Afforesting Waste Lands and Financial Returns 293 



75 per acre. All the plantations above referred to are 

 excellent object-lessons of the possibilities of the British 

 Isles for the production of high-class timber if woods are 

 properly planted and managed. 



Advantages of Tree Planting. Not only from a strictly 

 financial point of view but also from a hygienic sense stand- 

 point, plantations are of the utmost importance. 



For shelter for farm stock, for improving the agricultural 

 value of the lower lying lands, and for the part they play 

 in clothing and ornamenting our bare commons and hill- 

 sides, their value can hardly be over-estimated. Twenty- 

 five years ago I formed a plantation on a spur of the Snow- 

 don range of hills, in Wales, where the fierce, long-con- 

 tinued and hard-hitting blasts were of almost constant 

 occurrence, and the amount of shelter and warmth it now 

 affords to the farm stock and lower lying lands would hardly 

 be credited. Previous to the formation of this particular 

 plantation, at altitudes varying up to 600 ft., the adjoining 

 lands were quite incapable of cultivation, but now crops are 

 gradually creeping up the hillsides, while the farm stock 

 find the much-needed shelter and warmth that they were 

 formerly denied. So great has been the benefit of this wood 

 both to man and beast that the farmer on whose land it was 

 planted speaks of it as "a Godsend." Other similar cases 

 in Wales might be mentioned, as for instance the planta- 

 tions on the Gwydyr and Penrhyn Estates, and also those 

 near Abergele, where the judicious planting up of rocky and 

 almost worthless land has converted dreary and inhospitable 

 districts into the most fashionable and expensive residential 

 property. In many parts of Scotland, particularly Perth, 

 Inverness and Aberdeenshire, equally good results have 

 been obtained by judicious tree-planting. 



Another notable advantage gained by the planting of 

 trees lies in the provision of profitable work for the unem- 

 ployed. As a special chapter is devoted to this important 

 subject, it need only be mentioned here. It should not be 

 overlooked that excellent results have followed in the wake 

 of planting bog lands in Ireland. In 1862 my father formed 

 several plantations there, a full account of which will be 



