290 



PLANTATIONS AND HOME NURSERIES 

 COMPETITION, 1911. 



Out of a total of fifty entries in the above Competition, twenty- 

 two were plantations, twenty-one home nurseries, and seven 

 estates. This number is twice as large as in either of the two 

 previous years. A great deal of interest was manifested by 

 estate owners, agents, and foresters, and the Local Committee 

 had evidently worked hard to obtain the maximum number of 

 competitors. More entries came from Norfolk than from the 

 other two eligible counties, there being thirty-three entries 

 from it, as compared with thirteen from Suffolk and four from 

 Cambridgeshire. There were entries in every class, and only 

 in two cases was it felt that a second prize could not suitably 

 be awarded. 



The majority of the classes are similar to those of previous 

 years, the only considerable alteration being the appearance in 

 the entry forms of a new section for estates as a whole. The 

 Committee is to be congratulated on striking out on a new 

 line, which appears to have been immediately successful, as a 

 keen competition resulted. It is, however, worth consideration 

 whether in future years it would not be advisable to include 

 less than appears on the schedules under the Estates Class. At 

 present the section is open for woodland properties " not less 

 than 1,000 acres in area, the Judges to take into accoiyit the 

 production of timber, ornamental planting, planting for sporting 

 purposes, and improvement of residential amenities, and proper 

 management of hedgerow timber." To give proper attention 

 to all these points entails much labour on the part of the Judges. 

 As it happened, it was not difficult in the recent competition 

 for the Judges to decide between the merits of the different 

 estates on the matters mentioned, but as this might not always 

 be the case, an alteration is suggested. In future it may be 

 better to confine the attention of the Judges to the condition of 

 the woods and plantations alone. 



The full list of the Awards will be found in the Appendix, 

 pp. cxxv. and cxxvi. 



For purposes of comparison we shall discuss the competition 

 classes in the order in which they appear in the Official List. 

 Class I. — " Plantation mainly of hardwoods 5 to 30 years old, 

 not less than G acres in extent, restricted to landowners 

 with more than 300 acres of woodland." 



The hardwood plantations were not quite satisfactory. The 

 old system of growing l)road-leaved trees among conifers — the 

 latter being intentled to act as " nurses " — is still very largely 

 practised ; indeed, all of those entered were of this mixed 

 composition. The hardwoods might have grown well had it 



