JOURNAL OF THE FORESTRY COMMISSION No. 35 : 1966-67 PRINTED FOR DEPARTMENTAL USE Forestry Commission ARCHIVE FORESTRY COMMISSION PRICED PUBLICATIONS ISSUED BETW EEN 1st A PR IL 1966 A N D 31st DECEM BER 1967 A: PRICED PUBLICATIONS PUBLISHED THROUGH H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE General Reports A nnual R eport of the Commissioners, 1965 9$. 6d. (10s. 0d.) Annual R eport of the Commissioners, 1966 10$. 0d. (10$. 6 d.) R eport on Forest Research, 1965 20$. 0d. (21$. 0 d.) Report on Forest Research, 1966 12$. 6d. (13$. 2d.) Report on Forest Research, 1967 17$. 6 d. (18$. 4 d.) Bulletins No. 38 The Great Spruce Bark Beetle 10$. 6 d. (11$. 2d.) No. 40 Rooting and Stability in Sitka Spruce 8$. 6d. (9$. 0 d.) No. 41 Forest Management and the Harvesting and Marketing of Wood in Sweden 13$. 6d. (14s. 2d.) Booklets No. 16 Forest Management Tables 30$. Od. (31$. Id.) Supplement No. 1 1$. Od. (1$. 3d.) No. 17 Thinning Control in British Woodlands 10$. 6 d. (11$. 2d.) No. 18 Forestry in the Landscape 3$. 6 d. (4$. 0 d.) No. 19 Timber Extraction by Light Agricultural Tractor 5$. 0 d. (5$. 6 d.) Forest Records No. 58 Check List of Forestry Commission Publica­ tions 1919-1965 4$. 6 d. (4$. lid .) No. 59 Mathematical Models in Forest Management 5s. 0d. (5$. 5d.) No. 60 Procedures used for Progeny Testing in Britain—with special reference to Forest Nursery Practice 3$. Od. (3$. 6 d.) No. 61 Brunchorstia Die-Back of Corsican Pine 1$. 9 d. (2s. 0d.) No. 62 Plantations on Mediaeval Rigg and Furr Cultivation Strips 3$. 0 d. (3s. 3d.) No. 63 Forestry Quarantine and its Biological Background 2s. 0d. (2s. 3d.) Thirteen priced publications were revised within this period. They were: Booklet No. 7 The Plan of Operations 4$. 0 d. (4$. 5 d.) Forest Record No. 52 Home Grown Roundwood 4$. 6 d. (5s. Od.) Leaflets No. 5 Fomes Annosus 2s. 0d. (2s. 3d.) No. 6 Honey Fungus 1$. 9 d. (2s. Od.) No. 12 Taxation of Woodlands 1$. 3d. (1$. 6 d.) No. 31 The Grey Squirrel Is. 9d. (2s. Od.) No. 32 Pine Looper Moth 2s. Od. (2s. 3d.) No. 43 Keithia Disease of Western Red Cedar 3$. Od. (3$. 3d.) No. 45 The Roe Deer 2s. Od. (2s. 5d.) Guides Argyll Forest Park Is. Od. (7s. 7 d.) Glen M ore 8$. 6 d. (9$. 2d.) New Forest 5s. Od. (5s. Id.) North Yorkshire Is. 6d. (8$. 2d.) Continued on the Inside Back Cover. JOURNAL OF THE FORESTRY COMMISSION No. 35 : 1966-67 PRINTED FOR DEPARTMENTAL CIRCULATION WITHIN THE FORESTRY COMMISSION 25 SAV1LE ROW LONDON, W .l EDITING COMMITTEE Ja m e s R. T h o m Dennis H ealey, o.b.e. H e r b e r t L. E d l i n , Editor iii CONTENTS Page EDITORIAL . Vii TOURS Royal Forestry Society—Summer Meeting in North Wales, 8th- 13th M ay, 1966 by J. D. Webster. ...... 1 Royal Scottish Forestry Society 69th Annual Excursion to North East Scotland, 16th-20th May, 1966 by A. T. Lewis . 4 Post-Graduate Studies and Fellowship, Canada and the U.S.A. 1964-65 by T. I. W. Bell, M.Sc................................................................ 11 Expedition to the Guyana Rain Forest by T. I. W. Bell, M.Sc. 15 STUDIES OF PARTICULAR TREES Scots Pine: Report of a Technical Discussion at Annual Excursion of the Society of Foresters of Great Britain, Inverness, Thursday 24th September, 1959 ........ 20 The Native Pinewoods and their Management by H. M. Steven 20 The Formation of Scots Pine Plantations with particular refer­ ence to Seed Provenance by M. V. Edwards . 22 Management of Scots Pine Plantations by Major D. J. Brodie . 24 The Utilization of Scots Pine by W. J. Riddoch . 27 The Story of the Christmas Tree by courtesy of the “ M ourne Observer” .......... 28 NURSERIES, PLANTING AND WEEDING The Evolution of the Theory and Practice in the Management of a Forest Nursery by J. T. Fitzherbert . 31 Aerial Fertilization at Kilmory Forest by E. J. M. Davies . 36 Development of Chemical Weeding on Ministry of Defence Wood­ lands, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire by B. A. Painter . 40 The Cultivation of Felled Woodland by J. T. Weathered . 42 Microbiological Activity in Soils and its influence on the Avail­ ability of Major Nutrients to Plants by T. I. W. Bell, M.Sc. 43 Problems of Peatland Afforestation in Ireland by T. B. D uggan . 49 Nutrient Status of Boglands and their Microbiology with regard to Afforestation by J. J. Gardiner ...... 53 Tariffing of Thinnings by J. B. D avenport ..... 60 Problems and Rewards in Processing and Storing Seed by G. Buszewicz .......... 64 HISTORY A Mesolithic Chipping-Floor in the Rhondda Forest by A . C. Hazzard .......... 69 Historical Account of the Forests of Argyll by Alex. M. Mackenzie 70 Historical Account of the Woodlands of Ross and Cromarty by Alex. M. Mackenzie ........ 