6 IRAXSACTIONS OK KOVAL SCOTTISH ARIiORICUI/l I'R AI, SOCIF.TV. 



It has been announced that the Board of Trade have been 

 making inquiries regarding pitwood suppHes from other sources. 

 A certain number of shiploads have been secured from Norway 

 and the White Sea, but these cannot form anything like an 

 adequate supply. Inquiries have also been made in Canada 

 and Newfoundland, and no doubt large quantities of pitwood 

 could be got from these sources. The prices quoted are, 

 however, fairly high, and it is doubtful whether any extensive 

 import will take place unless at an average price of about 

 40s. per ton, c.i.f. 



While the immediate supply of pitwood for English and 

 Scottish collieries during the period of the war is, no doubt, a 

 matter of great national urgency, the opportunity seems 

 favourable to consider the possibility of a large permanent 

 increase in the output of home pitwood. It is not possible 

 to estimate with any exactitude what percentage of the total 

 pitwood consumption of Scotland could be regularly met 

 from home forests. A moderate estimate would seem to be 

 25 per cent, to 30 per cent, of the total requirements, or say 

 70,000,000 to 85,000,000 lineal feet, equal to about 3,000,000 

 cubic feet. 



The question of railway rates has been already referred to, and 

 is a vital matter where long distances are involved. Probably 

 two-thirds of the forests of Scotland producing pitwood lie at 

 a distance of 80 to 170 miles from the point of consumption. 

 It is not to be expected that any permanent wholesale reduction 

 of rates is possible. Railway companies require to earn profits 

 for their shareholders like other trading companies. It does 

 seem possible, however, in the case of lines running into the 

 North of Scotland that by means of better organisation, regu- 

 larity of supply, and co-operation between the railway companies 

 and producers, a substantial reduction in rates could be 

 made without loss to the railways. Actual cases have been 

 quoted where the railway rate for pitwood is 50 per cent, higher 

 than that for coal, although some dry pitwood can be loaded on 

 a truck to within 20 per cent, of the weight of coal. It must be 

 evident to any one travelling in the Highlands that the number of 

 full waggons going north, mainly with coal, is in marked 

 contrast with the number of empty waggons coming south. 

 It has been stated that coal waggons are not suitable for convey- 

 ing pitwood, but this is manifestly incorrect seeing that the 



