FORESTRY IN SOME OF ITS ECONOMIC ASPECTS. I 27 



but, taking a broad average, it is probable that the afforestation 

 of 100 acres will require the services of twelve men during six 

 months. While the general operations of forestry extend 

 throughout the year, the actual work of planting is confined to 

 the period between the middle of October and the middle of 

 March. This is the time of year when labour is most abundant, 

 and it is also the time when work on farms is least pressing. 

 Forestry, therefore, fits in well with our rural social conditions. 

 While the Royal Commission fail to see in afforestation any 

 solution for the problem of unemployment, they point out that 

 it is better fitted than any rural industry to retain population on 

 the land, while it also harmonises well with the development of 

 small holdings. On the Continent most of the winter work in 

 the forests is performed by men who, during summer, are 

 engaged in agricultural operations, generally on their own 

 holdings. It was given in evidence that in Scotland crofters 

 found it an immense advantage to have woods in their 

 neighbourhood, in which they could find remunerative employ- 

 ment at a time when they could be readily spared from their 

 holdings. 



" A subject that has long interested those who have given their 

 attention to the world's trade in timber is the question of the 

 maintenance of supplies. With few, if any, exceptions those 

 who have examined the situation have come to the conclusion 

 that exports cannot be maintained at their present level, and at 

 no time has the probability of a timber famine been more 

 insisted on than at present." 



Afterdiscussing this question generally, Dr Somerville proceeds 

 as follows : — 



" The Royal Commission on Coast Erosion and Afforestation 

 took much evidence on the subject of the trend of prices and 

 quality of timber, and the Report^ and volume of evidence prove 

 conclusively that while prices have been steadily rising during 

 the past twenty years, and markedly so during the past ten, 

 the quality has been persistently falling. A rise therefore of 

 20 percent, in the price, for instance, of first quality Baltic yellow 

 deal is, in itself, sufficiently serious, but the aspect of the case 

 becomes still more serious when it is found that timber classed 

 as "Grade I." to-day, would some ten years ago, have been 

 classed no higher than " Grade III." 



^ Section 25. 



