2l8 



WOMEN AND FORESTRY 



But a considerable part of them can be made a 

 paying proposition from a commercial forestry point 

 of view, and it is now an urgent duty on the part of the 

 Government to tackle this matter in a broad statesman- 

 like manner. In the interests of the nation and of our 

 children we want these millions of acres placed under 

 trees, in as short a space of time as possible. It will 

 be a sound investment and the nation will no longer 

 be at the mercy of the foreigner, as is the case atpresent. 



And then remember that once you have a large area 

 of woods in a country, factories dependent on these 

 woods, pulp mills, furniture factories, saw mills, etc., 

 appear and provide labour for a considerable popula- 

 tion, and labour which lies away from the large cities ; 

 since these mills and factories are erected as con- 

 veniently close to the forests as possible. The agri- 

 cultural population is also favourably affected by the 

 presence of considerable areas of woods in their neigh- 

 bourhood, for they can find employment in the woods 

 in the winter, when most of the forest work is done, to 

 supplement their farm wages at the other periods of 

 the year. Further, they can occupy the long winter 

 evenings in making toys. In all the continental 

 forestry countries, in Germany and Russia for ex- 

 ample, this toy-making industry is a considerable 

 source of profit and provides welcome additional money 

 to the field labourer. Our position in this toy-making 

 industry has been brought sharply to the notice of us 

 all in these days of stress. The import industry of 

 cheap toys made in Germany and elsewhere abroad 

 was brought to an abrupt end by the war, and the 

 grotesque exhibitions of our capacity in this direction 



