NECESSITY OF AN ADEQUATE FOREST POLICY. 85 



than waste land, and which would benefit a considerable 

 part of the population if placed under forest. 

 These points show that the forest poUcy of the State in the past 

 was inadequate. The following remarks will further strengthen 

 this assertion : — 



The surprise of the war has been the enormous amount of wood 

 consumed by military operations. To carry this, as well as the 

 timber and pitwood urgently wanted at home, required a very 

 large amount of shipping which was urgently wanted for the 

 transport of war material and food. Moreover, the timber could 

 be procured only by a heavy loss due to inflated prices of freight 

 and insurance, loss of cargoes sunk by the enemy and by deprecia- 

 tion of the rate of exchange. Owing to these difficulties and the 

 urgent necessity of setting free the timber carrying shipping for 

 other purposes, the Government was forced to prohibit the import 

 of timber in 1917, except by special licence. The country was then 

 forced to fall back on its o\vn timber resources, and serious inroads 

 have been made on British woods during the war, in fact, so much 

 so, that, if the war had lasted another year, disastrous consequences 

 would have resulted. Of hardwoods there is still a fair amount 

 in the country, as, with the exception of ash, the demand for it 

 was comparatively small, but the balance of coniferous timber fit 

 to cut would not have been sufficient for even one year's require- 

 ments. Fortunately, the timber required for the front could be 

 obtained from French forests. As a consequence, the people and 

 the Government of the country recognised at last the necessity of 

 immediate action, not only to restock the cleared areas but to 

 increase substantially the area under wood, so as to have a 

 considerably larger stock to fall back upon in the case of any 

 future emergency. 



Apart from the considerations so far mentioned, a policy of 

 extended afforestation is justified and desirable on account of the 

 substantial benefits which it confers on the people, especially in 

 the sparsely populated districts, such as the Highlands of Scotland 

 and the hilly districts of northern England, Wales and Ireland. 

 In those parts large areas are now devoted to the rearing of sheep 

 and deer, while the reclamation and equipment for agricultural 

 operations is possible only if some other industry can be carried 

 on at the same time, which provides occupation to the small 



