AGRICULTURE AND BRITISH FORESTRY 83 



per acre, according to the extent of useless land acquired 

 with it. 



The idea of the political economist is that the farmer 

 should be gradually planted out — that is to saj^ that 

 mountain land should be acquired in such a way that the 

 progress of acquisition would be imperceptible, and the 

 farmer himself almost unconsciously adapt himself, first to 

 a restricted area ; second, to no area at all. This theory, 

 it is to be feared, for reasons already given, would not work 

 out well in practice. There would, at the outset, be the im- 

 possibility of economically fencing off one man's land from 

 another's in the first place ; and in the second place, fencing 

 so as to suit both the convenience of the farmer and the 

 planter at one and the same time. The majority of hill- 

 planting work must begin at or near the base of the hill, 

 owing to the fact that the better soil and situation there 

 combine to create conditions favourable for the growth 

 of the trees, and by the shelter afforded by the first crop 

 enable the hill to be planted higher and higher, until the 

 limit of profitable afforestation is reached. To plant the 

 worst part of a mountain holding alone and obtain success- 

 ful financial results is usually impracticable on a large 

 scale, although it may sometimes be done in isolated cases. 



While land, therefore, may be obtained at high 

 elevations or of poor quality without interfering greatly 

 with the agricultural population, owing to the limited 

 extent to which the former is used, and the scarcity of 

 the latter, economic difficulties at once increase when 

 low-lying land, capable of producing profitable crops 

 without risk, are being dealt with. The moment one gets 

 away from the peat, heather, and bracken of the 

 mountains, occupied holdings increase in number, value, 

 and importance. Any approach of the purchasing 

 negotiator for such lands is met with either blank refusal, 

 or sale under such conditions as render the whole 



