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BRITISH FORESTRY

ITS PRESENT POSITION AND
OUTLOOK AFTER THE WAR

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ITS PRESENT POSITION AND # nh :
OUTLOOK AFTER THE WAR &4""".

BY EDWARD PERCY STEBBING

HEAD OF THE FORESTRY DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, _ WV. mh
1916 | |

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
PAGE
EVELYN’S ‘‘ SYLVA’’ AND PRESENT TIMES . Sh Se
PART I

A NATIONAL PLANTING SCHEME
ARTICLE ;
I. FORESTRY: WHATITMEANSTOTHE NATION’ I

Il. THE POSITION OF THE AFFORESTATION
QUESTION IN THIS COUNTRY AT THE
OUTBREAK OF THE WAR-—AND NOW. 13

Ill, A NATIONAL PLANTING SCHEME EEN
IV. FINANCE AND PLANTING METHODS . i SF
V. AFFORESTATION AND LABOUR. » 50
PART II
BRITISH TIMBER SUPPLIES AND THE
FORESTS OF RUSSIA
VI. TIMBER SUPPLIES AND FAMINE PRICES . 55

VII. BRITISH TIMBER SUPPLIES AND RUSSIAN
FORESTS p . , : SEN

vi CONTENTS

ARTICLE PAGE

VIII. THE FORESTS OF RUSSIA IN EUROPE : 82

IX. THE FORESTS OF FINLAND AND EUROPEAN
TIMBER SUPPLIES . . . - I04

X. THE FORESTS OF SIBERIA AND TURKESTAN . 130

XI, THE CEDAR (CEMBRAN PINE) TRADE OF ASIATIC
RUSSIA . ; é ; . 154

PART III
TIMBER SUPPLIES AND THE WAR

XII, TIMBER SUPPLIES AND THE WAR—IMPORTS

IN I9I3 ‘ d : x . 160
XIII. EFFECT OF SIX MONTHS’ WAR ON THE TIMBER
SUPPLIES : : ; $ es
XIV. TIMBER IMPORTS AND EXPORTS INIQI5 . 202
PART IV

THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN FORESTRY

XV. WOMEN AND FORESTRY . ° . « 215

XVI. THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN FORESTRY
—!I . . . . . . 236

XVII. THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN FORESTRY
—I . 247

LIST OF PLATES

FRENCH ENGINEERS MAKING A ROAD OUT OF YOUNG
SAPLINGS IN ORDER TO TRANSPORT HEAVY GUNS
OVER THE RAIN-SOAKED FIELDS . ; Frontispiece

PLATE I.

PLATE 2.

PLATE 3.

PLATE 4.

PLATE 5.

PLATE 6.

PLATE 7.

PLATE 8,

PLATE 9,

Reproduced by courtesy of the ‘‘Topical’’ Press Agency.

FACING PAGE

SCOTS PINE, STRATHORD. LARCH, CRAIG
VIVIAN, PERTHSHIRE . . . .

A FELLED AREA AND NEWLY PLANTED AREA,
PEEBLESSHIRE ° . . ° .

SCOTS PINE, BALUAN, BLAIR ATHOLL . .

THIRLMERE, LAKE DISTRICT, TALLA CATCH-
MENT AREA, PEEBLESSHIRE , : °

PLANTING IN A PEEBLESSHIRE GLEN . °

““HYBRID’’ LARCH, MURTHLY. JAPANESE
LARCH, BLAIR ATHOLL, PERTHSHIRE .

OLD LARCH WOOD, MUCH UNDERSTOCKED,
PEEBLESSHIRE . . . . °

FELLING OAK COPPICE SCRUB FOR PIT PROPS,
HERMITAGE WOODS, DUNKELD. LOADING
TRUCKS WITH PITWOOD AT A TEMPORARY
SIDING ON THE HIGHLAND LINE . .

