160 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
very unlikely, but it, at any rate, gives us some definite basis to 
work on, whatever the actual values placed upon the units may 
be. In both these instances, conditions exist which must be 
considered exceptionally favourable, both as regards locality and 
the density of the crop on the ground. 
The great difficulty of satisfactorily applying this method of 
assessment to ordinary hill land often lies in the fact that the 
quality of the locality is constantly changing. Soil varies in 
depth, quality and character in the course of a few yards; eleva- 
tion and aspect are continually changing on undulating ground, 
and other changes take place which render it difficult to strike a 
fair average for a large area. But still it is often possible to find 
areas of two or three hundred acres with the same aspect and 
degree of slope, and fairly uniform as regards soil, and with such 
areas this method should give satisfactory results. With the aid 
of the 6-inch Ordnance Sheets, the ground can be blocked 
out into areas with similar aspects, slopes, and elevations, 
leaving the soil and minor districts to be examined on the 
spot. 
With the assistance of such a method of analysis, and careful 
observations on the growth and development of whatever trees 
or plantations may exist in the vicinity, it should be possible to 
obtain a fairly accurate estimate of the value of waste land for 
planting purposes. The question as to whether such work as I 
have sketched should be carried out by public or private agency 
is a matter which does not affect the principles of the method 
itself, but simply the extent to which it can be practised. So far 
as the latter method of assessment goes, it can, of course, only 
be applied to definite areas upon which planting is contemplated, 
and must be left more or less to the public or private landowner, 
or his representative. No private landowner plants without a 
definite object in view, and, before planting, he usually obtains the 
advice of his agent or forester as to the suitability of the spot he 
wishes to plant. The condition of many plantations at the 
present day suggest either that this advice was not always acted 
upon, or that its quality was not of the best when given. But 
so many incidents happen in the life of a plantation, that it 
is impossible to diagnose every case of sylvicultural debility 
which is met with from time to time, and the best course is 
to study future methods of reform rather than regret the 
past. 
