1 5b forp:stry in the united kingdom. 



forego the present small income from the land until the 

 plantations commence to yield a return. The question thus 

 arises, what can be done to overcome the difficulty ? There 

 are various ways of meeting the case : — 



1. The State may encourage afforestation by private pro- 



prietors, by providing the means of education in rational, 

 economic forestry and by making advances at a low 

 rate of interest to 2)roprietors who are short of cash. 



2. The State may acquire surplus lands and afforest them. 



3. Municipalities may acquire surplus lands and convert 



them into communal or corporation forests. 

 a. Private Proprietors. 



All three agencies ought to be put into motion, but as matters 

 stand we must look chiefly to the first one. The question of 

 education in forestry has just been dealt with. 



It seems of the utmost importance that arrangements 

 should be made to give advances to landed proprietors, who 

 are willing to plant but unable to meet the initial expenses, 

 at the rate of interest at which Government can borrow plus 

 a suitable addition by way of a sinking fund. Such advances 

 should cover the actual outlay for planting, and the plantation 

 would remain mortgaged to Government, or other security 

 given, until the advance has been paid back. Let us take an 

 example: A proprietor wishes to plant 1,000 acres at a cost of, 

 say, £5 an acre. This would involve an outlay of i^5,000, a 

 sum which he may be unwilling to expend, or unable to raise 

 except at a high rate of interest. Under the plan suggested 

 above, he would have to pay about i'150 to ;S175 a year, which 

 he may be able to afford. After some twenty years (and 

 frequently sooner) the thinnings would commence, when he 

 would be in a position to pay off the debt by degrees, and then 

 the plantation would give him an increasing income. The 

 State has agreed to pay a large sum of money for the benefit of 

 the Irish cultivators. Would it be too much to ask such a 

 small consideration as the one just indicated for another set of 

 loyal subjects ? 



