330 OUR FORESTS AND WOODLANDS 
Nothing like these results can, however, be ob- 
tained unless the woodlands be subjected to well- 
considered management in the manner above 
indicated. During the last year or two steps 
in this direction have been taken by the Com- 
missioners of Woods and Forests for some of 
the Crown lands, and by a few of the large 
landowners in Britain, who recognise the solid 
advantages that economical treatment promises, 
more especially with indications already present 
of considerable enhancement in the market value 
of clean, well-grown timber. And, as regards 
the Crown forests, no doubt larger areas would 
already be subjected to improved treatment but 
for the circumstance that in many ways the hands 
of the Commissioners and of their Deputy-Sur- 
veyors are tied by Acts of Parliament against the 
clearing of over-mature timber and the enclosure 
of portions for regeneration or planting, so that 
they are unable to carry out the various improve- 
ment schemes which they know to be very desir- 
able. As an example of this, the Honourable 
Gerald Lascelles, Deputy-Surveyor of the New 
Forest, in 1887 gave evidence before the Forestry 
Committee to the effect that more than 40,000 
