280 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
the British timber-imports in 1882 and 1902 can speak for 
themselves :— 
Wood and Timber— 1882. 1902. 
Hewn, . E : . £5,200,000 45,400,000 
Sawn, . é ; . 10,800,000 17,100,000 
Manufactured, . f : 300,000 1,400,000 
£16, 300,000 £23,900,000 
Paper (mostly made of wood-pulp), 41,200,000 £4, 500,000 
Paper materials (mostly wood-pulp), 2,000,000 3, 300,000 
43,200,000 47,800,000 
Total, 2 ty . 19,500,000 431,700,000 
Now, as our population was 35,241,000 in 1881, and 
41,976,000 in 1go1, it therefore follows that the imports of 
timber in the rough have fallen (proportionately to the popula- 
tion), and that the only increase has been in converted timber ; 
and anything that will conduce to furnishing home-grown 
supplies of timber must also necessarily provide employment 
in various forms for our own workpeople, and must cause 
money to be circulated among our own industries in place 
of being paid to the other countries supplying us with timber. 
A great national movement in the direction of planting waste 
lands would therefore tend to gradually provide employment 
for certain sections of the working classes; but to what extent 
this would be the case it is impossible to say. It is estimated 
that the German forests (34# million acres) now yield about 
£22,000,000 a year, of which about £8,000,000 are spent on 
maintenance and extraction, leaving a net income of about 
£14,000,000, or over 8s. an acre. And as far back as 1875 
it was also estimated that, in addition to all expenditure within 
the forest limits, the timber, etc., afforded employment to 9 
per cent. of all the industrial classes, representing nearly one- 
sixteenth of the total population. Such facts as these may 
well lead thinking people to ask themselves if steps ought 
not to be taken to secure somewhat similar benefits for our 
own working-classes and for the country in general; and if 
so, I do not think the proposals made above (under query 4) 
can be called unreasonable. 
* * * * * 
State-planting or State-aided planting would help to provide 
employment in rural districts in autumn and spring, though 
