AFFORESTATION OF CATCHMENT AREAS. 29 



exposed position 1400 to 1500 feet above sea-level. A favourable 

 opportunity for planting on a somewhat larger scale and in a good 

 position will shortly occur when possession of some additional land 

 is obtained, and it is proposed to plant some 20 acres annually. 



Denaent Valley. — The Derwent Valley Water Board, after 

 obtaining the advice of Professor Somerville, of Oxford Uni- 

 versity, have undertaken the planting of 38 acres of land in 

 five separate plantations, and the work is now in progress. 

 About 2 acres have been set aside for a nursery. 



Plymouth. — The catchment area of the Plymouth Corpora- 

 tion covers 5360 acres, of which 348 acres (116 water) are 

 freehold. No planting has been done since 1904, but before 

 that date two attempts were made on a small scale to plant 

 trees on the land owned by the Corporation surrounding the 

 reservoir. These attempts, however, were only partially suc- 

 cessful, failures being due to several reasons: — (i) Rabbits, 

 which played havoc with the young larch; (2) neglecting 

 to cut down the undergrowth, which tends to choke the plants ; 

 (3) the shallowness of the soil in places immediately overlying 

 the rock ; and (4) fires from passing locomotives. Where the 

 trees were well planted and survived for two or three seasons 

 they have grown well, but in one case 50,000 larch were planted 

 of too small a size, and more than half of these have disappeared. 



Torquay. — The catchment area of the Torquay Corporation 

 Waterworks is 2241 acres, of which 105 acres were woodland in 

 1904, The Torquay water engineer, Mr. S. C. Chapman, states 

 that since that date the afforestation work has consisted prin- 

 cipally in rearing young trees for future use. The total area 

 planted has been 24! acres, consisting of 4^ acres of oak and 

 ash mixed, and 2oi acres of larch and Scots pine. With the 

 exception of the oak and ash, which were purchased at 27s. 6d. 

 per 1000, the trees have been taken from the Corporation's own 

 nurseries. The establishment of the nurseries has proved of 

 great advantage, as there is not only a saving in cost, but the 

 trees do better, as at planting only a few hours elapse between 

 the time the trees are removed from the nurseries and the time 

 they are placed in the ground in their permanent positions. The 

 seedlings are purchased at 2s. 6d. to 3s. per thousand, and are 

 planted close together in rows 2 feet apart. The total outlay 

 till they are ready for planting out is estimated at 15s. per 

 1000, made up as follows : — Seedling larch or Scots pine, 



