AFFOKESTATION OF CATCHMENT AEEAS 87 



pool, Birmingham, Manchester, and Torquay had planted 

 on a considerable scale ; while Oldham, Llandudno, Bolton, 

 Darwen, Bury, Cardiff, Derwent River Valley Board, and 

 Plymouth had each planted a few acres. It was evident 

 that with the exception of three or four of the larger 

 municipalities the matter had been half-heartedly taken 

 up. The cost of the work had also been very high in 

 most cases, and there were indications that with one or 

 two exceptions it had been indifferently carried out. Some 

 of the planting had been hastily undertaken with a 

 view to finding employment for men thrown out of 

 work during the trade depression of the years 1908 and 

 1909, and generally without proper advice or expert super- 

 vision. 



The Reconstruction Report says that " complete figures 

 are not available of the total area of land held by Local 

 Authorities in the catchment areas of their water supplies. 

 The total area is considerable, and, moreover, is increasing 

 steadily. It is not possible to say definitely in the absence 

 of a survey what proportion of the total area held by Local 

 Authorities is afforestable. A survey made by the Board 

 of Agriculture of the Birmingham Corporation's land in 

 Wales disclosed 6000 acres of suitable land. After making 

 deductions for altitude and exposure, unsuitable soil, etc., 

 it would probably be found that the total acreage of water 

 catchment areas fit for afforestation in Great Britain is not 

 less than 50,000 acres, and may be considerably more." 



This estimate is a moderate one; more likely 80,000 

 acres of municipally owned lands are available for planting 

 in the British Isles. How important these areas are in 

 the aggregate will be shown in the three concluding chapters 

 of this book, where detailed descriptions are given in 

 geographical order of nearly all the gathering grounds of 

 water supplies in England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. 

 The total extent in 1918 of the gathering grounds in Great 

 Britain and Ireland, summarised from the information 

 given in these three chapters, is shown in the following 

 table : 



