230 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBOKICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



I have also received from the Chief Engineer to the Metro- 

 politan Water and Sewerage Board of the State of Massachusetts, 

 chemical analyses which fully bear out the statements made by 

 the Secretary of Agriculture as to the excellence of the water 

 derived from forest areas. 



The Corporation of Livei-pool made a new departure in this 

 matter some six years ago, when they obtained the advice of Mr 

 W. R. Fisher, Assistant Professor of Forestry at the Royal 

 Engineering College, Coopers Hill, in regard to the management 

 of plantations on their Yyrnwy Watershed in North Wales. 

 The total area of these Yyrnwy plantations, old and new, is at 

 present over 600 acres. Nui'series have been established which 

 will enable the planting to be carried on more rapidly in the 

 future. There are to-day in these nurseries nearly 200,000 young 

 trees which are to be planted out dui-ing the coming season. If 

 this rate of planting can be maintained, and it is likely to be 

 continued for some years to come, it will be seen that the area 

 of plantations which I have given will soon be largely augmented, 

 the number of trees required to cover one acre being abovit 2700. 

 Lake Vyrnwy is nearly five miles in length, and the larger 

 plantations are near to the upper end, the nurseries being situated 

 near to the lower end. All the workmen employed reside below 

 the Dam, and therefore ofi' the Watershed, with the exception of 

 the Forester with one assistant, and their residence within the 

 area of the gathering-ground is accidental and temporary. In 

 order that the men may reach their work quickly and fresh, an oil- 

 launch has been provided, in which, when they are employed at the 

 upper end of the lake, they are carried to and from their work, so 

 that little time is lost or energy expended in travelling. This has 

 proved a very useful and inexpensive mode of transit, the launch 

 being useful for several other purposes. There is at the present 

 time a saw-mill belonging to the Corporation driven by steam- 

 power, which is used for sawing timber for general works and 

 estate purposes, and machinery has lately been ordered to utilise 

 the power of the compensation water from the Lake for genei'at- 

 ing electricity, so that in future the saw-mill will be operated by 

 an electric motor deriving its power from a dynamo driven by a 

 water turbine. This brings me to another important feature 

 connected with the afforestation of watersheds, namely, that on 

 these gathering-grounds, water-power is generally available, or 

 capable of being made available, without great expense, by which 



