THE OUTLOOK OP THE WORLD'S TIMBER SUPPLY. 383 



Kingdom lies in the fact that the waste lands available for 

 planting are almost entirely private property, and that most of 

 the proprietors are either unwilling or unable to invest money in 

 an undertaking which will commence giving a return only after 

 the lapse of a series of years. They prefer a present small rent 

 from shooting to an increased income from forests hereafter. Let 

 us hope that the Government and enlightened proprietors will 

 succeed in overcoming the difficulty. It is indeed easy to show 

 that millions of acres, which now yield a grazing revenue of a 

 few pence an acre, or shooting rents of perhaps eighteenpence a 

 year, could be made to yield a net revenue, after allowing com- 

 pound interest for all outlay, of ten shillings and more, if put 

 under foi'est in a sensible and economic manner. "With a view 

 to inducing owners to plant, Government might help in various 

 ways. Advances for the purpose might be given, to be recovered 

 in the shape of a sinking fund ; afforested lands might be exempt 

 from taxation for a number of years, that is to say, until the first 

 thinnings commence; in other words, forests should be taxed 

 according to the income which they yield, and not the area which 

 they occupy. In other cases, as in the congested districts of 

 Ireland, and probably also in Scotland and "Wales, if not in 

 England, surplus lands might be acquired by the State and put 

 under forest. Under the existing land laws, the Congested 

 Districts Board of Ireland purchases estates. After settling all 

 occupied parts with the tenants, considerable areas of waste land 

 remain over, which should be converted into State forests. This 

 is a matter which I pressed upon the Government of Ireland 

 fifteen years ago. There are at least two million acres of such 

 land available in Ireland, and still larger areas in Scotland, not 

 to speak of Wales and even England. By afforestation, addi- 

 tional labour would be requii-ed in rural districts, and help to 

 reduce the eagerness with which the younger part of the rural 

 population now flock into the great cities, where only too many 

 are destined to swell the large army of the unemployed. 



This brings my review of the outlook of the world's timber 

 supply to an end. It is a question which has occupied me ever 

 since I came back from India sixteen years ago. So far not much 

 progress has been made in impressing the importance of the 

 subject upon the people and the Government of this country. I 

 can only hope that this, my last appeal, will be more fruitful in 

 its effect than has been the case with my previous efforts. 



