20 THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH FORESTRY 



Strictly considered, such a country can scarcely be 

 found at the present day, for none is absolutely stationary 

 in population, self-supporting in the necessities or luxuries 

 of life, or fully developed in all possible directions. But by 

 taking the average density of population throughout 

 Europe at the present day as being more or less stationary, 

 owing to rural depopulation and emigration to other parts 

 of the world, it is seen that some 400,000,000 inhabitants 

 are sharing an area of about 3,800,000 square miles, or an 

 average of 100 head per square mile, or 17 per 100 

 acres. This density approximates closely to the conditions 

 found in Spain, Servia, Greece, Roumania, Bulgaria, and 

 other countries in the south of Europe, with a population 

 chiefly devoted to agriculture, grazing, etc., but without 

 important industries of other kinds. From the fact that 

 none of these countries requires to import timber to any 

 considerable extent, it may be assumed that they are 

 practically self-supporting in that commodity, although 

 no figures are available to show exactly what quantity is 

 consumed in them. But it must be noticed that this 

 density of population is lower than that of countries 

 farther north, until the 55th degree of latitude or there- 

 about is reached, when it falls much lower than this in 

 Norway, Sweden, Russia, etc. 



Probably such countries as Switzerland, Denmark, or 

 Ireland enable an estimate to be formed of home con- 

 sumption on a normal scale better than most, as the 

 production of wood, or area of forest land in all these 

 countries is known with comparative accuracy, while 

 their natural agricultural resources have been developed 

 to the greatest possible extent. The population of 

 Switzerland is about 3,500,000; the area under forest 

 about 2,000,000 acres, estimated to produce annually some 

 7,500,000 feet of commercial timber, or about 2 cubic 

 feet per head. Switzerland exports approximately the 



