212 VEGETATION OF THE PEAK DISTRICT [CH. 
and, until the peat, which should first be removed, can be 
profitably utilized in some way, the cost of the initial labour 
on such soils would be such as to render any plantations un- 
profitable from a financial point of view. 
On the other hand, almost all the land which consists of 
calcareous grassland, and also much of the siliceous grassland 
dominated by the mat-grass (Vardus stricta), is fit, with a very 
small amount of preparatory labour, to be immediately put 
down to timber; and, if proper precautions be taken, there is 
no reason whatever why such plantations should not prove to 
be undertakings of a financially profitable nature. 
However, the numerous derelict plantations on the Pennines, 
even on the grasslands, prove conclusively that reasonable pre- 
cautions have frequently not been taken in the past; and this 
also applies not only to plantations laid down by private land- 
owners but also to some recent attempts at afforestation on 
the part of municipal corporations. It is frequently overlooked 
that afforestation of uncultivated uplands is a very different 
matter from the laying down of plantations in lowland localities 
with a more genial climate; and this aspect of the case is one 
which does not appear to have been scientifically investigated by 
English foresters. Again, many of the unsuccessful plantations 
are of small size; and small plantations on exposed uplands 
cannot be expected to prosper. In a large plantation, the trees 
within the plantation receive shelter from those at the margin ; 
but a small plantation is quickly devastated from end to end. 
Thirdly, the particular species of tree which is likely to flourish 
on the chosen site is frequently not sufficiently considered, 
although this would appear to be a matter of prime importance. 
One frequently finds in the decadent plantations at least a dozen 
species of trees and shrubs, some of which have never had any 
reasonable chance of reaching maturity; and it would appear 
that they have been obtained in an absurdly haphazard manner, 
from some lowland nurseryman. Other important precautions 
are often neglected; but enough has been said to indicate that, 
even on the more favourable sites, the afforestation of British 
uplands is a matter which must be undertaken in a more 
scientific spirit than has hitherto been the case if it has to 
have any reasonable probability of success. 
