NATIONAL AFFORESTATION 



ticular qualities have been amply demon- 

 strated, and have proved to the sceptical that 

 timber of home growth, in several cases at 

 least, can well hold its own with any that is 

 sent from abroad. 



In the matter of timber utilisation we are, 

 as a nation, extremely wasteful, and all 

 the more so when the small area of our 

 woodlands is taken into account; for it 

 has been carefully computed that, com- 

 paratively speaking, about one-fourth of 

 every tree felled goes to waste. We have 

 first to consider the thousands of tons of lop 

 and top that are left to rot in many wood- 

 lands; and even at the present time and in 

 face of a dearth of fuel many plantations in 

 the Home Counties, where extensive fellings 

 have of late taken place, have simply been 

 scoured for the best timber, the valuable tops, 

 vast quantities of excellent firewood, and 

 mountains of branches, being left untouched. 

 From an economic point of view this is a 

 terribly wasteful policy, and requires stern 

 measures to turn such wood to some profitable 



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