30 A NATIONAL PLANTING SCHEME 



already known, or could be quickly ascertained ; the only 

 necessary stipulation being that the planting blocks 

 should have a minimum size of, say, 500 to 1,000 acres. 

 The land selected would mostly belong to private 

 proprietors, municipalities, and so on. It would be 

 necessary to come to terms with them. It should 

 prove feasible in certain cases to do this on the lines 

 already laid down by the Development Commissioners 

 on the principle of shared profits, the Government 

 finding the money for planting and fencing up to a 

 certain prescribed sum per acre, and the proprietor 

 of the land and the Government sharing the profits 

 resulting from the crop raised, after the repayment of 

 the loan. The proportion of profits to be shared 

 would naturally vary with the value of the land, and 

 would vary in individual cases. This was the proposal 

 before the war, and as has been shown, was accepted 

 by certain corporations and water trusts. 



A more recent offer of the Development Commis- 

 sioners differs from the above. To meet suggestions 

 made by landowners it is now considered possible that 

 the latter may prefer to lease areas of considerable 

 size for planting, and to receive the annual rental plus 

 a percentage of the ultimate profits from the woods 

 as afforestation value on renewal of the lease. And 

 this would appear an equally fair arrangement to both 

 parties. 



Lastly, Government may purchase land for afforesta- 

 tion and become the owner of a certain proportion of 

 the forest area of the country. 



The question of national afforestation then may be 

 approached in several ■•ways, all of which, with the 