OAK NATURAL REGENERATION IN THE QUEEN’S
WOOD, FRITH PARK, SURREY e °
vii

6

22

28

34

39

40

42

Vili LIST OF PLATES

FACING PAGE
PLATE 10, PIT PLANTING AND MATTOCK PLANTING . 48

PLATE II. LARCH INTERPLANTED WITH DOUGLAS,
MURTHLY. LARCH UNDERPLANTED WITH
DOUGLAS, NOVAR, ROSS-SHIRE . . 52

PLATE 12. LADYWELL FOREST NURSERY, DUNKELD,
PERTHSHIRE © . ‘ ‘ ; 1 ae

a

INTRODUCTION

b

EVELYN’S ‘‘ SYLVA’’ AND PRESENT TIMES

To those who love the beautiful woods of this country
or, in fact, any of the open-air pursuits connected with
them, Evelyn’s classic Sylva will be well known.
There is a fascination and at the present time a grave
significance for us all in the quaint wording of its title—
“ Sylva, or a Discourse of Forest Trees and the Propa-
gation of Timber in His Majesty’s Dominions.”

Perhaps never since it made its first appearance
has the need for pondering over and acting upon the
advice of this most remarkable and far-seeing man, as
adumbrated in his Sylva, been so urgent as in these
early years of the twentieth century.

The Sylva was written at the instigation and under
the auspices of the Royal Society, then recently founded
under the patronage of Charles the Second (in 1662,
Evelyn being one of the first Fellows and a Member of
the Council). Evelyn is interesting on the objects for
which the great Society was inaugurated: ‘‘ Those
who perfectly comprehend the scope and end of that
Noble Institution, which is to improve natural know-
ledge, and enlarge the empire of operative philosophy,
not by an abolition of the old, but by the real effects

of the experimental, collecting, examining, and im-
ix

x EVELYN’S “SYLVA” AND PRESENT TIMES

proving their scattered phenomena, with a view to estab-
lish even the received methods and principles of the
schools, as far as were consistent with truth and
matter of fact, thought it long enough that the world
had been imposed upon by that national and formalway
of delivering divers systems and bodies of philosophy,
falsely so-called, beyond which there was no more
country to discover; which being brought to the test
and trial, vapours all away in fume and empty
sound.,”’

Amongst the first of the activities of the Society was
the direct encouragement, through the publication of
the Sylva, given to planting, then an urgent need of
the day for the sake of the Navy. In confirmation of
the Society’s interest in this matter we read in the
opening paragraphs of the Preface to the Reader
(4th ed.):

‘‘ After what the Frontispiece and Porch of this
Wooden Edifice presents you, I shall need no farther
to repeat the occasion of this following discourse; I
am only to acquaint you, That as it was delivered to
the Royal Society (on the fifteenth day of October 1662)
by an unworthy Member thereof, in obedience to their
commands; by the same it is now republished without
any farther prospect: And the reader is to know,
that if these dry sticks afford him any sap, it is one of
the least and meanest of those pieces which are every
day produced by that illustrious assembly, and which
enrich their collections, as so many monuments of their
accurate experiments, and public endeavours, in
order to the production of real and useful theories, the
propagation and improvement of natural science, and
the honour of their institution.”

PLANTING BY CHARLES II xi

As evidence of the King’s interest in planting, even
when allowance is made for the laudatory language of
the age (and Evelyn was no mean courtier), the opening
paragraphs of the author’s “‘ Dedication to the King’s
Most Sacred Majesty,” 4th edition, dated December 5,
1678, is as worthy of remembrance now as it is impor-
tant historically :

“For to whom, Sir, with so just and equal right
should I present the fruits of my labours, as to the
Patron of that Society, under whose influence it was
produced, so to whose auspices alone it owes the favour-
able acceptance which it has received in the world ?
To You, then, Royal Sir, does this Fourth Edition
continue its humble addresses, tanquam Nemorum
Vindici, as of old, they paid their devotions Herculi
& Silvano; since you are our @eds wtruKds, our
Nemorensis Rex; as having once had your Temple,
and Court too, under that sacred Oak which You
consecrated with your presence, and we celebrate,
with just acknowledgment to God, for Your Preserva-
tion. I need not acquaint your Majesty how many
millions of timber-trees, besides infinite others,
have been progagated and planted throughout your
vast dominions, at the institution, and by the sole
direction of this work ; because your gracious Majesty
has been pleased to own it publicly for my encourage-
ment, who, in all that I here pretend to say, deliver
only those precepts which your Majesty has put into
_ practice; as having, like another Cyrus, by your own
_ royal example, exceeded all your predecessors in the

