358 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY, 
place of the long familiar yellow pine, and the price being some- 
what less, it is being generally used. The beautiful clean grain, 
free from knots and shakes, and the great width it is capable of 
producing, have acquired it a favour in most industries. It is 
imported from both Canada and the United States. The supply 
of it is said to be more limited than that of the yellow pine, but 
statistics of the forests and their timber are not available for any 
practical purposes. 
The total imports to Scotland in 1891 amounted to 878,924 
loads. One-fourth of this was American timber, consisting of 
yellow pine, pitch pine, hardwoods, and spruce; two-thirds Baltic 
and north of Europe, Scots fir, and spruce; and the remainder 
made up of sundries—teak, kauri, and other special woods. 
Before concluding, it may be interesting to take notice of an 
experiment being made at the present time by the Swedish 
shippers. Considering their British business practically established, 
the shippers conferred together and agreed to bind themselves to 
place their credit on nearly the same footing as their Russian 
neighbours. The effect of this action has not yet become fully 
apparent, but although these terms have only been in operation 
a few months, the decline of Swedish sales has been so marked 
that considerations for the abolition of this rule are already exercising 
them. We have referred to this part of the subject with the view 
of showing how much more influence than the actual merits or 
demerits in price, a hidden cause may exert on the development 
of a given industry. The question is a common one,—Why will 
foreigners, removed from our shores by hundreds of miles and 
frequently by thousands, entrust our merchants with six months 
credit, while our own foresters, agents, and landlords will not 
trust them a day, although the timber is retained in their own 
hands? . Forestry in this country has little interest for the 
mercantile community, but the foreigner gives us a substantial 
interest in the subject, and we in return reciprocate the benefit by 
obtaining our supplies of timber from abroad. 
