1905.] Area of Woodlands in Great Britain. 537 



gories of (1) Coppice, />., woods, whether containing standards 

 or not, that are entirely cut over periodically and reproduce them- 

 selves naturally by stool shoots ; (2) Plantations, i.e., land 

 planted or re-planted within the last ten years ; and (3) " Other 

 Woods," which include all land (not returned as coppice or 

 plantation) used altogether or mainly for the growth of wood 

 (other than orchards). 



Summarising the new returns geographically in the groups 

 of counties usually adopted for the purposes of the Agricul- 

 tural Returns, the woodland acreage of 1905 was distributed as 

 follows : — 



Divisions. 



Coppice. 



Plantations 

 (since 

 1895). 



Other 

 Woods. 



Total 

 Wood- 

 lands . 



I. — Eastern and North-Eastern 

 II. — South-Eastern and East 

 Midland 



III. — West Midland and South- 



western 



IV. — Northern and North- 



western 



Acres. 

 47,159 



270,683 

 184,618 

 35.663 



Acres. 

 11,297 



I5,58o 



16,156 



16,614 



Acres. 

 189,038 



318,303 



268,815 



341,547 



Acres. 

 247,494 



604, 566 



469,589 



393,824 



England 



538,123 



59,647 



I..II7,703 



1,715,473 



V.— Wales 



VI. — Scotland (Eastern) 

 VII. — Scotland (Western) 



15,733 

 8,645 

 i4,37o 



8,629 

 22,768 

 12,639 



159,999 

 421,489 



388,498 



184,361 

 452,902 

 415,507 



Great Britain 



576,871 



103,683 



2,087,689 



2,7 8,243 



The present total area thus shown in Great Britain, 2,768,243. 

 acres, is 42,127 acres in excess of that returned ten years ago. 

 This extension was, however, confined to England and Wales, 

 the total area of woods in Scotland showing a decline of 

 10,356 acres. The decrease north of the Tweed has occurred 

 notwithstanding the fact that 35,407 acres of land are returned 

 as having been planted or re-planted during the past ten years, 

 so that it would appear that the clearance of woodland areas 

 by storms and from other causes has been considerably greater 

 than the owners of land have been able to make good. 



Some indication of the extent of planting or re-planting which 

 has apparently taken place within the past twenty-four years 

 may perhaps be given by comparing the returns of plantations 

 collected for 1891, 1895, and 1905 respectively. The areas 



