timber and obtain an increased yield from the 
3,000,000 acres of private forests which existed 
in 1914.” 
This is then the general policy, but one of 
the difficulties arises in reference to the last 
clause of the above quoted statement. For the 
present ten year period (1919-1929) the area of 
privately owned land to be afforested is 110,000 
acres (out of the 3,000,000). Many of the pri- 
vate owners are willing enough and would be 
glad to proceed but at present are financially 
What the outcome will be no one seems to ‘be 
able to predict, but it is a situation that is 
causing no little anxiety to those who stand 
for the continuation of established usages. The 
whole problem is full of complexities but this 
brief mention will indicate why greater activity 
in forest work may be looked for in the imme- 
diate future from the government rather than 
from the private estate owner. 
The above leads naturally to a note upon one 
method whereby the Forestry Commission is 
_.| HIGH MEADOW 
;| WOODS, 
ENGLAND. 
OLD CROWN 
FOREST— 
FELLING AREA, 
YOUNG PLOT, 
1} AND OLDER 
STANDS 
AN 
THE CLEBBON 
NURSERY AND 
| VIEW OF THE 
FORESTER’S 
HOUSE, TINTERN 
WOODS, 
ENGLAND 
unable to do so. Taxation, especially of land, 
has reached practically the breaking point in 
the United Kingdom. The basic rate of the 
income tax is six shillings to the pound; when 
to this are added the local taxes (“rates,” as 
they are called), which often run up to 12 shill- 
ings, it is obvious that the owner has little left. 
In some cases even, with the surtax on large 
incomes, the tax bill totals around 22 shillings 
on the pound (20 shillings). Unless the propri- 
etor has considerable investments in other se- 
curities it is not difficult to see what happens. 
Indeed many old estates are being sold and 
broken up into small holdings as the result. 
obtaining occupation of the area to be planted. 
This is not by direct purchase of the land in 
fee simple but by a lease for a very long 
period, so that in effect control of the area is 
secured practically in Perpetuity. It follows a 
custom that has long been in vogue on the 
large estates and appears admirably to suit the 
lé6cal conditions of the United Kingdom. This 
method has the unique advantage of very con- 
siderably increasing the Purchasing power of 
the appropriations at present available, for 
naturally the sums that must be paid out as 
annual rental are materially less than would 
be the amounts required for outright purchase. 
(ES) 
