156 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 19, 1885. 
ciate their value, the more so as the fattening and rearing of live stock is 
now the main resource for profit to the farmer ; hence all that conduces to 
the comfort and health of his stock is duly appeciated and valued. 
Appearance. —The improved effect of planting for appearance is closely 
allied to that of shelter, hut differs only in this respect, that it affects the 
proprietor only, in the first place, because it secures beautiful and pleasant 
surroundings ; and secondly, it commands its own value in the event of a 
sale. I have been also casually reminded that the effect of some such 
scenes as forest scenery has often been the theme of the poet and the 
painter, which without the cause would have been lost to the world. 
Game. —The increase of our population necessarily opens out a great 
demand for all kinds of food, and now game in numerous cases is actually 
of more value than any other kind of live stock, even if no intrinsic value 
was placed on the sport. This more particularly refers to our bleak and 
mountainous districts where the aid of the planter is more and more 
required, and his skill put to the greatest test. Here again we have a value 
that we do not see directly placed to the credit of the plantation account, 
but nevertheless belonging to it, and really more valuable at the pres ent 
time, owing to the great objection to ground game, as that is more generally 
understood from winged game, which as yet creates no great injury to 
anyone interested in the matter. 
Hygiene and Superfluous Moisture. —The planting of trees is valuable 
in taking away superfluous water—a very important matter, as it improves 
an estate as a healthy and desirable residence. Some time ago great things 
were spoken of the Eucalyptus globulus, or Blue Gum Tree of Australia, 
as possessing the valuable quality of preventing fever. On this matter a 
difference of opinion exists, but no difference of opinion exists in that its 
greatest value lies in clearing the ground of its superfluous moisture, 
hence the malaria arising from stagnant water is altogether prevented, and 
as a consequence fever cases are very much reduced or entirely prevented 
wherever it abounds. Fortunately we have native shrubs and trees which, 
if not so peculiarly suited to the purpose of absorbing the superfluous 
moisture and correcting the pernic’ous exhalations of marshy soil, will yet 
thrive there and do their work fairly well. A plantation principally com¬ 
posed of Willows with Poplar, Birch, and Alder, will be found an excellent 
remedy for wet and moist land, and even on the only consideration of profit 
will be found a good investment. The Conifer® also, especially the Fir, 
are adapted by Nature expressly to remedy the evil tendencies of the 
situations in which they thrive. As in the Carolinas, the Pine barrens are 
the health resort and sleeping place of those who cultivate the lower and 
more fertile soils, but dare not sleep there till after the first frost, for fear 
of the terrible country fever; so a grove of common Fir or other turpen¬ 
tine-producing trees gives out exhalations known by experience and 
affirmed by recent scientific discovery to afford the best possible preserva¬ 
tive against disease of the malarial type. In fact, some writers apparently 
incline to believe that a Pine wood might prove quite as healthy a resort 
as the best of mineral springs. The Scotch Fir planted in rows for some 
hundred yards round the edges of a pestiferous marsh might do not a little 
to intercept the unwholesome exhalations, and protect the inhabitants of 
the neighbourhood, while the Willow, swiftly growing as it is, would 
gradually absorb the superfluous moisture and prepare the ground for an 
advance of the Conifer®. No one who has noted the character of the 
ground immediately under a group of Scotch Firs can have failed to observe 
how the fall of their peculiar sharp needles differs from that of ordinary 
deciduous leaves, producing not a rich moist leaf mould speciallv nutritious 
to grass and flowers, but a mass of loose, dry, hard fragments through 
which even the exhalations of a moist soil would hardly penetrate. A Dr. 
Hough writing on this subject demonstrates the sanitary effects of wood¬ 
lands not only in clearing the “ bottoms ” of many of the Western States 
of malarious fevers, but in rendering habitable the disease-stricken valleys 
of Italy and Algeria—a state of matters produced by the cutting down of 
the woods w r hich flourished in these countries in days of old. 
