On the forest and other trees of Aberdeenshire / by G. Dickie.

  • Dickie, George.
Date:
[1843]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the forest and other trees of Aberdeenshire / by G. Dickie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    2/34 (page 2)
    Several circumstances tend to diminish the value of such inquiries, and to render vague any useful inferences which might be deduced from them : for instance, no information was received of the attention which had been paid to the proper pruning and thinning of the trees. This omission was probably owing chiefly to a deficiency in the original circular, although at the same time it is probable (if I may judge from the ful¬ ness of some of the reports), that if any particular method of pruning had been adopted at any of the places afterwards mentioned, such would have been alluded to. The import¬ ance of attending to this is evident, from Mr Cree’s method of pruning, recorded in Loudon’s Horticultural Journal for January 1842. He has found, by experiment, that all trees (excepting the Fir tribe, for which his method is not adapted) under 18 feet in height, and 15 inches in circumference, ad¬ vance at an average as much in height and circumference in six years, if the branches are properly shortened, as they do in fifteen years, if they are not shortened, or if the trees are improperly pruned. In very few instances was it stated, whether the trees were of natural growth, or had been planted ; this in some cases is of considerable importance, especially as regards the Fir tribe, which are generally ad¬ mitted to receive a check from the operation of transplanting. Independently, however, of these deficiencies, it is at least of some interest to be aware, that Aberdeenshire can produce such trees as are recorded in the following tables ; and if any apology is necessary, I may take shelter under the high authority of M. De Candolle, who remarks,—The longevity of trees is truly interesting, were it merely from motives of curiosity. If we prize every document of antiquity, why should we not attach a higher degree of importance to know whether such a tree be the contem¬ porary of the oldest generations? In certain cases this knowledge might throw light on the history of monuments, as that of monuments on the history of trees in their vicinity.If we reflect on the means of obtaining a solution of our question, we shall see that they are all founded on a more exact appreciation of the ordinary laws of the growth of trees, and that this direct knowledg’e may throw ligflit on many parts of vegetable Physiology, and the art of Forestry. I therefore be¬ lieve, that these inqulrie,'^*may turn to be useful; but were they