serious consideration, and demand an explanation from those who 

 now own the land. Now, as to crops. According to the best 

 authorities on land cultivation, it is estimated that French crops 

 yield on an average 17 bushels to the acre, Belgium crops 27 bushels 

 to the acre, whereas British crops yield on an average 28 bushels to 

 the acre. The same satisfactory results could be achieved as to the 

 growing of timber, in regard to which I will deal more fully in the 

 following pages. If other nations, with no better soil or natural 

 conditions, can get more from the land than we are doing, then we 

 must confess to either a colossal ignorance of agriculture, or a wil- 

 ful neglect of developing this great potential wealth. In my 

 opinion the latter assertion is the more correct one. 



At the present moment, however, there is evidence of an 

 awakening in regard to this great problem, and it is for the men and 

 women of the Socialist movement to see to it that the nation does 

 not again fall asleep over it. We have got the Small Holdings Act, 

 a Commission has recently issued a report as to Afforestation in 

 Ireland, and a Commission is now sitting as to the same question in 

 England, Scotland, and Wales. Resolutions in favour of State 

 action in regard to Forestry have been passed by many authorities, 

 the Association of Municipal Corporations having passed a resolu- 

 tion to the effect "That the time has now arrived when the question 

 of Afforestation should be seriously considered by the Government, 

 and that the Law Committee take steps to urge upon the Govern- 

 ment the necessity for initiating Afforestation schemes." Arising 

 out of this, a representative gathering, under the auspices of the 

 Board of Agriculture, was held in London, when with unanimity 

 it was declared that the time had arrived for action in regard to the 

 matter. In fact all the bodies that have at all gone into the ques- 

 tion have arrived at the same conclusion. Opinions vary as to the 

 volume of labour afforestation would call into being, but in con- 

 sidering this aspect of the question many things have to be taken 

 into account. The appalling extent of rural depopulation I have 

 already indicated, and our efforts ought to be focussed with a view 

 in the first place to check this depopulation. The great evil in 

 regard to our rural life to-day is the want of continuous employ-^ 

 ment. Such labour as now exists only provides a few months' 

 work in the year, and therefore any scheme that lends itself to the 

 provision of a few months' additional work per year will be in the 

 directiqn of checking this rural exodus. Afforestation would pro- 

 vide employment at a time of year—November, December, January, 

 and February— when very little labour is required on the farms, in 

 planting and preparing the land for timber growing. Should the 

 latter be taken in hand by the Government, and the workmen be 

 granted facilities to acquire small holdings, something like con* 

 tinuous' employment would thus be placed within the reach of the 

 taajof pottioa of our ajgricultural population. The gradual flow of 



