TREE-PLANTING BY THE STATE 



The Prime Minister recently said : ' ' You 

 also have forest lands which are unsuitable for 

 higher cultivation. You have no idea how 

 we were handicapped because we had to 

 bring timber from Norway, Sweden, and 

 Canada, when you have plenty of land in this 

 country that in the old days used to grow fine 

 timber." And the Subcommittee rightly 

 remarks: " Dependence on imported timber 

 has proved a serious handicap in the conduct 

 of the war/' It also estimates that approxi- 

 mately 100,000 acres will require to be 

 afforested with hardwoods in order to render 

 the Kingdom safe during future wars. Owing 

 to the long rotation necessary for hard- wooded 

 over coniferous trees, the planting of such must 

 necessarily be carried out by the State, 150 

 to 200 years being nothing in the lifetime of 

 an oak or elm. Restocking denuded areas, 

 which are estimated at fully 1,000,000 acres, 

 will mainly fall on the proprietors of these 

 lands, and, owing to the enormous quantities 

 of timber that have been removed from many 

 estates, there will naturally be a tendency on 



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