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Numerous herds of cattle, when allowed to wander through the

woods, though they do not destroy the old trees, hinder any young

ones from coming up; so that, in the course of a century or two,

the whole forest goes to ruin. The scarcity of wood then raises

its price. It affords a good rent; and the landlord sometimes

finds that he can scarce employ his best lands more

advantageously than in growing barren timber, of which the

greatness of the profit often compensates the lateness of the

returns. This seems, in the present times, to be nearly the state

of things in several parts of Great Britain, where the profit of

planting is found to be equal to that of either corn or pasture.

The advantage which the landlord derives from planting can

nowhere exceed, at least for any considerable time, the rent

which these could afford him; and in an inland country, which is

highly cultivated, it will frequently not fall much short of this

rent.