EMPIRE FORESTRY DINNER, I924. 73 



immediate steps should be taken to find out what our Empire 

 resources actually were. Investigations had now been begun 

 and he hoped the next Conference, in five years' time, would have 

 a much more exact knowledge of the position. Lord Lovat 

 expressed the opinion that the day was not far off when the 

 cultivated forest would be more important than the natural one. 

 A significant fact to note was, that we in Great Britain had 

 actually planted more land than the total of that planted in the 

 United States and Canada. The relative figures in the last four 

 years were approximately 79,000 acres in Great Britain as 

 against 60,000 acres on the North American continent. An 

 accurate survey of the forests of the U.S.A., made within the 

 last three years, showed that the forest area had now fallen from 

 about 822,000,000 acres to something round one-quarter to 

 one-third of that area. The Americans were beginning to think 

 they would soon have to come to Europe not only for pulpwood, 

 but for some of their softwood constructional timber. Referring 

 to the work of the Forestry Commission, Lord Lovat expressed 

 his appreciation of the help of the voluntary Associations in the 

 following terms: — "I have been Chairman of the Forestry 

 Commission for four years, and my fifth year is very nearly 

 up. I only hope that my successor may have the same support 

 from the Associations as they have most willingly given to me. 

 Ladies and gentlemen, as well as these good supporters, there 

 are a certain number of men who sit in the back rows and snipe 

 at authority. They do a lot of good and, on the other hand, 

 they do not do a lot of harm. But at times, especially in view 

 of the frequent changes of Government, these people make 

 themselves troublesome and cause us a lot of unnecessary work in 

 hunting their particular hares, and in educating those Govern- 

 ments — we have to educate each party in turn — as to what forestry 

 really is and what it stands for. As the Forestry Authority of 

 Great Britain we do want to get forestry placed solidly on its 

 legs. We have begun to do something that has been neglected 

 for centuries. I do not claim that the Forestry Commission's 

 work has been without mistakes, but we have had big objectives 

 of which we have never lost sight, and we have done the best 

 we could, aided by the efforts and co-operation of our supporters 

 throughout the country. In this connection I refer specially to 

 the landowners of all sections of opinion who have conveyed to 

 us the land at a very cheap rate, and have often presented it ; 



