52 ENGLISH ESTATE FORESTRY 



any rate be removed so far as the financial side of the 

 question is concerned and his own personal pocket is 

 influenced. 



By a system of Government loans, with a low rate of 

 deferred interest on the security of the standing timber 

 which is increasing in value from year to year, an induce- 

 ment or opportunity would be afforded landowners of em- 

 barking more largely on forestry operations which would benefit 

 the capital value of the estate in time to come. No doubt, 

 the Government has as many calls upon the Exchequer as 

 can be met with the approval of the taxpayer ; but if the 

 general public were educated on the question of afforestation 

 to an extent commensurate with its importance, we believe 

 that few difficulties would be experienced in devising a 

 workable scheme for allowing the landed proprietor to in- 

 crease the capital value of his land, and at the same time 

 the wealth of the country generally, afford employment for a 

 large number of labourers in our rural districts, and stimulate 

 the fast decaying timber industry in Great Britain, all of 

 which are objects worth the careful consideration of rural 

 economists. 



In conclusion, it may be stated that the improvement of 

 existing woods depends almost entirely upon the freedom 

 with which the clearing of old and worn-out woodland, and 

 the replanting of the ground on correct principles, is con- 

 ducted. It is practically impossible to convert a worn-out 

 plantation into a young and satisfactory crop by the process 

 of planting single trees or small clumps at intervals over 

 the woodland area. Not only are the young trees unable 

 to develop into satisfactory timber specimens, but the cost 

 of planting, protecting the trees from ground game, and 

 tending generally, is out of all proportion to the value of 

 the crop produced. Probably the conversion of underwood 

 or coppice, which occupies so much of the existing woodland, 

 into ordinary plantation is the most important operation in 

 the process. Compared with the ordinary planting on bare 

 or clear ground, it presents many difficulties, owing to the 

 impossibility of grubbing the old stools at anything like a 

 reasonable cost. The only practical method seems to be 

 that of cutting down the stool shoots annually, both before 



