History of Inverliever Forest 1907 - 1951
This history possibly largely written by Jock Chrystall is courtesy of David Jardine, West Argyll Forest District.
This historically important record will be of major interest to historians and those interested in the early histories of forestry on the uplands of Scotland. Inverliever was one of the United Kingdom Crown Forests and first established in 1907 but was transferred to the newly formed Forestry Commission in 1920. This forest and that at Corrour (see No 3356) under Sir John Stirling Maxwell were certainly the forerunners in the difficult and daunting task of establishing commercially viable forests on the exposed lower fertility soils and peats of upland Scotland. The desperately slow growth rates, many failures and intermittent successes would have daunted all but the most resolute and hopeful.
Below are excerpts written by Roy L Robinson (Lord Robinson) in 1951 and also his reports written in 1923 on Inverliever and Corrour which give some flavour of the uncertainties and understandings of upland forestry establishment at those times. The full history can be accessed on the attached PDF (small button on bottom right of image).
HISTORY OF INVERLIEVER FOREST
Chairman's Comments
Inverliever is one of the "ex-Crown" forests where I and those gradually associated with me up to the establishment or the Forestry Commission studied with the greatest care problems of British forestry and afforestation. Among others which are in some degree similar are Hafod Fawr (North Wales) and the Isle of Man Plantations; and also Corrour (Sir John Stirling Maxwell).
Boyd, the first Forester at Inverliever, came from Corrour. He was a very intelligent and experienced man and with Crosfield (my first District Officer) laboured valiantly at the tough problems which faced us. My direct responsibility for work at Inverliever ceased early in the first world war. Crosfield carried on until he died in 1919 and Boyd until his death in 1920. When the Commission was established Inverliever was transferred to the Assistant Commissioner for Scotland. I continued to visit the forest at frequent intervals until 1951. The Headquarters file 394/27 contains a number of detailed reports of inspections.
In 1923 I wrote the attached note on the early history of the forest and also that on Corrour. I was concerned at the time that proper use was not being made of the experience gained at Inverliever so that the original errors were being repeated elsewhere in Scotland. Attached to those two notes in the Headquarters file and now reproduced (Appendix III) is the original ecological/afforestation table drawn up for guidance in choice of species.
I desire to stress the point that Inverliever is and will continue to be a pilot scheme for many other forests.
R. 4.5.51
INVERLIEVER
Inverliever was acquired as an experiment on large scale afforestation at a time (1907) when afforestation was in the air. It was thought to be reasonably typical of large areas of waste land in the West of Scotland. The acquisition was made on the basis of somewhat superficial reports which stated that practically the whole area was plantable with Scots pine. The first year's planting was made hurriedly in 1909-10 without detailed examination of the ground and a considerable proportion of Scots pine was used on the poorer types of ground, but the forester (Boyd) had already recognised that it was not Scots pine ground and Norway spruce was used to a large extent. In subsequent years Scots pine was dropped and Norway spruce and Sitka spruce were planted on the poor ground, with occasional experimental areas of mountain pine and other species.
I first saw the area as a visitor in 1910 when inspecting the country-side for larch saw-fly but in 1912 at the invitation Mr. Runciman (President of the Board of Agriculture) and Sir Stafford Howard, I was invited to report on operations. I pointed out broadly that large scale operations on the poor peaty and exposed ground had far outstripped contemporary experience and that much money might have been saved:
(a) By more careful surveys of the estate before acquisition and planting.
(b) By a considered scheme of experimental work in place of the large scale hit-and-miss planting on poor ground.
The estate was placed in my charge in the middle of the 1912/13 planting season and beyond stopping planting on some bad ground at the top of Block VI no change was made. As it happened the planting of Blocks 1 - VI completed the land in hand for Arichamish farm, and for various reasons it was determined to take up Barmaddy and Cruachan farms. The land was to be surveyed well in advance of planting and only those parts which presented reasonable expectations of producing good-sized timber were to be planted. The real difficulty was to find a safe basis for classifying the poor land. It was clear that two factors, viz. soil and exposure, played a leading part in limiting tree growth, while in all probability the existing vegetation was important first in its effect on the establishment of young trees and second as an indicator of the character and condition of the soil itself and therefore (in conjunction with exposure) of the probable productivity of the locality. The ecological side of this matter was gradually developed by Messrs. Crosfield (who took over the direct management in 1914) and Boyd, and though neither was an expert botanist the method undoubtedly proved very useful. Mr. Boyd summarised his experiences in the attached statement (Appendix III) shortly before his death in 1920. This statement was not to be regarded as the ultimate criterion in the classification of land but was to be used in conjunction with other environment factors such as exposure.
Regarded as a large scale operation I have little to add to my early views. It is necessary to restrict planting operations within the limits of contemporary success on similar ground; outside these limits operations should proceed cautiously on an experimental basis.
