13 



be a return of 4 per cent. ; £2 per acre, 3'9 per cent. ; £4 per acre, 

 3'65 per cent. ; £6 per acre, 3"5 per cent. ; £8 per acre, 3"3 per 

 cent.; £10 per acre, 3"1 per cent.; £15 per acre, 2'9 per cent.; 

 £20 per acre, 2'65 per cent.; £25 per acre, 2'45 per cent.; and 

 £30 per acre, 2'23 per cent. No one anticipates that forests would 

 yield a bjgger percentage than agriculture, but it will give an 

 exceedingly steady revenue, and will not change anything like the 

 revenue from cultivated fields, or even so much as the revenue t& 

 be derived from British Consols. 



One is not surprised, therefore, at the report of the Irish 

 Committee, who recommend a national scheme of afforestation. 

 The area available for woodland they put at one million acres, and 

 they suggest as a start the planting of 200,000 acres. The expenses 

 are put, including the purchase of land required, at £44,525 per 

 annum in the first decade, to £66,725 in the second decade, to 

 £74,600 in the third, to £67,100 in the fourth, and to £32,600 in 

 the fifth. After this period the scheme provides a surplus over 

 purchase annuities and working and administrative expenses, 

 eventually yielding a return of 4i per cent, on the total capital 

 invested. They state further: — In presenting our report, we desire 

 to express in the strongest way our sense of the obligation which 

 lies upon the State to act immediately in this matter. Grievous 

 mischief, loss, and waste are going on, and ought to be checked 

 without delay. 



The Government have started upon a scheme of afforestation 

 in Scotland. They have purchased an estate in Argyllshire for 

 some ;^30,000, and it will 'shortly be planted with trees for the 

 production of commercial timber. The area of the estate is 12,000 

 acres, and the ground is merely rough heather and moor. It is 

 practically uninhabited, and treeless, but in a few years there will 

 be a great change. It can safely be assumed that under systematic, 

 forest treatment ten men will find employment permanently to every, 

 one man hitherto engaged on this estate, while the profit will be at . 

 least from five to six times greater than before. The Office of 

 Woods and Forests have also one or two small plantations, and 

 although they are only of a timorous character, they have been 

 quite successful. Again, there are 34 local authorities in England 

 and Wales who own or lease 90,000 acres, and eight schemes of 

 afforestation are actually at work, or have been attempted in some 

 form or other by the authorities. Of the 90,000 acres, 2,000 acres 

 are in woodland. I,iverpool possesses the largest traCt of actual 

 forest or potential land, owning 22,000 acres in Montgomery, of 

 which 606 acres are in woodland. Leeds has 11,778 acres of 

 watershed, and 239 in process of development for afforestation 

 purposes. Birmingham has about 5,000 acres, 410 in woodland; 

 Bradford, 7,000 acres, but no woodland; and Manchester has 

 11,000 acres in Cumberland, but there are not many acres in the 



