184 ENGLISH WOODLANDS 



profitable, but they are exposed to great dangers. 

 They are hable to damage from snow and 

 disease, and while young are very inflammable. 

 Their timber is sold in competition with foreign 

 timber that has been self-sown and carried by 

 water to English and Scotch docks. 



The combination of small holdings and govern- 

 ment employment in connection with State 

 afforestation will increase the cost of the woods. 

 There are several firms of good reputation who 

 make it their business to undertake to plant 

 by contract woods, and to replace during an 

 agreed number of years all dead trees. The 

 planting of the woods could be entrusted to 

 these firms, if the only object of State afforesta- 

 tion was the supply of timber. Their em- 

 ployment would save the cost of a numerous 

 administration and would postpone the cost of 

 the creation of small holdings for many years, 

 so that if it was ultimately found necessary, as 

 the trees reached maturity, to have a resident 

 population to work in the woods, there would 

 be only a moderate interval of time between 

 the expenditure on the small holdings and the 

 receipt of money from the sale of trees. 



The sums which would have been received 

 for income tax and death duties if the land 



