BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE 11 



much of which is well qualified to grow timber. There are 

 also the deer forests and land reserved for game, some of 

 which lies above the limits of tree growth, but much of 

 which is plantable. The following figures are extracted 

 from the returns of 1913, except as regards deer forests, 

 which are from two House of Commons returns of 1908 : 



Acres. 



England .... 2,467,000 4 Mountain and Heath 



Land used for grazing ' 

 Wales . 1,338,266 



Scotland .... 9,117,906 



Ireland .... 3,050,266 4 Mountain land ' 

 Deer Forests and Land devoted 



to sport in Scotland . . 3,519,678 



Total .... 19,493,116 



While trees grow successfully above 1,500 feet in some 

 parts of the country it is generally agreed that any land 

 above this limit may, for practical purposes, be ruled out 

 of a scheme of extended afforestation. Nor, indeed, is it 

 contended that trees can always grow at points below this 

 altitude. At the request of the Royal Commission on Coast 

 Erosion the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries prepared 

 an estimate of the area of land in Great Britain above the 

 1,500 feet contour line, with the following result : 



In England .... 549,335 acres 



In Wales 345,308 



In Scotland .... 2,642,529 



Total .... 3,537,172 



No estimate was made for Ireland, but as this is a country 

 of low elevation we are certainly estimating liberally if we 

 assume a total of four million acres for the United Kingdom. 

 This therefore leaves us with about fifteen and a half million 

 acres of rough hill and mountain pasture below 1,500 feet. 

 At the initiation of a scheme of national afforestation it is 

 of comparatively little importance to attempt to estimate 

 what percentage of this area is adapted for the growth of 

 trees. The Royal Commission on Coast Erosion came to the 



