394 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— K.*i 



construction, paper-pulp and packing boxes representing the main purposes for which 

 coniferous soft woods are used. With the exception of Germany and Italy, the 

 industrial countries chiefly relying upon supplies of soft wood imported from Northern 

 Europe are those lying along the north-western seaboard, including Belgium, Denmark, 

 France, Holland, Great Britain and Ireland. These countries have the lowest area 

 of forest per head of population, and would feel most acutely any serious shortage. 

 Their annual imports are, according to Mr. Fraser Story, about 600,000,000 cubic feet, 

 their total consumption nearly 12,000,000 cubic feet. This does not include pulpwood 

 or hardwood. Great Britain takes nearly two-thirds of the total import. The 

 normal increment from 7,500,000 acres of conifers, of which about 66 per cent, are 

 privately owned, is about 300,000,000 cubic feet, so that there is an apparent over- 

 felling or reduction of the capital stock equal to 25 per cent, of the total consumption. 



Northern Europe possesses about 300,000,000 acres of coniferous forest capable 

 of producing, under proper management, the whole of the industrial deficit elsewhere 

 in Europe for all reasonable time. Sweden and Finland possess one-fourth of this 

 area, and their forests are conservatively managed. Russia is at present an uncertain 

 quantity. The present exports from Northern Europe of about 800 to 900 milbon 

 cubic feet could not be greatly increased at present without over-felling. 



The chief measures most likely to assure the maintenance of an adequate supply 

 of soft woods are : — 



(1) Better protection against fire and more intensive management of the existing 

 forest area. 



(2) The conversion of unprofitable hardwood areas into coniferous forest. 



(3) The afforestation of land possessing a low agricultural value. 



(4) The lowering of the per capita consumption of soft-wood timber by substitutes 

 such as ferro-concrete, plywoods, and pulpwood from hardwood timber, &c. 



The high percentage of privately owned forest in most parts of Europe suggests 

 a more adequate control of all forest land by the State, leading to more intensive 

 management and the prevention of over-felling. Afforestation of poor land is a 

 State enterprise, and cannot be effected on an adequate scale without legislative 

 measures. The discovery of substitutes for coniferous wood is a matter for research 

 and investigation. 



The possibility that population and industrial activity in Europe have reached 

 their maxima, and that present estimates of future timber consumption may be 

 excessive, must not be left out of account. 



Dr. J. D. Sutherland. — The Economic Balance between Agriculture and 

 Forestry. 



Intervention in land utilisation has been forced upon all Governments. The 

 extent depends upon the natural resources of the country, their development, the 

 system of tenure, and upon the recognition of national conservation as a policy. 

 Such a policy implies that a certain balance is regarded as necessary. 



In Great Britain the chief protagonists of the hinterlands are agriculture and 

 forestry, with sport as guerillist. 



In none of these spheres can the requirements of the country be fully produced, 

 and inquiry is made as to how far the natural balance has been upset, and whether 

 definite economic improvement could be obtained by redisposition. 



In this connection the actual and potential contributions of the various classifica- 

 tions of land are considered with a view to determining whether retention in their 

 present categories is nationally economic. The consumption and imports of the 

 country in agricultural and forest produce are also compared, together with the relative 

 costs. 



State aid to agriculture has evidently not been ungenerous. The current year's 

 appropriations amount to over £15,000*000 in Great Britain, and analysis of this 

 is contrasted against expenditure upon forests. 



The reactions and relationship of Agriculture and Forestry upon and with each 

 other are of vital importance. 



Mr. W. B. Turrill.— Forests of the Balkan Peninsula. 



Naturally most of the Balkan Peninsula should be forest clad, but owing to the 

 destructive activities of man and his domesticated animals the lowland and hill 



