INAUGURATION OF NEW CHAIR OF FORESTRY AT CIRENCESTER. 187 



see the low prices of ten to fifteen years ago, because the more 

 accessible forests in the exporting countries have been heavily 

 worked, if not exhausted, so that the timber for export has, year by 

 year, to be carried over longer distances before it reaches the sea. 



Sources of Timber Supply. 



Before I proceed to deal with forestry in this country, let me 

 say a few words about the sources whence this timber comes. In 

 1899 we received from Canada under 2 million tons, from other 

 British possessions rather more than ]; million tons, total for British 

 possessions about 2^ million tons; from foreign countries 7f million 

 tons, total 10 million tons. The latter came from the following 

 countries — Russia, about 2^ million tons ; Sweden, about 2^ million 

 tons; Norway, about f million tons; Germany, rather less than | 

 million tons ; France, | million tons ; United States of America, 1 

 million tons. But we are not the only importing country in Europe; 

 on the contrary, most of them import timber. For example, 

 Germany's net imports are 4^ million tons a year; France, l^ million 

 tons; Belgium, over 1 million tons; Denmark, nearly | million tons ; 

 Italy, nearly h million tons ; Spain, nearly -g- million tons; Holland, 

 i million tons; Switzerland, ^ million tons; and Portugal, Bulgaria, 

 Greece, and Servia, smaller quantities. The exporting countries in 

 Europe are Russia with 6 million tons, Sweden 4| million tons, 

 Austria-Hungary 3;^ million tons, Norway 1 million tons, and 

 Roumania 60,000 tons. If you draw the balance of imports and 

 exports for the whole of Europe, you find that there is an annual 

 deficit of about 2| million tons a year, which are supplied by Canada, 

 the United States of America, and smaller quantities from other 

 countries. 



Are Future Supplies Safe? 



My reply is, "by no means." To begin with, the timber which 

 we get from Germany is really only a re-export, because that country 

 has a net import of ih million tons a year. It has been known for 

 some time past that Norway is working her forests with a deficit 

 (by cutting more than grows annually). Sweden was hitherto 

 considered as solvent in this respect, but a Parliamentary paper 

 just issued gives a different account. Sir W. Barrington writes 

 from Stockholm to the Marquis of Lansdowne, on the 18th March 

 1903: "Recent calculations estimate the annual consumption of 



