The =Norway Spruce= (_Picea excelsa_).—Whether as a hardy, shelter-giving tree, or for the quantity of fairly good timber it produces, the common or Norway spruce must ever rank high in the list of useful trees that have been found suitable for culture in the British Isles. That it is a tree in every sense of the word admirably suited for extensive planting is acknowledged by all, as it luxuriates at high altitudes, and where fully exposed to our worst winds, and at the same time produces a great quantity of timber that has been found of excellent quality, well suited for general constructive purposes. As a shelter tree few others can equal the spruce, and when planted along the outskirts of exposed plantations the amount of warmth and protection it affords is quite surprising. The =Silver Fir= (_Abies pectinata_) is another of those trees that have of late years fallen into disrepute, mainly owing to the increased importation of foreign timber. That it is an excellent and highly remunerative tree is unquestionable, and the very fact of its thriving luxuriantly on soils where the larch declines to grow should make it, in this country at least, of great value as a forest tree. With the most satisfactory results has the timber been used for railway sleepers—in fact four sleepers laid experimentally have stood the wear and tear quite as well as those of Baltic timber, alongside of which they were placed. For roofing purposes the wood has likewise attained great fame, as it is found to stand vicissitudes of dry and damp alternately better than almost any other home-grown timber. The coniferous trees just treated of are about the only kinds that can be recommended for profitable planting in this country. The Atlantic Cedar and Japanese Larch might be added to the list, but present experience will not justify us in bringing any of these prominently to notice. Twenty-five years ago, at the instigation of the then Earl of Derby, the writer formed several plantations on the Holwood Estate in Kent. At the outset it may be well to state that these plantations were not formed with the object of producing valuable timber, but rather for the ornamentation and privacy of the newly-acquired property. The trees used were the Scotch, Corsican, Austrian and Weymouth pines, Douglas fir, the larch, and several species of hardwoods. As all have succeeded well under exactly similar conditions, the following notes as to the rate of growth and production of timber, both of which are unusually great, during a period of twenty-five years may be instructive. Previously to being planted the land, which may best be described as a hungry loam on a gravelly subsoil and sheltered, was let out for rough grazing and the cultivation of strawberries and other fruit. The cost per acre of forming these plantations was:—