CANADIAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. \*J 



Great Britain has, up to the present, been almost without a forest pol- 

 icy. This has been due in part to the racial characteristics of the people, 

 with their strong leaning toward conservatism, in part to the naval suprem- 

 acy, in consequence of which it is assumed that all wants may be supplied 

 by importation. Owing also to the insular position and general topo- 

 graphy, the weather is little influenced by the absence of forest covering. 

 The people, it is true, are noted lor their tree-planing, but the planting is 

 done mainly to furnish parks and cover for game. Planting for timber 

 has often been proposed, but with little practical results. Over a century 

 ago Admiral Nelson advocated plantations of oak, to furnish the timber 

 required in ship-building. Where, however, the greater part of the so- 

 called forest is in the hands of the nobility, who derive a considerable 

 revenue by renting it for game purposes, there is little incentive to real for- 

 estry progress. 



From the educational standpoint the situation is peculiar. While abso- 

 lutely indifferent to her own forest production, the need of trained forest- 

 ers for the Indian Service was some time ago forced upon the attention of 

 the Government. To prepare men for this service a chair of forestry was, 

 in 1884, established at the Royal Engineering College, Cooper's Hill. 

 Now a considerable agitation for forest reform in Britain itself is led by 

 foresters who have returned from the Indian Service. A chair of forestry 

 has been established by private subscription at Edinburgh University. 

 Cirencester College and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge have 

 made provision for instruction in forestry. In 1905 the Cooper's Hill De- 

 partment was removed to Oxford, and a three years' course is given, one 

 year being spent in the forests of Germany or elsewhere. The object of 

 the course is largely that of preparation for the Indian Forest Service. 

 There are in Great Britain two arboricultural societies, the Royal Scotch 

 and the Royal English, the latter publishing a quarterly journal of forestry. 



Reference has been made to the progressive forest policy which Britain 

 has adopted in India. That country now possesses one of the most cele- 

 brated forest departments in the world. The primary cause of the keen 

 interest in the Indian forest was the necessity for the preservation of the 

 valuable teak forests which supplied material for ship building. The carry- 

 ing out of this policy of conservation was intrusted to a German forester, 

 Dietrich (now Sir Dietrich) Brandis, who was given extensive powers for 

 the carrying out of this object. He began by forcing the lumbermen to 

 make contracts and by marking the trees to be cut, so as to limit the size. 

 This initial policy was carried out with a good deal of friction, but was so 

 satisfactory on the whole that the central government intruste~cl Brandis 

 with the organization of a department to cover the whole of India. Grad- 

 ually the regulations of this central department were adopted by province 

 after province, until the whole country came more or less under its juris- 

 diction. This was accomplished with almost an infinite amount of trouble, 

 involving continuous readjustments of rights between the central board and 

 the individual provinces. That the general policy is well justified is seen 

 from the fact that the forest revenue has increased ten or twelve fold as a 

 result of its operation. It is unnecessary to add that the expenditure has 

 also largely increased, but latterly not in the same proportion. The gross 



