APPENDIX. 125 



WASTE LANDS. 



What is meant by the term waste land? Surely it does 

 not necessarily mean all land not under some form of culti- 

 vation ? Much of this is useful, and has an indirect agri- 

 cultural value which would be lost if planted. There are 

 vast areas, however, scattered over the length and breadth 

 of the country which yield no return, direct nor indirect, to 

 the owners of them. These consist of poor heath lands, 

 bogs, marshes, and the like, remote from settled districts, 

 far from roads and railways wastes in the true sense. To 

 bring these areas by aid of the plough into profitable corn- 

 lands is, as a rule, out of the question. No sane man 

 would recommend it with wheat at three shillings a bushel; 

 but there are many who state recklessly that they should be 

 planted. 



This may be so ; but if for commercial purposes, the 

 selection must be a careful one or planting will result in a 

 failure which will do much towards retarding the progress of 

 afforestation. 



Then, again, many of these wastes lie far away from the 

 busy scenes of life ; and the cost of conveying a crop of 

 timber when mature to the market would doubtless swallow 

 up the small profit which might exist under more favourable 

 conditions. 



The following analysis of such areas may be useful to 

 would-be planters : 



(i.) Areas of short heath with surface of white moss and 

 lichen, the ground springy to the tread, and carrying with it 

 a sense of sterility. 



To plant such land as this upon the visible surface will 

 lead to certain loss, and to pare off the surface and bury it 

 by trenching will lead to a doubtful success. To pare and 

 burn the surface and to trench the soil beneath is the only 



