THE FORMATION OF PLANTATIONS. 91 
VII. The Formation of Plantations. By A. C. Forses, Assistant 
Forester, Lintmill, Cullen. 
Introduction. 
The great length of time which must ensue before any adequate 
return can be expected from newly-formed plantations in this 
country probably accounts for a great deal of the apathy and 
indifference with which the majority of landed proprietors look 
upon their waste ground and worn-out woodlands. Even the 
majority of those who do plant are probably actuated more by a 
desire to beautify their estates, provide shelter for game or against 
wind, and generally add to the value of their property, than with 
any definite idea that the money expended in planting and main- 
tenance will ever be repaid with interest. Although planting 
with the former objects in view is free from any objection from 
an esthetic standpoint, or when considered by themselves, yet it 
will be admitted by every one versed in rural economy that 
planting without due consideration of the profit and loss principle 
does not produce such satisfactory results as should be desired. 
Just as we find the careful and intelligent farmer, who carries on 
his business on strictly economical lines, more permanently 
benefiting himself and the country generally than the gentleman 
farmer who sinks hundreds of pounds in high-class and extrava- 
gant farming, so we can easily see that the proprietor who never 
throws money away in planting ground with unsuitable plants, or 
which is unsuitable for planting at all, will be more likely to 
permanently increase the value of his property, benefit the local 
population, and give a better appearance to his estate generally, 
than another who merely aims at producing game cover, or a mass 
of foliage which can only be called pleasing when viewed from a 
distance. 
In support of these ideas, we have only to visit such estates as 
those belonging to the Dukes of Athole, Portland, Bedford, Lords 
Mansfield, Seafield, Lovat, and many others in the United King- 
dom, and we find that their most attractive features, prosperous 
appearance, and influence on the local trade and population, are 
largely due to the careful and practical manner in which their 
woods have been managed for many years. 
