species in England, and which I attribute to the unripeness of their sappy leaders before winter.
In 1904 the Earl of Ducie showed me a plantation of Douglas fir on a steep bank called Ironmill Wood near Tortworth, which, though of insufficient area to give the best results, is a good illustration of the growth of this tree on sand- stone (Plate 231). The plantation was made in 1868, and was therefore thirty-six years old when I saw it. The area, as measured by Mr. Harle, agent to Lord Ducie, was 1 acre 28 perches; the number of trees standing was 238; their average height was about 80 feet; and their average cubic contents I estimated at slightly over 20 feet, making a total of about 5000 feet per acre. Mr. A.P. Grenfell, who visited the same place in the same year, made a more careful estimate based on the measurements of the trees standing on 34, of an acre, and came to the conclusion that the total volume, with allowance for bark, was 5250 feet, which gives an annual average increase of 150 cubic feet per acre, no allowance being made for thinnings.
Mr. G.F. Luttrell of Dunster Castle, Somersetshire, showed me, in August 1906, a plantation of Douglas fir which he made in 1880 on a piece of waste land, which was growing only furze, on gravelly soil close to the rock, which is on the Old Red Sandstone formation. In the following December he had this carefully measured, with the following result :—Broom Ball Wood, area 3 roods to perches, planted entirely with Douglas fir at about 10 feet apart. Number of trees now standing, 264. Total contents, allowing half an inch for bark, 2491 cubic feet. Of these, 158 trees contain less than 10 cubic feet each, and only 7 contain above 20 cubic feet, the largest tree measuring 42 feet timber length and 10 inches quarter- girth, equal to a volume of 29 cubic feet. The actual height of the tallest was 73 feet, of the shortest 48 feet.
The trees are valued as timber by Mr. Luttrell’s forester at 6d. a foot, which amounts on the estimated quantity to 462: 6s. equal to £76:13:6 per acre. Deducting from this sum, the expenses of planting and fencing, £6 an acre in 1880,
| equivalent in 1906, at 4 per cent. interest, to | ₤16 12 6 |
| and the annual deferred rent at 5s. an acre, from 1880 to 1906, equivalent to | 11 0 0 |
| ₤27 12 6 | |
| the balance, £49: 1s., represents the actual profit per acre. | 49 1 0 |
| ₤76 13 6 |
It seems to me that the price of 6d. per foot for trees of this size is somewhat excessive, as those of less than 10 feet are hardly fit for anything but pitwood or rough fencing; but the value of the trees over 10 feet might be somewhat higher.
From the appearance of this plantation, in which many of the smaller trees were already suppressed and not likely to grow much more, it seemed to me that either a heavy thinning or clean felling was the proper thing to do, but this’must depend on the local demand for timber of this size and quality. And if the small area, exposed position, and inferior agricultural quality of the land be taken into
