LITTLE AFPORESTATIONS.
A number of questions have come' to me about the wisdom of planting small areas—an acre here, an acre there—with trees. In the pumice areas of New Zealand anyone who pleases may invest in an acre through a company which plants and protects for him ; and delivers the profit from sales twelve, fifteen, or twenty years later. The speed of growth there is altogether abnormal. In England the individual must do the work himself, though he may be able to get a grant, up to £3 an acre, from the Government ; and the Forestry Commis- sion are extremely kind in giving practical advice. Probably the biggest and almost the quickest return comes from cricket- bat willow, but it is necessary to be very careful about the variety—caerulea alba is the best—and only some soils suit it. In very wet places osiers or the Canadian poplar are often recommended. In planting conifers, which flourish on many sorts of soil other than the sand with which they are often associated, the habit is now common, owing to official advice, of putting in a beech between every four conifers. An interesting strong-growing conifer, becoming popular, especially in the North-west of England, is the Sitka spruce. The value of both sycamore and ash, which grow quickly, is likely to increase. Almost all trees benefit by the presence of poultry.
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