REPORT ON A VISIT TO SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH FORESTS. 197 
possessed, besides 500,000 acres of natural forest, about 400,000 
acres of plantations. 
The year 1815 marks a pause in the work of replanting which 
had been so vigorously begun. We do not pretend to enter here 
into the various causes which led to this economical phenomenon, 
but it is certain that the laws of 1636, on the constitution of landed 
properties in Scotland, exercised a baneful influence on the rational 
cultivation of the soil. The Scottish Parliament in vain sought to 
counteract the Draconian regulations of these laws, the principal 
effect of which was to cause the proprietors to look on themselves 
as only life tenants of the entailed estates, and consequently to take 
but a very slight interest in the improvement of the soil and the 
augmentation of its pecuniary value. 
From the moment the planting ceased the area of woodland 
diminished, and necessarily so, for in any forest where sheep have 
free entrance the removal of a tree, whether by the axe of the wood- 
cutter or by the violence of the wind, causes an empty space which 
can only be refilled by resorting to artificial means. It is thus that 
the returns of 1872, as compared with those of 1812, show a 
diminution of some 200,000 acres in the area of forest land in 
Scotland. Whether it was a portion of the old natural forests or 
the newly planted ones that had disappeared during this period of 
60 years, the documents extant de not show. ‘There is, however, 
good reason to suppose that both suffered equally in this respect. 
For, on the one hand, the construction of the Highland Railway 
necessitated the employment of a large number of sleepers, which 
could be procured from the woods of from 50 to 80 years of age, 
along the line of route; and, on the other hand, the increased 
facilities of transport, and the scarcity of wood in England, gave an 
unexpected value to certain tracts covered with birch, and so 
tempted many of the proprietors to cut down the old forests com- 
posed of this species. 
In 1870 the work of replanting seems to have recommenced with 
increased ardour, and on all sides may be seen young plantations 
vigorously striving to fill up the gap which separates them from 
those of half a century’s standing. 
Such, in a few words, is a brief outline of the history of 
the forests which we have had the good fortune to visit, under 
the guidance of our excellent friend, Colonel Pearson. Thanks 
to the kind forethought of the authorities at the India Office, 
and to the hearty welcome which we everywhere received from 
