FORESTRY CONSIDERED AS A KEY INDUSTRY. 33 



made by any fair-minded visitor would be, "The country cannot 

 supply a continuous demand." The material provided for the 

 comparison included specimens of flooring, weather boarding, 

 and linings of Scots pine, spruce, larch, and the quality of the 

 home products as compared with imported could be easily 

 demonstrated. It was not possible to show in an exhibition 

 stand all the uses that home timber may be put to, but it is 

 intended that in future exhibitions greater prominence should 

 be given to methods devised to show the range of uses. Two 

 planks that may be specially mentioned as objects of special 

 interest were those of Sequoia gigantea and of cherry. 



The value of photographs referred to above was not limited 

 to showing only the type of wood that may be grown in Scotland ; 

 the descriptions accompanying these included estimates of 

 volumes, and stated the ages. The selection of subjects in- 

 cluded woods of the species that have been found most 

 profitable in Scotland. A short examination of the yields per 

 acre will at once cause an enquiry into the probable money 

 yields when difference of market price of timber is balanced 

 by greater yield per unit of area. An impartial observer might 

 have some difficulty in finding why spruce, for example, has 

 not been more widely used in Scotland for afforestation. 



A special example may be given of the care taken to ensure 

 that the articles shown should not be merely a collection of 

 isolated objects of interest. Messrs Whytock & Reid of Edin- 

 burgh kindly lent for exhibition some fine examples of furniture 

 of Scottish-grown oak. Apart from the lesson in workmanship 

 to be learned, the interest lay in the careful selection of figured 

 oak and in the prepared sections of burr elm. The method by 

 which the figure was obtained was shown by exhibition of oak 

 planks cut to show figures ; the nature of the elm burr was also 

 shown on a specially prepared section of a burr. 



One of the special duties of a forest service in Britain must 

 be that of creating the forest area. Although the length of 

 rotation necessary for forests is vaguely known to all people, 

 few of the general public appreciate the care and expense 

 necessary for the management of forest nurseries. One of our 

 greatest expenses in early stages of afforestation in Scotland 

 will be that of protecting our trees against rabbits. If once the 

 general public can realise that the forest is a national property 

 and that it is entitled to the protection of the laws of the country, 



VOL. XXXIV. PART I. C 



