ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL INDUSTRY OF FORESTRY. I 35 



20. A Scheme for Establishing a National Industry of 



Forestry. 



By A Correspondent. 



Proprietors as a class seem now to be sufificiently awake to 

 the profit and advantage to be derived from a well-considered 

 scheme of silviculture, but nevertheless we see throughout 

 Scotland very little evidence of any general development of 

 what may be called Commercial Planting. There are few pro- 

 prietors of large estates interested in their improvement who can- 

 not point out considerable parts of their property which might 

 profitably be devoted to growing timber, without material. injury 

 to the farms but with advantage to the rest of the estate, through 

 giving shelter and adding beauty. Some proprietors will add 

 the remark that they would rather have trees to deal with than 

 tenants. The former never grumble — if they have complaints 

 they keep them to themselves ; there is no fear of their agitating 

 for troublesome legislation ; and if there is too big a stock of 

 game, no ill-feeling is bred. 



Why is it that so little commercial planting is being done in 

 Scotland in spite of these advantages in the eyes of the land- 

 lord, and in spite of the small net return now to be got from 

 farming land of inferior quality ? The reason is not far to seek. 

 There are few proprietors who can afford to sink capital in plant- 

 ing, and fewer still who, if they can afford it, are inclined to part 

 with their money in the certainty that they will get little or none 

 of it back, however great may be the return to their successors 

 at some remote date. 



Nor can we wonder. Few proprietors who have money in 

 addition to land will incline to reduce their incomes for the rest 

 of their lives by investing it in a private enterprise which cannot 

 possibly yield them any return ; and fewer of those who have 

 land and no money will choose to burden themselves with the 

 interest charges and expenses which will be the only outcome to 

 them of sinking a large sum in planting — for commercial plant- 

 ing can only really be successful on large areas of ground, even 

 if the plantations are gradually formed. Indeed, it might, in 

 many cases, be rather an additional burden than a relief, that 

 the money expended in planting would have to be borrowed in 

 instalments. Apart from the interest charges, a hard-up laird 



