FORESTRY IN THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE. 1 53 



million separate pieces ("deals, pine timber, pine boards, and 

 planks"), as well as 23,000 loads of coniferous timber, were 

 imported into England alone : the importation into Great 

 Britain in 1771 was much larger, and had nearly doubled again 

 in 1790. 1 Clearly, the foreign timber trade was of importance 

 at a much earlier date than Mr Stebbing supposes. 



Side by side with the modern development of the import trade 

 went the planting of coniferous timber in Britain : in this 

 connection Mr Stebbing mentions the Atholl estates, and we are 

 grateful for this reference to Scotland, but space might have 

 been spared for a fuller description of planting operations both 

 in Scotland and England. Tn particular, reference might have 

 been made to the early efforts of the Earl of Haddington at 

 Tyninghame. 



We have dealt at some length with the historical part of 

 Mr Stebbing's book, because we wish to emphasise the need 

 for sound teaching and writing on a subject which had much 

 better be left alone than treated perfunctorily and carelessly. 

 It is necessary for any writer to ascertain the facts himself, and 

 not to draw his information from authorities already second- 

 hand. Especially do we hope to be spared, in any future book 

 on forestry, from the curiosities of English forest law, which for 

 the most part have nothing to do with the question of economic 

 forestry at all. 



In discussing modern policy, Mr Stebbing is on different 

 ground. His opinion of the activities of the Development 

 Commissioners who "took up the question [of forestry] in a 

 spirit of enthusiasm and approached it from the proper view- 

 point" is not likely to be shared by many readers of this 

 journal, although he states that "it is beyond dispute." We do 

 not think he appreciates the relations of the Commissioners and 

 other public departments in the formulation of schemes and the 

 administrative difficulties which have arisen therefrom, nor does 

 he meet the criticism which has been directed against the 

 Commissioners. The spirit of laudation in which he approaches 

 this part of his subject has brimmed over to an enthusiastic 

 advertisement for the Midland Re-afforesting Association, which, 

 he says, "has already proved the feasibility of afforesting the 

 shale heaps of the Black Country." The object of the Associa- 

 tion is aesthetic, covered for propagandist purposes by a thin 



1 Cd. 7488, p. 64. 



