212 VEGETATION OF THE PEAK DISTRICT [CH. 



and, until the peat, which should first be removed, can be 

 profitably utilized in some way, the cost of the initial labour 

 on such soils would be such as to render any plantations un- 

 profitable from a financial point of view. 



On the other hand, almost all the land which consists of 

 calcareous grassland, and also much of the siliceous grassland 

 dominated by the mat-grass (Nardus stricta), is fit, with a very 

 small amount of preparatory labour, to be immediately put 

 down to timber ; and, if proper precautions be taken, there is 

 no reason whatever why such plantations should not prove to 

 be undertakings of a financially profitable nature. 



However, the numerous derelict plantations on the Pennines, 

 even on the grasslands, prove conclusively that reasonable pre- 

 cautions have frequently not been taken in the past ; and this 

 also applies not only to plantations laid down by private land- 

 owners but also to some recent attempts at afforestation on 

 the part of municipal corporations. It is frequently overlooked 

 that afforestation of uncultivated uplands is a very different 

 matter from the laying down of plantations in lowland localities 

 with a more genial climate ; and this aspect of the case is one 

 which does not appear to have been scientifically investigated by 

 English foresters. Again, many of the unsuccessful plantations 

 are of small size ; and small plantations on exposed uplands 

 cannot be expected to prosper. In a large plantation, the trees 

 within the plantation receive shelter from those at the margin ; 

 but a small plantation is quickly devastated from end to end. 

 Thirdly, the particular species of tree which is likely to flourish 

 on the chosen site is frequently not sufficiently considered, 

 although this would appear to be a matter of prime importance. 

 One frequently finds in the decadent plantations at least a dozen 

 species of trees and shrubs, some of which have never had any 

 reasonable chance of reaching maturity; and it would appear 

 that they have been obtained in an absurdly haphazard manner, 

 from some lowland nurseryman. Other important precautions 

 are often neglected ; but enough has been said to indicate that, 

 even on the more favourable sites, the afforestation of British 

 uplands is a matter which must be undertaken in a more 

 scientific spirit than has hitherto been the case if it has to 

 have any reasonable probability of success. 



