434 THE FUTURE OF OUR AGRICULTURE. 



to the conclusion that something must be done. Shortly 

 after 1882 the extensive estates of the late Prince Frederick 

 (known all over Holland as " the rich prince ") around 

 Breda had come into its possession by inheritance, and by 

 this means it had become the owner of fairly extensive 

 forests. To devise a scheme of forest management it con- 

 sulted a society then already formed, which has since done 

 very valuable work in turning barren heathland to pro- 

 fitable account, and, in concert with it, it began in 1894 

 to plant suitable trees on the sand dunes of Schoorl, and 

 the year after at Texel, with a view to fixing such sand. 

 The experiment proved a success, and the Government 

 continued on the newly-trodden path, acquiring bit by bit 

 new land, the extent of which on July i, 1913, stood at 

 60,000 acres, 13,000 acres of which had by that time been 

 reclaimed, partly as forest land, a much smaller portion 

 for purposes of tillage. One of the most successful works 

 of reclamation of the sort was that undertaken at Kortwijk 

 in 1897, where 5,000 acres of blowing sand were reclaimed. 

 To induce the numerous communes (and also private land- 

 owners) possessing suitable neglected heath land to plant 

 such with forest — or else to reclaim what was fit to turn 

 into arable land — the Government subsequently made a 

 general offer to persons or corporations (more particularly 

 the latter) possessing suitable land, to advance to them 

 from public funds up to 80 per cent, of the expense actually 

 incurred in reclamation, the loan not to exceed about £4 

 per acre, to be advanced free of interest, for the space of 

 lifty years, at the close of which the advance must be 

 repaid. As a matter of course landowners taking advantage 

 of this offer are required to place the land being reclaimed 

 under the Government's control, to manage it according 

 to prescribed rules and not to cut any timber without leave. 

 In this way it looks as if a good deal of dune-sand were to 

 be fixed and heath land to be reclaimed for purposes of 

 tillage or forest. For securing a material benefit to the 

 country the forgoing of interest on loans so secured may 

 be good policy. 



The United States likewise have discovered what good forest 



