78 FORESTRY IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



ties of timber such as water-proofing, fire-proofing and the 

 preservative treatment of wood. 



Research and Experimental Work under the Forest Authority : 

 Before that Authority was estabUshed, over 30 permanent sample 

 plots were estabUshed in 1913 — 1915 in woods of larch, Scots pine 

 and other species, seventeen of which have already been re- 

 measured. The selection of additional plots is proceeding in 

 England and Scotland. Comparative plots are selected, where 

 possible, and different grades of thinning applied to study the 

 influence of treatment upon the increment of woods. During 

 the years 1917 — 1920, a statistical survey has been carried out, in 

 the course of which over 1,100 sample plots were measured in 

 coniferous woods throughout the British Isles, mostly in woods 

 felled during the war. From the data thus obtained have been 

 constructed : (a) Volume Tables for Larch and Scots Pine, and 

 (6) Yield Tables for European Larch, Scots Pine and Norway 

 Spruce, also preliminary tables for Oregon Douglas Fir, Corsican 

 Pine and Japanese Larch. These yield tables are incorporated in 

 Bulletin No. 3, published by the Forestry Commissioners. 



Investigations on forest insects are being carried out by the 

 Commissioners' Entomologist. The results so far obtained have 

 been pubUshed in Bulletin No. 2. Experiments on the control 

 of the pine weevil, Hylohius abietis, are being continued ; also, 

 progress has been made in investigating the biology of the 

 Douglas fir seed fly, Megastigmus spermotrophus. The aphis, 

 Chermes cooleyi, attacking the Douglas fir, is receiving attention. 



12. The Importance of Forestry to the Nation. 



The sesthetic effects of forests have caused the establishment in 

 the British Islands of fine parks and artistically placed woodlands, 

 which render the country so beautiful and attractive. By 

 developing a taste for the charms of landscape, forests exercise a 

 beneficial influence upon the moral and physical development of 

 the people, and contribute towards the peace and contentment 

 of the human mind. The effect is by no means confined to the 

 rural population ; it is of equal, if not greater, importance to the 

 dweller in the towns, and especially to the working classes. 

 Woodlands in the vicinity of the towns should, if possible, be 

 established to which the people can go on free days to enjoy pure 



