EFFECTS OF PLANTING. 9 



bear a simple market value? We need not multiply 

 such instances. The fact that the presence of timber 

 affects the value of landed property much beyond its 

 commercial value is beyond dispute. 



The object, however, will vary in accordance with 

 the nature of the estate ; whether it is flat and fertile, 

 hilly and sterile, exposed to winds, or liable to flood- 

 ing, and so on. Planting more or less affects all these 

 conditions. If land is flat, and fit for profitable 

 agriculture, the benefit is reduced to the minimum. 

 The income derivable from the estate will probably 

 not be increased by the creation of woodland. The 

 object then will probably be ornament, or shelter for 

 stock. 



If the estate is hilly and partially unfit for agricul- 

 ture, the object will be to clothe the sterile hill-sides 

 with wood, which will assist materially in improving 

 the rest, by the effect upon climate and moisture. 

 Land of this kind, yielding now, probably, no return, 

 may be made, not only profitable, but a source of 

 wealth. If exposed to cutting winds, shelter will be 

 the object ; and this shelter, when obtained, will be 

 equivalent to the removal of the estate many miles 

 southward. If liable to sudden floods, owing to the 

 presence of bare and unclothed hill-sides, the mischief 

 will be stayed by judicious planting. 



However, the main object, the main incentive, has 

 been, and will always be, that of direct profit. Tim- 

 ber, as a crop for commercial purposes, is what is 

 wanted, and the minor incentives will follow as a 

 natural result. The one may be obtained from the 

 other. 



