REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON FORESTRY. 131 
north of England pretty well, do you not?” “ Yes.”—‘‘ Are there 
not great slopes of land, that are now comparatively idle, which 
would afford suitable situations for growing timber upon a large 
scale?” ‘T believe so.” 
** May I ask if you know or are familiar with the rules laid down 
by scientific foresters of very great experience in all countries as to 
the extent of land which ought to be in any country under timber, 
in order to afford the requisite protection of all kinds—shelter, 
water supply, and so forth—to the rest of the country?” “That 
would vary in different situations, and under different circum- 
stances. The need for shelter, for example. In India we are in 
the habit of reserving the forest on the upper third of the moun- 
tains ; that is to say upon the crest, for rainfall and other pur- 
poses. Narrow belts would not succeed financially where there is 
a great extent of fencing. Square blocks and plantations upon 
the banks of navigable rivers would financially answer very much 
better.” —“‘Is there not a general consensus amongst the chief 
forest authorities in Europe and America, where the subject has 
been very closely studied within the last fifty years, that from a fifth 
to a fourth of the country ought to be under forest, for the realisation 
of the best conditions for the rest of the country?’ “Yes, it is so 
stated as necessary to keep up the natural equilibrium.”—“ You 
would, then, say that that might be taken now as a pretty well 
established law, in which the great forest authorities are well 
agreed, that from a fifth to a fourth of any country should be 
covered in timber in order to protect the rest?” “ I understand 
that that is the opinion of many persons of sound judgment and 
reliability.” — May I ask you now, after a lifetime devoted with 
great success to the cultivation of forests, whether you do not con- 
cur in that view?” ‘I think it is reasonable, and I concur in it 
as ageneral rule. There are certain districts and places to which 
you could not make the same rule apply always, but I think it 
might be admitted as a reasonable proportion.” 
“Ts it not also generally understood that, under the process of 
denudation of the land, the waste of the nutrient soil is constantly 
going on where the country is not protected by forests?” “The 
effects of denudation, both in Eastern and European countries, are 
very serious.”—‘“‘ Is it consistent with your own observation that 
denudation has been going on in England, as well as in Scotland, 
Wales, and Ireland, to a very large extent, since this country was 
disafforested two or three centuries since?” ‘TI have been very 
VOL. XI., PART II. K 