New Markets for the Produce of our Forests. —Many of my 
hearers have, no doubt, paid a visit to the Forestry Exhibition lately held 
in Edinburgh, which, taken as a whole and considering the narrow sphere 
which could be called into play, was a credit to the promoters. One thing 
was very evident, that there is a large field for ingenuity and enterprise for 
native timber, and many of the articles so manufactured were really useful, 
ereditable, and desirable. One exhibit, the stand of articles made from 
Willows, was a perfect surprise, and showed what a variety of articles in 
daily use are manufactured solely from the common Willow. The other ex¬ 
hibits were too numerous to particularise, but mention might be made of the 
varied character of the articles, from the plain requisite of the dairy to the 
beautiful and tasteful articles manufactured of polished native timber 
mounted in silver. Were these articles in greater demand this would 
cause an increased inquiry for such timber as Sycamore, Birch, Oak, 
Ash, ic., and no doubt a corresponding increase in value. A passing note 
might be made of the beautiful grain some woods of native timber show 
when polished; and were these specimens oftener exhibited I have no 
doubt a corresponding demand would follow. A bazaar was lately held in 
Carlisle solely for the sale of ornamental boxes, ifcc., made from Cedar direct 
from the laud of Palestine. Now the sale of these was caused by their 
sacred or hallowed associations. Against this, in our case, ship these same 
kind of goods to any part of our empire where Englishmen abound, and 
ouer them as manufactured from the hills and dales they love so well, 
vhough far away, and you awaken a similar echo in many hearts. Again, 
°f, °^ r ® x P erience£ l “embers lately suggested to a railway superinten¬ 
dent that his duty was to encourage the use of native timber for railway 
purposes, seeing that with the aid of creosote our commonest native timber 
could easily be made as lasting as any foreign timber. 
Having thus briefly touched upon the aim of this Arboricultural Society 
m bringing such matters home to the landowner, I now proceed to consider 
our aim as a Society in regard to the employe—viz., 
The Wood Forester. The duties of a Wood Forester are very varied, 
and it is astonishing that so much knowledge is expected from one indi¬ 
vidual. In the first place, he must possess a knowledge of the management 
of forest tree plantations and their proper planting, thinning, &c .; he must 
know the diflerent kinds of trees to suit different soils ; he must be a prac¬ 
tical drainer, as the ground must be properly and sufficiently drained; he 
must be able to keep his various estate books, such as a time and a work 
book ; be able to calculate the price of timber, and he must be able to mea¬ 
sure the same correctly ; he must be able to prepare estimates of the value 
of draining, planting, fencing, Ac., and submit reports of the same ; he 
must possess a knowledge of machinery and the care of a saw-mill, which, 
in nearly every case, is driven by steam power. As a rule, he is expected to 
cut out timber for fencing ; to make or superintend the making of field 
gates, hurdles, &c.; and, to sum up the whole, it means wood merchant, 
engineer, joiner, nurseryman, book-keeper, contractor, and drainer, all com¬ 
bined in one single person; and with all this knowledge he is generally 
considered to be a very modest individual on an estate. If such a class of 
men exist with the limited training and opportunities which can be found 
within their reach, how much better the same men would be if an institu¬ 
tion such as a School of Forestry existed, where any young man, after 
passing through the plain details of planting, pruning, felling, barking, 
measuring, &c., could be ushered into a sphere where the higher duties of 
his business would be learned, and where he could get the assistance of 
wha'ever learning or science can give to assist him in the execution of his 
duties in after life. The Society also aims to bring the forester in contact 
with other foresters, so that by discussion and the reading of papers by 
practical men in his own business, he may have his mind encouraged to 
greater study, and gain by the experience of others valuable lessons in 
regard to many matters he may have to contend with. We have a very 
trite adage : 
“ Providence helps those who help themselves,” 
and in promoting an Arboricultural Society where foresters and all who 
are interested in arboriculture can organise and assist each other, I 
believe this adage in our case can be more effectively carried out. 
Union is strength, and because we are necessarily much scattered over 
the country, it behoves us the more to be drawn together in the bonds 
of a Society. 