_ plantations you have made, beyond, I dare assert it,
all the Monarchs of this Nation, since the conquest of
it. And, indeed, what more august, what more worthy
your Majesty, or more becoming our imitation, than,
whilst You are thus solicitous for the public good, we

xii EVELYN’S “SYLVA” AND PRESENT TIMES

pursue your Majesty’s great example, and, by culti-
vating our decaying woods, contribute to your power,
as to our great wealth and safety; since whilst your
Majesty is furnished to send forth those Argos and
Trojan hordes, about this happy island, we are to fear
nothing from without it; and whilst we remain obed-
ient to your just commands, nothing from within it.”

It makes delightful reading and withal carries a
moral. That the Royal Society, from its initiation,
thus had the true welfare of the nation at heart in
publishing the Sylva is borne out by certain remarks
in the preface to the 6th edition, written by its
editor, Dr. A. Hunter, F.R.S., over a hundred years
later (August 1776). When contrasted with the
above-quoted extracts from Evelyn’s Dedication they
merit our earnest consideration :

“Soon after the publication of the Sylva, which
appeared in 1664,” writes Dr. Hunter, “ the Spirit
for Planting increased to a high degree; and there is
reason to believe that many of our ships which, in
the last war, gave laws to the whole world, were
constructed from oaks planted at that time. The
present age must reflect upon this with gratitude ; and
it is to be hoped that we shall be ambitious to receive
from posterity the same acknowledgments that we, at
this moment, pay to the memory of our virtuous
Ancestors.’

The results of the action of the Royal Society in the
- early days of the reign of Charles the Second, and of
the industry and knowledge of their great Fellow,
were to witness even more glorious achievements by
the ‘‘ wooden walls” which their foresight enabled

NEGLECT OF PLANTING xill

the nation to build. For the planting which was the
outcome, the direct outcome, of the publication of the
Sylva safeguarded the nation from invasion by Napo-
leon, enabled Trafalgar to be fought and won, and
thus gave us security from invasion for a whole century
thereafter.

The ‘‘ wooden walls’’ have disappeared and steel
ones have taken their place, but the need for planting
is at the present time just as urgent as it was in
Evelyn’s day. The timber and other materials are
put to different uses but they are required in far larger
amounts and for a far greater variety of purposes.
Unfortunately our ancestors of the time of Dr. Hunter
and subsequently did not follow the advice of the
Sylva’s great author, and we are suffering accordingly.
_ There was, it is true, a certain revival of planting in
_ the latter half of the eighteenth and the early part of
_ the nineteenth centuries. Before Hunter issued his
edition of the Sylva the Royal Society of Arts had
_ given attention to the question. Founded in 1754, the
Society soon afterwards instituted a system of pre-
miums and medals to be awarded to those sowing
and planting up the greatest areas of land. Between
1758 and 1821, 127 gold and 40 silver medals were
_ awarded in this way, in addition to pecuniary pre-
' miums. As a result of this enlightened policy a con-
_ siderable amount of planting was carried out during
_ this period.

_ After about 1820 planting, save in a few exceptional

| cases, appears to have gradually ceased to be a hobby

+ of the landowner or to be considered as exercising any
| importance in the national economy of the nation.

xiv EVELYN’S “SYLVA” AND PRESENT TIMES

Let us accompany Evelyn for a short space in some
of his reasons for writing the Sylva. It must be con-
fessed that he is apt to ramble a little, but his rambling
is altogether delightful. And it is all so entirely @
propos to our present needs in this direction.
Evelyn is giving his reasons to the reader :

“ If to this there be anything subjoined here, which
may a while bespeak the patience of the reader, it is
only for the encouragement of an industry, and worthy
labour, much in our days neglected, as haply reputed
a consideration of too sordid and vulgar a nature for
Noble Persons and Gentlemen to busy themselves
withal, and who oftener find out occasions to fell down
and destroy their woods and plantations, than either
to repair or improve them.

