Laiken Forest Records 1950s
The documents are courtesy of Inverness, Ross and Skye Forest District.
This early form of compartment records R11 and a few R12s for Laiken Forest in Nairnshire completed in great detail and small writing by an unknown forester provides a clear picture of the operations involved in establishing each compartment. The years run from 1950 to 1956 with two R12s showing a bit of thinning in some acquired woods.
The nursery origin and the identity of the young trees are recorded as well as the ground preparation methods. The site conditions, vegetation and history are also noted. There is a surprising number of beating up operations which indicates the problems the foresters had prior to the advent of good quality ground preparation by ploughing and trees were often directly planted into the surface of the ground or on small turfs. Due to the beating up operations being extended over many years, the number of hand weeding operations by hook also rose and the records indicate that some areas were weeded at least once, sometimes twice per year, for up to seven years.
Each record also has a small neatly hand drawn map of the compartment attached to the page showing the outline, where each species was planted and sub-compartment areas indicated by additional numbers added in red. The maps are drawn on blue linen paper.
Any details of the forester who wrote up these records would be very welcome and of any people who worked in the forest.
Groups: Forestry Records, Booklets and Reports, Maps of Forest and Woodland Areas