THE FORMATION OF PLANTATIONS. 93 
and the final cutting and disposal of the timber, they give 
employment to many hands, and at a time of the year when 
employment is often much needed. The formation of a plantation 
necessitates the performance of various operations in the way of 
draining, fencing, planting, etc., all of which give work to a large 
number of men, and also benefit more or less directly various 
tradesmen, railway companies, and others, according to the extent 
of the work. At the final cutting, again, in addition to the labour 
required for that operation, the manufacture and removal of the 
produce gives considerable employment to a large number. Woods 
also give rise to many minor industries in their immediate vicinity, 
such as hurdle-making, broom, clog, bobbin, and chair making, 
charcoal-burning, etc., while the more recent use of wood in the 
manufacture of paper may cause early thinnings to become of 
greater value than they have hitherto been. 
We thus see that woods of any kind play an important part in 
the prosperity of a rural district; but it is only when the true 
principles of forestry have been observed in their management 
that the greatest benefits derivable from plantations are obtained. 
It is a recognised fact that only timber of good quality and 
clean growth will command a fair price in the market; and if 
home-grown timber lacks these conditions, the merchant supplies 
himself with a better class of timber imported from abroad, 
thereby sending out of the country the money which might 
have been circulated within it. The question as to how long this 
importation of foreign timber may continue at its present rate is 
exercising the minds of many of our political economists of the 
present day, but it appears to be generally admitted by those best 
qualified to give an opinion, that if we should ever require to turn 
our own woods to account in the event of a timber famine, a more 
scientific and economical system of management will have to be 
adopted than has hitherto existed in this country. 
Laying off the Boundaries. 
When it has been definitely decided to form a plantation, the 
marking off of the boundaries should be the first operation to be 
performed. In planting old agricultural land, the existing size 
and shape of the fields are usually retained, except, perhaps, where 
the outlines are too formal or irregular, and require rounding off 
or otherwise modifying to suit the taste or requirements of the 
