266 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Commission, of any parcel of the estate to be held subject to the provisions of 
this Act, for . . . the planting of trees, or the preservation of . . . woods or 
plantations. . . . (2) An advance in pursuance of this section may be of 
such amount as the Lord Lieutenant may sanction.” 
And under sect. 12 :— 
*¢(1) The Land Commission may take such steps and execute, or cause to 
be executed, such works as may appear expedient for the benefit or improve- 
ment of estatesZor untenanted land purchased or proposed to be purchased 
under this Act... .” 
If such a forestry branch be created under the President of 
the Board of Agriculture, one of its first obvious duties would 
be to arrange for the selection and enrolment, county by county, 
of all tracts of waste land, poor pasturage, or land out of cultiva- 
tion, which may appear to be more suitable for planting than for 
any other form of utilisation. This work could perhaps be 
most expeditiously performed by a committee consisting of three 
members, one of whom would be nominated by the County 
Council, one by the larger landowners, and one by the Board. 
This would very soon furnish tolerably complete data regarding— 
(1) The extent and the actual rental and capital value of all 
the poor land fit for planting; 
(2) The suitability of soil and climate ; 
(3) The prospects of disposing of timber favourably in the 
future; 
(4) And any and all other information likely to be of use with 
regard to planting, either by the State or by private 
persons. 
These records would be complete for each county, so that 
each case could be considered on its own particular merits. 
The next step required to be taken, after providing efficient 
departmental administration, is to provide funds (to whatever 
extent may seem necessary) for acquiring ! and planting land, and 
for assisting private owners to plant. It is not likely that there 
would be any difficulty in passing an Act to provide for the 
reclamation and planting of waste and other lands out of cultiva- 
tion, and in raising the money for a “Waste Land Planting 
1 Private landowners might, of course, object either to plant or to sell waste 
land suitable for planting. Such cases would be certain to occur in very large 
number. If, therefore, Parliament should decide that the welfare of the 
country demands the introduction of any national scheme of planting, legis- 
lation would be required to provide for the expropriation (on fair terms) of 
land wanted for planting, but not otherwise obtainable at fair market value 
based on past actual returns.—]J. N. 
