THE NEW FORESTRY. 39 



being natural. The returns of 1872, as compared with those 

 of 1812, show a decrease of 200,000 acres in the forest area. 

 Whether it was the old or the new woods that had disappeared 

 during the sixty years interval is not known. By 1881 the 

 forest area had increased again to 829,476 acres, the principle 

 increase having been confined to Aberdeen, Perth, Argyle, and 

 Inverness, which counties are, however, proportionately the 

 largest in Scotland. Elgin, or Moray, is the best wooded 

 county in Scotland, nearly a sixth of its whole area being 

 under woods. 



In England, Sussex is by far the best wooded county, 

 containing more than 1 24,000 acres of woods. In Elgin, 

 however, the value of the woods is pulled down by the large 

 proportion of Scotch fir and spruce which the woods contain ; 

 while in Sussex the woods consist to a large extent of unprofi- 

 table coppice, included under the head of woodlands. These 

 statistics, relating to Scotland, taken from the last edition of 

 the "Encyclopaedia Britannica," Agricultural Returns, and other 

 sources, show that with the exception of extensions of woods 

 in a few places Scotch forestry has really been going back 

 instead of forward. 



Misconception exists also as to the relative extent, value, 

 composition, and general importance of English and Scotch 

 woods. According to the Agricultural Returns of 1901, the 

 average acreage per county, of woods and plantations in the 41 

 English counties, was 40,627 acres ; and in Scotland, 33 coun- 

 ties, 26,629 acres. The waste land, and mountain and heath, 

 in England, was 2,305,823 acres; and in Scotland, 9,374,512 

 acres. In the composition of the woods of the two countries 

 there is also a great difference. English woods consist, mostly, 

 of the more valuable broad leaved species, and hardwoods ; 

 and Scotch woods mainly of Scotch, spruce, and a small pro- 

 portion of larch. In the statistics of Scotland, in the last 

 edition of the " Encyclopaedia Britannica," by T. F. Henderson, 

 modern plantations in Scotland are described as consisting 

 chiefly of Scotch fir, with a small sprinkling of larch, and it 

 might have been added, " much spruce." We have little 

 information on this head, however, except in regard to Suther- 

 landshire, where, although the climate favours several kinds 

 of hardwoods, they have not been extensively planted, and 

 Sutherland may be taken as an example of other Scotch 

 counties. 



According to ( the most recent Agricultural Returns, Suther- 

 land contains 19,641 acres of woods. Nearly the whole of the 

 county belongs to the Duke of Sutherland, and according to 



