320 OUR FORESTS AND WOODLANDS 
being as yet available for Britain. In doing so, 
I would merely echo the words of the Earl of 
Rosebery (in connection with quite another matter) 
on 23rd January last: ‘I say this, that we are a 
people of enormous waste. We waste simply 
by not pursuing scientific methods. I do not 
like to compare us with Germany; but, at any 
rate, we may be certain of this, taking Germany 
as an example of the opposite method of treat- 
ment, Germany is infinitely more painstaking in 
her methods than we are. But without taking 
as a model Germany or any other country .. . 
we must become more scientific in our methods.’ 
By means of such statistical tables, based on 
the average of thousands of crops of timber, and 
compiled locally for special use in different parts 
of the German Empire, the returns which should 
be given can be forecast if the quality of the soil 
and situation are known; or the latter can easily 
be determined by the actual amount of wood 
yielded on felling a mature timber crop that has 
been properly managed. One particular lesson 
that can obviously be drawn from them is the 
great advantage to be obtained by suiting the 
kind of crop to the soil and situation rather 
