NOTES AND QUERIES. 327 



the ordinary variety, and is less apt to produce autumn or second 

 shoots, which frequently get nipped in frosty situations ; but it 

 is of much slower growth, and is not likely to supersede the other, 

 as was believed by some foresters a few years ago. J. M. 



Prices op Home-Grown Timber. 



The prices of home timber are higher at present than they have 

 been for over twenty years. Larch and Scots pine have steadily 

 risen from thirty to fifty per cent, in value during the last four 

 years ; and, if we escape a recurrence of severe gales, there seems 

 no reason why the present prices should not be maintained and a 

 further advance be anticipated. 



Proprietors, especially those who are now benefiting by the 

 current high prices, should see to it that their available lands are 

 judiciously planted up with suitable species ; for sure it is that our 

 woodlands are to be of more commercial value in years to come 

 than they are at present. J. M. 



The Nation's Timber Imports and Exports. 

 The Table found over-leaf, which has been extracted from The 

 Timber News, records some very remarkable facts in regard to the 

 steady development of the import trade. Taking forest produce 

 of all kinds, the values of imports during each of the three years 

 1898 to 1900 compare as follows: — 



1898, £21,283,974 



1899, £22,882,187 



1900, £26,700,084 



The above figures are exclusive of a sum of £1,177,359, the value 

 of " other sorts," of which the value is not entered for the two first 

 years — possibly bacause the records were incomplete until 1900. 

 But, neglecting this large sum, it is seen that the imports of 1899 

 exceeded in value those of 1898 by £1,598,213, while in 1900 

 there was a further rise in value of £3,817,897. The increase in 

 value during 1899 and 1900, taken together, amounts to no less 

 a sum than £5,416,110, which represents a rise of more than 

 25 per cent, over the figures of 1898. How long can imports on this 

 increasing scale be continued 1 The available sources of supply will 

 assuredly shrink or dry up altogether before long ; but this will give 

 their opportunity to those home timber-growers who have known how 

 to prepare their estates in time to avail themselves of it. F. B. 



