nspicuous, bare and ugly, a blot on the landscape. In other
cases, the plantations are too near the buildings, making them
uncomfortable and unhealthy. Two things, viz., shelter and beauty, are
required, which a judicious eye should easily combine. The proprietor,
when there is appearance of a natural growth should select such for
enclosure, and on such an estate we place this at 500 acres. Only those
who have practical knowledge and experience in the matter, can realise
the extraordinary vitality of the seeds of birch, fir, oak, and others,
over a great part of the Highlands. Nothing is required over thousands
upon thousands of acres, but simple enclosure. These natural trees are
both beautiful and valuable, and therefore their encouragement does not
admit of question. No tree is more beautiful than the birch, which is
found all over the Highlands, makes great annual progress, and commands
a steady price. Blank spaces, &c., may be filled in with other woods for
the purposes of adornment.

There now remains the plantation, properly so called, upon our estate of
3,500 acres. The selection of this ground is a matter requiring careful
consideration, because the land best adapted for planting is generally
the best pasture, and every proprietor will, of course, endeavour to do
his tenant as little injury as possible. At the same time, he will
require to bear in mind that the too common idea that any ground will do
for planting is a serious error. It is not often that the person who
plants lives to reap the full benefit of his labours, and it would
therefore be doubly hard, if these labours were thrown away.

Forestry, however, is now so generally understood, that with reasonable
precaution no mistake ought to occur in the selection of the ground, or
the tree best suited to the soil. Hard wood is of course out of the
question in a great Highland plantation. Time occupied in reaching
maturity, and carriage to market unconsidered, iron has entirely
superseded this class of wood. Therefore fir and larch form the staple
for Highland plantations. On the other hand, for beltings, roadsides,
and in the vicinity of houses, hard wood should be planted. Two hundred
years ago people generally were wise in this respect, for they planted
ash trees and the like, each of which could stand by itself and bid
defiance to the elements. These now form beautiful and picturesque
objects round old _duchuses_, where hardly one stone stands on anothe