CHAP. CXIII.

CONI'feRjE. pi'nus.

2165

the debris of granitic rock ; there is a considerable extent of surface, in whichrocks of granite, porphyry, and gneiss rise in the most precipitous manner ;and some other parts entirely covered with peat bog ; but, on the rocks, thetrees, where they occur, have dwindled to mere bushes; and great part bothof the rocky surface and of the bog is entirely destitute of vegetation. A Re-port on the native Pine Forests of Scotland, by Mr. John Grigor, nurserymanand seedsman of Forres, and for which he received the Highland Society’ssilver medal, will be found in the Transactions of that body, vol. xii. p. 122.The following is a brief abstract of this Report: ■—

Abernethy Pine Forest, the property of the Earl of Seafield, stands on thesouthern extremity of Morayshire, on the south side of the Spey, and is oneof the most ancient forests in Scotland . The surface is partly hilly and partlylevel. The soil is principally composed of thin sandy peat, with a subsoil ofhard, hazelly-coloured gravel; and, in some parts, it is a black mould mixedwith sand, and very stony. The timber produced is very resinous. Greatpart of it was burnt down by accident in 1746; but a new crop of trees hasrisen from the ashes, and the forest now produces excellent timber. Mr. Grigorsaw trunks barked, and prepared for floating, 10 ft. 7 in. in length, 6 ft. in girtat the root end, and 5 ft. 2 in. at the other end. The number of annuallayers indicated 73 years of age. The finest specimens are understood to beat Reynloit, one of the largest of which Mr. Grigor found from 10ft. to up-wards of 13 ft. in circumference, at 1 ft. from the ground ; and at 8 ft. fromthe ground from 9 ft. to 12 ft.; tapering with a clean trunk to the height offrom 20 ft. to 35 ft., and shooting up to the entire height of from 40 ft. to 65 ft.These very old trees stand on low and level ground, on the side of the Nethy ;but perhaps the finest tree in this forest stands on a steep hill side adjoining,though not highly situated, which measures in circumference, at the height of1 ft. from the surface, 13 ft. 3 in., and at 8 ft. high, 12 ft. It tapers to 32 ft. oftrunk, its whole height being about 50 ft., with a top branching like an oak ;to which all the large trees, in point of form, bear a strong resemblance. Afew yards distant from this tree, one of similar dimensions had lately beenfelled, the stump and roots remaining to indicate its size. The annual ringsof this root indicate the age of 242 years, and that of the top, 224. The toplay at the distance of 27 ft. from the root, and Mr. Grigor imagines that thetree had grown about that length in 18 years; that being the number offears intervening between the ages of the root and top. Several others hadbeen felled of nearly the same size, which had almost attained the age of 200years. Mr. Grigor observed, from the size of the interior layers, that the treesbad rapidly advanced in growth between the ages of 8 and 70, the growthhaving afterwards diminished; and, eventually, the outside layers, althoughdistinct enough to be numbered, are very minute, and the whole timber isequally strong, hard, and red, to within less than an inch of the bark. Manyof them had been thrown down by the great flood of 1829; the stumps ofwhich still remain, and show that the roots had derived all their nourishmentfrom the surface soil, none of them being more than 1 ft. from the surface,where the subsoil is hard and gravelly. They are discernible above ground;and each forms a rib, to the height of several feet, on the side of the trunk.The soil on which these large trees have been produced is sandy moss, to thedepth of from 4 in. to 8 in., lying for the most part on a brown gravel of se-veral yards in depth ; and in some parts the subsoil is more fertile, and of ablackish colour, with a mixture of large stones. These soils produce onlyme following small variety of plants: — Calluna vulgaris, Facclnium Fitisidae'a, V, Myrtillus, 7/ypochse'ris radicata, Rlechnum boreale, and a species of■Wrpus. {High. Soc. Trans., xii. p. 124.)

Duthel Pine Forests, also the property of the Earl of Seafield, stand north™ the Spey, to the west of Abernethy. The surface is mountainous, and thennst trees grow in the lowest grounds, and on the sloping sides of the bases°> the mountains. The soil is a thin peat, on a rich subsoil of thin brownm °uld. Mr. Grigor examined several trees, varying from 112 to 126 years of

7 A 4