Photographs of Underplanting Experiment 1927-33
Photograph album is courtesy of Inverness, Ross and Skye Forest District and staff at their Fort Augustus office and contains images of one of the earliest fixed point photography processes used in the Forestry Commission.
This Divisional Experiment was set up in Glenurquhart Forest in Compartment numbers 47 and 48 during the year 1927 to study the effects of a mature birch over storey on Douglas fir which was planted under the birch canopy at 6 foot by 6 foot spacing. The whole plot was fenced off and divided into eight quarter acre plots with different treatments applied to six plots (No 1, 3-6 and 8) and two (No 2 and 7) remaining as untouched controls. This photograph is taken in Plot 3 and subsequent photographs taken in later years are shown in PDF.
The actual author of the process is not named but fixed point photography has been used to record the change to tree cover, vegetation and planted tree growth in each plot over a period of six years and fortuitously includes some people at a distance in each of the 85 photographs. The District Officer in charge of the area at the time was Frank Oliver and someone has at a later date added the names of the people participating in the photo events. They have been named as:
7/5/1927 Assistant District Officer – A Pardy
6/10/1927 Forester in Charge - Willie MacIntosh
7/5/1928 Forester in Charge - Willie MacIntosh
28/10/1928 Divisional Accountant – A D Palmer
26/5/1929 Banker from Inverness – Mr Fowler
3/11/1929 Forest Research Scotland – Mark L Anderson
25/5/1930 Banker from Inverness – Mr Fowler
14/10/1930 Forester in Charge - Willie MacIntosh
26/5/1931 Forester in Charge - Willie MacIntosh
23/10/1931 Forester in Charge - Willie MacIntosh
1/3/1933 Forester in Charge - Willie MacIntosh
The details of the experiment layout and execution along with a vegetation analysis of each plot and some correspondence are attached to the end of the PDF. The eight Picture Numbers that cover the album entries run from No 3134 to 3142.
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Groups: Forest Research, Forestry Areas, Forestry Records, Booklets and Reports