1038 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



prisoners, skilled in forest work, were unemployed for 

 months, and, after their employment, tied down with 

 such regulations as to make their work relatively unpro- 

 ductive. 



"Even the responsibility for the organization on timber 

 production was never vested in one authority for many 



W*" 



4 * 



"It is difficult to see why Great Britain, who has her 

 State forests and forest policy still to create, should be an 

 exception to this generally recognized rule. It is cer- 

 tainly not on the experiences of the past that she can 

 base any claim to be an exception from the methods that 

 have been found to be necessary elsewhere." 



WOMEN WORKERS IN FORESTS 



The lack of labor made it necessary to employ a num- 

 ber of women in forestry work. The women so placed 

 were drafted from the working classes, and they had not 

 undergone any course of training preparatory to their 

 taking up employment in forestry. Many of them were 



After instruction and practice women were able to fell timber quickly 

 and cleverly. This young woman was a particularly capable wielder of 

 the ax. 



consecutive months, but changed from the Board of Agri- 

 culture to the Office of Works, from the Office of Works 

 to the War Office, and from the War Office to the Board 

 of Trade. The fault for all this is to be found in lack 

 of organization before the war. Nothing had been 

 thought out, no authoritative body existed in whom the 

 public had confidence. It was impossible to execute a 

 survey of timber resources and build up an organization 

 once the war had begun. 



"It is not, however, with the past but with the future 

 that the nation is concerned. How to make a forest 

 policy, how to carry it out, and, if the occasion arises, 

 use the resources that the State has built up for the 

 State's best advantage. 



"Both in precept and practice the countries of Europe, 

 the teachings of all recognized authorities and the find- 

 ings of the principal arboricultural societies, not only in 

 Great Britain but elsewhere, have agreed that a forest 

 authority is a necessary part of State afforestation. 



COSTUMES OF WOMEN WORKERS 



This sensible costume of shirt, trousers, puttees and heavy shoes was 

 found most suitable for the women workers in the woods. 



unemployed women, who were idle because of slackness 

 in certain industries, fishing, spinning, mills, etc. 



Mr. G. P. Gordon, in reporting on the results of this 

 action, says : "Experience of working squads of these 

 women proved that this type of worker without training 

 is not altogether suited for rural work on the land. Al- 

 though in many cases good individuals and good squads 

 were encountered, the average individual was too un- 

 settled to obtain the maximum value from her work. It 

 is thought that women of this class, for true economy, 

 must be constantly in touch with their own homes, as 

 they were found to be less adaptable than more intelligent 



