8 ^ L : NATIONAL FORESTRY. 



Had less money been spent on preliminaries and reports, 

 and a larger sum spent on planting, there would have 

 been something to show for the expenditure, some valuable 

 experience would have been gained, and we should have 

 had a certain number of acres under a crop of trees in 

 various stages of development. 



The chief aim in the past has been to enlighten the 

 Government, so that they might be persuaded of the 

 necessity for action. Deputations have been met by 

 Ministers, and resolutions innumerable have been for- 

 warded to them with the object of convincing them that 

 there is no valid or sufficient excuse for their inaction. 

 But what is quite evident is that, whatever action may 

 be taken by the Government on the lines of a national 

 afforestation scheme, such action, to become effective, must 

 receive the impetus of popular conviction, clamantly and 

 persistently expressed ; and no effort, political or otherwise, 

 should be spared in keeping the question in the forefront 

 of national policy. The writer's contention is that effective 

 action should not, and need not, be delayed until the end 

 of the war, but should, and can, begin right now. The 

 initial stages would not make any appreciable demands on 

 labour. On the other hand, they must be got over before 

 forestry can absorb any appreciable amount of labour. 

 This is a point to be noted in connection with demobilisa- 

 tion. Forestry schemes ought not to be set in motion 

 in a month or even in a year. First of all, the pros 

 and cons for establishing forests in certain districts must 

 be carefully weighed. The selected districts must then 

 be surveyed, and a general scheme of operations for 

 several years drawn out and delineated on a plan. The 

 section to be dealt with immediately has then to be 

 surveyed in detail, subdivided into compartments of con- 

 venient size ; lines of roads and access paths defined, and 

 carefully set out on the plan ; and the different qualities 

 of soil and subsoil have to be investigated. Not till then 