““ But we are not without hopes of taking off these
prejudices, and of reconciling them to a subject and
an industry which has been consecrated, as I may say,
by as good and as great persons.as any the world has
produced ; and whose names we find mingled amongst
Kings and Philosophers, grave Senators and Patriots
of their country ; for such of old were Solomon, Cyrus
and Numa, Licinius, surnamed Stolo, Cato, and
Cincinnatus ; the Pisos, Fabii, Cicero, the Plinys, and
thousands more whom I might enumerate, that dis-
dained not to cultivate these rusticities even with their
own hands, and to esteem it no small accession to
dignify their titles, and adorn their purple with these
rural characters of their affections to planting, and
love of this part of Agriculture, which has transmitted
to us their venerable names through so many ages and
vicissitudes of the world.

“That famous answer alone which the Persian
Monarch gave to Lysander, will sufficiently justify
that which I have said, besides what we might add out

_—

PLANT FOR POSTERITY XV

of the writings and examples of the rest: But since
these may suffice, after due reproofs of the late impolitic
waste and universal sloth amongst us, we should now
turn our indignation into prayers, and address our-
selves to our better-natured countrymen, that such
woods, as do yet remain entire, might be carefully
preserved, and such as are destroyed, sedulously
repaired: It is what all persons who are owners of
land may contribute to, and with infinite delight, as
well as profit, who are touched with that laudable
ambition of imitating their illustrious ancestors, and
of worthily serving their generation. To these my
earnest and humble advice should be, That at their
very first coming to their Estates, and as soon as they
get children, they should seriously think of this work
of propagation also; for I observe there is no part of
husbandry which men more commonly fail in, neglect,
and have cause to repent of, than that they did not
begin planting betimes, without which they can expect
neither fruit, ornament, or delight, for their labours.
Men seldom plant trees till they begin to be wise, that
is, till they grow old, and find, by experience, the
prudence and necessity of it. When Ulysses, after a
ten years’ absence, was returned from Troy, and
coming home, found his aged father in the field planting
of trees, he asked him, ‘Why, being now so far advanced
in years, he would put himself to the fatigue and
labour of planting that, of which he was never likely
to enjoy the fruits?’ The good old man, taking him
for a stranger, gently replied: ‘I plant against my
son, Ulysses comeshome.’ The application is obvious
and instructive for both old and young.”

It is curious how public duties and necessities repeat
themselves throughout the centuries. For surely
there never was a period in our history when the

xvi EVELYN’S “SYLVA” AND PRESENT TIMES

need for planting was more urgent than it is at the
present time! Evelyn continues:

““ My next advice is, that they do not easily commit
themselves to the dictates of their ignorant hinds and
servants, who are, generally speaking, more fit to
learn than instruct. ‘ Male agitur cum Domino quem
Villicus docet’ was an observation of old Cato’s; and
it was Ischomachus who told Socrates, discoursing
one day upon a like subject, ‘ that it was far easier
to make than to find a good husbandman’: I have
often proved it so in gardeners, and I believe it will
hold in most of our country employments. Country
people universally know that all trees consist of roots,
stems, boughs, leaves, etc., but can give no account of
the species, virtues or farther culture, besides the
making ofa pit or hole, casting and treading in the earth,
etc., which require a deeper search than they are
capable of ; we are then to exact labour, not conduct
and reason, from the greatest part of them; and the
business of planting is an Art or Science (for so Varro
has solemnly defined it) and very different from what
many in his time accounted of it; ‘ Facillimam esse
nec ullius acuminis Rusticationem,’ namely, That it was
an easy and insipid study. It was the Simple Culture
only, with so much difficulty retrieved from the late
confusion of an intestine and bloody war, like that of
ours, and now put in reputation again, which made
the Noble Poet write:

Verbis ea vincere magnum
Quam fit, & angistis hunc addeve rebus honorem!

