176 

NATURE 
[APRIL 15, 1915 

In the matter of highly purified chemicals | 1915, pp- 1-7, Sir W. Schlich, criticising the pre- 
another point must be noticed. The reputation of 
the German makers is high, and deservedly so, 
and it follows that it will be a long time before 
possible rivals, even if they produced materials of 
an equal degree of purity, could obtain the same 
degree of confidence in the minds of their cus- 
tcmers. In order to give this confidence it has 
been suggested that the object might be most 
quickly attained by the establishment of a 
National Chemical Laboratory analogous in 
constitution and management to the National 
Physical Laboratory, in which the products 
of the manufacturers could be tested and 
the standard of purity guaranteed. The scheme 
would undoubtedly serve to hasten matters. The 
guarantee of the National Physical Laboratory is 
accepted as impartial and accurate throughout 
the world, and there is no reason why a chemical 
institution of the same kind should not com- 
mand equal confidence. Into the question of cost 
there is perhaps no need to enter, but the fact 
must be faced that the average man would not 
expect to pay a much higher price than he has 
paid heretofore because the substances were made 
in England. H. B. Baker. 
HOME FORESTRY AND THE WAR. 
N an article in Nature of December 10, 1914, 
p- 393, it was shown how dependent we were 
upon foreign countries for our supplies of pitwood, 
without which coal-mining could not be carried 
on. About half the total amount of pitwood ex- 
ported in normal times into the United Kingdom 
comes from Baltic ports; and as a result of the 
action of Germany in declaring pitwood contra- 
band, the supplies from this source have practi- 
cally ceased, what now arrives from Scandinavia 
being merely small cargoes from Gottenburg, 
Christiania, and other ports outside the Baltic. 
The important supply of pitwood from France, 
Spain, and Portugal still continues, though at 
enhanced prices; and in case of need, large 
quantities can be obtained from Nova Scotia, New- 
foundland, etc. Nevertheless, it became neces- 
sary to ascertain the available amount of home- 
grown timber suitable for use in mining; and an 
inquiry into the subject was undertaken by the 
forestry branch of the Board of Agriculture, the 
report of which has been issued with great prompti- 
tude. From this it appears that the total area 
of woodlands in England, 1,884,000 acres, is 
capable of yielding 380,000 tons of pitwood annu- 
ally by normal fellings; and that by anticipating 
the fellings of the next five years almost 3,400,000 
tons of pitwood are available in England and 
Wales alone. Scotland by similar extraordinary 
fellings could supply about 2,500,000 tons; so 
that with the aid of a small quantity from Ireland, 
about 6,000,000 tons of pitwood could be felled, 
enough to keep the collieries going for eighteen 
months, as their average annual consumption of 
pitwood is approximately 4,500,000 tons. 
In the Quarterly Journal of Forestry, January, 
NO. 2372, VOL. 95] 


ceding report, asks what will be the position if 
the war should last for more than two years; and 
considers that in this case our coal mines would 
be obliged to shut down for want of pitwood. 
As labour in Canada is very expensive, he believes 
that supplies of mining timber from Nova Scotia, 
etc., may prove unavailable on account of the 
prohibitive cost. He urges upon the Government 
the necessity of taking early steps to increase 
the area under trees in these islands, and re- 
iterates well-known arguments that, however 
sound, appear to have little effect upon our rulers. 
He sums up as follows :-— 
Forest schools have been set up for instruction in 
forestry; a forestry branch has been established in 
connection with the Board of Agriculture and another 
in Ireland; an officer has been appointed to convert 
the Dean and High Meadow Woods into a demon- 
stration area. All this is in the right direction, but 
very little has as yet been done to increase the area 
under forest. Too much talking and too little action 
—that is the long and short of it. Let us hope that 
the new situation wili lead without further loss of 
time to action. Of course, I should not advocate the 
taking of a single acre out of cultivation, because the 
production of food goes before everything else; but 
there are large stretches of land unfit for cultivation 
and yet quite fit to produce forest crops. Nor should 
I advocate the formation of large blocks of woodland, 
all in a ring fence as it were. No, what I look for- 
ward to are moderate sized areas scattered over the 
country. As long as the area is sufficiently large to 
justify placing a woodman in charge and also suffi- 
cient to be placed under systematic management, say 
a minimum of 500 acres, we snall have all that is 
required. In that case agricultural labourers and 
tenants of small areas will in time come forward and 
do the bulk of the forest worlk during the winter 
months, when agricultural work is practically at a 
standstill, thus improving their resources. Such a 
scheme will not be perfection all at once, but it will 
come by degrees. Only let the Government, with 
funds allotted by the Development Commissioners, 
start actual work, even on a small scale; it is sure to 
grow. 
Another article in this journal deals also with 
the subject of pit-timber, and reviews the result 
of an independent inquiry by the English Forestry 
Association. Further articles treat of the prepara- 
tion of yield tables, which are necessary in the 
estimation of the financial returns that are prob- 
able, when waste lands are afforested. Mr. Hiley 
writes a preliminary report on an investigation at 
Oxford into larch canker, and advocates a means 
of treatment which is scarcely advisable on account 
of the expense, not to mention the fact that the 
mode of infection on which the treatment is based 
is not yet clearly demonstrated to be the actual 
one. 
In the Transactions of the Royal Scottish 
Arboricultural Society, xxix., part i. (January, 
1915), the production of pitwood on wooded 
estates in Scotland is investigated by Mr. J. H. 
Milne Home, both as regards the present crisis 
and also with a view to a permanent increase in 
the supplies of mining timber in the future. Mr. 
Home considers that one-fourth of the normal 
