JANUARY 5 



cleared at about eighty years' growth ; but heavy sacrifice 

 of capital is incurred if the final fall of oak is made before 

 it is 120 or 140 years old. If Mr. Nisbet be correct in 

 his forecast — and his experience of forestry in many 

 countries entitles his opinion to respectful attention — 

 demand must have overtaken the supply before many 

 years have past. 



In view of the approach of this crisis, it is natural to 

 inquire what preparation is being made at home to meet 

 it, and what part existing British woodlands are capable 

 of bearing to meet the requirements of the timber market. 

 Now, among the many sharp lessons we have learned from 

 the competition of foreign produce none has been more 

 ruthlessly rubbed in than this, that the first conditions of 

 profitable trade in open markets are regularity of supply 

 and uniformity of quality. Nobody who has followed the 

 course of the dairy industry in Britain and Ireland — who 

 has marked, first, the overwhelming success of Danish 

 and French butter, manufactured with scientific precision 

 and delivered with organised punctuality, and, second, 

 the marked revival of the home industry in consequence 

 of the adoption of a better system — can want a clearer 

 illustration of this principle. To how many estates in 

 the British Islands can one point as supplying, or being 

 capable of supplying, the timber trade on these terms ? 

 Positively the only ones known to me are some of the 

 vast Highland woodlands : they are scientifically managed, 

 and will some day be ready to put timber regularly and 

 of uniform quality on the market. But that day is not 

 yet ; a very small proportion of the crop is ripe, or even 

 nearly ripe. 



The woodland of the United Kingdom extends to a little 



