93 
JOUBNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  4,  19C4. 
for  a  greater  homeliness  and  less  artificiality  in  our  sur¬ 
roundings  and  everyday  life  ;  so  far  we  appear  to  be  pro¬ 
gressing  in  the  reverse  direction.  The  individual  here  and 
there  may  say  with  truth  that  he  can  readily  afford  to  buy 
the  fruit  he  needs,  but  the  nation  cannot  afford  to  do  so — 
certainly  not  at  the  present  heavy  rate. 
From  grass  orchards  it  is  not  usual  to  obtain  the  highly 
finished  fruit  seen  on  exhibition  tables — this  is  not  neces¬ 
sary — but  by  planting  a  few  standards  upon  these  severe 
and  often  out  of  place  tennis  courts,  many  more  people 
would  be  able  to  grow  a  supply  of  fruit  for  the  greater  part 
of  the  year.  Looking  at  the  matter  in  an  utilitarian  spirit, 
this  would  be  a  great  gain  in  the  face  of  the  heavy  importa¬ 
tions,  which  tend  to  increase  rather  than  grow  less  as  time 
goes  on.  But  apart  from  any  mundane  aspect  of  the  case 
these  grass  orchards  appeal  from  quite  a  different  stand¬ 
point,  though  this  may,  and  probably  is  not  the  most 
important  one. 
In  a  pleasing  homely  fashion  many  of  the  farmhouses  of 
the  West  of  England  have  a  most  beautiful  appearance, 
standing  here  and  there  amongst  the  clustering  fruit  trees. 
True  it  is,  sadly  true,  the  trees  are  frequently  in  but  poor 
condition,  neglected  and  ancient,  and  often  bear  low  grade 
varieties.  Yet  the  pictures  of  beauty  these  old  orchards 
afford  in  springtime  far  surpass  that  of  any  of  the  most 
carefully  laid  out  lawns  and  shrubberies. 
Some  of  these’ fruit  plantations  are  very  large.  The; e  are 
not  called  for  in  the  views  here  set  forth  ;  nearly  all,  owing 
to  the  calling  of  the  occupants,  are  the  resort  of  pigs  and 
other  lowdy  if  useful  company,  and  such  companions  as 
these,  to  say  nothing  of  young  colts,  are  scarcely  an  aid  to 
reflection  or  an  appreciation  of  the  surrounding  beauties. 
Many  of  the  trees  are  veritable  giants  of  perry  Pears  or 
cider  Apples.  It  is  not  asked  that  the  example  of  the 
planters  of  these  be  in  any  way  followed,  remarkable 
though  some  of  them  are  for  size  and  beauty. 
Let  it  not  be  thought  that  there  is  the  slightest  wish 
for  the  curtailment  of  fruit  planting  for  market  over  large 
areas  of  land.  Let  us  grow"  all  we  can,  even  though  at 
times  the  prices  may  rule  low ;  for  at  such  times  it  is  hoped 
the  poor  of  our  large  towns  and  cities  may  benefit.  And 
let  me  here  say  that  it  is  to  be  feared  that  only  by  pro¬ 
ducing  large  quantities  at  low  rates  can  w-e  hope  to  stem 
the  ever  rising  tide  of  foreign  supplies.  It  is  asked  that 
the  fairly  well-to-do,  possessinsr  .suitable  land,  should  plant 
at  least  a  sufficient  number  of  hardy  fruit  trees  to  supply 
their  ow"n  needs.  If  planted  in  properly  prepared  soil,  as 
advised  so  often  in  these  pages,  and  in  first-class  varieties, 
the  names  of  which  are  frequently  given  in  the  Journal, 
they  wdll  be  found  to  give  satisfaction  and  lasting  pleasure 
far  exceeding  the  choicest  efforts  of  the  landscapist’s  art.— 
CoTSAVOLD. 
- - — 
Professor  ScMicli  on  Briiish  Forestry. 
Recently  the  governing  body  of  the  Royal  Agricultural 
College,  Cirencester,  decided  to  establish  a  chair  of 
Forestry  at  the  College,  and  Mr.  F.  M’Clellan  was  appointed 
to  the  Professorship.  At  the  opening  of  the  new  course  in 
Forestry  at  the  Royal  Agricultural  College,  the  inaugural 
address  w-as  delivered  by  Professor  Schlich,  the  Hon.  Pro¬ 
fessor  of  Forestry  to  the  CAllege.  There  was  a  full  muster 
of  the  staff  and  students,  and  among  others  present  were 
the  Earl  of  Lucie,  chaiiTnan  of  the  governing  body  ;  the 
Earl  of  Onslow",  President  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture  ; 
Lord  Estcourt,  the  Hon.  Benjamin  Bathurst,  M.P.,  &c. 
At  the  outset  of  his  lecture.  Professor  Schlich  paid  a  wann 
tribute  to  the  accomplishments  of  the  new  Professor  of 
Forestry.  Mr.  M’Clellan,  and  to  Lord  Bathurst,  who  had 
placed  his  extensive  woodlands  at  the  disposal  of  the 
College  for  educational  purposes.  The  Professor  then 
proceeded : — 
Sources  of  Timber  Supply. 
Before  I  proceed  to  deal  with  forestry  in  this  country, 
let  me  say  a  few  words  about  the  sources  w"hence  this 
timber  comes.  In  1899  w"e  received  from  Canada  under 
tw"o  million  tons  ;  from  other  British  possessions  rather 
more  than  J  million  tons — total  of  British  possessions, 
about  2^  million  tons  ;  from  foreign  countries,  7|  million 
tons — total,  10  million  tons.  The  latter  came  from  the 
following  countries : — Russia,  about  2^  million  tons ; 
Sw'eden,  about  2^  million  tons  ;  Norway,  about  |  million 
tons  ,'  Germany  rather  less  than  |  million  tons  ;  France,. 
