180 FORESTEY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. 



exporting countries of importance are the United States of 

 America and Canada. 



Australasia has as yet large stores of timber which consist, 

 however, chiefly of hardwoods. An increasing quantity of it is 

 exported, l)ut she imports so much pine and fir that as yet a 

 balance is shown against her. 



The United States are working with a heavy deficit as 

 compared with production, so that they have, in steadily 

 increasing quantities, to draw on Canada. The gravity of 

 the position has been recognised, and great efforts are being 

 made to guard against a future timber famine in that country. 

 Instruction in forestry is being given at two universities and 

 some forty other educational establishments ; State forests are 

 being created at a rapid rate, and even private forest lands 

 are brought under systematic forest management. The United 

 States have now at Washington a well-organised "Bureau of 

 Forestry," presided over by Mr. Gifford Pinchot, a wealthy 

 American, who studied forestry chiefly in Germany, but also 

 in France and Switzerland. He is assisted by a number of 

 gentlemen at headquarters and a large staff of field assistants.* 

 This staff' is busy in gradually introducing systematic manage- 

 ment into the State reserves and into private forests. Can 

 we not learn something from this ? 



Canada has as yet great stores in her 266,000,000 acres of 

 real timber lands, especially of coniferous timber. If the 

 authorities in these self-governing colonies could be induced 

 to introduce systematic management into the more important 

 forests, that country might for ever supply the rest of the 

 world with the necessary coniferous timber. Some mild efforts 

 have been made by the Governments and even forestry 

 societies started, but the interests of the lumber trade are very 

 great and powerful, and in the meantime the destruction of 

 the forests by reckless cutting and fires goes on. As pointed out 

 in Chapter IV., there is now a chance of a thorough change 

 being introduced. Let us hope that this will be the case. 



* For further iiifoniiatioii, see Appendix. 



