196 EFFECT OF WAR ON TIMBER SUPPLIES 



was a slight decrease in the imports of wood pulp, the 

 price of the material rising by £ '2 . Under " Unenumer- 

 ated "-there was an increase of 1,000 tons in the receipts 

 for the war period, the increase in the values amounting 

 to ;fi,ooo. Under mill-board and wood-pulp board 

 there was a decrease of 6,000 tons, valued at £62,000, 

 the price remaining the same for the period under 

 review. 



There are several points which stand out in strong 

 relief from the above analyses of the imports of forest 

 produce into this country. The first, of course, 

 although it may not be fully realised by those who have 

 not studied this question, is our almost entire de- 

 pendence upon foreign materials. In fact, we purchase 

 half of the total forest imports of the world. The 

 comparatively small amounts grown in this country 

 are quickly absorbed, and the price obtained by the 

 grower or owner of the standing crop has in the past 

 rarely been higher than 50 per cent, of the full value 

 of the timber itself measured according to scientific 

 principles. There are, it may be at once conceded, 

 many reasons for this anomalous state of affairs — the 

 chief being the want of continuity in supplies in any 

 one locality and the smallness of the areas of woods 

 and therefore of the amounts of timber available from 

 them. It is perhaps scarcely fair upon the railway 

 managements to expect them to maintain the necessary 

 rolling-stock for the carriage of timber combined with 

 sidings for loading it and to quote low rates when sup- 

 plies are so erratic as at present. 



