increasing, and the produce of grain found inadequate to the consumption of its inhabitants, the attention of Land-owners has been very justly directed towards the cultivation of our Waste Lands with Corn; yet there are instances where that attention might be more advantageously directed towards the growth of Timber.

In the autumn of the year 1813, I cut down a grove of fir-trees, which, from the decayed state of their upper branches, seemed to indicate a full growth and maturity. They had been planted by order of my predecessor at Stourhead, Henry Hoare, Esq.; about the year 1758, and upon so very shallow a soil, that the roots, in order to procure the necessary nourishment, were forced to extend themselves along the surface; in short, the soil was of so poor a nature, that it could not have been applied to any other purpose but to the growth of trees. The situation, however, was sheltered, and on that account well adapted to the fir tribe. Beech and other deciduous trees had been intermixed with them, but not in any great quantity; and no attention had been paid to this grove, either by thinning or pruning, since the day of its first plantation. The greater part of the firs were spruce, the remainder Scotch.

The number of trees cut down was ninety-two; and the space of ground on which they stood was three rood, or three-quarters of an acre. Their produce amounted to ninety ton of measured timber, which, at the low price of £4 per ton, produced the sum of £360. The largest tree measured in length sixty-three feet, and in girth fifteen feet and three-quarters, and contained one hundred and eight feet of timber. These trees, owing to a want of attention in trimming and selecting, varied very much in size, some not containing above eight feet of timber. Yet with all these disadvantages of nature and art, this small and poor plot of ground, from the date of its first plantation in 1758, has, for the term of fifty-five years, paid at the rate of £8 14s. 6d. per acre, or £6 10s. 10d. per annum, for the three rood of land on which these ninety-two trees stood; and if proper attention had been given to this grove for a few years after its first plantation, and if it had been situated nearer to some great town, both the size of the timber, as well as the sale of it, would have been considerably increased.

These trees grew in a plantation just beneath the building in my woods, called the Convent.

A general idea prevails that firs will grow any where, on any soil, or in any situation. I allow that they will grow, but not pay the planter interest for growing, in exposed situations; for though the soil cannot be too poor, if dry, for this tribe of plants, yet a certain degree of shelter is absolutely necessary. I have found the larch fir to be of a much hardier nature than the Scotch; it grows quicker, measures more in length when cut down, and is closer and harder in its texture. The spruce fir , though fine timber, requires more shelter than either the Scotch fir or larch.

In former days, a most injudicious mixture of trees was made in the extensive plantations of this neighbourhood, namely, beech and fir, by which union the luxuriant inclination of the former was totally checked, and rendered as straight and formal a pole as its neighbour. The beech will not bear trimming, except when very young; and being the most unsaleable wood in our district, should be considered as a tree of ornament, not of profit; whereas the growth of fir trees is so rapid, as (making use of an old expression) to enable the proprietor to purchase a horse, before any other plantation would enable him to buy a saddle.

By the above statement, I do not wish to encourage the Land-owner to appropriate to the growth of Timber any soil that is equal to the continued growth of Corn, which in the increasing state of our population ought to be the primary object of attention. My sole object has been to shew what an advantageous profit may be made on land which has been rendered unfit by nature for the growth of corn.