IS BRITISH FORESTRY PROGRESSIVE ? 47 
there exist some two to three millions of acres of woods and 
plantations in Great Britain, the improvement of which deserves 
attention. Unfortunately for the discussion of this subject, the 
returns published by the Board of Agriculture do not show the 
purpose for which British woods are maintained, and no dis- 
tinction is made between game-preserves, ornamental woodland, 
and plantations ostensibly formed and tended for the production 
of timber. Indeed, the distinction between these three classes is 
probably so obscured by the points of view of individual pro- 
prietors, that, as regards the majority of them, it would be 
extremely difficult to decide under which heading they should be 
placed, although they are usually utilised for all three purposes. 
Many woods again owe their designation to the fact that a few old 
or stunted trees still remain scattered over the ground, the actual 
quantity of timber present being very small. Consequently a 
return of the nominal woodland area of Great Britain affords 
little indication of the extent of bond-fide plantations of timber 
trees. Generally speaking, however, while English woods are 
chiefly used and maintained as game-cover, plantations in Scot- 
land have been formed with a partial view to timber production, 
and are considered as of some economic importance. But here 
again there is a difficulty in discriminating between those which 
are managed with a definite view to profit, and those which are 
valued quite as much for the shelter they afford and the effect 
they produce on the landscape as for their timber-yielding 
capabilities. By far the larger proportion comes into the latter 
category. I believe that forestry pure and simple has but a 
very limited existence in British woods, Planting, thinning, and 
felling may go on with comparative regularity, and some system, 
more or less complete, may be apparent in the management of 
most estate woodlands; but the general idea which permeates the 
whole management of a state forest—namely, that of keeping the 
growing stock of the forest in as nearly as possible a normal or 
well defined ideal condition—is lacking in this country. No 
provision is made for maintaining a continuous and uniform 
yield, and where we find one estate on which the annual fall of 
timber over a series of years represents a comparatively constant 
sum, there are ninety-nine on which that sum fluctuates between 
wide limits. It is probably owing to this absence of uniformity 
that proprietors take so little interest in the financial aspect of 
their woods. They are more apt to regard the revenue they 
