92 FORESTRY IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



Two-thirds of the area are situated iu Scotland. From this area 

 large deductions must., however, be made on the basis of detailed 

 investigations in Dorset and Hampshire, in Glen Mor in Scotland, 

 and in the west of Scotland, by excluding poor tillage lands, deep 

 peaty soil, rocky surfaces, exposed positions, &c. After making 

 very liberal deductions in this way the Sub-Committee were 

 satisfied that there are certainly between 4 and 5 million acres of 

 planting land available, including some 500,000 acres in Ireland. 

 This area is more than double that which it is proposed to plant 

 during the next 80 years. 



The allocation of the land to be afforested in England, Wales, 

 Scotland and Ireland must be left to the Forest Authority, but as 

 the main argument for afforestation centres in the defence of the 

 country, it is necessary to record certain aspects of the task. The 

 nearer the growing wood is to the place of consumption, the less 

 labour and transport is required. In normal times large manu- 

 facturing and mining centres are the chief consumers of timber, 

 and, other things being equal, the forests should be as near to 

 them as possible. Another important point is that enormous 

 quantities of wood are required in modern warfare, which makes 

 it essential that supplies should be available within reasonable 

 distance of the firing fine. Nor should it be forgotten that forests 

 have great value in the defence of the country. All these, and 

 other, considerations make it essential to distribute the forests as 

 evenly as possible over the country. It follows that the new 

 forests should not be concentrated too much in one of the King- 

 doms, or in a limited number of districts, but that they should 

 be distributed as evenly as the presence of suitable land permits. 

 The initial outlay may be increased somewhat, but the timber will 

 presumably be close to the centres of utiUzation and therefore 

 have a higher value. 



6. Methods of Afforestation. 



The land to be afforested and the bulk of the land to be 

 replanted are private property, and it is highly desirable that as 

 much as possible of the afforestation should be undertaken by the 

 proprietors of the land, that is to say, by private owners and 

 corporations, while the State should do that portion which the 

 other agencies dechne or are unable to undertake. In view, 



