g6 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



in grain and fibre to the best products imported from 

 abroad. 



"How then ought we to proceed in order to ensure, as rapidly 

 as possible, that for all time to come this country may be made 

 self-supporting as regards its necessary timber supplies? The 

 answer to this highly important and seemingly difficult question 

 is as obvious as it is simple, namely, that we ought to set to 

 work now and do something practical, leaving all academic 

 discussion to take care of itself in the meantime, and proceed on 

 practical lines, based on past experience, with replanting and new 

 afforestation on all areas known to be suitable for the purpose. 

 The position of those new areas can be rapidly ascertained by 

 means of a general or flying survey commencing in those parts 

 of the country which offer the best facilities for a beginning being 

 made, with a sure knowledge that the effort will lead to the 

 desired result. A survey is necessary before it can become 

 possible to arrange for the planting of sufficiently large blocks, 

 so desirable for the well-being of the trees themselves, and also 

 for the execution of every practical operation from the initial 

 planting to the felling, conversion, and transport of the mature 

 timber. Such surveys have already been too long delayed, and 

 the sooner we begin to make up for lost time the better. I urge 

 the importance of these surveys, and their necessity as the first 

 step to be taken in the afforestation, on a large scale, of new 

 areas ; and although it is a subject which has long since passed 

 out of the realms of discussion among foresters, and has become 

 an accepted principle, I refer to these surveys on account of their 

 importance. 



"As regards the compilation of statistics and data for future 

 use the present time offers unique opportunities. When so many 

 woods are being felled all over the country, it is highly desirable 

 that each estate should preserve as careful a record as possible 

 concerning the kind and condition of every wood which is now 

 being felled. 



"The condition of the trees themselves, on any area, is the best 

 and most reliable index of the capability of that area for timber 

 production. Where mistakes have been made in the selection 

 of species for any area, now is the time to note the places 

 where the trees have failed to produce the best results from this 

 cause, so that these mistakes may be avoided in future planting. 

 On the other hand, where woods have been a complete success 



