THE NEW FORESTRY. 77 



the worst parts of it, that ought to be a sufficient inducement, 

 and under ordinarily good management that can be done. 

 Time must elapse, at the beginning, before a timber crop can 

 be grown and reaped, but once that stage is reached, under a 

 proper system of forestry, the income from the woods should 

 be as sure and as regular as from other sources on an estate. 



Good useful timber has always fetched a higher price in 

 this country than it has done anywhere else in Europe ; we 

 grow a greater number of species than are grown on the Con- 

 tinent, and it is admitted that the climate and soil of Great 

 Britain and Ireland produce all the most useful timber trees in 

 perfection. We have a good market for timber, we can grow 

 it ; and the only question is, can we produce crops heavy 

 enough to pay ? We have not the least doubt on that head. If 

 we can produce a certain number of cubic feet to the acre the 

 question is solved. German authorities give the final clear 

 cut, alone, of Scotch fir, at nearly ten thousand cubic feet to 

 the acre ; spruce and silver fir at from fourteen thousand to 

 seventeen thousand cubic feet ; and other species in proportion. 

 We ought to be able to do the same in this country, and at 

 the very least we should be able to produce from eight thou- 

 sand to ten thousand feet to the acre under dense culture. 

 Even that quantity ought to pay, and pay well, and at the 

 average prices long given for timber in our woods, owners of 

 estates ought to be able to satisfy themselves whether planting 

 is likely to prove a safe investment or not. 



SECTION IV. — THE SOIL. 



The quality of the soil is of much less importance in the 

 production of timber than has hitherto been supposed, because 

 trees derive most of their food from the atmosphere, and a 

 comparatively small amount from the soil. This is now 

 generally admitted by all competent authorities, and the fact 

 is abundantly demonstrated by numerous examples of large 

 trees and thriving plantations in a great variety of the poorest 

 soils, such as pure sand, gravels, and thin, poor soils, in which 

 neither farm or garden crops would succeed. Surface crops 

 are not a guide as to the suitability of the ground for timber- 

 trees, and there are very few soils that will not grow timber. 

 Given a good root-hold, and shelter from wind by dense 

 planting, growth may be expected to go on in very poor soils 

 in an increasing ratio as the plantation grows older, because 



