854 



Report on Afforestation 



[Feb., 



with this question, in which the conclusions and recommenda- 

 tions are summarised as follows : — 



Advisability of Afforestation in the United Kingdom. — The natural 

 conditions of soil and climate in the United Kingdom are favourable to 

 the production of high-class commercial timber such as is annually 

 imported into the country in very great quantities. 



The afforestation of suitable lands in the United Kingdom, if under- 

 taken on an adequate scale and in accordance with well-recognised 

 scientific principles, should prove at present prices a sound and 

 remunerative investment. 



In estimating the profits of sylviculture account must, moreover, be 

 taken of two facts : the increasing consumption of timber per head 

 of population all over the world, in spite of the introduction of 

 alternative materials ; and, further, the exploitation, waste, and destruc- 

 tion by fire of the virgin forests, especially those yielding the more 

 important building timbers. Already a noticeable shortage of timber 

 supply has resulted, as is evidenced by steadily rising prices and 

 depreciating qualities in all markets. It seems impossible to escape 

 from the conclusion that this tendency will be continued and 

 accentuated, and that a steady and a very considerable rise in prices 

 may be looked for throughout the present century. The security which 

 afforestation offers for investment is therefore likely to be an improving 

 one, with a corresponding increase in profits, but, to avoid all that 

 is speculative, this prospect has been disregarded in framing the 

 estimates made by the Commission. 



Nature and Extent of Land Suitable for Afforestation. — The amount 

 of land suitable for afforestation, but not now under timber, in the 

 United Kingdom may roughly be put at a maximum of 9,000,000 acres. 

 In determining this figure two considerations have been taken into 

 account, besides elevation and physical suitability of soil. The first 

 is that the value of the land is not in excess of a sum on which a fair 

 return may be anticipated on the expenditure. This will naturally vary 

 according to the productive capacity of the soil and the crop which it 

 will carry. The second consideration is that the land could not be more 

 profitably utilised in any other way. 



A forest of 9,000,000 acres, in which are represented the various series 

 of age-classes, may be expected to yield 9,000,000 loads annually in 

 perpetuity. The importation of foreign timber from temperate climates 

 into the United Kingdom in the year 1907 exceeded 8,500,000 loads, or 

 approximately the annual supply which could be expected from the 

 afforestation of the above-mentioned area. 



The withdrawal of 9,000,000 acres from its present uses would cause 

 some gradual curtailment of food supplies and displacement of labour. 

 Land suitable for afforestation is mostly devoted to the production of 

 mutton, Calculations on the basis of the present consumption show 

 that at most 60,000 tons, or 4'8 per cent, of the total home production 

 of meat, or 2*6 per cent, of the present national consumption, would be 

 ultimately displaced. As to labour, the employment furnished by the 

 present uses, mostly sheep farming, to which the land in question is 

 devoted, may be taken to average one man to 1,000 acres. This does 

 not represent one-tenth of the permanent employment afforded by the 

 maintenance of a similar area of land under forest. 



