176 SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS 



introduced in the construction of ships, the increased 

 facilities in transport and communication, the re- 

 moval of the import duty on colonial and foreign 

 timber, and the change in the kind and classes of 

 timber used in construction, etc., brought about the 

 gradual decrease in the amounts of home-grown 

 timber used, and consequently in replanting, and 

 resulted in the decline of British forestry as a com- 

 mercial undertaking. 



The latter quarter of the nineteenth century 

 witnessed a slight revival in British forestry, a few 

 enthusiasts, chiefly landowners, endeavouring to 

 enlist the sympathy of the Governments of the day 

 in replanting schemes and introducing into the 

 country scientific forestry education on Continental 

 lines. 



It has been shown that the Government appointed 

 Committees and Commissions during this period anc 1 

 in the first decade of the twentieth century, but 

 that, with the exception of some slight improvement 

 in forestry education, no "real progress was made in 

 afforestation proper. Not a single tree was planted 

 as a result of the recommendations made by these 

 Committees. It was evident that the Government, 

 in view of the fact that imports of timber in sufficient 

 quantities were coming into the country in a satis- 

 factory manner, were not satisfied that a case had 

 been made out as to the necessity of reafforesting 

 the waste lands in the country. And the British 

 public, in total ignorance of what forestry implied 

 in the economy of the nation a natural ignorance 

 since the aims and objects of forestry formed no 



