6 FOREST POLICY. 



Silviculture; Hay raising; Production of cereals; Fruit growing; 

 Truck farming. 



Every square foot of national soil should be devoted to that production 

 under which it pays best; hence forests should never disappear from 

 land on which conservative forestry is the most remunerative use to 

 which the soil may be put. A national platform ought to invariably 

 contain this plank. Land as described is called " absolute forest land." 



The following points influence the character of such land: 



L Population: 



(a) Density. 



(b) Energy. 



IL Locality: 



(a) 30 per cent slope. 



(b) Rockiness. 



(c) Sandiness. 



* (d) Swampiness. 



(e) Frequency of crop failure. ' 



IIL Climate: 



(a) Fever districts. 



(b) Rough northern climates and those at high altitudes. 



(c) Excessive rainfall. 



IV. Outside causes: 



(a) Transportation facilities. 



(b) Forest fires. 



(c) Taxation. 



(d) Maritime situation. 



(VI.) LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND. 



The law of supply and demand does not hold good for forestry: 

 Wood is the only commodity the production of which covers 

 decades of years. High timoer prices will add to the remunerative- 

 ness of forestry only at a time when all mature forests are nearly 

 gone. The law of supply and demand, in other words, will begin to 

 work only when the gap in the supply cannot be filled for from fifty 

 to one hundred years. In such a case, it is likely that the gap will 

 never be filled, as it is proven by the history of the Mediterranean 

 countries. 



Soil devoid of forests for a long time resists reforestation. The 

 present generation dislikes to carry a heavy burden for the benefit of 

 succeeding generations only. With the legislature, the problem of 

 forest resurrection is never urgent, since its results can be obtained 

 only after many years, and hence laws encouraging it arc postponed 

 from session to session. 



(VII.) RATE OF REVENUE. 

 The rate of revenue in conservative forestry, as in any realty 