I  million  tons  ;  United  States  of  America,  1  million  tons. 
But  we  are  not  the  only  importing  country  in  Europe  ;  on 
the  contrary,  most  of  them  import  timber.  For  example, 
Germany’s  net  imports  are  4^  million  tons  a  year  ;  France, 
I5  million  tons  ;  Belgium,  over  1  million  tons  ;  Denmark, 
nearly  \  million  tons  ;  Italy,  nearly  \  million  tons  ;  Spain, 
nearly  1-5  million  tons  ;  Holland,  1-5  million  tons  ;  Switzer¬ 
land,  1-6  million  tons  ;  and  Portugal,  Bulgaria,  Greece,  and 
Servia,  smaller  quantities.  The  exporting  countries  in 
Europe  are  Russia,  w"ith  6  million  tons  ;  Sweden,  4^  million 
tons  ;  Austria-Hungary,  million  tons  ;  Noi’way,  1  million 
tons  ;  and  Roumania,  60,000  tons.  If  you  draw"  the  balance 
of  imports  and  exnorts  for  the  whole  of  Europe,  you  find 
that  there  is  a  deficit  of  about  2j  million  tons  a  year,  which 
are  supplied  by  Canada,  the  United  States  of  America,  and 
smaller  cjuantities  from  other  countries. 
Are  Future  Supplies  Safe? 
My  reply  is,  “  By  no  means.”  To  begin  with,  the  timber 
which  w"e  get  from  Germany  is  really  only  re-export, 
because  that  country  has  a  net  import  of  4^  million  tons  a 
year.  It  has  been  known  for  some  time  past  that  Norway 
is  working  her  forests  with  a  deficit  (by  cutting  more  than 
grows  annually).  Sw-eden  was  hitherto  considered  as 
solvent  in  this  respect,  but  a  Parliamentary  paper  just 
issued  gives  a  dift'erent  account.  Sir  W.  Barrington  writes- 
from  Stockholm  to  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne  on  March  18, 
1903:  “Recent  calculations  estimate  the  annual  consump¬ 
tion  of  timber  at  some  1,060  million  cubic  feet,  which  is  said 
to  be  about  106  million  in  excess  of  normal  reproduction.” 
Here,  then,  is  another  of  our  most  important  sources  of 
supply  also  working  with  a  deficit.  As  to  Austria-Hungary, 
very  little  timber  comes  to  this  country,  because  half 
their  export  goes  to  Germany,  and  the  bulk  of  the  other- 
half  to  various  other  countries,  especially  France.  There 
remains,  apart  from  a  diminishing  supply  from  Sweden  and 
Norway,  Russia.  That  country  has  enormous  areas  under 
forests,  but  it  has  still  greater  areas  without  it.  Its  popu¬ 
lation  is  rapidly  increasing. 
Differing  views  are  taken  of  Russia  as  to  her  capabili¬ 
ties  of  maintaining  her  export  of  timber.  Some  experts, 
say  that  her  resources  are  inexhaustible,  others  doubt  it. 
My  own  opinion,  having  weighed  the  evidence  on  both 
sides,  is  that  Russia  is  a  somewhat  doubtful  factor.  At 
any  rate,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  demand  is  increas¬ 
ing  year  by  year,  and  that  other  European  countries  must 
reduce  their  exports.  Then,  as  to  North  America,  the- 
United  States  are  no  longer  areal  exporting  country,  because 
they  import  already  more  from  Canada  than  they  export. 
Thus  we  are  reduced  to  Canada  for  making  good  the  defici¬ 
ency  in  Europe.  That  country  is  supposed  to  have  about 
266  million  acres  of  timber  lands,  ancl  she  could,  no  doubt, 
supply  the  rest  of  the  world  with  the  necessary  coniferou'- 
timber,  if  her  forests  were  managed  in  a  rational  manner, 
instead  of  killing  the  goose  that  lays  the  golden  eggs. 
There  are  peculiar  conditions  of  the  timber  trade,  and  the 
great  destruction  wrought  by  forest  fires,  to  be  taken  into, 
account.  In  summing  up  this  part  of  the  subject,  it  may, 
therefore,  be  said  (1)  that  we  require  enormous  and  ever- 
increasing  quantities  of  timber,  (2)  that  the  prices  in  future 
are  likely  to  be  higher  than  in  the  past,  (3)  that  supplies 
from  outside  rest  on  a  very  unsafe  basis,  (4)  that  the  increase 
of  the  afforested  area  in  this  country,  especially  by  utilising 
the  waste  lands,  is  sure  to  lead  to  an  increased  demand  for 
labour. 
Steps  to  be  taken  in  this  Count ky. 
It  is  clear,  then,  that  we  must  look  about  and  see  what 
we  can  do  for  ourselves  in  these  islands.  A  detailed  exami¬ 
nation  shows  that  we  have  plenty  of  land  available  for 
extended  afforestation.  There  are  altogether  some  25 
million  acres,  or  30  per  cent.,  of  the  land  in  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  which  is  either  lying  waste  altogether  or  used 
for  rough  grazing,  apart  from  their  value  as  shooting 
grounds.  It  is,  no  doubt,  difficult  to  estimate  the  actual 
returns  yielded  by  these  lands  ;  but  I  feel  sure  that  I  am 
within  the  mark  when  I  say  it  is  less  than  one  shilling  an 
