128 ENGLISH WOODLANDS 



contour line. Two opposite views about the 

 financial result of this proposed State afforesta- 

 tion are put forward. The one which is gener- 

 ally presented by writers in newspapers, is that 

 these plantations will bring a good interest on 

 the expenditure. Apparently this opinion is 

 founded on a belief that the State forests in 

 Germany and France are financially successful. 

 This belief will not stand close investigation. 

 The conservation of the natural forests in Ger- 

 many and France may have been advantageous 

 to those countries, but such advantages are no 

 proof of financial success. Even if the State 

 forests on the Continent were financially success- 

 ful, their example would be relevant in an 

 inquiry into the probable financial result of 

 planting in the United Kingdom, only if it were 

 shown that the new woods planted on the Con- 

 tinent during the last century were now producing 

 a fair rental for the soil and a fair interest on 

 the capital expended. 



The other view is that the State ought not to 

 strive after financial success in the management 

 of State forests. 



Professor Schwappach, in a paper read before 

 the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society, said 

 that whether the afforestation of waste lands 