‘Seeing, as the Orator does himself express it,
‘ Nihil est homine libero dignius,’ there is nothing more
becoming and worthy of a Gentleman, no, not the

“THIS NOBLE ART” SEV

majesty of a Consul. In ancient and best times, men
were not honoured and esteemed for the only learned
who were great linguists, profound critics, readers and
devourers of books, but such whose studies consisted
of the discourses, documents, and observations of their
forefathers, ancient and venerable persons, who (as
the excellent author of the rites of the Israelites, chap.
XYV., acquaints us) were not only obliged to instruct
and inform their children of the wonderful things
God had done for their ancestors, together with the
precepts of the Moral Law, Feasts, and Religious
ceremonies, but taught them likewise all that con-
cerned Agriculture, joined with lessons of perpetual
practice, in which they were, doubtless, exceedingly
knowing, whilst, during so many ages, they employed

_ themselves almost continually in it: And though

nowadays this noble art be for the most part left to be
exercised amongst us by people of grosser and un-
thinking souls, yet there is no science whatever which
contains a vaster compass of knowledge, infinitely more
useful and beneficial to mankind, than the fruitless
and empty notions of the greatest part of speculatists,
counted to be the only erudite and learned men. An
Israelite, who, from tradition of his forefathers, his
Own experience, and some modern reading, had in-
formed himself of the religion and laws which were to
regulate his life, and knew how to procure things neces-

_ sary ; who perfectly understood the several qualities

of the earth, plants, and places agreeable to each sort,

_and to cultivate, propagate, defend them from acci-

dents, and bring them to maturity; that also was

_ skilled in the nature of cattle, their food, diseases,

remedies, etc., (which those who amongst us pass for
the most learned and accomplished Gentlemen and
Scholars, are, for the most part, grossly ignorant of,
and look upon as base, rustic, and things below them)

2

xviii EVELYN’S “SYLVA” AND PRESENT TIMES

is, in this learned author’s opinion, infinitely more
to be valued than a man brought up either in wrangling
at the Bar, or the noisy and ridiculous disputes of our
schools, etc. To this sense the learned Modena.
And it is remarkable, that after all that Wise Solomon
had said, ‘ that all was vanity and vexation of spirit,’
among so many particulars he reckons up, he should
be altogether silent, and say nothing concerning
Husbandry; as, doubtless, considering it the most
useful, innocent, and laudable employment of our life,
requiring those, who cultivate the ground, to live in
the country, remote from city-luxury, and the tempta-
tion to the vices he condemns.”’

Thus Evelyn, to the ‘ Noble Persons and Gentle-
men,” as he styles them, of his time.

That he aroused the interest he set himself to cap-
ture, the successful results, recorded by Dr. Hunter a
century later, amply show. Their descendants, how-
ever, strayed lamentably from the path so ably indi-
cated by Evelyn.

Nations have changed since the Sylva was written.
The responsibility of maintaining a proper proportion
of woods, managed on commercial lines, commensurate
with the requirements of the population can no longer
be entirely placed upon the shoulders of private pro-
prietors. It has become the State’s business, but the
nation as a whole is responsible that the State fulfils
this obligation, a most solemn obligation, to its
posterity.

A hundred years of security from the danger of
invasion. With a few brilliant exceptions, a total lack
of interest, on the part of the State and proprietor
alike, in planting, or the maintenance in the country

CONSTANT NEED FOR TIMBER xix

~ of that amount of timber which a sudden emergency

SS
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_

might demand. An almost total reliance on imports
of foreign produce, which our Navy was to undertake
to see reached us; for so ran our justification for the
neglect of planting, in forgetfulness of the fact that our
main sources of supply might become closed, from
causes over which the Navy had no control. This
was the position when the greatest war in history burst
upon us. We were caught totally unprepared and the
results, from a financial point of view, were deplor-
able. Prices mounted up to famine rates. The
Admiralty, just as in the days of peril which arose a
hundred years after Evelyn lived and died, though now
for a different purpose, wanted wood. The War
Office wanted timber, large amounts of it. During the.
first twenty-two months of the war the materials have
been obtained at the cost of millions of money. What
would Evelyn have said to ash at 3s. to 4s. per cubic
foot, its pre-war price of our day being Is. 6d.?

There appears small reason to doubt that the
action of the Royal Society in 1662, and of their chosen
representative, saved the country a hundred years or
so later; since sufficient oak timber was forthcoming
to build the “‘ wooden walls’’ which gave us the
command of the sea.

