THE OPPORTUNITY 199 



to run a rope down a line of trees 3 feet or so up, and 

 then tie up the animals by short head-ropes to this. 

 Then they get at the trees and eat the bark and soft 

 bast off. It is rather a shame, but ' a la guerre comme 

 a la guerre.' " It would seem highly probable that 

 one of the after-results of the war will be greater 

 competition and consequent higher prices for forest 

 materials, and this country will be the first to feel the 

 new condition. 

 Two questions would appear to confront us : 



(1) Are we making full use of the opportunity which 

 the shortage in timber supplies is affording us ? 



(2) Are we seriously considering the forestry problem 

 in the new aspect in which the war presents it ? 



(i) The Opportunity. Much is being done by the 

 Boards of Agriculture, both English and Scottish, in 

 the direction of drawing the attention of proprietors 

 of woods to the possibilities presented by this unique 

 opportunity both for clearing out woods of poor de- 

 velopment or which have suffered irretrievably from 

 wind or snow damage ; and, secondly, in adequately 

 thinning promising young woods and selling the 

 material as pitwood. Some proprietors realised the 

 position at once. The question now is, Is there not 

 some danger of available supplies being held up too 

 long in anticipation of a still further rise in price ? The 

 opportunity is without parallel. It will be a pity to 

 miss it. We have heard already of mines introducing 

 iron props. These are more expensive, but, provided 

 they can be recovered for further use, they can be 

 made, it is thought, to pay. And by offering an extra 

 inducement by way of pay the men are being per- 



