LARGE TIMBER 183 



modity in which a shortage was feared. This anticipa- 

 tion has not, up to the present at any rate, been ful- 

 filled, the imports even showing a slight increase for 

 the period, though an advance in price is apparent. 

 This satisfactory state of affairs is probably due to 

 the fact that the chief importing countries are Norway 

 and Sweden, the command of the sea having enabled 

 the trade to be maintained. The supply for the six 

 months has been 571,483 loads, as against 570,865 loads 

 of the previous year. As has been said, the price has 

 risen, the values being given at £3,214,903, as against 



£2,932,745 for 1913-14. 



As regards large timber — logs of fir, oak, teak, etc. — 

 there has been a considerable falling off in the supply, 

 289,021 loads as against 448,896 the previous year, 

 valued at £1,442,080 and £2,027,402 — a drop of over 

 half a million. Under this head there is, as was to be 

 expected, a big decrease from Russia, whilst Germany 

 sends nothing and America 18,700 loads less than 

 during the corresponding period last year. In the case 

 of converted wood materials imported under the heads 

 of sawn or split, planed or dressed timber, the returns 

 show a decrease of well over a million loads (2,444,027 

 as compared with 3,794,377 loads in 1913-14), the 

 values being £8,313,558 as compared with £11,965,891 

 — a decrease of over three and a half million pounds 

 sterling. Lastly, for a miscellaneous group, com- 

 prising staves, mahogany, and unenumerated items, 

 the values for the war period are given as £1,089,802, 

 as compared with £2,833,843 for the corresponding 

 months the previous year — a drop of about one and 

 three-quarter million pounds sterling. 



