PLANTING OF WATER CATCHMENT AREAS 117 



a good return for the original outlay upon them." See 

 letter from the agents of this estate in The Times, I7th 

 December 1913. 



In comparison with continental regions in Europe or 

 America, it is remarkable the low altitude to which any 

 kind of cultivation, whether farming, grazing, or forestry, 

 can be carried in the British Isles. This is always a subject 

 of wonder to foreign visitors. Fortunately, however, the 

 area at high elevations is not a great percentage of the 

 total area. In Great Britain, of the total area (excluding 

 water) of 56,199,980 acres only 3,537,172 acres, or 6-3 

 per cent, is over 1500 feet elevation. The proportion is 

 greatest in Scotland, with a total area of 19,069,674 acres, 

 of which 2,642,529 acres, or 13 '3 per cent, is over 1500 

 feet. In Ireland, of a total area of 32,502 square miles, 

 only 1672 square miles, or a little over 5 per cent, is 

 above 1000 feet altitude. 



The division of the country into three distinct zones 

 (Fig. 13) of vegetation, the nature of which has been 

 discussed at length in the preceding pages, leads to certain 

 conclusions of some economic interest. These may be thus 

 summarised : 



1. In the upper zone, that of the moors, no cultivation 

 of any kind is possible, or at any rate profitable. The land 

 may be cheerfully resigned to the sportsman and the 

 tourist. It gives in grouse, in deer, and in recreation a 

 considerable return. 



2. In the middle zone, that of hill pasture, two in- 

 dustries are possible — grazing and growing timber. Their 

 interests need not clash. The shelter to adjoining pasture 

 afforded by plantations is worth more to the grazier than the 

 possession of the ground which the trees cover. Further- 

 more, plantations may actually add to the grazing area. In 

 larch and other conifer plantations on poor mountain land, 

 which have reached 20 or 30 years old, there is often 

 an undergrowth of grass, superior in quality to the scanty 

 rough herbage outside. Sheep and cattle may be admitted 

 into these plantations. This extra grazing and the pro- 



