IS 



K< HtKSTRY BYE-PRODUCTS.* 



h l,a> been said that tin-re is in the British Isles an immense area of land 

 t l,. lt either aever has yielded, or at the present time does riot yield, any agricul- 

 tural rent, but whi-'li 'might become of value were capital invested in planting it 

 with timl'i-r bre 



Thoiiidi, in common \vith other trades, the British production of timber has 

 l.t-rii ivndrivd far less ivmiinerative than formerly by keen foreign competition, 

 , n 1, ^hou-n that timl"-r will yet, ill many cases, yield a very fair return for 

 capital. 



Tin- 1'iuvsi produce of Great Britain is mainly applied in the following 

 ys : 



1. Ship and boat-building, piers, bridges, etc., requiring much large and 

 -jinnd timber. 



2. Building, scaffolding, etc, 

 :'.. Railway sleepers. 



4. Pit props. 



5. Fencing. 



r. Furniture ; mainly chairs of beech, yew, etc. 

 7. Hop poles and agricultural implements. 

 s. Bobbin wood. 

 9. Fagots aud firewood. 



10. Charcoal for gunpowder, pitch, etc. 



1 1 . Bark for tanning. 



In the first four of these branches, the produce of the forests of Scandinavia, 

 for the present apparently inexhaustible, shipped at the very smallest modicum 

 of profit to the producers, has almost driven British timbe^r out of the market. 

 The rent charges on land, the costliness of labor and of overland transit in Great 

 Britain, may be contributing causes to this result ; but it is also apparently the 

 fact that the sending of crooked or heavily-shaped timber into the market by 

 British foresters is another reason for the success of Scandinavian trade. The 

 best means of meeting foreign competition is by looking to increased economy 

 of production, coupled with excellence of quality ; and as in other trades, it 

 is probable that the utilization of waste substances and bye-products may prove 

 the chief key to economical production. Hop poles, agricultural implements, and 

 bobbin-wood are locally among the most remunerative outlets for coppice produce, 

 the main question with reference to them being economy of production and 

 utilization of waste. 



Though hops form a very uncertain and costly crop, the profits on hop- 

 '\vino- are so considerable that the extension of its culture should be considered 



o 



by our farmers. Chemical substitutes for hops cannot be successfully used to 

 the exclusion of the natural bitter ; whilst the " bine " could be sold in the 

 manufacture of textile products, or of paper. The Spanish chestnut, ash, and 

 larch are largely grown for hop-poles in the south of England. 



Ash is also in constant demand for the handles of ploughs, spades, axes, 

 and other implements, and is. like sycamore, the wood of which is considerably 

 used by wheelwrights, a rapidly growing tree. 



i. Boulger, F.L.S., F.G.S., London, in Forestry and Forest Products (Edinburgh), 1834. 



