DETAILED SURVEY OF IHE FORT AUGUSTUS BLOCK. 1 5 



industry should be interfered with as little as silvicultural 

 demands permit. 



TREATMENT OF DEER FORESTS. 



The treatment of deer forests must depend largely on the 

 •extent of the wintering and on its relation to the high unplant- 

 able ground. Broadly speaking, in the Glen Mor district, the 

 value of a stag killed represents J^^2~^ to ;^3o, and a brace of 

 grouse represents one sovereign. Average deer ground is worth 

 is. to 3s. an acre ; grouse ground is worth is to is. 6d. ; sheep 

 summer grazing id. to 3d. per acre. In certain cases it might 

 be found advisable to plant the whole of the wintering of deer 

 forests straight away ; to place the high ground under a flying 

 stock of sheep ; and to charge the difference between the sporting 

 value of the deer forest and the rent arrived at by summer 

 grazing plus grouse, against the woods. It is economically 

 sound to do this only in deer forests where the extent of 

 the wintering is large, and where the values from sheep and 

 grouse would be considerable. 



In the Fort Augustus Block (15,000 acres of plantable ground) 

 the average aggregate rent received from deer forests is 

 ^5300, while, judging by old rentals and present rents of 

 similarly situated ground, the rents that could be obtained for 

 the summer grazing of sheep on the high ground, after the 

 wintering had been withdrawn, would not exceed ^500. In 

 addition to the grazing rent, grouse to the value of y^iooo are 

 shot on this area, making a total of ;/^i5oo a year. This yield 

 from grouse might conceivably be increased by 50 per cent., but 

 ■even so the reduction of the annual rent by ^3300 would be too 

 high a charge to put to the debit of 15,000 acres of afforested 

 land; and under such circumstances afforestation would prove a 

 misfortune, rather than a gain, to the ratepayers of the district. 

 It is therefore evident that a method must be devised by which 

 the value of deer forests will be maintained at its highest, as far 

 as is consistent with a fair standard of silviculture. 



The following method is suggested as adapted to the special 

 circumstances of the Fort Augustus Block : — 



I. To divide the wintering ground of each individual deer 

 forest into three portions, each portion to be planted 

 separately, and not more than one portion to be closed 

 from deer at one time. 



