CONIFEROUS TIMBER 171 



figure of the area (coniferous woods are only in 

 question) which has been felled over during the war, 

 but it must run to several hundred thousand acres. 

 Now all good foresters recognize one planting rule 

 — to wit, that aU deaths in young newly formed plan- 

 tations should be filled up with fresh plants before 

 new plantation work is carried out on the estate. 

 There does not appear to be much difference between 

 filling up existing plantations before embarking on 

 new planting work and replanting the felled areas, 

 of whose capacity for producing certain tree crops 

 we have full data, before commencing the new 

 afforestation schemes. I would not be understood 

 to mean that no new planting work should be carried 

 out until all the felled-over areas had been replanted ; 

 but I would definitely arrange for their replanting 

 within a specified period. And having settled this 

 important matter, I would proceed with the larger 

 business. 



With this point out of the way, we may now con- 

 sider the question of the total area to be afforested. 

 It has been suggested, for reasons already deduced, 

 that 1,770,000 acres appear somewhat small. 



We have seen that in 1913 we imported 620,000,000 

 cubic feet of coniferous timber, and that our imports 

 had been steadily rising over a period of years. 

 There appears to be no adequate reason for beUeving 

 that we have yet attained a maximum Umit in our 

 utilization of timber. Rather, with the inaugura- 

 tion of new industries, such as, e.g., the aeroplane 

 industry, that the reverse may be expected. Forty- 

 years hence it is not perhaps placing the figure too 



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