12 FORESTRY : WHAT IT MEANS TO THE NATION 



are useless from the commercial forestry point of view. 

 Nor can their owners make them pay or expect to be 

 able to do so, since there is no continuity in supply 

 of materials from such areas, and without such con- 

 tinuity it is not to be expected that the wood merchants 

 will be able to offer a remunerative price for the timber, 

 nor can the railway companies be expected to provide 

 cheap facihties for its transport. These have been the 

 troubles of the past. They have been gradually 

 coming more and more into focus. The Great War has 

 brought them to a head. 



The question, then, before the nation is — ^How are 

 we going to set about the afforestation of our large 

 waste areas on a scale commensurate with our neces- 

 sities, in order that succeeding generations may not be 

 left entirely at the mercy of foreign countries so far 

 as its timber requirements are concerned ? For this 

 is our present position. 



