INTRODUCTION 



state of our woodlands, it is to be hoped that 

 no grudging hand will be stretched out against 

 the rendering of the British Isles as far as 

 possible self-supporting in the matter of timber. 

 At present we have less than 3,000,000 

 acres of woodlands, or 4 per cent, of the total 

 area of land in the United Kingdom. Between 

 12,000,000 and 15,000,000 acres of waste lands 

 have been mapped out as suitable for tree- 

 planting, so that the proposed 3,000,000 acres 

 would work out at considerably less than one- 

 half of the available area. In order to reduce 

 expenses it was proposed to extend the plant- 

 ing of the whole area over a period of twenty- 

 five years, at the rate of 120,000 acres per 

 annum. The cost of so doing, including 

 purchase of land, would work out at 900,000 

 per year. There are advantages in spreading 

 the planting over a period of years, as by the 

 time the last portion was dealt with, the first 

 planted sections should be worth at least 

 60 per acre, which might be looked to as 

 a permanent yearly return. Besides this, 

 actual returns from coniferous plantations 



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