No one can look into the future, but the present war
has shown us the imperative duty which is laid upon
each generation to see that sufficient planting is done

_ in its time to ensure that the country shall possess a

sufficiency of timber in its hour of need. The war did
not find us so prepared. We are now faced with a
position similar to that existing at the beginning of

-

xx EVELYN’S “SYLVA” AND PRESENT TIMES

the reign of Charles the Second, so far as the urgent
need of planting is concerned.

The interest aroused in the Royal Society of that
day was caused “upon occasion of certain Queries
propounded to that illustrious assembly by the Hon-
ourable, the Principal Officers and Commissioners of
the Navy,” as the title page of the Sylva has it.

Evelyn emphasises this in his introduction :

“Since there is nothing,’ he says, ‘‘ which seems
more fatally to threaten a weakening, if not a dissolu-
tion, of the strength of this famous and flourishing
nation, than the sensible and notorious decay of her
‘ wooden walls’ when, either through time, negligence,
or other accident, the present Navy shall be worn
out and impaired; it has been a very worthy and
seasonable advertisement in the honourable and princi-
pal Officers and Commissioners, what they have lately
suggested to this illustrious Society for the timely
prevention and redress of this intolerable defect.
For it has not been the late increase of shipping alone,
the multiplication of glass-works, iron-furnaces, and
the like, from whence this impolitic diminution of our
timber has proceeded ; but from the disproportionate
spreading of tillage, caused through the prodigious
havoc made by such as lately professing themselves
against root and branch (either to be reimbursed
their holy purchases, or for some other sordid respect)
were tempted not only to fell and cut down, but utterly
to extirpate, demolish and raze, as it were, all those
many goodly woods and forests, which our more
prudent ancestors left standing for the ornament and
service of their country. And this devastation has
now become so epidemical, that unless some favourable
expedient offer itself, and a way be seriously and

OLD FORESTS xxi

speedily resolved upon, for a future store, one of the
most glorious and considerable bulwarks of this nation,
will, within a short time, be totally wanting to it.”’

Immediate and speedy planting was the chief note
of Evelyn's bugle call. He was not concerned with
planting schemes to cover a period of fifty years or
more. His writings and personal exhortations to his
friends and others produced the desired result; and
lucky was it for this country that they did so, for the
results of that crusade are incalculable.

Dr. Hunter, in his “ Notes” to the 1776 Edition,
briefly accounts for the state of the woods as de-
scribed by Evelyn. The first attack, of any material
consequences, on the woods of the country was begun ~
in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Henry VIII,
when that monarch seized upon the church lands and
converted them, together with their woods, to his
own use. As the whole kingdom was at that time
plentifully stocked with all kinds of timber-trees,
especially oak, the fellings then made did not seri-
ously imperil the national timber supply. The deplor-
able fellings and waste took place during the Civil War,
from 1642 onwards up to the Restoration. Extensive
forests, existing at the commencement of this period,
were literally wiped from the face of the country,
and have since been only represented by the name
attached to them at the time they existed. Both
royal and privately owned forests suffered almost
equally. It was to remedy this state of affairs that
Evelyn wrote. Andahundred years later Dr. Hunter’s
aim in bringing out a new edition of Evelyn sought to

xxil EVELYN’S “SYLVA” AND PRESENT TIMES

arouse once again the “ Spirit of Planting.’’ The fol-
lowing extract from his ‘‘ Notes,’’ penned 140 years
ago, might almost have been written for the present
time :

“‘ The wants of the nation call for this supply. How
many thousand acres of waste land are there in this
kingdom, that at this present time produce nothing,
but may be profitably improved by planting! Did
men of large possessions but rightly consider this, they
would carefully look over their estates, search out
every useless bog, and plant it with poplars and other
aquatics. They would examine all the waste grounds
and set apart some for the cottagers, and apply the
most barren and useless for plantations. Was such a
generous spirit to prevail, we should hear few persons
complaining that their ancient common rights are
invaded, and that their extreme necessities have
obliged them to emigrate to countries far less hospitable
than their own. ”

That Evelyn had commercial forestry in view, in
the interests of the national welfare, and not merely
the formation of plantations for sporting or amenity
purposes, is evidenced by the following remarks on the
subject of obtaining the new woods:

