Many of the large estate owners have in this 
way turned over certain of their forest lands 
to the Forestry Commission, reserving, how- 
ever, specified rights as to hunting and fishing. 
It is the policy of the commission not to ac- 
quire land that cannot produce at least 40 to 
50 cubic feet per acre per annum, of which the 
poorer classes of Scots pine land serve as an 
example. On land well adapted for the growth 
of Douglas fir as much as 160 cubic feet per 
acre per annum can be grown, and provided a 
market exists for pit props, such an area will 
pay back the cost of planting in the first 25 
years. It is figured that after a few decades 
the newly planted forests will become self sup- 
porting through thinnings, systematically 
made, at definite intervals. F 
One other class of forest should here be 
mentioned, that belonging to municipal and 
“WATLING 
STREET,’ LONDON TO CHESTER, IN 
THE FOREST OF DEAN. MR. 
BECK AND SON 
A BIT OF ROMAN ROAD, 
corporate bodies. Perhaps the most striking 
example is the holding of the corporation of 
Liverpool, at Vyrnwy, Montgomeryshire, Wales. 
It comprises an area of 354% square miles and 
includes the catchment basin and reservoir 
that gives the city of Liverpool its water supply. 
By means of a high dam a charming lake has 
been created in a valley among the hills. On 
every side, up to the summit of the ridge, for- 
est is being planted under a co-operative plan 
between the corporation and the Forestry Com- 
mission. It will take 20 years to complete the 
planting, when the forest will cover 734 square 
miles, above and around the lake. Surely here 
is an example that many American cities might 
well copy. : 
The distinctive thing about Vyrnwy is that 
the corporation was not content merely to se- 
cure the land necessary for its reservoir, with 
a narrow belt around its shores, but acquired 
the whole catchment basin and is afforesting 
all of the area above the water line. Incident- 
ally it pmay be said that a visit to Lake 
Vyrnwy well repays anyone who has a love for 
beautiful scenery Although the locality is 
rather inaccessible one is well cared for on ar- 
rival, at an excelleni hotel. Lake Vyrnwy is 
to be commended along with some of the 
wilder lochs in the Scottish Highlands. It is 
one of the localities where Douglas fir grows 
exceptionally well. 
Still another class of forests, the manage- 
ment of which is now under the Forestry Com- 
mission, are the old crown forests, like the 
Forest of Dean, Highmeadow Woods and 
Tintern Woods, in one of the Midland counties 
of England. From them, as from the private 
estates, valuable notes can be got as to the 
behavior of exotic tree species. They also in- 
clude stretches of coppice oak forest, too small 
and poor in character to be of much com- 
mercial value. In time such stands will be 
clear cut and replaced by planted forests of 
the fast growing conifers. It is on such forests 
as these that one sees also the old oak trees 
that date back to the age when the term 
“Royal Forest” meant primarily the lands 
where the king and his nobles hunted the red 
deer, and when the value of the trees was but 
a minor consideration. 
FOREST 
NURSERIES 
To provide the little trees that are to be 
planted on the various projects naturally re- 
quires that no little attention be given to the 
matter of forest nurseries. Through the activ- 
ity of a specially appointed body, the Interim 
Forest Authority, considerable preliminary 
work was undertaken in the years 1918 and 
1919, so that when the present Forestry Com- 
mission began its work in November of the 
latter year, it did so with a flying start. The 
total areas in nurseries for the United King- 
dom and Ireland for the three years 1918, 1919 
and 1920 were respectively as follows: 217.6 
acres, 271.6 acres and 343.2 acres. On Sept. 
30, 1920 there were growing in these nurseries 
27,000,000 transplants and 169,000,000 seedlings, 
the great majority being coniferous species. 
During the present year much additional land 
has been taken in. This procedure will con- 
tinue, so that the supply for planting out will 
always keep ahead of the acquisition of plant- 
ing sites. The size of the individual nurseries 
varies with the locality. Some forests have 
only a few acres; others like the Craibstone 
nursery near Aberdeen, Scotland, run up to 
large acreages. The Craibstone nursery con- 
tains 75 acres. It was started in 1916 under the 
direction of Mr. P. Leslie of the Department 
of Forestry, University of Aberdeen, and was 
taken over by the Forestry Commission in 
April, 1920. As an index of its growth it may 
be noted that 900,000 seedlings were started 
in 1916; in 1921 over 25,000,000. It is still un- 
decided whether it is better to use large, cen- 
trally located nurseries, or to have numerous 
smaller ones nearer the planting sites. To this, 
(15) 
