1884.] IN CUMBERLAND. 25 



riag fence, exclusive of a detached property situated in Bewcastle, 

 comprising in tlie wliole 26,000 acres. The agent, M. Brown, Esq., 

 has had the management of tliis large property for over forty years, and 

 during that time, by his able management, and a large outlay on the 

 part of the proprietor, with the assistance of an industrious class of 

 tenantry, many important improvements by draining, planting, and 

 building have been effected, and at the same time the value of the 

 property has much increased. The plantations are a conspicuous 

 embellishment to the estate. Besides being fairlj' remunerative, 

 they have been very judiciously planted for its requirements — for 

 shelter on exposed situations, on inferior soils, and on banks and in 

 ravines unfit for cultivation. The enclosed plantations cover an 

 area of 2800 acres, exclusive of clumps, park, and hedgerow trees. 

 They are planted in large masses over the whole estate, and are still 

 being extended from year to year. Tlie great bulk of the land so 

 planted would not be worth more than from 5s. to 7s. 6d. per acre for 

 farming purposes, and with the cost of drainage added, viz. 7s. per 

 acre, would make the rent 12s. to 14s. 6d. per acre. As it lias 

 been often asserted that woods do not pay, I think it will not be out 

 of place if, after being engaged for over forty years in arboricultural 

 pursuits, I give a short account of my experience, more especially as 

 during the twenty-eight years throughout which I have had the 

 charge of the plantations, the system of management practised in 

 them has always met with the approval of the proprietors. In the 

 first place, when it has been decided to plant up old woodland which 

 has previously borne a crop, or plant new land, it is necessary to put 

 the fences into good and turnable order by planting with thorn, or 

 beech, and protecting with a three or four bar railing in front. The 

 fences enclosing the plantations on the Netherby estate reach nearly 

 300 miles, and in my opinion a thorn or beech fence when well 

 cut and kept is the most effective ; but if hares and rabbits are 

 numerous, it suffers much from eating and peeling, and should be 

 superseded by a wire fence. In the next place, it is absolutely 

 necessary to drain all wet portions of land intended to be planted, 

 in ^ order to secure a healthy and remunerative crop. In fact, I 

 consider it to be as imperative to drain land for a crop of trees as it 

 is to drain for any of the cereal crops, with this difference only, that 

 the drains in woodlands need not be cut so deep and set with tiles as 

 in arable land. The usual plan for woodland draining is to cut open 

 drains 2^ feet wide at top and 2 to 2^ feet deep, and from 8 to 12 

 yards apart, according to the wetness of the land, and afterwards to 

 clean and scour them out after every thinning of the plantation, at the 

 same time laying off and making all necessary roads and drives for 

 the removal of the produce, and for the enjoyment of the p)roprietor. 



