46 ENGLISH ESTATE FORESTRY 



will affect his own personal interests, and the interests of the 

 estate generally. He will, or may, take it for granted that the 

 operation will not immediately benefit himself financially in 

 the least, for it will be twenty or thirty years before any 

 appreciable return will be forthcoming. But regarded in the 

 light of an estate improvement, and assuming that the cost 

 of the work is looked upon as an investment, how will the 

 final results compare with other kinds of outlay, such as that 

 on building, draining, road-making, and so on, and also with 

 the present rent of the land ? We believe 3 per cent, is 

 about the average interest obtained, or expected, on the 

 capital value of agricultural estates generally; and if the 

 result of planting is equivalent to 3 per cent, on the total 

 outlay, then it may be considered that the money has been 

 well expended. But it must be borne in mind that the 

 present rent of 28. 6d. per acre is probably obtained without 

 any outlay whatever, and it is therefore more in the form of 

 a royalty than a rent, except so far as it may involve the 

 fencing of a part of the ground. In the case of the ground 

 being planted, not only has this rent to be given up, but a 

 capital outlay of from £2 to £5 per acre must be sunk for a 

 long period, and other expenses on maintenance incurred 

 from time to time. 



It is evident, therefore, that the financial aspect of 

 planting waste or other land does not appeal very strongly 

 to the individual who plants it. It is by no means certain 

 even that his lineal descendants will derive the chief benefit 

 from the work, for the changes in the ownership of estates 

 in the course of half a century are often radical enough to 

 render the labours of the grandfather of little value to the 

 grandson. We must find other inducements, with more 

 immediate advantages attending them, if the planting of 

 rent-yielding land is to become a favourite occupation with 

 the average landowner. Fortunately such inducements do 

 exist, and they are such as estate owners usually appreciate 

 strongly. In the first place, plantations add enormously 

 to the residential and sporting value of an estate, much more 

 so than many realise. The term " weU-wooded " occurs so 

 often in auctioneers' descriptions of those " desirable freehold 

 properties " which come on the market from time to time. 



