NATIONAL AFFORESTATION 



But this is not all, for apart altogether 

 from the question of immediate labour, what 

 an industry would be opened up in years to 

 come by the planting of waste grounds. At 

 present there would be the clearing, fencing, 

 draining, and planting the ground; then 

 tending in various ways would give employ- 

 ment. Thinning would commence about the 

 tenth year, and after about twenty-five years 

 the erection of sawmills and converting the 

 timber would open a vast and ever-increasing 

 industry, as well as provide highly remunera- 

 tive work to thousands of the unemployed. 



There are other ways in connection with 

 forestry in which the unemployed could be 

 usefully and profitably set to work, such as 

 in preparing osier-beds, planting dogwood for 

 gunpowder charcoal, and in the formation and 

 stocking of tree nurseries, the produce of 

 which could with advantage be used in the 

 formation of plantations. The latter would 

 give light employment to several hundred 

 men during the whole of the year. Osiers for 

 basket-making, charcoal for gunpowder and 

 heating purposes, and seedling plants for 



