194 STATE OF ARBORICULTURE IN NORTH LANCASHIRE. 
ton; stripping and drying costing from 45s. to 50s. per ton, 
according to the size of trees felled. 
Ornamental Arboriculture.—That there has been and still is a 
considerable taste for planting ornamental trees and shrubs, is 
proved by the varied collections to be seen at different places, 
chiefly Holker Hall, Parkhill, Quermore Park, Forton, Scorton, 
Wyreside, Ashton Hall, and many others, where the Araucaria 
imbricata, Cupressus Lawsoniana, Thujopis borealis, Picea Nord- 
manniana, Pinus cembra, Thuja Lobbi, and many others, all grow 
luxuriantly, and seem to suit the soil and climate of this county. It 
would prove very interesting to have a correct detail of all the trees 
grown upon different estates, both evergreen and deciduous, their 
variety, height, age, nature of soil, etc., but that would quite 
exceed the limits of a paper such as this. 
Future Prospects.—I have now noticed a few of the most pro- 
minent features of arboriculture in North Lancashire, and to the 
observant arboriculturist it will at once be seen that much requires 
to be done to put it upon an equal footing with some of the 
other counties in England. I shall now offer a few remarks upon 
the future prospects of arboriculture in the district, which must 
necessarily be speculative to a large extent. I may add that 
there is plenty of room for extending the acreage and improving 
the management of woodland property. 
There is much of the land, more especially in the hilly portions, 
yielding a very small rent to the proprietor, and were plantations 
judiciously formed upon it, not only would it yield a better rental, 
but the woods affording shelter to the adjacent land, both stock and 
crop, would be greatly benefited. Planting on any of the high 
altitudes of the county has not been much practised, but patches of 
trees here and there show that if they had been planted in larger 
masses, much better results would have been obtained. The fact that 
such plantations do exist is evident proof that on a larger and broader 
scale they would succeed in a greater degree, as it is a well-known 
fact that the greater the extent of land under a crop of trees the 
better will they succeed in it. Narrow belts and thin clumps 
planted on exposed situations are, comparatively speaking, worthless 
as shelter. 
In some of the agricultural districts there is always a tendency to 
speak of land occupied by plantations as so much ground lying 
waste. This no doubt is from a want of due consideration of the 
matter, agriculturists losing sight of the benefits conferred upon 
