10 THE IMPOKTANCE OF FOKESTKY. 



If all these items are added up, we find that we now pay for 

 imports of timber and the above-mentioned articles the sum of 

 27 million pounds, all of which could be produced in this 

 country. Imagine for a moment what an amount of labour 

 it would require to produce these articles at home, and all 

 the time we do not know what to do witri our "Unemployed." 

 Is it not time to wake up and do something ? 



We have, for instruction and as an example, only to glance 

 at the beech woods in the Chiltern Hills, whose existence 

 caused the development of an extensive chair industry. Tens 

 of thousands of workmen are employed in that industry, which 

 would never have seen the light of day without those forests. 

 The industry has now developed to such an extent that it 

 consumes the beech and other timber from the surrounding 

 counties, as well as large quantities imported from abroad. 

 There can be no doubt that similar industries will spring up 

 in other parts of the country, if we create the necessary wood- 

 lands, and thus produce the raw material. 



c. Uncertainty of Future Supplies of Timber. 



If we sit still and do nothing, can we rely for any length of 

 time on getting the necessary timber, in fact, as long as we 

 can pay for it? My reply is, " By no means." 



To begin with, we are not the only importing country in 

 Europe. As a matter of fact most European countries import, 

 and only a few export timber. This fact is illustrated in the 

 statement on the opposite page. 



It will be observed that the following countries import timber 

 (net) : Great Britain and Ireland, Germany, France, Belgium, 

 Denmark, Italy, Spain, Holland, Switzerland, Portugal, Bul- 

 garia, Greece, and Servia. The exporting countries are : 

 Eoumania, Norway, Austria-Hungary, Sweden, and Russia. 

 If we draw the balance for the whole of Europe, we find an 

 annual deficiency of 2,620,000 tons. For a good many years 

 past, Europe has not been able to supply, from within its own 



