18 THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH FORESTRY 



his woodland, and the general tendency in all privately 

 owned forest areas is first for the timber to be worked 

 out, and second, for the area itself to be reduced by 

 various means. In Germany, for example, the yield 

 of timber from the State-owned forests averages twenty 

 cubic feet, from the private forests only twelve cubic feet, 

 per acre per annum respectively. In nearly all countries, 

 again, a reduction of the private forest area has taken 

 place, except where prevented by law. This process of 

 deterioration in private forests may not be universal at 

 any particular period, and may be hindered or delayed by 

 various accidental or incidental circumstances, but the 

 ultimate result is as stated. It is chiefly due to the long 

 period which elapses between the expenditure and return 

 of any money devoted to forest formation or development, 

 thus placing such transactions outside the class of private 

 investments of a directly remunerative character; and 

 the individual who plants or improves woodlands does so 

 without any prospect of personal profit. 



If State action is necessary for the maintenance of an 

 adequate forest area, it will also be found that funds are re- 

 quired to put it in operation. As in the case of the indivi- 

 dual, the generation which spends money on this work reaps 

 no direct benefit, and a certain amount of financial sacrifice 

 is involved in the policy in its early stages. Such a sacrifice 

 will only be made with one object in view, that of develop- 

 ing the resources of the country, adding to its wealth, and 

 benefiting a coming generation. This work will obviously 

 be undertaken for the benefit, not of the world at large, 

 but for the particular country in question, and it is possible 

 that a day may come when each country Avill be compelled 

 to grow its own timber, or pay an exorbitant price for it 

 to the foreigner who happens to possess a surplus stock. 



It is, of course, conceivable that certain countries, such as 

 Sweden, Russia, Austria-Hungary, etc., may find it advan- 



