Forestry and the War 5 



The general physique of Army and Navy men and the 

 discipline and hard work to which they have been subjected 

 during the war will render them peculiarly suitable for 

 carrying out the various operations connected with the 

 formation of plantations. Convalescent soldiers and sailors 

 could also find healthy employment in the various lighter 

 tasks which go hand in hand with afforestation, such as 

 clearing the ground of rough growing vegetation and lifting 

 and distributing the young trees. 



Several suggestions have been made for providing em- 

 ployment for our returned soldiers and sailors, but much 

 of this proposed work is, so to speak, invented for the 

 purpose, and would probably never be seriously considered 

 except for the exigencies of the case. Now I am quite of 

 opinion that afforesting waste lands offers a sensible system 

 of employment, for it is now generally admitted that a 

 largely increased area of our woodlands is an imperative 

 and pressing necessity, and what is of equal importance, the 

 undertaking, if wisely entered upon, would not only increase 

 the value of such lands fourfold but form the nucleus of an 

 ever-increasing revenue of the State. 



But this is not all, for apart altogether from the question 

 of immediate labour, what an industry would be opened 

 up in years to come by the planting of waste grounds ! In 

 the first instance there would arise the necessity for clearing, 

 fencing, draining, and planting the ground, subsequently 

 the tending of the plantations in various ways would give 

 employment. Thinning would commence about the tenth 

 year, after which the erection of sawmills and the conversion 

 of the timber would open a vast and ever-increasing in- 

 dustry, providing highly remunerative work to thousands 

 of the unemployed. 



There are other ways in connection with forestry in which 

 the unemployed could be usefully and profitably set to 

 work, such as in preparing osier beds, planting dogwood for 

 gunpowder charcoal, and in the formation and stocking of 

 tree nurseries, the produce of which could with advantage 

 be used in the formation of plantations. Osiers for basket- 

 making, charcoal for gunpowder and heating purposes, 



