of 1920-1921, covers 8,000 acres. Work is progressing by well- 

 developed steps. The program contemplates an average an- 

 nual expenditure of 400,000 to 420,000 a year; the acquisi- 

 tion of 260,000 acres of afforestation land by 1925 and the 

 planting of 60,000 acres of the same; preparations for planting 

 an additional 21,000 acres in 1926 and 24,000 acres in 1927. 

 The Commission estimates that it will be obliged to purchase 

 seed in 1926 sufficient to supply upwards of 70,000,000 seed- 

 lings for the planting season of 1929 as well as to acquire some 

 50,000 additional acres of land by that year. 



The area planted in 1919-20 amounted to 1,595 acres 

 (since increased, as stated, to over 8,000 acres) of which 1,474 

 acres were placed under coniferous plantation and 121 acres 

 planted with broad leaved species. The number of plants 

 used was 3,484,000. Scots and Corsican pine accounted for 

 35 per cent, of the plants while Norway and Sitka spruce 

 provided 37 per cent. The Douglas fir, common to Western 

 Canada, is highly esteemed here for its fast growing quality 

 and general sturdiness and is being used on an increasingly 

 large scale. European and Japanese larch, oak, ash, beech 

 and other tree varieties are also cultivated. 



Production statistics induce the Commission to believe 

 that land capable of producing the faster-growing conifers 

 under optimum conditions gives the best financial returns 

 even where the cost of acquiring the site and establishing the 

 crop is relatively high. First class Douglas fir land capable of 

 growing up to 160 cubic feet per acre per annum will, the Com- 

 mission states, given a market for pit-props, pay back the 

 cost of planting in the course of the first 25 years. On the 

 other hand, the poorer classes of Scots pine land, especially 

 at high altitudes, however cheaply acquired and planted, only 

 begin to pay back the original outlay after 40 to 50 years, and 

 at the time of final felling make but a low return on the capital 

 invested. 



The returns from afforested ground vary widely, the 

 Commission finds. In the examination of some 1,100 plots 

 and sub-plots in different parts of Great Britain and Ireland, 

 it has been shown that returns run from 160 cubic feet per 

 acre per annum in the case of first class Douglas fir land down 

 to 40 cubic feet or less per acre per annum for poor Scots 

 pine land. In afforesting hill grazings, whether at present 



