OUR FORESTRY PROBLEM. 213 



XXIV. Our Forestry Problem} By Dr Schlich, C.I.E., Ph.D., 

 F.R.S., Professor of Forestry at Coopers Hill College. 



A year ago the President of the Board of Agriculture appointed 

 a Committee to inquire into and report upon the present position 

 and future prospects of forestry and the planting and management 

 of woodlands in Great Britain, and to consider whether any 

 measures might with advantage be taken, either by the provision 

 of further educational facilities or otherwise, for their promotion 

 and encouragement. Ireland was excluded from the reference 

 in accordance with the expressed wish of the Irish Agricultural 

 Department. One of the assistant-secretaries to that department 

 was, however, nominated a member of the Committee, so that the 

 authorities in Ireland might be in full possession of the views of 

 the Committee for further action in that country. 



The Committee has now submitted its report and made various 

 recommendations, which are under the consideration of the 

 President of the Board of Agriculture. In the meantime every 

 serious citizen should be made aware of the problem, and should 

 awake to the necessity of early action being taken in the matter. 



The questions which present themselves are chiefly the 

 following : — 



(1) Why is the forestry problem of importance to Great Britain 



and Ireland ? 



(2) What will be the resu.lt, not long hence, if nothing is done % 



(3) What is the present state of affairs % 



(4) What are the practical objects which the people and 



Parliament ought to set before them for immediate 

 execution 1 



Importance of the Forestry Problem. 



For the purpose of demonstrating this, it will be necessary to 

 indicate shortly the quantity of timber required by the country. 

 In a paper I read before the Society of Arts on Februai-y 27, 1901, ^ 

 I gave detailed information regarding the outlook of the world's 

 timber supply. This information I shall not repeat here, but 

 limit myself to giving a few of the main points. In the first 



^ Reprinted from the World's Work, by permission of the Editor. 

 - See Part 3 of Vohime XVI. of the Transactions, p. 355. 



