THE BEECH FORESTS OF HESSE NASSAU. 57 
IV. The Beech Forests of Hesse Nassau. By GEORGE CaDELL, Esq., 
14 Canning Road, Addiscombe, Surrey. 
Waste LAND IN GREAT BRITAIN AVAILABLE FOR PLANTING. 
If I venture upon a subject which is not specially set as one of 
the essays for the year, it is because I am unwilling to believe that 
the words delivered in the address to the Society of last year will, 
like so many words upon the subject of forestry, fall fruitlessly on 
the ground. It is specially necessary to remember in connection 
with these words, that the area of land available for the planting 
of trees in Great Britain is not in the strict sense of the word hope- 
lessly waste. It is land which, owing to various causes—foreign 
competition, facilities and cheapness of transport, or, as some con- 
tend, the fluctuations of currency, or to a combination of these 
causes—can no longer be profitably occupied by ordinary agricul- 
tural crops. No less than 1,437,000 acres of land, which in 1869 
were devoted to the cultivation of wheat, have, we are told, ceased 
to be so occupied. They are, therefore, available for the cultivation 
of other crops, which, however unremunerative they may be as 
compared with wheat, may yet produce something, and when they 
are occupied by crops which do not exhaust, but, on the contrary, 
improve the bearing capacity of the soil, the argument, in case a 
different condition of matters arises, is very greatly strengthened. 
If no interest at all were obtained in the shape of yearly returns, 
the planting of such areas with trees would be amply justified by the 
enhanced value of the capital. The income derived from forests or 
woodland, in short, cannot be compared directly with the income 
derived from wheat or other annual produce. It is, I think, neces- 
sary to bear this very prominently in mind, otherwise the planting 
of waste lands, either in our own or other countries, is not very 
intelligible. 
Tue Strate Forests oF Hesse NAssAu. 
It was with a full recognition of this unobtrusive but valuable 
“improvement ” that I went over the beech forests of Nassau the other 
day in company with the Ober Forster in charge of the division. 
And while I have really nothing new to tell, no one with a love of 
forestry could go over the excellently administered forests of Prussia 
without either learning new lessons, or having old ones practically 
