1885.] m THE UNITED KIXGDOM. 37 



I. — TJir Selection of a District sidtaUc fur Afforesting. 



A great extent of the waste lands of the kingdom are from 

 elevation, exposure, and soil useless for tree-growing. The liigh 

 barren mountains of Scotland, the peat bogs of Ireland, and what is 

 waste of the ocean-lashed Hebrides, may be mentioned as land of 

 this kind. Heavy, low-lying wet lands, or cold mossy soils in 

 elevated and exposed situations, should be avoided. Not but that 

 even these subjects might be improved by planting, but the results 

 obtained would not be commensurate to the expenditure incurred in 

 preparing the soil by drainage, etc. The great central and eastern 

 plains of England, York, and Cheshire, together with tlie taljle- 

 lands of the North of England and the South of Scotland, are well 

 suited for growing trees of the hard-wooded sort. But for afforesting 

 on a large scale, the hillsides of Scotland north of the Firths of 

 Eorth and Clyde, and that of the north, west, and south of Ireland, 

 are the best suited subjects. In no department of his work is the 

 judgment of the planter more required than in the selection of sites 

 that will meet the requirements of our most profitable timber trees. 



II. — Proiicrtu enclosing the Land enibraccs as a matter of course the 

 Selection of a Line of Fence. 



The future welfare of a plantation is considerably affected by the 

 way in which the boundary-line is drawn, especially so on exposed 

 lands. 



In laying out the boundary-line, the planter should first of all 

 acquaint himself with the physical geography of the district, and 

 ascertain the points from which the cold and most destructive winds 

 blow. He then should lay the widest side of the enclosure (if the 

 site admits of that) in face of the prevailing wind, giving the 

 boundary-line on that side a bold convex form. Straight lines 

 should be avoided on exposed parts, as the storms strike upon them 

 with unbroken force ; but a line bent boldly outwards, as recom- 

 mended above, weakens the force of the wind by dividing it (if we 

 may use the term) and driving it to right and left. And if it be 

 found unavoidable to have a bend with the concavity to the storm, 

 it should be made, if possible at all, in a hollow between two hills 

 where the line on either side projects well out. 



There are now so many methods of enclosing plantations, that it 

 would occupy too much of our space to describe them all. We vrill 

 therefore confine ourselves to those we consider the most economical 

 and serviceable. If shelter for young plants be an object, as is almost 

 always the case on exposed lands, we would unhesitatingly, if stones 