74 Notes on the History of Blairadam Forest, Fife by I. S. W att . 79 Savernake: History of the Forest by South West England Conser­ vancy Staff .......... 81 Alice Holt Lodge by permission o f the “Farnham Herald” . 84 iv CONTENTS—cont. Page RECREATION AND WILD LIFE Guns, from the Farm Safety Leaflet of the Ministry of Agriculture 87 Public Recreation in Forestry Commission Areas in North West England by Martin Orrom ....... 88 Wild Life and the Forester by P. F. Garthwaite .... 90 Improvement of Spawning Streams for Brown Troutby K. Fryer . 92 Pine Martens, Notes from Conservancies, compiled by the late D. Graham-Campbell ........ 100 The Latest Elsan, A Lavatory Suitable for our Forests by M. H. O rrom ..... .... 102 LAND USE The Management of Woodland Nature Reserves by A. J. Kerr 105 Hill Sheep by A. R. Wannop ...... 110 The Strathoykel Plan by T. B. MacDonald . 115 TIMBER UTILIZATION Scottish Pulp and Paper Mills, an Achievement of Historic Impor­ tance contributed by the Wiggins Teape Company . 120 The Success Story of Forestry, Major Role in Fort William Project by J. L. Davidson ........ 126 Workington—Britain’s First Fully Integrated Pulp and Board Mill, contributed by Thames Board Mills Ltd. 130 Home Grown Timbers: Larch contributed by the Forest Products Research Laboratory ........ 133 A Cheaply Built Drier contributed by the Forest Products Research Laboratory .......... 139 Average Price for each Country: Coniferous Timber Sold Standing contributed by Marketing Division, Headquarters . 142 MISCELLANEOUS Some Aspects of Labour Relations by A. W. Humphrey . 143 Forest Workers’ Diet by permission o f the Scottish Forestry Producti­ vity Committee ......... 145 Trees on Tip will be a Memorial by permission from the “ M erthyr Express” .......... 147 A Ride with Ianto by R. J. Jennings .... 148 The Loch Ness Monster by D. G. Gowler . 152 POETRY Fungi by R. J. Jennings ........ 19 Sic transit gloria Sitchensis or A Plea for the Late Developer by A. M. Mackenzie ......... 30 The Gorse in Flower by R. J. Jennings ..... 68 Nostalgia by R. J. Jennings ....... 86 Animal Tracks by R. J. Jennings ...... 104 A Helicopter Flight over Towy Forest by Euros Jones . 119 Is So An Am Buain—This is the time for reaping by Alex. M. M ackenzie .......... 141 Lines Written After Driving Behind a Council Weed-killing Sprayer in the Forest of Dean by R. J. Jennings ..... 155 V CONTENTS—cont. Page BOOK REVIEWS Breeding Pest Resistant Trees, edited by H. D. Gerhold et al. 157 Agriculture and Economic Growth in England 1650-1815, edited by E. L. Jones .......... 157 Timber—Its Mechanical Properties and Factors Affecting its Structural Use, edited by Frederick D. Silvester . 158 The Economics of Irrigation, by Colin Clark . 158 Weather and Agriculture, edited by James A. Taylor . 158 The Pennine Way, by Christopher John Wright . 159 Comprehensive Russian-English Agricultural Dictionary, by B. N. Ussovsky, et al. 159 Agricultural Insurance by P. K. Ray ...... 160 Forest Hydrology, edited by W illiam E. Sopperand H ow ard W. Lull 160 FORESTRY COMMISSION STAFF LIST . ..... 162 Photographs . .... c e n t r a l in s e t Publications List . in s id e f r o n t a n d b a c k c o v e r ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We express our thanks to the various editors and authors who have kindly allowed the re-use of certain articles, as noted at the head of each. Photographs Plates 1 to 5 were kindly provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, who hold the copyright. Plate 6 is the copyright of the Hampshire Chronicle of Winchester, and Plate 7 that of the Oxford Mail and Times. Plate 8 was provided by the Central Office of Information, and Plate 9, which was taken by Fox Photos, is reproduced by kind permission of the Teacher's World. Plate 10 was kindly provided by Miss Phyllis Holder of Christchurch, Hampshire. Plates 11 and 18 are by Mr. G. V. Berry of Greenside, Kendal, Westmorland. Plate 12, by I. A. Anderson, is drawn from the Commission’s official collection at Alice Holt. Chief Forester R. J. Jennings, now in South Wales Conservancy, provided Plates 14 and 17. Plate 13 is by Roy Harris of Stonebarrow House, Charmouth, Dorset. Plates 15 and 16 were kindly made available by the Merthyr Express of Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan. Mr. J. V. Dishington, now at Glasgow, provided Plates 19 and 20. Thames Board Mills Ltd., gave us Plate 21. Plate 22 was contributed by Head Forester J. Weatherell and Plate 23 by Mr. A. P. F. Hamilton. All the photos of the wood sculptures were kindly provided by the sculptor himself, Forester J. Wilson, of Arden Forest, Warwickshire.