100 FORESTS, WOODS, AND TREES 
formation is millstone grit underlying glacial clay with 
boulders, forming a soil wet in winter and very dry in 
summer. The soil is generally a sandy loam, warm and 
dry on the southern slopes, where much of the clay appears 
to have been denuded, and cold and stiff with the clay pre- 
dominating on the northern slopes, while there is some peat 
at the high altitudes. The land may be roughly divided 
into two classes, grassland and moorland, the former occupy- 
ing the lower reaches immediately surrounding the reservoirs, 
while moorland and poor pasture occupy the upper reaches. 
There are about 120 farms in the valley, nearly all small 
holdings of grass, with little arable land. In order to pre- 
vent any pollution from these farms, the Corporation decided 
in 1904 to reafforest part of the valley, with the primary 
object of purifying the water, and secondly, with the view 
of giving work to the unemployed in Leeds. For three 
seasons men drawn from the Unemployed Bureau were 
engaged in planting. Economic planting proved to be im- 
possible with this class of labour; and since 1909 the work 
has been done with a permanent staff of ten men, with 
extra help during busy times. 30 to 40 acres of new 
land surrounding the reservoirs have been planted each year ; 
andup to August 1914 about 835 acres had been planted 
with 3,400,000 trees. In October 1918 the area of grow- 
ing timber was “over 900 acres, and the results very good 
indeed” (17). 
With regard to the use of the unemployed during three 
seasons, Mr. C. G. Henzell, Waterworks Engineer of Leeds, 
states (18) that the average cost of draining, fencing, plant- 
ing, etc., was £12 per acre; but that the cost should not 
have been more than £8 per acre, the excess being due to 
the employment of inexperienced men. Much of the work 
was badly done, and the failures were quite 30 per cent. 
The men were not accustomed to spade work, and few were 
able to stand the rough weather. Any scheme of afforesta- 
tion will undoubtedly afford employment to a considerable 
number of men, but planting trees is skilled work and 
requires preliminary training The great advantage of 
