§ MR. HERBERT LEWISI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, what steps have been taken by the Department of Woods and Forests to re-afforest the Crown lands in Wales?
§ * MR. HANBURYIn his forthcoming Report to Parliament, the Commissioner of Woods says :—
Representations having been made to me in favour of carrying out planting operations on parts of the Crown wastes in Wales, I took the opportunity, during October, 1894, of going over those in the neighbourhood of Denbigh, and had a meeting with some of the local farmers, who were interested as having sheepwalks or common rights upon them. Whilst it seemed quite possible to select places where trees could grow and do well, there are many other considerations which must he carefully weighed before any definite proposal of the kind can be made which may give reasonable hope of success. The common rights would have to be extinguished where the plantations were made, and, owing to the fact that though these wastes arc unfenced each owner of common right has in practice his own particular sheep-walk, there would be some difficulty in arranging how the rights of the commoners should be readjusted. To deprive one of these hill farms of its sheep-walk would probably be held to seriously damage the value of the farm as a whole. The 1259 accessibility of the ground, the nearness of railway communication are also serious factors in the problem, and I am therefore taking such opportunities as I can to visit the wastes in other parts of North Wales before attempting to make any definite proposals in connection with any one of them. A small plantation, mainly for purposes of shelter, has been made on a small Crown farm in Merioneth adjoining the waste of Maentwrog Mountain. The very severe weather experienced last winter greatly interfered with the work and added to the expense, arid the exceptionally dry spring has proved very trying to the young trees, most of which, however, were doing well when I inspected it in the month of June, 1895.