48 THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH FORESTRY 



obtain the material, but rather as to how to dispose of it 

 at a profit." 



' Now, although British Consuls can certainly not be 

 implicitly followed as guides in forestry economy, there 

 is no reason to doubt the correctness of this report, 

 although a well-known authority in Scotland will cer- 

 tainly not allow it to pass without remark if he gets a 

 sight of it. There is no doubt there are ample supplies of 

 soft building woods in Russia, and that of prime quality, 

 but the difficulty is to get them to market on competing 

 terms. Notwithstanding the sparse population and the 

 severity of the climate in winter, together with the plague 

 of mosquitoes in summer, some progress is being made in 

 the north of Russia, which has already taken the place 

 Sweden held during the last quarter of the nineteenth 

 century as the principal purveyor of building timber for 

 Western Europe. 



' One very important factor towards making afforestation 

 in the United Kingdom a financial success will have been 

 found when Scots fir can be used for the manufacture 

 of wood-pulp equally as well as spruce. The redwood 

 {Pinus sylvestris) of Sweden is now being largely used 

 for the making of sulphate cellulose at many Swedish 

 works, and we presume Scots fir at home will not be 

 more refractory. We are convinced that herein lies the 

 road, or one of the roads, to financial success, as far as 

 the production of Scots fir and spruce is concerned. The 

 wood-pulp works will, of course, be located as near the 

 woods as possible, whereby the cost of transport will be 

 greatly reduced. 



' Next to the question of transport, it is essential that 

 afforestation be undertaken on sufficiently large and com- 

 pact areas so as to bring the cost of supervision after 

 planting to the lowest possible amount. Close planting 

 should be adopted — closer than usual in the United 



