Plantations  Competition,  1909. 
259 
In  order  to  carry  out  the  work  systematically,  we  supple- 
mented the  questions  which  competitors  were  asked  with 
further  queries  as  to  the  original  state  of  the  land,  the  value  of 
the  adjoining  land,  and  details  of  the  thinnings  ; and  in  every 
case  where  it  was  practicable  or  of  any  value,  we  took  averages 
of  the  quarter-girths  of  trees  and  their  heights.  We  fully 
annotated  our  inquiries  and  observations  for  the  purpose  of 
a careful  comparison. 
Estates  Visited. — The  entries  covered  a very  large  area, 
extending  from  the  south-west  of  Wiltshire  to  the  north-east 
of  Herefordshire  and  to  Worcestershire,  although  the  bulk 
of  them  were  from  Gloucestershire.  There  were,  in  fact, 
eighteen  entries  in  Gloucestershire,  five  in  Herefordshire,  two 
in  Worcestershire,  and  two  in  Wiltshire  ; and  although  these  in 
a measure  represent  the  energy  of  the  committee,  at  the  same 
time  it  appeared  to  us  in  travelling  through  the  country  that 
they  also  represent  to  a large  extent  the  activity  of  landowners 
in  forestry  work  in  the  various  counties,  in  which  Gloucester- 
shire takes  the  foremost  place.  The  entries  were  by  no  means 
confined  to  the  large  estates  or  properties  in  which  systematic 
planting  was  being  carried  on.  We  did  not  find  in  any  instance 
that  the  woodlands  generally  were  being  managed  upon  any 
defined  well-thought-out  scheme  ; although  in  many  cases  we 
found  that  the  woodland  areas  throughout  the  estates  were 
being  carefully  managed,  and  these  areas  were  being  extended 
gradually  year  by  year. 
In  some  cases  the  woodlands  were  in  the  charge  of  a head 
forester,  but  in  others  they  were  being  managed  by  the  agent, 
with  the  general  supervision  of  an  estate  bailiff,  and  on 
more  than  one  estate  the  landowner  himself  was  personally 
superintending  the  woodlands. 
Although  we  found  two  instances  in  which  the  owner  was 
carrying  out  wrong  principles  contrary  to  the  better  judgment 
of  his  agent  or  forester,  still  it  was  very  marked  that  where 
the  owner  was  interested,  his  woods  were  receiving  careful 
attention,  and  it  was  always  possible  for  the  agent  or  forester 
to  give  a reason  for  the  system  that  was  being  carried  out. 
We  found  a considerable  amount  of  enthusiasm  amongst  all 
parties  concerned,  and  every  promise  of  an  extension  of 
forestry  operations  upon  the  estates  where  the  work  had  been 
begun. 
Soil  and  its  Effect. — The  subjacent  rock  may  be  divided 
roughly  into  two  classes  : Oolite  and  Old  Red  Sandstone.  We 
found  variations  of  both  these  two  main  classes,  but  for  the 
most  part  the  land  was  of  a light  or  sandy  nature,  and  we 
only  had  one  example  of  what  might  really  be  termed  a 
heavy  soil.  .i 
