718 , REPORT— 1903. 



owned by the corporations. These lands are mostly in upland, thinly populated 

 parts of the country, and excellently adapted for growing timber. The advantages 

 of planting would be the preservation of the hill sides, the preservation of the 

 purity of the water, and an increase in the total yield. At the same time it was 

 claimed that afforestation conducted syptematically and on scientific principles 

 would be the most profitable use to which the lands could generally be applied. 

 Stress was laid on the difftTence between planting for profit and ornamental 

 planting, and the importance of working plans prepared by qualified e.xperts was 

 emphasised. 



Particulars were given of the work done by the Liverpool Coi-poration on the 

 watershed of Lake Vyrnwy, in Montgomeryshire. 



The existing plantations around Lake Vyrnwy, old and new, cover 606 acres, 

 and the total area of the watershed is 18,600 acres. Three nurseries have been 

 established to enable planting to be carried on more rapidly in the future. Nearly 

 200,000 young trees now in the nurseries are to be planted out next season, and 

 operations have already been commenced on that scale. The number of young 

 trees required per acre is 2,700. The workmen employed in the woods reside off 

 the watershed, and if they are engaged in operations near the head of the lake, 

 which is nearly five miles long, they are carried in an oil launch. A sawmill for 

 converting the timber into marketable sizes is now driven by steam power, but 

 electric machinery driven by water power is being erected. 



In the United States of America the importance of this subject is being recog- 

 nised, and planting operations on a very extensive scale have been commenced 

 both on waterworks catchment areas and in old forests which have been destroyed 

 by fire and by the ravages of the lumbermen and farmers. These operations are 

 under the direction of the Bureau of Forestry. 



MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14. 

 The following Papers were read : — 



1. Notes and Suggestions on Geographical Surveying suited to present 

 requirements} By E. A. Reeves, F.R.A.S. 



The paper points out in the first place that the advance of geographical 

 exploration and discovery during recent years has been so rapid that there are 

 now few parts of the earth's surface of which we have no knowledge whatever, 

 although of many regions the best maps we possess are still extremely rough and 

 inaccurate. The time has now come for replacing these approximate route maps 

 of the pioneer explorers by more accurate surveys based upon scientific principles, 

 without attempting the extreme accuracy of a large trigonometrical survey, for 

 which, in many parts, we must necessarily wait for a long time yet. 



It then briefly indicates the best methods of geographical surveying that might 

 be followed, guided to a great extent by the course of instruction in geographical 

 surveying arranged by the Royal Geographical Society. 



After preliminary remarks as to the necessity of ascertaining what has already 

 been done in the region to be visited, and as to whether any points have been 

 definitely fixed which could be used as a basis for the survey, the author describes 

 the best forms of the more important instruments required — the transit theodolite, 

 plane-table, half chronometer watch, sextant and artificial horizon, barometer, &c. 

 He then deals with the question of the most suitable scale and projection for 

 plane-table work in the field, and in connection with the delineation of physical 

 features on the map calls attention to the necessity of generalising and interpret- 

 ing the leading characteristics of the physical features of a country, for which 

 some previous training, not only in map drawing, but also in physical geography 



' Printed in extenso in the Geographical Journal, January 1904. 



