THE VALUE OF WASTE LAND FOR AFFORESTATION PURPOSES. 155 
about eight miles from Ashgill, in the upper valley of the Tees, and 
is the property of Lord Bernard. The class of land resembles in 
every respect that round Ashgill, and the chief difference between 
the two plantations is one of size, Langdon Beck being not more 
than twenty acres in extent, and, consequently, more affected by 
wind than many parts of Ashgill. 
Before placing any value upon the figures which relate to the 
above-mentioned centres, it is necessary to remember that they 
refer to sample plots which were selected on account of the excep- 
tionally thick crops which stood upon them, and which were as 
near the maximum carrying capacity of the soil as possible. They 
must not be regarded, therefore, as indicating the volume or value 
of an average crop of the same age and species actually growing 
on the soil and situation, but rather as a proof that such a crop is 
possible where the conditions are fairly uniform, and correspond to 
those under which the sample plot was grown. 
Another point to remember is the fact that no information was 
obtainable which would show the actual volume removed from the 
plots in previous thinnings. In some cases, especially in the 
younger plots, this would be so small that it may safely be ignored 
altogether. In others, it would probably place quite a different 
value upon the soil for timber-growing to that indicated by the 
figures given. One point, however, seems to be brought out fairly 
clearly, and that is that two crops of the same age may have practi- 
cally the same volume on the ground, although growing on soils 
and situations varying considerably in quality. The difference 
between a good and bad sylvicultural locality appears to lie in the 
large size to which individual trees attain, and the increased volume 
of the thinnings, which have resulted in the greater reduction of 
the stems per acre at the maturity of the crop in the former. The 
average annual increment of the standing crop alone, therefore, 
must not be regarded as a true guide to the value of the locality 
for timber-growing, as the market value of a cubic foot will prob- 
ably be greater where the individual trees are large than where 
they are small, other things being equal. The most valuable guide 
in this point, so far as the standing crop alone is concerned, is prob- 
ably the average height-growth to which the trees have attained 
in a given time and under similar sylvicultural conditions, and this 
point is of special importance in connection with comparative state- 
ments of British and German sample plots. 
Factors OF LOCALITY. 
The second method of valuing land for timber production is 
one which, under present conditions, is probably of greater utility 
than that of sample plots, although the one should be a con- 
firmation of the other. But the area of mountain land, or that 
of a similar character to the waste land of the country which 
already carries a crop of timber-trees, is so insignificant that the 
intending planter has little opportunity to take existing planta- 
tions as a guide in making a choice of species or deciding 
1 Reprinted from the Report on Forestry Work during 1904-1906, published 
by Armstrong College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1906. 
