EROSION AND AFFORESTATION ROYAL COMMISSION REPORT. I91 



chief industries, and we may safely reckon on always getting a 

 certain amount of timber from them, although we may have to 

 compete for it in the market with other Continental countries 

 advancing industrially at quite as rapid a rate as ourselves. 

 The matter is very different however in the case of America and 

 Canada. The best sources of supply both in the States and in 

 Canada have already been tapped. There are no new sources 

 of supply of the finest brands of timber, and with rapid industrial 

 development in both countries, it seems quite certain that the 

 exports of timber from both will very soon entirely cease. 



On the other hand, our present forest area will no doubt 

 become more and more productive as State-example and im- 

 proved methods of forestry begin to have effect, and when a great 

 deal of the land at present only nominally covered with timber 

 becomes fully stocked. When everything is taken into account, 

 therefore, it would seem that, unless greatly extended markets 

 for timber and many new industries are developed, the smaller 

 scheme embracing an ultimate extension of 6,000,000 acres of 

 forest should be sufficient ; but at all events there is no question 

 whatever but that some considerable extension of our present 

 forest area is highly desirable as a matter of national policy. 



Of timber almost certain to command a ready market in 

 large quantities in the future, if it is produced in a regular and 

 steady manner, tall, straight, well-hearted Scots pine, grown 

 in dense stands, will probably head the list. In certain 

 localities of limited extent, species like Douglas fir or Corsican 

 pine will probably produce a larger bulk of timber of a similar 

 quality, although not quite equal to Scots pine. These should 

 also command a ready sale, and in these exceptional localities 

 will probably yield more remunerative crops than the Scots 

 pine. When the present high value of larch timber and the 

 correspondingly low value of Scots pine are alone taken into 

 account, the soundness of this view may well be questioned. 

 It is quite true that at the present moment the larch, per unit 

 of bulk, is the most valuable of all our coniferous timbers. It 

 is stronger and more durable than any other, but its tendency 

 to warp and twist makes it less suitable than pine for a great 

 variety of purposes, e.g., for building construction. The 

 market for larch is therefore comparatively limited, and if the 

 area of the larch crops were very much increased there would 

 no doubt be a corresponding depreciation in price. It has, 



