THE VOGUE OF AFFORESTATION.
Not even in Evelyn's day was the subject of tree-planting quite so widely canvassed as to-day in British country places, or were so many exotics tried. A surprising number of land- owners, now that their farms prove hard to let at any price, are making small• experiments in afforestation ; and some individual experiences are worth recording. There was great zeal some &yr years ago for the Japanese larch, which cer- tainly is a very quick grower, but it is found, in some experi- ments at any rate, that it goes through a crisis about its tenth year, when many trees die. In some very interesting experi- ments with various species and varieties of tree that I saw in Shropshire, the Sitka spruce, spoken of with favour by a recent correspondent of the Spectator, surpassed all the rest in speed of growth and, it seemed to me, in lustiness. But a close plantation of older Sitkas is a grim place. The tree bristles almost like a hedgehog, and it was the experimenter's experience in Shropshire that it was entirely avoided by birds, as too uncomfortable altogether for perching, much more for roosting.
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