2 



" (1) Forests supply timber, fuel and other forest produce. 

 u (2) They offer a convenient opportunity for the investment of capital and 

 for enterprise. 



" (3) They produce a demand for labour in their management and working, 

 as well as in a variety of industries which depend on forests for their raw mate- 

 rials. 



" (4) They reduce the temperature of the air and soil to a moderate extent, and 

 render the climate more equable. 



" (5) They increase the relative humidity of the air and tend to reduce evapo- 

 ration. 



w (6) They tend to increase the rainfall. 



" (7) They help to regulate the water supply, ensure a more sustained feeding 

 of springs, tend to reduce violent floods, and render the flow of water in rivers 

 more continuous. 



" (8) They assist in preventing land slips, avalanches, the silting up of rivers 

 and low lands, and arrest moving sands. 



" (9) They reduce the velocity of air currents, protect adjoining fields against 

 cold or dry winds, and afford shelter to cattle, game and useful birds. 



" (10) They assist in the production of oxygen and ozone. 



" (11) They may under certain conditions improve the healthiness of a country, 

 and under other conditions endanger it. 



(i (12) Finally they increase the artistic beauty of a country. 



" Whether, and in how far, these effects are produced in a particular country 

 depends on its special conditions. As regards the direct effects, enumerated un- 

 der 1, 2 and 3, the following considerations are of importance deciding whether 

 existing woodlands should be preserved, or new forests created : — 



u (I) The position of the country, its communications with other countries, and 

 the control which it exercises over other countries. 



" (2) The quantity and quality of substitutes of forest produce available in the 

 country. 



"(3) The value of land and labour, and the returns which land yields, if used 

 for other purposes. 



" (4) The density of population. 



•* (5) The amount of capital available for investment. 



" A country so situated that the importation of wood and other forest produce 

 is comparatively easy and cheap (sea-bound, traversed by navigable rivers coming 

 from countries which are rich in forests, or intersected by numerous railways and 

 other means of communication), or which has control over other countries, as for 

 instance colonies rich in forests, can dispense with extensive forests. In a coun- 

 try which is rich in coal, lignite or peat, the production of firewood is of subor- 

 dinate importance. Where iron and other substitutes for timber are available in 

 sufficient quantity and at a low rate, forests are not required to the same extent 

 as in a country which does not enjoy such advantages. Where land under field 

 crops yields, even if forest produce is imported, a higher interest on the invested 

 capital than under forest, the latter would, in this respect, be undesirable. If the 

 population of a country is very dense and all land is required for food, forests 

 would be out of place. Where, on the other hand, waste lands exist, which are 

 not required or unsuited for field crops, and where the population is at the same 

 time in want of additional work, it may be advisable to create forests so as to in- 

 crease the returns from surplus lands, and to provide occupation through the 

 operations connected with the administration of the forest, and the industries 

 which the existence of forests tends to create. 



" In considering the advisability, or otherwise of afforesting a country with 

 special reference to the indirect effects of forests, the most important points are in 

 its climate and configuration. The nearer to the equator, the more important be- 

 comes, as a rale, the forest question, and the further removed from it, the less im- 

 portant. While forests may in a hot country, with distinct wet and dry seasons, 

 be absolutely necessary for the mitigation of extreme heat and dryness during 

 certain parts of the year, and the regulation of the flow of water in springs and 

 rivers, they may be injurious in a northern country which is already too cold and 

 damp. Similarly, a continental country may require forests, while a sea-bound 

 country may be better without them, as far as climate considerations are con- 



