194 transactions of royal scottish arboricultural society. 



Planting Work and Unemployment. 



The question how far afforestation would provide a remedy 

 for unemployment has been much discussed. Once forests 

 are established, there can be no two opinions about their 

 providing winter employment for a large number of people, 

 and the figure has been put as high as one man for every 

 loo acres of fully-stocked forest. In addition, there is the work 

 of hauling, sawmilling, etc., which would provide for as many 

 more. Be this as it may, forestry combined with small farms or 

 holdings such as one finds, for example, in the Black Forest^ 

 does certainly provide for the maintenance of a larger rural 

 population than would be possible where large tracts of poor 

 land are found associated with comparatively small areas of land 

 suitable for the cultivation of field crops. By this combination, 

 rural depopulation and the overcrowding of the cities with men 

 in search of a livelihood might to some extent be diminished. 



The combination of forest and small farm provides per- 

 manently a preventive measure against unemployment, and 

 one which is certainly much easier of application than any 

 other which might be attempted. But the formation of forests 

 takes time, and the pressing and more immediate question 

 is whether the unemployed in the cities can to any extent 

 be relieved by being put to work in planting operations. 



One great drawback to the employment of city men out of 

 work is that planting has usually to be done at far too great 

 a distance from the homes of the people who need work. And 

 then, planting, if it is to be successful, has to be done by men 

 who are skilled in the work. 



During the planting season also the weather is very uncertain, 

 and it is not unusual in some parts of Scotland to have snow- 

 storms, and to find the ground covered with snow for weeks at 

 a time, during which out-door work on the bare hills and moors 

 would be completely at a standstill. " Broken " time would 

 often be excessive, and in such a contingency the problem of 

 providing for large numbers of men far away from home would 

 be a serious one. The question of housing would also, in many 

 cases, present difficulties if the planting ground were far away 

 from any villages or centres of population. It is quite true that 

 portable wooden houses could be provided, but this would add 

 to the cost of planting, and a more important drawback is that 



