RELATION OF FORESTRY TO AGRICULTURE, ETC. I31 



two sides (the ones most distant from the prevailing wind) being 

 fenced with wire. The blades of the grass would be about one 

 foot less than the seeding stems. The square was enclosed from 

 a 2-year-old pasture, and was planted two years ago. The 

 predominant grasses were those used in my mixture for this 

 farm — tall-fescue, tall-oat-grass, and Cock's-foot. The bottom 

 grass towards the sheltered end was, of course, much thicker than 

 that at the unsheltered end of the enclosure. ... If this 

 amount of difference is perceptible with such a moderate degree 

 of shelter, we can imagine what a difference would be made in 

 production if shelter belts of trees became general. Their 

 climatic effect as regards heat is far greater than one might be 

 inclined to suppose, and I have been repeatedly struck with the 

 very perceptible increase of warmth when passing into a zone 

 under the influence of shelter-belts.' 



"Then he goes on to say that the pasture within the shelter 

 itself was very much better and richer than that outside the 

 shelter. Very rightly he points out that if these results can be 

 got with the very small amount of shelter accruing from a stone 

 wall, you may expect to get very much better results on a large 

 scale from having large and well laid out belts of shelter woods. 



"At the present time, under the English Small Holdings Act, 

 if County Authorities purchase areas of land for small holdings, 

 which include woodlands, they have no power to deal with the 

 latter as such. The ground must be devoted solely to small 

 holdings. The trees must either be grubbed up and the ground 

 reclaimed for tillage, or the woodlands will degenerate into poor, 

 unprofitable pastures. Scotland may not be affected in the same 

 way, but in England, if the system is not modified, much detached 

 woodland in farming districts must ultimately disappear in this 

 way, much to the detriment of the climate of the districts con- 

 cerned and of the country generally." 



Mr Scott Elliot said : — " There is no question whatever about 

 the excellent effect of a shelter wood. Whether it is tree or grass, 

 you favour the growth of that tree or that grass. I may mention 

 a particular property in Wigtownshire where the proprietor 

 120 years ago planted a fringe of woods. It is the case that 

 Wigtownshire is a particularly windy place. The trees on the 

 outside edge never grew properly and were of a miserable 

 character. If you go to this particular spot you can see the 

 plantation on the hillside, which did not exactly go to the edge, 



