412 TB^SSACTIOKS OF BOTAL SCOTTISH ABBOEICCLTUEAL SOCIETY. 



extent of these coantries, even su|»posLng our present import 

 of timber to safier no diminution. From this it is evident that 

 even with a largelj extended area our forests cannot be expected 

 to famish a com{Jete substitute for coal, although they might 

 assist to a considerable extent. 



A fourth factor which has exerted, and is still exerting, an 

 important influence upon our system of Forestry, is game. There 

 can exist no doubt about this being the factor whcse modifying 

 influences are most felt at the present time ; those of the others 

 may be more powerful, but sae less apparent. Let us look for 

 a little at the part played by game in British Forestry. In 

 the first place the presence of ground-game, to the extent we 

 almost always meet with it here, precludes any great hope of 

 soooess attending attempts at the natural regeneration of oar 

 woods and fwests, or their artificial regeneration by Bowing. 

 One need not go the length of saying that the reoewal of wood- 

 lands by natoral or artificial sowing is always the best method 

 to adopt, but where circumstances interpose a barrier to prevent 

 these methods being employed in cases where theiy would other- 

 wise be oonsid^^ advantageous, llien, of course, action is 

 hamp^'ed, and ultimat^y some other system must ]>e adopted, 

 which, had the conditions been different, would bare been con- 

 »dered quite inferior. Where practicable, the natural regeneration 

 system is the most rational and economical system, and gives the 

 best resolto. I will not encroach upon your time by adducing 

 figures to prove that timber yielded by naturally renewed foi-ests 

 is bett«' than that yielded by such as have been artificially 

 {danted, bat one or two reasons may be indicated to explain why 

 it is so. Where tiie parent trees are mature and healthy, very 

 large quantities of seeds are shed, annually or periodically, far 

 more, indeed, than are actually required for restocking the 

 groand. Although an immi^ise number of the seeds [lerisb, still 

 a sufficient number germinate to produce a dense covering of 

 young plants, and in this way the moisture in the soil is protected 

 against evaporation due to direct insolation, or to drying winds. 

 To the «bading of the ground is also to be attributed an increase 

 in its fertility, for nitrification is hardly of less importance in 

 Forestry than in Agriculture. The beneficial efft?cts uix)n tree- 

 growth which accompany a comfdete shading of the ground are 

 far greater than would be considered possible by those who had 

 ■fut watched the resoltei This is a matter whose importance is 



