FORESTRY 



possibly have yielded for pasturage in the condition it was in before 

 planting. The well kept estate accounts consequently prove that this 

 compact block of plantation of about 200 acres has been a very profitable 

 and beneficial investment to the landowner. 



One of the great dangers to which investments of capital in the 

 production of timber must be exposed in a county with the configura- 

 tion and other physical conditions of Cumberland is windfall and other 

 damage by heavy winds. Many of the plantations suffered severely in 

 the gales which occurred towards the end of 1883 and the beginning of 

 1884, and again in the heavy storms of the autumn of 1893 ; but a year 

 seldom passes without damage having to be recorded to a greater or less 

 extent. Protection can to some extent be afforded by felling only 

 against wind. Even, however, with this danger being kept in view, 

 Cumberland is still one of the counties of England best suited for the 

 profitable growth of coniferous timber ; and with the present outlook in 

 regard to the maintenance of future supplies of the building wood 

 required in such enormous quantities as is now the case in Britain, this 

 class of woodland crop is what holds out the best promise of profit in 

 time to come. 



There is a good market for timber in Cumberland. Well-grown 

 ash is in demand for coach-building and agricultural implements ; while 

 oak, beech, larch and sycamore, if of good size, can be readily disposed 

 of to buyers coming from Newcastle, Lancashire, and Yorkshire. 1 



1 The Journal of the Board of Agriculture, vol. vii. No. I, June 1900, page 8. 



507 



