THE STATE AND PRIVATE OWNERS 259 



The functions of the State in forestry matters is clearly 

 that of supplementing private supplies of timber to an 

 extent necessary to meet industrial or special needs, and 

 to ensure a continued and well-managed area of woodland 

 for all time. This may be done by State or State- 

 aided forests, the one demanding land and the invest- 

 ment of public money, the other leaving the land 

 in the hands of the individual, but aiding its develop- 

 ment by education, advice, supervision, and the loan 

 of capital if necessary, as described above. In all 

 well-balanced and developed countries State and private 

 forestry not only exist side by side, but the one aids 

 and strengthens the other. The idea that the State, 

 by planting and holding woods, is usurping the rights 

 of the individual is totally erroneous. In an ideal 

 community there is good reason to suppose that each 

 man would do his duty in maintaining woods as in other 

 duties which make for the public good, but so long as 

 human nature is what it is, too much must not be 

 expected of the individual, and forestry is one of those 

 industries which is apt to decline when personal inclina- 

 tions and conditions run counter to it. While the State 

 can, or should, consider the future as well as the present, 

 the individual obviously regards the latter as of greater 

 importance, and no one can naturally expect him to do 

 otherwise. 



In Britain the only State forests are some 50,000 acres 

 of woods in England, a few hundred acres in Wales and 

 the Isle of Man, 18,000 acres of plantable land in Scotland, 

 and about 8000 acres of woodland in Ireland. Small as 

 the area is, it is of great importance as a nucleus for 

 future operations, and only needs development on exist- 

 ing lines to do all that is possible in this country. With 

 the exception of the English Crown woods, all the above 

 woods are the product, so far as State ownership is con- 



