18 AN INTRODUCTION 



of the more valuable timber. For instance, a 

 creosoted fence of Poplar wood would last longer 

 than, and for most purposes be as valuable as, an 

 Oak fence made of untreated timber. 



(7) Except as already indicated, afforestation cannot pay 



unless the prices of timber advance substantially. 

 But, as there is no guarantee that prices will 

 advance, money spent in afforestation may only too 

 often prove to be a very bad investment. 



(8) There is an ever-growing tendency for the rates and 



burdens on land to increase. 



The above represent a few of the facts relating to 

 afforestation upon which it is possible to base an opinion 

 upon the subject. But in view of the great uncertainty 

 which prevails, and of the long period which must elapse 

 before any returns can be anticipated, it would seem 

 impossible to deny that afforestation, dismantled of its senti- 

 mental clothing, is other than an hideous gamble in " futures " ; 

 for, apart from fluctuations in the prices of timber, forests 

 are liable to destruction by hidden dangers, such as insects, 

 fungi, and fire, the number of which is legion. 



No doubt a fairly strong case, based merely upon 

 statistics of the acreages under forest and of the imports 

 and exports of timber into, and out of, various countries, 

 can be made out in favour of afforestation. But such 

 hastily formed advice, based upon a portion only of the 

 facts of the case, is about comparable with the advice of 

 those so-called "poultry experts" who rashly assert that 

 egg production on a large scale must pay in this country ; 

 and, to lend colour to their assertions, they never tire of 

 quoting, with the greatest accuracy, statistics showing the 

 imports of eggs from foreign countries ; and this, too, in 

 spite of the fact that few, if any, have ever succeeded in 

 making such a business, carried out upon a large scale, a 

 commercial success. 



Advocates of afforestation maintain that the Government 

 have a national duty to perform in aiding private and public 

 enterprise in this direction. 



