president's address and discussion. lOl 



nurseryman, and the scientist, and now a word for the timber 

 merchant. I am sure it would be of great value to have their 

 views on the possibility and desirability of more attention being 

 paid to the grading of timber into its various qualities and 

 dimensions, suitable for the needs of the various classes of wood 

 consumers ; and also in how far the methods of seasoning timber 

 might be improved. 



" Last of all, what can be done to encourage all kinds of 

 wood-consuming and manufacturing industries, large and small? 

 (cellulose, charcoal distillation, turnery, osier growing and 

 manufacture, hazel rods, and tanning material, bobbins, etc., 

 herring barrel and box manufacture, and boat building). 

 We have the machinery and the skilled workers in many 

 wood-consuming industries producing all our home requirements 

 at present, and the more raw material we can produce for their 

 use now and in future, the greater is the likelihood of their 

 becoming firmly established and flourishing as well as increasing 

 in magnitude and number. 



"One word of caution before closing. I would like to point 

 out that the present quality of pit-wood which is being supplied 

 to the mines, though quite suitable for their purpose, must not 

 be taken as a criterion of the quality of pit-wood this country is 

 capable of producing. 



" A sudden unprecedented and unanticipated demand for 

 timber trees of all sizes and classes has been made upon the 

 resources of our home woods, and some of the timber which 

 reaches the mines comes from woods which have been entirely 

 neglected, because the prices previously off"ered for home 

 supplies would not justify any expense being incurred in their 

 improvement, and even in the case of the material of better 

 quality, it is rushed to the mines, unbarked and undried, to meet 

 the immediate requirements, and this places the home product in 

 an unfair light when compared with what we were accustomed 

 to import before the war. Probably the fault is partially due to 

 the consumer, who had previously done little to encourage home 

 production by offering prices which compared very unfavourably 

 with these paid for imported material. I think you will agree 

 with me that this remark applies equally well to all classes and 

 kinds of home-grown timber. 



"The price of home timber has, generally speaking, been 

 relatively too low as compared with the price of imported timber. 



