THE BEECH FORESTS OF HESSE NASSAU. 59 
ing an acre of wood appeared to average about two (£2) pounds 
sterling, as under,—three thousand plants were put in each acre, at 
an average contract price of 13s. 6d. per thousand. Of this fact also 
I make a present to the statistician, begging him to note my cour- 
tesy in giving him without circumlocution the comparative cost in 
plain figures. But so much depends upon the size of the area 
planted, its accessibility by waggon-roads or otherwise, that while 
the above figures have a charming simplicity, their application to 
British soil would, or might be, very misleading. 
I have been talking hitherto of the Government forests of Hesse 
Nassau, grown, let it be further noted, on most favourable condi- 
ditions of soil, a loamy clay mixed with sand ; and while these 
occupy by far the greater proportion of the land under wood, yet its 
administration and government into which I need not here enter, offer 
no lessons to the British official—for within the limits of our own 
Crown forests there are “rights” which fetter in no small degree 
the free action of their nominal rulers. I think it well therefore to 
pass on to a different matter, viz., the administration of communal 
and private forests in Hesse Nassau, for here we may possibly find 
lessons and borrow examples, which may be useful to us in Great 
Britain, where our forests, for the most part, are in the hands of 
private individuals. 
CoMBINED EFrorts oF STATE AND PEOPLE IN Nassau To PLANT 
Waste LAnps. 
It is very certain that if we are ever able to inaugurate a useful 
system of forestry in this country, it will be by reciprocal help—the 
help of the landed proprietors in placing their woods at the disposal 
of the Government for such time as may be agreed on ; the help of 
the State in affording facilities for planting and professional advice. 
Exactly such a system obtains in this part of Prussia. Not only 
does the State help in the planting of any land that is or may 
become waste, but all the forests of the country belonging to muni- 
cipalities or to private individuals are administered in accordance 
with the advice of the forest officer of the district. Nay more, they 
may not be administered otherwise. The State prevents the waste 
of their property by private individuals, as well as assists in its main- 
tenance, and it does this in the interest of the public good. 
Granted that the same pressing reasons for such action do not 
exist in Great Britain, it cannot be for the interest of the public 
