Page:TheTreesOfGreatBritainAndIreland vol03B.djvu/260

596 occupied by Mary Queen of Scots in 1577. This is now perfectly sound, and much darkened in colour by age. The width and somewhat knotty character of the boards tend to confirm what the late Sir R. Menzies told me, that it was made from locally grown Scots pine, which may have come from the Black Wood of Rannoch, or from other native forests that have now disappeared.

It is remarkable that, notwithstanding all that has been written since the Earl of Haddington first raised the question as to the existence of different varieties of this tree in his Treatise on Forest Trees, in 1760, there seems to be as yet no exact knowledge as to whether the different kinds of timber produced by different trees are, as I believe, individual variations, largely due to soil, or whether, by sowing seeds from trees possessing superior qualities, they may be reproduced in other soils and situations. The best and most exact records of such experiments that I know of are given by M.M. de Vilmorin in his account of the varieties of Pinus sylvestris collected by his grandfather at Les Barres in France, and published in the Catalogue des vegetaux Ligneux sur le Domaine des Barres (Paris, 1878), which show how much one family have done for the better knowledge of the economic value of trees, and for the benefit of their country.

Briefly, this trial, extending over a period of over sixty years, shows that, in the soil and climate of Central France, the Riga variety of P. sylvestris has, on its first introduction as well as in the second generation, preserved its superiority over other varieties of the same tree—from the various parts of France, from Haguenau on the Rhine, from Switzerland, and from Scotland—by its good growth, freedom from branches, quality of timber, and facility of transplantation. Though this superiority might not be as marked in England, it points to the necessity of careful trials of seed from Riga which, so far as I know, have not yet been made in this country.

In Scott, Arb. Trans. ix. 176 (1881), there is a very valuable paper by J. M‘Laren and W. M‘Corquodale, on “The Supposed Deterioration of the Scots Pine"; it having been stated by George Don and other writers that there were two or more varieties, one of which was very inferior to the other, They conclude, after reviewing the experience of many competent foresters, that the quality of the timber depends on the subsoil and the climate more than on the variety, and that the rich red resinous timber, for which the Highland pine is distinguished, is not to be expected in the south. They say that, since the days of the fine old Memel pine, there is no pine timber imported to our country equal to the old Highland. pine, and that what has caused it to fall into disrepute is that it is grown too fast and cut too young, coupled with the fact that it is more difficult to manufacture and dress than foreign timber.