AFFOEESTATION OF CATCHMENT AEEAS 85 



The Departmental Committee on British Forestry, which 

 reported in 1902, drew the attention of local authorities, 

 deriving their water supplies from gathering grounds owned 

 by them, to the advantage and profits to be derived from 

 planting the catchment areas with trees, not only to 

 contribute to the retention of the rain and assist in 

 regulating the water supply, but to help to purify the 

 water and at the same time yield a regular income on the 

 capital expended. In connection with this report the Local 

 Government Board obtained a return in 1903, showing 

 which of the local authorities owning waterworks had 

 acquired the freehold or long leasehold of the catchment 

 areas from which their water supplies were derived. This 

 return, which was not published, showed that at that time 

 5 joint boards and 74 town and district councils in England 

 and Wales owned or had a long lease of a part or all of 

 their gathering grounds (10). 



The Journal of the Board of Agriculture, xi. 468 

 (November 1904), in an article on this subject, points 

 out that such catchment areas must " be placed under the 

 control of a competent forester, and inasmuch as they will 

 be under corporate control, and less subject to change of 

 management than land owned by private individuals, there 

 is no reason why they should not also ultimately serve as 

 demonstration forests and be available for the instruction 

 of students. For example, the catchment areas of Liverpool 

 and Birmingham waterworks situated ' in Wales, within 

 reach of University Colleges possessing agricultural depart- 

 ments, could, with the consent of the Corporations concerned, 

 be used for these purposes ; and a similar arrangement 

 might be made with regard to certain areas in Yorkshire 

 within reach of the University of Leeds." 



In the same Jourrml tables were published showing 

 the acreage and other particulars of the gathering grounds 

 in Great Britain, which in 1904 were held as freehold 

 or on long lease by local authorities. These tables, based 

 on returns made in that year to the Board of Agriculture 

 by the various municipalities, were confessedly incomplete. 



