INTRODUCTION 



provide timber for the future, and leave us 

 less dependent on the gradually dwindling 

 supplies that are annually sent us from abroad. 



England being, so to speak, a residential 

 country, the retention of a certain amount of 

 heath, mountain, and commons land for the 

 purpose of deer forests, grouse moors, game 

 coverts, and golf-links, is imperative, and 

 will considerably reduce the amount of land 

 available for afforestry purposes. But I think 

 that I am well within bounds in allotting, 

 out of the 15,000,000 acres of waste lands, 

 1,000,000 to afforesting and 14,000,000 acres 

 to game preserves and recreation. 



Having personally explored much of the 

 mountain and heath lands in England and 

 Scotland and some of the vast tracts of bog- 

 land in Ireland (which alone extend to fully 

 1,125,000 acres), I have carefully computed 

 that, of the land up to 1,200 feet where timber 

 would grow perfectly well, about 9,000,000 

 acres are available for afforesting purposes. 

 As far as I have been able to find out, the 

 average rental of such ground would be con- 



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