THE AFFORESTATION CONFERENCE. 6 I 



expert advice to municipalities and private owners for planting 

 their catchment-areas and their woodlands or potential woodland 

 possessions. ... I should be only too pleased to consider 

 possible loans for afforestation, and would favourably con- 

 sider the practicability of loans that were applied for for the 

 afforestation of land " {Report, p. 8). 



These introductory speeches were followed by a number of 

 others. For our purpose it may be well to consider their 

 contents under two heads : — First, those which dealt with 

 definite facts, due to observation or experiment, or both ; and 

 Second, those whose object was to bring forward suggestions, 

 recommendations, or criticisms. Not a few speeches fall under 

 both headings, but it is convenient to summarise first the facts 

 brought out during the Conference, before considering the 

 deductions made from these or other facts by the speakers. 



The actual business was begun with a paper by Dr Schlich, 

 F.R.S., who, by special invitation of Lord Carrington, spoke on 

 " Forestry as an Investment." Dr Schlich pointed out that com- 

 plete data, in regard to British woods, are not easy to get, 

 because, for the most part, they have not hitherto been 

 managed purely as business concerns : but he gave four 

 examples of woods which have yielded a fair margin of profit, 

 and concluded by saying that in his opinion the afforestation 

 of surplus land in this country will pay, provided the lands 

 are not situated above a certain height, which varies with 

 latitude ; that the right species are selected in each case, 

 according to the condition of the locality ; that the planting 

 is done efficiently; above all, that the woods are properly 

 tended, the chief art of the forester consisting in thinning his 

 woods at the proper time and in the right way ; and finally, 

 that the work is done economically. 



Mr S. Margerison of Leeds followed by reading a paper dealino- 

 with the " Comparative Qualities of British and Foreign Timber." 

 He stated that in his opinion the natural conditions in Britain 

 are such as to permit the growing of timber, of the species 

 mostly required, of equal quality with that of other countries 

 in similar latitudes, provided the culture is done on sound lines. 

 As regards, first, the broad-leaved trees, he said that it is no 

 empty boast to say that there is no oak superior to British oak, 

 and that much of the foreign oak is vastly inferior to it. Best 

 English ash has no rival which can compete with it in price and 



