I 9 I 



NATIONAL PARKS FOR THE 

 BRITISH ISLES. 



In a country like Great Britain, one of 

 the best assets of which is its natural 

 beauty — a thing of value not only to the 

 natives but also to the many visitors who 

 come from the colonies and abroad — 

 it is strange that the question of national 

 parks has never arisen, the more so see- 

 ing that we have, perhaps, the finest 

 opportunities known for securing them. 

 Were our country like the plains of the 

 Danube or of Burgundy — levels rich in 

 corn and wine — it would be far less 



easy; 



but vast tracts in the British Isles 



are almost useless for agriculture or any 

 kind of industry. Stand in the midst of 

 the mountains of Wales and you see 

 their summits rangingone after the other 

 like the bare rounded masses of great 

 elephants,and without a tree upon them. 

 In Ireland, too, there are beautiful but 

 bare ranges of mountains, often with a 

 lovely seashore, which might easily be 

 secured for all time as national parks. 

 Whatever value they now possess for 

 agriculture, or for any county or local 

 interest, they would afford in no less 

 degree as national parks, though we feel 

 strongly that the best way to treat such 

 places would be to leave them in their 

 natural state. This would mean very 

 little in labour, and certainly no " laying 

 out' 1 in the way of public parks as we 

 know them, with their prosaic and ugly 

 design so destructive of beauty . England 

 is richer than either Wales, Scotland, or 

 Ireland in agricultural resources and in 

 the value of its land for residential use, 

 but even so it has vast districts of great 

 beauty in its moors and mountain land 



in the north and its downs in the south, 

 which might, without much sacrifice, 

 be given to this truly national object. 

 One of the greatest gains from national 

 parks would be that they might afford 

 opportunity forplantingour native trees 

 in bold natural masses and forests. These 

 should be massed according to their 

 wants as regards soil and elevation, with 

 no setting out or prim fencing, or any 

 like things that are usually thought ne- 

 cessary for the rigid methods of artificial 

 planting, all of which are absolutely 

 needless in a national park. In all the 

 more fertile parts and by streams and in 

 valleys these trees would serve the two- 

 fold purpose of showing their natural 

 beauty and value, and of giving a home 

 to woodland creatures. 



The only difficulty would be to pre- 

 vent such great parks from becoming 

 mere places of public resort, which 

 would destroy all the quiet for the crea- 

 tures we would encourage in them. This 

 might best be avoided by selecting spots 

 difficult of access and remote from the 

 busy centres. The woods in such should 

 also be closed at certain seasons of nest- 

 ing and breeding, and the mere sight- 

 seer excluded altogether from certain 

 parts. Anything like the show of formal 

 roads and paths seen in the public parks 

 of great cities should be rigidly avoided. 



; It would be absurd to have hotels in such 



! places. Artists and students might,under 

 regulation, be allowed access to them. 



[ They would be an immense gain to ar- 

 tists to whom all " set out" things are a 



| horror; indeed, the value of such places 

 might almost be considered in relation 

 to their value for artists, as in a thickly- 



