118 FORESTS, WOODS, AND TREES 
tection of the trees are equivalent to an increase in the 
acreage of the land on which stock can be kept during 
winter. At Achnacarry weak ewes are habitually wintered 
in Lochiel’s larch woods, with satisfactory results. The 
useless bracken areas can also be planted up. In short, the 
shepherd actually increases the numbers of his flock by 
surrendering part of the hill pasture land to the planter. 
An actual survey will readily demarcate the land in the 
hill pasture zone suitable for planting, and the land that is 
best fitted for grazing. The demarcation should be based 
entirely on economic lines. Areas on which there is no 
prospect of growing trees profitably should be left alone. 
It is scarcely necessary to point out that the combination 
of grassland and woodland utilises much better than graz- 
ing alone the hill pasture zone, and really diminishes the 
amount of waste land. Some attention is now being paid 
in England to the neglected agricultural problem—the 
improvement of the poor hill pasture. Various remedies 
are discussed in Board of Agriculture Leaflet, No. 275, but 
a most important measure, the provision of shelter by 
trees, is not mentioned. The agriculturist still looks upon 
the forester as an enemy or as a faddist. Concerning the 
mutual benefit and relationship between pasture and 
forestry, see the remarkable study, “ The Forest Survey of 
Glen Mor,” published in Trans. Roy. Scot. Arbor. Soc. vol. 
xicy) (1941): 
3. The agrarian or lower zone in great part is claimed 
by agriculture. The upland farmer profits largely by the 
establishment of woodland in the neighbouring hills. The 
timber and fuel which he needs are much diminished in 
price ; and when the time for felling arrives, the sawmills 
and woodworking industries that may be installed will 
enhance the value of his produce. As the shelter of the 
woods increases he extends his cultivation upwards, reclaim- 
ing, bit by bit and year by year, the lower and better 
portions of the hill pasture. 
