FORESTRY IN BRITAIN DURING THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. 2f 



which ties the hands of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests 

 and the Deputy-Surveyor, yet much has been done within the 

 last ten years to make the Forest of Dean a good timber- 

 producing estate and a place of instruction in Forestry. 



There had apparently even been some talk of selling the Crown 

 rights in the Forest of Dean, because the Committee remarked 

 regarding it, that " possibly a larger income might be obtained 

 by the sale of the surface and the reinvestment of the proceeds; 

 but a difficult question would have to be dealt with in the purchase 

 of the right of commonage enjoyed by tenants and freeholders of 

 certain parishes. This would be detrimental to the welfare, and 

 repugnant to the feelings, of the inhabitants of the district; whilst 

 the destruction of the forest would be most regrettable." 



Instead of any sale being effected, or the Acts regarding 

 Arboriculture being repealed, a businesslike working-plan was 

 drawn up for the Forest of Dean in 1897 (see Transactions, 1898), 

 which now forms the Scheme of Management adopted. This 

 gave a general description of the forest, with details regarding the 

 various enclosures (in blocks and sub-blocks), and made definite 

 proposals for the future management. This forms the first in- 

 stance of a thorough and comprehensive working-plan, drawn up 

 more or less on the lines of the modern Continental system, being 

 applied to the management of one of the great Crown forests. 



A similar scheme was at the same time drawn up for the 

 Highmeadow Woods estate — adjacent to the Forest of Dean, 

 and also under the charge of the Deputy-Surveyor — extending 

 to about 3285 acres of enclosed woods, situated on both sides of 

 the river Wye between Ross and Monmouth. 



The objects with which these two working-plans were drawn 

 up were thus described in the Annual Report of Comtnissioners of 

 Woods and Forests, 1897 : — " For some time past I ha\e been 

 anxious to introduce into the Forest of Dean and the High- 

 meadow Woods a more scientific and systematic system of forest 

 cultivation than has hitherto been adopted. ... It is desired 

 not only to improve the prospective yield of the Forest, but also 

 to establish such a system of management as may serve those 

 who desire to study Forestry in this country with a good, practical 

 object-lesson, such as at the present time they have to go to 

 France or Germany to find." Long before this, however, the 

 Forest of Dean had already served some such purpose, because 

 " foresters entrusted with the management of private estates 



