1268 



Canadian Forestrij Journal, August, 1917 



Britain's Task of Restoring Her Forests 



United Kingdom Spent Forty Million Pounds 

 on Imported Wood. A Home Supply Essential 



Will the British Government un- 

 dertake the replanting of great areas 

 in timber after the war in order to 

 overcome the embarrassments and 

 dangers of almost complete depend- 

 ence upon imported wood? 



The Royal Scottish Arboricultural 

 Society has sent in a report to the 

 Reconstruction Committee of the 

 British Government on the subject. 

 Parts of it of spedal interest to read- 

 ers of the Journal are as follows: — 

 1. Xecd for Action bij Govern ment 



After the reports of a Royal 

 Commission on Forestry and of 

 more than one Departmental 

 Committee on the subject, it 

 would be superfluous to discuss either 

 the need for further afforestation, or 

 the duty of the Government to assist 

 in the work. The simple fact that 

 we spent more than 40 million pounds 

 in 1913 upon imported A\iood, is suffi- ' 

 cient to show, both the enormous 

 extent to which the home-grown 

 supply falls short of our requirements, 

 and the impossibility of expecting 

 private effort to make up the de- 

 ficiency. 



The cpiestion has attracted a good 

 deal of attention in recent years, and 

 all who have studied it have been 

 struck by the great loss which the 

 nation suffers in paying away to 

 foreigners immense sums of money 

 which might be retained in the coun- 

 try for the benefit of its own people. 

 And since the war began we have 

 had occasion to feel that our reliance 

 upon foreign countries for such a 

 large proportion of our timber re- 

 cpiirements is not only a material 

 loss but a source of danger. 

 Wood in Civilized Life 



How dependent we are upon wood 

 is, perhaps, not sufficiently appreciat- 

 ed. It is not too much to say that 

 civilized life could not go on without 

 it. The amount required by rail- 

 ways, collieries, and other vital in- 

 dustries is gigantic; and to these 



must now be added the enormous 

 consumption of wood in modern war- 

 fare. To induce the Government to 

 embari' upon a policy of afforestation 

 stress is often laid upon the fact that 

 national forests would prove a source 

 of revenue. Judging from the pub- 

 lished accounts of French and Ger- 

 man forests, and from the experience 

 of landowners in this country whose 

 woods have been scientifically man- 

 aged, there can be little doubt that 

 this would cv ntually be the case. 

 But it is not en this ground that the 

 decision of the Government should 

 be based. The true justification for 

 national afforestation is the well-be- 

 ing and security of the country. 

 Wood is one of the prime necessaries 

 of life. Next to food, it is the article 

 of wh'ch an abundant supply is most 

 essential to the nation. It is on this 

 ground that foreign governments have 

 recognised their responsibility in the 

 matter; and it is on this ground also 

 that we hope our Government will 

 decide to do the same. 



Every Acre Made Efficient 



The country has been informed 

 that it is the intention of the Govern- 

 ment to make every available acre 

 of land productive. This can only 

 be done with the aid of afforestation. 

 There are, no doubt, thousands of 

 acres of agricultural land, now neg- 



FOR 



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