Canadian Forcstri/ Journal August, lUl/ 



1269 



lected, which are capable of beiiiiU 

 profital)ly cultivated. But beyond 

 these, there are millions of acres of 

 waste land capable of being profit- 

 ably planted. Unless the Govern- 

 ment will assist in planting them, one 

 of the greatest natural resources of 

 the countrv must remain undevelop- 

 ed. 



The benefits of national afforesta- 

 tion may be summarised as follows: — - 



1. It would turn many barren 

 wastes into profitable woodlands. 



2. It would retain, in the rural 

 districts, thousands of men who now 

 have to seek employment in ihe 

 towns. 



3. It would keep in this country, 

 for the benefit of the country, mil- 

 lions of pounds now paid aw'ay to 

 foreigners. 



4. It would enable a large num- 

 ber of small holdings to be established 

 on economic lines. 



5. It would lead to the develop- 

 ment of many new industries. 



6. It woufd ensure such a supply 

 of timber as would enable British 

 industries to be carried on, without 

 curtailment and without anxiety, in 

 the event of another great war. 



State Afforestation 



A preliminary point to settle is 

 the extent of afforestation which 

 would be reciuired. It would be 

 quite possible to make the country 

 self-supporting in the matter of tim- 

 ber. The reports of the Royal Com- 

 mission and 'Departmental " Com- 

 mittees shoW' that the amount of 

 available land is more than sufficient 

 for the purpose; while competent 

 authorities assure us that our soil 

 and climate will produce every va- 

 riety of timber in common use, and 

 of a quality equal to that which 

 comes to us from abroad. 



It would not be necessary, how- 

 ever, to make ourselves entirely self- 

 supporting. It would probably be 

 sufficient to make such an increase 

 in our existing woodlands as would 

 substantially diminish the amount 

 w^hich we now pay annually for im- 

 ported timber, and enable us, in the 

 event of another great war, to carry 

 on for three years without unduly 



depleting our home supplies. To 

 ensure this our present woodlands 

 should be increased by 2 million 

 acres. The w^ooded area of the Unit- 

 ed Kingdom is estimated at 3 million 

 acres: it should be increased to b 

 million acres. 



The annual consumption of timber 

 in the United Kingdom before the 

 war was about (wO million cubic feet. 

 Of this amount only about one-eighth 

 was grown at home. Under an im- 

 proved system of silviculture the 

 existing woodlands in the country 

 would yield fully twice their present 

 output. The additional 2 million 

 acres, scientifically manag^ed, could 

 be counted on to yield 150 million 

 cubic feet. We should thus obtain 

 from the afforested land in this coun- 

 try something over 300 million cubic 

 feet annually, or one-half the volume 

 of present consumption instead of 

 only one-eighth. 



We do not say that an addition 

 of 2 million acres to the area now^ 

 under timber would fully meet the 

 needs of the country, especially when 

 w° remember how the demand for 

 timber has steadily increased; but 

 w^e consider that this is the lowest 

 figure which should be aimed at in 

 any scheme of national afforestation. 



Joint Action Needed 

 Afforestation should be carried out, 

 partly by the State, and partly by 

 private owners of land. There is no 

 doubt that the work would be more 

 cheaply done if landowners were 

 encouraged to take a part in it. In 

 the first place, where the w^ork w-as 

 done by landowners, the State would 

 be relieved of all expense connected 

 with the purchase or leasing of the 

 land to be planted. And in the sec- 

 ond place, owners already possess 

 much experience in planting and 

 managing woods, and they employ 

 a large number of men trained in the 

 arts of forestry. It would obviously, 

 therefore, be an advantage to asso- 

 ciate landowners, as far as possible, 

 with any scheme ot afforestation. 

 The extent of afforestation contem- 

 plated is, of course, too large to en- 

 able them to undertake more than 

 a limited share of it. But it would 



