THE NEGLECT OF HOME TIMBER. I03 



14. The Neglect of Home Timber.^ 



{With Plates.) 

 By Sir Robert Lorimer. 



In view of the attention which is at present being given to 

 the question of how the supply of home timber may be 

 increased, it may be of interest to examine the existing condition 

 of the home-timber supply from the point of view of house 

 builders and furniture makers. 



In the year 19 13 over ;^42,ooo,ooo went out of this country 

 in payment of imported foreign timber. The price for softwoods 

 has nearly doubled since 19 13, and the price for hardwoods has 

 gone up about 25 per cent. As about 80 per cent, of the 

 imported timber is coniferous and 20 per cent, hardwood, the 

 cost of the same amount of timber as was imported in 1913 at 

 the prices now ruling would be ;^76,ooo,ooo. 



Building of every description in the devastated areas will have 

 to be undertaken after the war on an unprecedented scale. 

 Owing to the vast quantity of timber used for various war 

 purposes, and the even greater quantity destroyed, there will 

 certainly be a timber famine, and the Allies will be bidding 

 against each other for any supply there is. The Germans will 

 be able to get ahead much more rapidly not only owing to their 

 own vast forests, which are, so far, uninjured, but also owing to 

 the fact that they have had saw-mills going at the back of their 

 lines cutting down French and Belgium timber and carrying it 

 back into the heart of Germany. Surely, as was pointed out some 

 months ago by an anonymous correspondent of the Scotsman, 

 there is a fairly simple and obvious method of dealing with this 

 situation ; that German forests should in due time be used to 

 supply sufficient timber for the reinstatement of buildings in the 

 areas that have been ruined. 



Any one who has been to Goslar in the Hartz Mountains — to 

 mention only one of many forest areas — and has done any of 

 the famous walks that radiate from this little mediaeval town will 

 remember the vast area of the State forests — over 130,000 acres 

 in extent — arranged in great blocks, according to age-classes, 

 the height of the trees in the different blocks varying from a few 

 inches to over loo feet. 



' Reproduced by permission from Country Life. We are endebted to the 

 Editor for the kind loan of the blocks of the accompanying figures. — Hon. Ed. 



