16 THE SAD PLIGHT OF BRITISH FOKESTEY 



under sheep farms, which for the last quarter of a century 

 have been such a precarious industry that landlords have 

 been at their wits'- end to let the ground at half or a 

 quarter the former rent. Much, very much, of this land 

 is in an excellent condition for planting. Shreds of the 

 great forest it once bore may still be seen clinging to the 

 sides of 'cleuchs' in upper Nithsdale, and nestling in 

 the glens of Galloway. Wherever, in short, there is 

 shelter from the winter gales, whereof the force was once 

 broken by the mass of forest, but which now sweep across 

 the bare land with unmitigated fury, and wherever the 

 ground is so steep as to keep off the axe of covetous man 

 and the teeth of browsing sheep, there still is a spon- 

 taneous growth of oak, ash, wych-elm, and — that sure 

 index of good woodland soil — holly. Nothing is being done 

 towards reafforesting this great district. The fact is that 

 most landowners have no capital to lock up in planting 

 until woodland begins to make a return ; those that could 

 afford to do so either prefer a quicker return or distrust 

 the probability of any return from an industry which 

 shows such a bad record in the past as British forestry. 



When a man invests his capital in a farm, he sets to 

 work to cultivate it according to certain well-established 

 rules of good husbandry ; he employs men experienced in 

 carrying these rules into effect, and he can obtain advice 

 from a department of the Government. There is a 

 practical code of British husbandry and stock-rearing, 

 and there are agricultural societies in every county of 

 the realm to encourage and instruct individual effort. 

 Nothing of the kind exists in British forestry. Our 

 abundant coal supply has enabled us to become indifferent 

 to wood fuel ; our wealth puts the timber of every part 



