BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE 13 



tion of three million acres would therefore displace, at most, 

 20,000 tons of meat, equal to less than one per cent, of our 

 annual consumption. Four ships of 5,000 tons each would 

 bring this meat to our shores in a single voyage, whereas 

 the conveyance of the equivalent in timber, namely three 

 million tons, would entail the requisitioning of one hundred 

 and fifty times as much freight. 



It is one of the advantages of the afforestation of pastoral 

 land that it provides employment for an increased rural 

 population. Under sheep, one thousand acres may be 

 taken as the area which, on the average, provides employ- 

 ment for a shepherd, whereas under wood the same area 

 would require a permanent staff of ten persons. Therefore, 

 without taking account of wood- working industries, forestry 

 can offer remunerative employment to a population ten 

 times as great as finds occupation in pastoral farming. 

 Moreover, the operations of forestry are conducted, for the 

 most part, in winter, at a time, namely, when agricultural 

 operations are least pressing. Small agricultural and pas- 

 toral holdings are therefore almost a necessary comple- 

 ment of forestry, and it is on this combination that a com- 

 paratively dense rural population is maintained in many 

 districts of the Continent, and even in some parts of the 

 north-east of Scotland. Not only is this the case, but one 

 may go so far as to say that forestry is the only industry 

 that can with success be introduced into pastoral districts, 

 and on it alone will depend the success of any attempts to 

 restore population to our Highland glens. 



If it be conceded that a large extension of afforestation is 

 desirable, the question next arises as to how such extension 

 may be secured. One naturally thinks, in the first instance, 

 of the afforestation of private lands, for at present privately 

 owned woodlands constitute 98 per cent, of our total. As 

 has already been pointed out, the tendency of late years 

 has been towards a rather pronounced shrinkage of the 

 private woodland area, and with the prospect of great 

 financial stringency it is inconceivable that the tendency 



