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792 JOUENAL OE THE EOYAL HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 



forests, from their nature, the usual maxim of political economy, which 

 leaves such undertakings to private enterprise, cannot be applied. Their 

 vast extent, the long time that a tree takes to reach maturity, and the 

 consequence that few persons live long enough to obtain any, and more 

 especially the highest, returns for expenditure, even once in the course of 

 their lives, are proofs of the necessity that forest management should be 

 conducted on permanent principles, and not left to the negligence, avarice, 

 or caprice of individuals, and therefore point to the State as the proper 

 administrator, bound to take care that, in supplying the wants of the 

 present generation, there is no reckless waste, no needless forestalling of 

 the supply of future generations. This is matter of experience, not in 

 India only, but in all parts of the world." 



The number of State forests in Great Britain is very limited, and 

 I presume there are not many Crown lands that could be forested ; but 

 if the large landowners have not already set the example, they should do 

 so without delay. I wish also to ask whether much notice has been 

 taken by the Government of the letter which Sir Joseph Hooker 

 addressed in October 1873 to the Colonial Office : " The duty of con- 

 serving the natural resources of the Colonies [here referring to the 

 destruction of forests] for the benefit of future generations is becoming 

 the most pressing and arduous duty of those entrusted with the govern- 

 ment." And what he advised for the Colonies, has it been acted upon at 

 least in some degree at home ? 



The question is always asked whether forests will pay. I can only 

 say that Herr Gustav Wegener, Councillor of Forests, of Coburg, in advo- 

 cating a term of eighty years for the cutting of Pine forests, calculates to 

 receive from medium soil a yearly revenue of from 8 to 5 per cent, on the 

 value of the land. With Beech forests it will be about the same ; but th$ 

 timber of Oaks, requiring from 120 to 160 years before being felled, is 

 constantly rising in value, and the State is in future only going to plant 

 Oak for timber, and not for firewood. 



I have always advocated Arbor Days since in 1882 I passed through 

 the west of the United States, and noticed the alteration they have made 

 in the appearance of these formerly treeless regions. Whether these are or 

 can be introduced with advantage in Great Britain I am unable to say ; 

 but if so they might within a short time become a most enjoyable holiday 

 for the whole neighbourhood. I presume there are not many schools 

 with an area of five acres — the smallest area recommended in the United 

 States. But if there is any available land for planting in any neighbour- 

 hood the children of the school or schools, although taking part in the 

 planting, need not prevent grown-up persons from planting also, and 

 thus make it a general holiday, as sketched by Mr. H. S. Sterling Morton, 

 who established Arbor Days in the United States, when he said in 1887 

 at the State University of Nebraska, " Ordinary holidays are retrospec- 

 tive in honour of something good or great, but Arbor Day is not like 

 other holidays ; it sketches outlines, establishes the useful and beautiful of 

 ages yet to come, etches upon our prairies and plains gigantic groves and 

 towering forests of waving trees, whose beauty will compel the admiration 

 and gratitude of men and women yet unborn. It is the sole holiday of 

 the human family which looks forward and not backward." Cannot 



