August 15, 19 18]. 



NATURE 



467 



they are waste lands^ — it will be possible to de- 

 marcate blocks of a size capable of being" worked 

 on a commercially profitable scale, with system- 

 atic fellings which will guarantee a continuity in 

 supply of material, reduce the cost of extraction 

 of the material, cover the cost of upkeep, and 

 yield a profit. Such areas of forest will maintain 

 a larger population on the land, since forests 

 require more people to look after them than the 

 pasturing of sheep. They will also result in the 

 employment of a considerable head of population 

 in industries which arise in a wooded country — 

 .g. saw-mills, puFp-mills, furniture and box 

 factories, etc. 



The afforestation of these lands is not going- to 

 prove easy. The rich layers of soil they previ- 

 ously possessed have been long since dispersed, 

 and the young plantations, bereft of shelter, will 

 have to stand considerable exposure. We must be 

 prepared for small crops during the first rotation. 

 But even these should give a higher return than 

 much of the land is at present yielding. Its 

 afforestation w-ill then be making a better use of 

 the wastes, provide our descendants with a neces- 

 sity for their industries, and give them a reserve 

 for an emergency. 



The land is at present in private ownership. 

 An Act will doubtless be necessary in order to 

 give the State the pojvers to acquire, in the public 

 interest and at its marketable value, such land as 

 it may deem necessary for reclamation for agri- 

 culture or for afforestation. But so far as 

 afforestation is concerned it is unlikely that 

 Government would be obliged to have recourse to 

 the Act to effect the purpose in view. The acquisi- 

 tion of land by Government is undesirable if only 

 on account of the friction it might give rise to. 

 The better method of procedure will be by way 

 of leasing areas from proprietors for a rotation 

 (seventy years) or two rotations (140 years). The 

 Development Commissioners have drawn up 

 schemes on these lines. They offer to take over 

 land from a proprietor on an ordinary lease and 

 plant it up from their own funds (in conjunction 

 with the Boards of Agriculture), the proprietor 

 being given a small share of the proceeds from 

 ilie woods, in addition to his annual rental; or, 

 IS an alternativfe, the proprietor to forgo any 

 rental for his land, which will be planted up with 

 money provided by the Commissioners, the two 

 parties dividing the profits on a basis fixed by 

 the amount of outlay incurred by each in the 

 business. These offers appear to be mutually 

 advantageous, and should result in the land 

 required being obtained. 



The selection of the" land to commence opera- 

 tions upon can be left to the Forestry Advisers. 

 These officers have the whole country divided up 

 between them ; they have been at work several 

 years, and will be acquainted with the most 

 favourable areas in their respective districts. 



Now as to the cost of the undertaking-. All 



figxires have at present a problematical ring. But 



an all-round sum of 3Z. per acre for the planting 



of the felled-over areas (i^ million acres), and 



NO. 2546, VOL. 1 01] 



4/. for the waste land (rabbit netting is not in- 

 cluded, as rabbits will have to be exterminated in 

 the planting areas), should be near the mark ; or 

 24,000, ooof., some 1,500,000/. to 2,000,000/. being 

 provided by the proprietors. The amounts payable 

 on the leases and upkeep, as also the more difficult 

 problem of compensation for the removal of sheep 

 stock in some cases, will be additional. Questions 

 of space render it impossible to go into these 

 matters. But they are details, though important 

 ones, of the broad general scheme. 



This, area of 6| million acres should give, under 

 skilled management, 455,000,000 cubic feet of all 

 classes of timber, or about three-fourths of the 

 191 3 imports. It will only prove a safety margin, 

 for our pre-war consumption was increasing- 

 annually, and available imports, at a reasonable 

 price, will decrease in the future. 



E. P. Stebbing, 



AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN SOUTH 



AFRICA AND AUSTRALIA. 

 'yHE South African Journal of Science for 

 ■*• December last contains two articles on the 

 organisation of agricultural education in South 

 Africa and Australia respectively which deserve 

 some notice, if only on account of the contrasts 

 which they bring into prominence. Whereas in 

 Australia the organisation seems to be complete 

 from the bottom to the top of the ladder — from 

 the elementary school to the university and re- 

 search station — in South Africa, on the other hand, 

 the conditions approximate to those existing in 

 this country, where we have sporadic ag-ricultural 

 colleges catering more for the teacher of agri- 

 culture than for the farmer, and no effective link 

 with the organisation of education generally. 



In Australia the provision of what may be de- 

 scribed as intermediate agricultural education 

 appears to have reached a remarkable pitch of effi- 

 ciency. The "colleges " there, which we should 

 describe as "farm schools," aim at fully equip- 

 ping the young farmer for the business of his life 

 in a new country. Among the subjects taught are 

 carpentry, saddlery, butchery, engineering, etc., 

 and the writer of the article speaks of inspecting 

 horseshoes, chisels, cultivator tines, complete sets 

 of saddlery, all made by the students themselves. 

 When we learn further that the lands of one of 

 these "colleges" extend to 3500 acres, that up- 

 wards of 2000L worth of stock is sold annually, 

 and that 130 horses are maintained, we can form 

 seme idea of the seriousness of purpose with 

 which the technical training is pursued. 



Scientific progress is not neglected. In New 

 South Wales alone there are fifteen State experi- 

 mental farms, where the special problems of Aus- 

 I tralian agriculture are being systematically at- 

 I tacked. One result of considerable scientific 

 i interest may be noticed. It appears to have been 

 I established that, generally speaking, Australian 

 I conditions do not demand the use of nitrogenous 

 I fertilisers, and in a Government publication is 

 i found the remarkable statement that the Austra- 



