172 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



here and another there, a large supply at one moment and 

 practically none at another, is useless. To secure a market the 

 product must be of equal quality and quantity continuously 

 supplied. In forestry finance the State (or the Corporation) has 

 advantages over the individual, in addition to the considerable 

 one of being able to borrow money at a low rate. It pays no 

 death duties, which by their inequality operate injuriously on 

 private forests. Timber on a rich estate will pay no death 

 duty, whilst on a poor one the full duty exigible may fall with 

 crushing effect upon the timber, and this tends to bring forests 

 prematurely to the axe. 



This at least is certain : — either the State must itself extend 

 the timber area, or else it must advance the costs of stocking, 

 to responsible individuals or corporations, and provide the 

 management to safeguard its investment. The latter course 

 involves divided responsibility, always a doubtful expedient — 

 especially in forestry, where ground game and squirrels, wind 

 and fire, disease and neglect, may ruin any plantation in a 

 few hours, weeks, or years. If I hazard a suggestion at the 

 present stage it would be that the State should take the main 

 part of the work in hand ; that the initiative of the private 

 owners should be encouraged ; while it may even be found 

 expedient to indulge in a certain measure of combination 

 between the State and the individual, — once, that is, we have 

 an established Board of Forestry with its recognised standards 

 of good practice, — for the problem of severance and the 

 liability for claims becomes so serious in dealing with small 

 areas that this special difficulty alone may require circumven- 

 tion. Co-partnery proposals present great difficulties, whether 

 to the State or the individual, but should not be absolutely 

 ruled out as an accessory to the main effort. As a matter of 

 fact we need not tie ourselves down to any particular dogma, 

 if only because there is plenty of time to think over the.*^e 

 three lines of action. 



The immediate requirements are : — adequate provision for 

 thorough training ; a survey of available land ; a general 

 scheme based upon ascertained facts, the whole interests of 

 forestry being centred in a responsible Department. 



In Germany, whose woods are, along with those of Switzer- 

 land, perhaps the best managed over all, the ownership is 

 divided amongst landowners, corporations, and States. The 



