COST OF MANUAL LABOUR IN FORESTS 7 



of labour spent in raising young nursery plants, nor the 

 average labour cost per acre per annum, of hauling the 

 produce to the merchants' yards or to the railway station, 

 etc. Such extra cost for manual labour only would probably 

 average about 43. per acre per annum, if the average distance 

 along which the timber, etc., had to be hauled were from 

 3-i- to 4|- miles. 



Hence the minimum cost of all manual labour expenses 

 incurred on nominally stocked areas of forest land (including 

 haulage to market) may be reckoned at from 12s. 6d. to 

 15s. 6d. per acre per annum. Now these labour expenses 

 per acre are very much below those which are incurred on an 

 ordinary " mixed " farm, or even on a purely " grass " farm. 

 And hence any afforestation of land (other than mere " sheep 

 runs " ) which is at all adapted to farming, would result in 

 diminishing the amount of labour that could otherwise be 

 directly employed in the district. 



And on the other hand, the afforestation of purely waste 

 land, or land used merely for sheep runs, would necessitate 

 the permanent employment of additional labour. 



However, notwithstanding that a permanent loss of 

 employment is incurred if afforestation be carried out on land 

 now farmed in the ordinary manner, it may be advisable, if 

 there be only a small area of woodlands in any neighbour- 

 hood, to afforest a portion of such land. For, whereas the 

 demand for labour on a farm is usually greatest during the 

 summer months, and is very small during the winter months, 

 the greater part of the work required to be done on forest 

 areas can be executed in the winter, late autumn, and early 

 spring. Hence regular employment all the year round, 

 could be found for a given number of men ; and this con- 

 dition of affairs is infinitely preferable to that of having a 

 considerable number of men out of employment during the 

 winter months, even though a somewhat greater number 

 might find employment during the summer. 



However, the financial aspect of afforestation will usually 

 have to be considered before such side issues as the effect 

 upon the labour market. 



