790 JOUKNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



FOKESTS, ARBOR DAYS, AND MANURING FOREST TREES. 

 By F. E. H. W. Krichauff, Corr. M.R.H.S. 



If the opinion of Herr Reichert, of Berlin, is correct, that Great Britain is 

 almost at the bottom of the return giving the proportion of forest land to 

 the total area, viz., 11,272 square kilometres, I think it is time that public 

 interest should be aroused in the matter of forest-tree planting. The 

 return alluded to gives to Russia and Sweden forests equal to 42 per 

 cent, of their area, to Austria 31, to Germany 26, to Norway and India 

 25, to France 16, to Portugal 5, to Great Britain and Ireland 4, and to Cape 

 Colony 0*29. Parts of Siberia, South America, and Central Africa 

 remain the chief sources of supply for the near future. In France the 

 alarm was given not long ago by M. Melard, and M. Guinier, an inspector 

 of forests, believes that the planting of forests in France is now full of 

 promise. England wants to save Egypt from ruin, perhaps never to leave 

 it again ; but what says another inspector of forests, M. Roger Ducamp ? 

 " If the pax Britannica in Egypt means the drying up of the Nile, such a 

 peace is worse H;han anarchy " ; and Lord Rosebery once said, " The Nile 

 is Egypt, and Egypt is the Nile," whose sources are|constantly decreasing 

 in consequence of the destruction of the forests there. Without forests, 

 little water ; without water, no crops, no cattle, and rent and taxes cannot 

 be pftid. 



Of course Great Britain has an insular and a moist climate (exactly 

 what is wanted for forests), and has coal possibly sufficient for centuries, 

 and therefore does not require firewood ; but it is quite different when 

 we have to deal ^^'ith the question of timber, of which from 12 to 

 14 cubic feet a head are annually used, although iron is more and more 

 taking its place in ships and house-building. Yet Dr. W. Idelich, a 

 forest expert, in an address delivered before the Society of Arts, predicted 

 in spite of this a positive timber famine in the near future, and con- 

 cluded by saying, " That country that first engages in systematic timber 

 cultivation on a large scale will do much to assure its own perpetuity as 

 a nation," and in my opinion as a wealthy nation also. Take Palestine 

 and Spain as instances of the gradual simultaneous decline of forests 

 and prosperity. Take the King of Greece and Princess Sophia on the 

 other hand, who on their own estates and at their own expense are 

 planting forests, so convinced are they that the gradual deforesting of 

 the kingdom is leading to disaster. The ratio of timber consumption in 

 Europe is constantly increasing. It is said that Germany needs 

 30 cubic feet a head, and that the natural growth cannot keep pace with 

 the demand, especially for soft woods, is shown by the news that the 

 limit of production has been reached in Scandinavia, and that they are 

 now aw^akening to the fact in Sweden, so that the school children 

 planted last year on Arbor Day no fewer than 600,000 trees. Canada can 

 still export, although many districts are already depleted ; but the United 

 States — where private owners are now largely planting (and Nebraska 

 has now a billion of forest trees growing on land which in former 



