14 THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH FORESTRY 



home supplies, owing to costs of transit raising the value of 

 imported timber to a prohibitive price. Instances of the 

 former can be found in Scandinavia, and parts of Russia, 

 and of the latter in many parts of Central Europe, in which 

 timber can only be introduced by long raihvay or canal 

 journeys. It may be the case however, in countries which 

 have only recently acquired a civilised population, that 

 forests are a disadvantage rather than a gain until they 

 have been reduced to their proper proportions. Fifty or 

 more years ago this was probably the case in parts of 

 North America, but at the present day this state of 

 affairs can only be found in a few remote parts of the 

 world, such as portions of South America and Central 

 Africa, in which a tropical climate stimulates forest 

 growth to an extraordinary degree. In Europe, North 

 America, and many other parts of the world the time 

 has now arrived for a definite decision to be made as 

 to the area which must be maintained under forest to 

 supply timber and firewood, and provide suitable social, 

 physical, and economic conditions for the development 

 of every civilised country. 



The question as to what percentage of forest to total 

 land surface constitutes an adequate area in any country 

 is difficult to determine, even when all the conditions and 

 circumstances are known. Up to the present, a world's 

 timber famine has not occurred, although it has been 

 predicted at one time or another for the last two centuries, 

 while trees for shelter, ornament, soil protection, etc., are 

 adequately maintained in most countries of Europe at the 

 present time. For certain purposes timber is indispens- 

 able ; for others, substitutes can be found for it, and any 

 serious scarcity, causing a rise in price above a certain 

 limit, would be met by a reduced consumption. How far 

 the consumption of timber could be reduced in a prosper- 

 ous country without interfering with its industries is an 



