26 EXPLOITATION OF PLANTS 
others smaller and representative of the various cate- 
gories. Sometimes the latter might with advantage 
take the form of long belts left so as to screen and 
diversify the exploited areas of the landscape. 
Some proportion should be laid down between the 
area to be reclaimed and that which should remain 
inviolate, e. g. some such proportion as three to one or 
four to one. In a matter of this kind expert advice 
could no doubt be obtained from the Nature Reserves 
Society and from the National Trust, both of which 
bodies have accumulated experience; they might even 
be asked to take over the guardianship of the reser- 
vations. By analogous machinery the rights of 
commoners might be guarded, and when interfered 
with, compensation found. 
The argument for reclaiming land on any consider- 
able scale depends on the economic position. The 
war has shown the peril of depending on overseas 
trade for essential commodities to the great extent 
that has obtained in the past. After the war we shall 
be burdened with a vast debt, the bulk of the interest 
on which will have to be raised internally. Money, 
therefore, must be retained in the country and pro- 
ductivity increased. This should be possible partly 
by the adoption of higher standards of cultivation, 
partly by the exploitation of areas hitherto neglected. 
Thus in some measure we may hope to see imports 
~ relatively restricted, money kept at home, and additional 
rural occupations provided. 
Lands remain waste, i.e. unproductive, from some 
inherent physical or chemical defect, such as dryness, 