Viewing the planting of poor land as a large scale experiment the out¬standing feature is the behaviour of the spruces (Norway and Sitka). Areas which at the age of 4-5 years looked hopeless are gradually improving ten years later and will probably succeed. The process of improvement is very gradual. Groups of trees for one reason or another get away and the improvement spreads (particularly on the leaward side) to neighbouring trees until, it is hoped, the whole area is completely canopied. On the other hand areas apparently similar at the earlier age have now passed into an even more hopeless condition. The reasons are not apparent, but it is clear that success with spruce in the check stage on poor ground hangs on a very fine thread - whether mycelial or otherwise.
There are a great number of points of interest - such as the rapid decimation of Abies pectinata by Chermes - but broadly speaking the main interest in Inverliever to me is the object lesson which it provides on two points:
(1) Procedure in selecting and acquiring land for afforestation.
(2) The concrete alignment of the problems which occur as soon as we begin planting on other than "clean" ground.
R.L.R. May 16 1923
CORROUR
The work at Corrour differs from that at Inverliever in the respect that whereas the latter has gone forward over good and poor land as if the whole were undoubtedly a commercial undertaking, at Corrour it has been recognised from the outset that conditions were very difficult and every apparent avenue to success has been explored or opened up for exploration. This applies alike to methods of afforestation and to species. The poor land at Inverliever is the subject for comparison with Corrour generally.
The comparison does not appear to be all in favour of the former. Corrour plantations undoubtedly have a much greater elevation (1,300 ft. - 1,800 ft. against say 500 ft. - 900 ft. ) and a more severe winter climate, but their exposure to the prevailing south-west winds is considerably less.
It is noticeable for example how little a species like larch has been affected by wind at Corrour. The effects of exposure are further reduced in the case of the more recent plantings by the fact that the planting areas are small and surrounded by Scots pine plantations 10 ft. - 25 ft. high. It is difficult to say whether there is anything to choose between the soils and the soil vegetations of the two places. Peat is all prevailing and it is to a large extent a matter of conjecture as to the depth and character of the mineral soil. My impression is that there is deeper and more open soil under the peat in most places at Corrour. As regards soil vegetation it should not be difficult to match any set of conditions at one place with those at the other.
Fundamentally, therefore, the value of the work at Corrour lies in the demonstration of what can be done on mountain peat of various kinds. The problem has been approached from two points:
(1) By providing artificial stimulus to Sitka and Norway spruce and to Abies nobilis at the time of planting or soon after planting in the expectation that if the young plants can be induced to grow during the first few years they will then be placed in a condition to look after themselves.
This has taken the form of applying a mixture of basic slag and sand to the roots or on the surface of the peat.
(2) By ameliorating the soil and general conditions by silvicul-tural means. This has taken the form of providing a foregrowth of (mountain) pine which prepared the way for Sitka spruce etc.
Time alone will show whether either or both of these methods will yield spruce (fir) timber of commercial dimensions but so far as I can judge from visits at intervals of two years there has been generally a distinct and gradual improvement in the condition of the plantations.
In the course of these visits to Inverliever and Corrour a number of spruce plants and two Abies nobilis have been dug up and their roots dissected. The Inverliever spruce showed that the circular spade method of planting the original roots of the spruce did little more than keep the plant alive. The plant proceeded at once to throw out from the collar long new surface roots, and so long as these roots were merely growing in length, the plant remained in the check stage. With the formation of "sinker roots" on the underside of the long roots the tree proceeded to put on longer leading shoots, until with the completion of the canopy and the death of all surface vegetation the peat becomes matted with surface roots from which numerous "sinkers" dip down to the limit of the oxidised peat.
In the case of Abies nobilis surface roots are formed but to nothing like the same extent, the main mass of an extremely bushy system penetrating the peat at an angle of perhaps 45°. It appeared that the more vigorous tree had simply developed the more bushy root system.
Where basic slag is applied to the roots it appears that the check stage is shorter with spruce which lives by means of its primary roots on the salts. It is not clear to what extent secondary "collar" roots are developed during this period. When this food is exhausted the spruce appears to enter on a second check stage which presumably continues until the formation of "collar’’ roots, "sinkers" and the canopy are complete. It is probable that a more intensive study of the character of root-systems would yield useful information.
Mr. Laing's researches on roots have demonstrated the importance of the fungus associates and indicate the necessity of further fundamental botanical researches on the subject.
As regards the relative values of Norway and Sitka spruces for peat planting, I am inclined to think that under the conditions at Corrour the Norway spruce is likely to prove the better. The Sitka gets away quicker and grows more quickly to begin with perhaps but its branch and needle development is relatively poor. Thus as in the case of one or two groups which have closed tip on the north side of the loch the trees, which should now be developing freely are not altogether promising. This appearance is due in part to an attack of Aphis but mainly to the very small crowns. It may very well be possible to improve them by thinning since the stand is extremely dense. On such a poor soil it is clearly necessary to give the individual stems ample growing space.
It does not appear to me that the discussions have done much to clear up the relations of surface vegetations to plantability beyond indicating that the subject is likely to prove very complex on closer examination. It must not be lost sight of, however, as in practice most foresters are guided to a considerable extent by the vegetation.
R.L.R.
May 16th, 1923.
Please see Picture No 4183 to view John Boyd's tree species selection table guided by vegetation type. This is missing from this history document.
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