NOTES AND QUERIES. 157 



work. As Europe could not supply its own wants, our only 

 other source was Canada, on which the United States was 

 making increasing demands for timber; and Canada itself, with 

 its enormous resources in water-power, would soon be a large 

 consumer of its own forest produce. In this country forestry was 

 neglected. Germany and France had long applied science to the 

 growing of timber, and to them we had to go to learn. Belgium 

 had done likewise. Even Spain, which had suffered more than 

 any country in Europe from the destruction of forests, had a 

 Government Forest Department; Russia, Sweden, and Austria- 

 Hungary looked after their forests; Denmark did much; Norway 

 something, but not enough. The United States had made marked 

 progress during the last ten years, and Great Britain might now 

 be regarded as the most backward of all civilised nations "in 

 recognising the necessity of action with regard to forest resources." 

 It was to be hoped that the labours of the committee now 

 sitting to inquire into a ad report upon the question would result 

 in steps being taken to remove this reproach. Dear timber would 

 mean higher rents, and higher wages to meet them. Why should 

 we annually import nearly 100 million cubic feet of timber in pit- 

 props which we could grow ourselves? Prop-wood did not take 

 three or four generations to grow, like sawyers' wood. The rail- 

 way companies were partly to blame; for they did little to help the 

 buyers of home-grown timber, who had consequently already begun 

 to carry what they bought by steam traction. The railway com- 

 panies took thousands of tons of unpaying dead weight from all 

 parts of the country back to the collieries each year in the shape 

 of empty coal-waggons, many of which might go back loaded with 

 home-grown pit-props if the companies would seek to encourage 

 such traffic. 



Treatment of Canker in Trees. 



The Revue des Eaux et Forets for March 1902 makes mention 

 of the following method of eradicating canker from an attacked 

 tree: — Pare ofiF the rough, cankerous portion of the wound so as 

 to expose a smooth surface of living tissues. Then, with a paint- 

 brush, apply hydrochloric acid of the kind and quality used by 

 tinsmiths for soldering. The acid is easy to obtain and costs but 

 little ; the process is simple ; and a complete cure is said to result 

 from a single application, which involves no risk of injury to the 