Our aim in Regard to the Good of the Nation. —Forestry has a 
national value, and it follows that any encouragement in the practice is a 
national gain. I have already referred to forestry in regard to hygiene, 
which is surely a national matter, but this is now much better understood 
and valued, particularly in towns, where open spaces are now acknowledged 
as necessary for the health of the inhabitants. I may also refer to the 
effect of plantations on the rainfall of a country, now a fact fully proved, 
that when the natural forests disappear to any great extent drought begins 
to reign to an alarming degree, and the produce on the land is destroyed for 
the want of moisture. This fact is now so apparent in some parts of 
America that a scheme of re-foresting is now an acknowledged duty of Ihe 
American Government. A writer of repute states in a recent number of a 
scientific magazine : “ The true basis of national wealth is not gold but 
wood.” This assertion is reasoned out by the following facts :—The great 
table land of Central Asia was in historic times as fertile as a garden, and 
produced food for the support of great and populous nations ; the reckless 
destruction of the forests has converted the great plains and valleys of that 
part of the world into dreary deserts which afford sustenance to only a few 
scattered tribes of nomads. Immense herds of sheep and goats, computed at 
15,000 in each herd, were the instruments in this terrible transition. These 
immense herds cropped the seedling trees so that natural reproduction was 
arrested ; the mature trees in course of time decayed, the climate became 
arid, the water courses dried up, and the land ceasing to bear its fruit in due 
season finally became a howling desert. I could also refer to the supply of 
timber in the future, seeing that the farther we cut our supply of timber 
from the seaboard the greater its value must become, hence it becomes a 
national duty to provide a supply for the coming generation. I am of 
opinion that this must become a national affair, and hope it will rest with a 
government of England to clothe our mountains with timber, either by (he 
loan of money at a low interest to the proprietor, or to take the matter into 
their own hands. Take our Cumberland fells and clothe them with the 
Larch and Pine tribe, and what a mighty change would come over the hills 
and dales now left to support a few black-faced sheep in summer, when com¬ 
pared with all the advantages I have referred to, let alone the value of the 
timber when arrived at a stage of maturity. M. Boppe, Inspector General 
of Forests in France, recently paid a visit to this country to report on our 
Highland forests, and in the course of his report he states—“ If a line were 
drawn from Greenock to Perth, there would be found north of the boundary 
no less than five millions of acres at present regarded as mere waste, which is 
capable of being converted into valuable timber forests.” If that were dene 
and the forests worked on the German system, they would supply an annual 
growth of timber, fifty or sixty years hence, more than double that imported 
from Russia, Norway, Sweden, and America. One-half of this area under 
trees would also always be open for grazing purposes, and from the shelter 
and the superior quality of the grass found in the forests, ample food would 
be afforded to twice as many head of cattle and sheep as the same quantity 
of moorland or exposed pasture could supply. Still further, the working 
and management of the forests and the development of hundreds of in¬ 
dustrial enterprises connected with them and their products would afford a 
steady means of employment and subsistence to a large proportion of the 
inhabitants of the Highlands, who at present eke out a precarious living as 
crofters. We also require a trained class of men for our Indian plantations, 
and if forestry were more fully and intelligently pursued in this country we 
could furnish any number cf competent men. At the present time our can¬ 
didates have to go for two or three years to Germany or France, where this 
knowledge is supposed to be much better attained than in England, hence it 
becomes a national question to be able to train our own candidates ; and 
this can only be done by raising forestry to a higher place than it yet 
occupies in this country. 
Barrenness of the Pampas.— In the admirable address of Prof. 
Asa Gray at Montreal he alludes to the singular absence of trees and 
herbaceous plants throughout the Pampas or vast level plains in the South 
American continent, and he endorses the opinion of Mr. Darwin and Mr. 
Bell that this absence is due to the fact that the only country from which 
they could have been derived could not supply species adapted to the soil 
and climate. As this is a subject to which I paid considerable attention 
during a long residence in South America, I venture to call attention to 
