The Principles of Forestry. 
357 
seem to forget that it is tlie most important step of all. Success 
does not rest alone in careful planting, however, but in the pre- 
paration of the ground, the choice of soil and site, the choice of 
such trees as suit the soil and the local demand, and the 
treatment during growth. 
These, then, are some of the defects of our present system, 
and an inculcation of true forestry among those responsible for 
the inception and the manipulation would gradually but surely 
rectify them and bring about a new era in the growth of 
timber. Another and important result would undoubtedly be a 
large extension of planting ; and lands now lying waste or un- 
productive, and further areas which are rapidly passing out of 
cultivation, notably the thin poor soils and the cold clays, might 
be made to yield a large supply of valuable timber at no distant 
period. Thereby landowners and the nation would be enriched, 
and depression such as now exists might in a measure be suc- 
cessfully combated. To a great extent, too, employment would 
be found for those who are, so to speak, indigenous to the soil, 
which would be more rational than providing funds for emigra- 
tion and for the transplanting of our best bone and sinew. 
To do this, however, necessitates the expenditure of capital, 
and this is of such vital importance as to need some careful 
consideration. The reduction of the interest on Consols will 
undoubtedly do much to stimulate the expenditure of capital on 
the land, and this alone may lead to an extension of planting. 
The first question naturally will be, Will it pay ? and the 
next, ■ How can the money be obtained ? That planting will 
pay if conducted on the lines of true forestry is in my opinion 
a foregone conclusion ; and that it will not pay if these rules are 
ignored is equally certain. 
The expenditure, even if the strictest economy is exercised, 
will be considerable, especially in the south of England, and 
therefore any one unwise enough to plunge into it without due 
and careful consideration, and without skilled advice, courts 
failure. To ensure success, soil not adapted to the growth of 
timber should not be planted, trees suitable to the soil should 
be chosen, and trees, moreover, for which there is a general or 
local demand. 
These assertions, however, are insufiicient to convince the 
practical mind, and figures must be resorted to. I approach 
these, however, with some reluctance, as, no matter how care- 
fully they may be compiled, there is always room for doubt and 
question. This must be so in all hypothetical cases. Again, 
no series of figures will be complete without taking into con- 
sideration the accumulation of locked-up capital, and the yearly 
