498 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION K. 



III. Uiilisation of Northern Mount ain a)ul Heath Land. 

 By Dr. William G. Smith. 



This is land which has never been ploughed, except a small proportion of 

 old cultivation now reverted to a more or less wild condition. The herbage 

 may be grouped into vegetation on peat, heather land of the dark-toned hills, 

 and several types of green hill, consisting of various grasses, sedges, rushes, and 

 bracken. The area of this vegetation is considerable. Eecent returns of the 

 Board of Agriculture for Scotland show the following subdivisions of the land, 

 nineteen million acres, exclusive of water : — 



Crops and cultivated grasses, about 25 per cent. 



Woods and plantations, about 45 per cent. 



Mountain and heath land used for grazing, about 48 per cent. 



Remaining area, about 22*5 per cent. 



The last item includes urban and industrial land, and hill land not specified 

 as used for grazing; the proportion is high in the Highland counties, where it 

 is mainly deer-forests and grouse-moors. Hence about 60 per cent., say 18,0(X) 

 square miles, of Scotland is uncultivated land of the kind under consideration. 

 For the Northern Counties of England the proportion is about 25 per cent., say 

 3,000 square miles. This hilly land is not waste, because almost every acre 

 brings in some income and is utilised ini some way. The income, however, is 

 small while the area is large, so that there is a gi-eat opportunity for improve- 

 ment, since a slight increase in food-production — directly or indirectly — amounts 

 to a large aggregate. 



The vegetation is considerably varied, in accordance with a wide range of 

 topographic, climatic, and edaphic conditions. Hence no uniform system of 

 utilisation is applicable. The problem is further complicated by existing 

 economic conditions. The pasturage of sheep and cattle is a dii-ect means of 

 maintenance for a local population and of food-production for the nation. 

 Forestry brings with it local maintenance and the production of wealth in the 

 form of timber. On the other hand, grouse-moors and deer-forests are not 

 directly productive, and yet they constitute a means of utilisation of considerable 

 importance. As regards the merits of the types of land exploitation indicated, 

 there is room for wide variations of opinion, and the different aspects have not 

 been simplified by controversy often conducted with insufficient knowledge. 

 The subject is therefore a thorny one for generalisation. On the present occasion 

 what is required is the simplest possible statement, mainly rudiments and 

 commonplace to anyone who has studied the subject in detail. 



Improvement and increased production from hilly areas can only follow on 

 a closer examination of existing modes of utilisation. Indeed, the stages leading 

 up to present utilisation are themselves improvements in some direction or 

 another, and are suggestive for the future. Such improvements fall into two 

 groups — ^simple and complex. Simple improvements under present conditions 

 include amelioration of the herbage, such as might be effected by perfecting the 

 system of grazing, or by the application of manures or other methods. Again, 

 the yield of commercialtimber from woodlands might be considerably improved. 

 The simpler methods in.volve relatively little expenditure and will give a direct 

 return in a short time. Complex improvements include increased tillage of the 

 valleys, accompanied by increased production of crops and stock, and better 

 facilities for transport and distribution of produce available for sale. In 

 another direction, forests might be established on land of low value. These 

 and allied systems of improvement involve economic readjustment, and seem 

 to demand some degree of co-operative or State initiation and control. 



Dee.r-forests. — ^Deer for the greater part of the year frequent the higher 

 ground. The herbage includes the dwarf turf of the more exposed summits 

 and slopes, the mixed grass and sedge herbage of more sheltered slopes and 

 valleys, and the extensive peat-vegetation of high peaty plateaux. This summer 

 grazing lies most above 2,(XX) feet altitude : that is above the tree limit, and 

 unsuitable for sheep and shepherding except in the few summer months. In 

 winter the deer migrate to the lower valleys, and the provision of wintering 

 grounds within the deer-fence has led to displacement of tillage, sheep, and 



