PERIODICAL LITERATURE 575 



poned. . . . The end of the war will find us with our small area 

 of woodlands (one-tenth acre per head against one-half acre per head 

 in Germany and France) not only depleted, but devastated. . . . 

 On the other hand, the Central Powers will find themselves in posses- 

 sion of the greater part of the forest wealth of Europe. , . . The 

 war has shown that forestry is a key industry. . . . For war 

 emergencies 1,770,000 acres of soft woods and 100,000 acres of hard 

 woods are estimated as necessary, with 80-year rotations." 



The land to be acquired will not only yield a necessary raw product, 

 but will supply employment in the country, during the non-agricultural 

 season, to 3,000 men and later 15,000 men at the least estimate. 



The source of the land is as follows: Fifty thousand acres will be 

 purchased, 100,000 leased (at 5 per cent on land value, or $15 per acre), 

 25.000 on profit-sharing, 25,000 "dealt with by local authorities and 

 private persons," and 50,000 to be replanted — a total of 250,000 acres 

 during the first 10 years. There will be "compulsory acquisition" where 

 necessary, but "no compulsion is proposed as regards replanting, pro- 

 vided the owner can shoztr that the denuded area is being used to as 

 good or better adk/antage than it formerly was." The work will be 

 gradually extended year after year. The 10-year scheme calls for an 

 expenditure of about 14 million dollars ; the returns are estimated at 

 3.5 to 4.2 per cent on $15 land and 3.2 to 3.8 per cent on $30 land. 

 The per acre cost for the first 250,000 acres (10-year scheme) is as 

 follows : 



Per acre 



Afforestation charges $55.65 



Research .58 



Education .87 



Forest industries .49 



Overhead staff 88 



Total $58.38 



Probably the costs will prove to have been under-estimated and the 

 net returns of 3.2 to 4.2 per cent over-estimated when the final balance 

 sheet is drawn. T. S. W., Jr. 



Commercial Forestry. Ministry of Reconstruction, 1919, pp. 1-16. 



