176 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
State forests throughout the country. The system in which they 
have been introduced is chiefly in strips in uneven-aged woods. 
That is to say, astrip 50 to 60 yards wide is cleared in the inside 
of a wood, and after the necessary preparation of the ground, the 
exotics are put in in the ordinary way, and with the usu i degree 
of density, probably two to three feet apart, according to the size of 
the transplants. Each species, as a rule, is kept in sections by 
itself, and is treated as ordinary forest growth. Their commercial 
qualities as timber under ordinary sylvicultural treatment will 
thus be ultimately fairly demonstrated. Those that appeared to 
be of a promising character were Pseudotsuga Douglasi, Picea 
sitchensis, Betula lenta, Prunus serotina, and Larix leptolepsis. 
It may not now be out of place to bring some of the hints that 
may be gathered from the foregoing pages to bear on British 
Forestry, so that those desirous of seeing a better system intro- 
duced may find no difficulty in their application. 
The results financially and otherwise of afforestation works 
depend on their initial cost, the adaptation of the plants to the 
soil, the manner in which the operations have been conducted, and 
the subsequent management of the growth obtained. Whether 
any improvement in our methods of afforestation or regeneration is 
desirable, is a matter on which opinions may differ, but there can 
be no difference of opinion on the necessity, especially with purely 
sylvicultural crops, that the burdens in connection with the initial 
cost should be as light as possible. Fencing is, of course, one of 
those burdens which is inevitable, and when it has to be of a 
vermin-proof character the burden is a serious one. If such 
expense, therefore, is necessary, the cost should be charged 
against the department which causes the necessity, and not form 
an addition to the cost of formation of the woods. In these 
respects such cost in regard to Prussian forests does not apply, 
as little or no fencing is necessary. 
As to the matter of plants, the forester should, perhaps, rely 
more than hitherto upon his own resources for raising and main- 
taining the necessary supply; and where circumstances are 
favourable, or where they could be made so at a moderate outlay, 
seeding could be adopted instead of planting, so that fewer 
nursery plants would be required. The question of preparing 
the ground, either for stocking with plants or with seeds, should 
receive greater attention. In afforesting fresh ground with a 
tough, compact surface, or where a strong vegetation exists, it 
