THE CONDITION OF FORESTRY IN BRITAIN. 171 



hilly. Ben Nevis occurs in it, and the main valleys lie at a height 

 varying between 800 and 1500 feet. Extremely little wood is 

 carried upon this wide tract of land. For hours one travels 

 through it seeing nothing but heather-covered hills and perhaps 

 a few black-faced sheep; no tree, no shrub, no road — waste land 

 in the strictest sense of the word. Farther north, again, the land 

 Assumes a less mountainous character ; it is more densely popu- 

 lated, and near the East Coast is in part very fertile. South of 

 Carlisle and Newcastle broad-leaved trees, particularly beech and 

 oak, predominate; whereas to the north of this line, Scots pine, 

 alternating with old larch, is more plentiful. In the Perth district, 

 broad-leaved species practically find their northern limit, except on 

 the sheltered lower-lying lands of the east. 



Most of the present practically treeless regions of Scotland have 

 been well wooded at one time. In the peat moors there ai-e tree 

 «tumps and other fragments of primeval forest. The original 

 woods have obviously been despoiled largely in the feuds between 

 Scottish clans and in the greater wai"s. Immediately they had 

 become the refuge for a scattered army, the hand of destruction 

 was laid upon them. Undoubtedly this accounts in great part for 

 their disappearance ; but another cause, more gradual in its effects, 

 is found in the extension of pasturage and the utilisation of the 

 timber, unfollowed by restocking. It appears to me, further, that 

 peat bogs, which in valleys and depressions are seen to be increas- 

 ing, have had their influence upon forest vegetation. Before their 

 advance, the area under trees has receded, a fact that I think has 

 not received sufficient attention. 



In the Scots pine woods owned by the Countess of Seafield, 

 where there is an area of about 25,000 acres under trees, the very 

 capable forest manager, Mr Grant Thompson, who has been upon 

 the estate for forty-three years, informed me that in consequence 

 •of the growth of heath plants, natural regeneration of the pine, on 

 many parts where it was formerly carried out with ease, is now 

 effected with great difficulty, or is wholly impossible. It would 

 seem that this must have occurred to a much greater extent 

 on the ancient virgin forest lands. Under such circumstances, the 

 practice of driving in sheep, immediately before regeneration is 

 about to take place, appears a very proper one. The sheep keep 

 the heather short, and by their treading action, the formation of 

 thick layers of raw humus is checked. 



It cannot be said that British woods make a very favourable 

 impression upon the visitor. The stamp of systematic forest 