“To attend now a spontaneous supply ”’ (7.e. from
natural regeneration) ‘‘of these decayed materials
(which is the vulgar and natural ’—and, he might have
added, the cheapest—‘‘ way) would cost (besides the
inclosure) some entire ages repose of the plow, though
bread doth indeed require our first care: therefore the
most expeditious and obvious method would doubt-
less be one of these two ways, sowing or planting.

eS

ee ——

wast

A MOST IMPERATIVE DUTY | Xxiil

But, first, it will be requisite to agree upon the species:
as what trees are likely to be of greatest use, and the
fittest to be cultivated ; and then, to consider of the
manner how it may be best effected. Truly, the waste
and destruction of our woods has been so universal,
that I conceive nothing less than an universal plan-
tation of all sorts of trees will supply, and will encounter
the defect ; and therefore I shall here adventure to
speak something in general of them all; though I
chiefly insist upon the propagation of such only as seem
to be the most wanting and serviceable to the end
proposed.”’

He aptly quotes Virgil, Georgics, II, in his plea for

confining himself to useful, 7.e. commercial species :
Sed neque quam multe species, nec nomina que sint,
Est numerus; neque enim numero comprendere refert :
Quem qui scire velit, Lybici velit equoris idem
Discere, quam multe Zephyro turbentur arene.

Evelyn is such a charming companion that it is
difficult to refrain from accompanying him further in
his ‘“‘ Discourse,’ but we have perhaps proceeded far
enough to indicate that the objects which caused the
Sylva to be penned once again face the nation. Plant-
ing has become, for a variety of reasons, differing in de-
gree but not in essentials, one of the most imperative
duties the nation is called upon to see to. It may be
held that thisis not the time to preach thiscrusade. We
know that this is the excuse being given. But we also
know that the nation is more wide awake in war time,
more intent on setting its house in order. Putting
off the work is merely to delay the time at which the
crops will become ready for the axe. We have not to
wait the hundred and more years necessary in Evelyn's

xxiv EVELYN’S “SYLVA” AND PRESENT TIMES

day, for we do not need now to produce oak for
building the old ‘‘ wooden walls” of the country.
Shorter periods will raise the crops we most require,
but nevertheless these crops are as urgently needed
to be planted by us in the interests of our posterity
as were the oak trees for which the Sylva was in the
first instance written, though the author, as a matter
of fact, dealt with many species besides the oak.
Planting work is not difficult. We know the species
to use. In fact they and their characteristics were
known to the Classic poets of old. As Evelyn says,
Virgil (Georg. II) might have been writing of the
beautiful woods of this country, now but a fraction
in extent of what we require, in his well-known descrip-
tion (I quote the translation in the Sylva)—

Some trees their birth to bounteous Nature owe;
For some without the pains of plafitifig Brow.
With osiers thus the banks of brooks abound,
Sprung from the wat’ry genius of the ground :
From these same principles grey Willows come;
Herculean Poplar, and the tender Broom.

But some from seeds inclos’d in earth arise:

For thus the mast-ful Chestnut mates the skies.
Hence rise the branching Beech, and vocal Oak,
Where Jove of old oraculously spoke.

Some from the root a rising wood disclose ;
Thus Elms, and thus the salvage Cherry grows.
Thus the green Bays, that bind the Poet’s brows,
Shoots, and is sheltered by the mother’s boughs.
These ways of planting Nature did ordain,

For trees and Shrubs, and all the Sylvan reign.
Others there are, by late experience found.

This planting question should no longer be delayed.
Our waste lands should no longer be left unproductive,

A DUTY TO POSTERITY XXV

Is the nation going to see to it that this work is carried
out? And may the nation hope that that Great
Society which soon after its inauguration, as I im-
plicitly believe and as Evelyn put it, awoke in the
country the spirit for planting and thereby saved us
from invasion in the days of Napoleon, will come to its
aid once again and by its powerful support help us to
secure that area of home woods which present-day
necessities demand, which a full utilisation of our
national resources and the campaign for thrift in all
departments of life equally demand, and which our
posterity is likely to so sorely need.

‘

one ere
— wr Te re —

FORESTRY AND THE WAR

PART {
A NATIONAL PLANTING SCHEME

I
FORESTRY : WHAT IT MEANS TO THE NATION

For some years past forestry, by which is understood
the afforestation, or re-afforestation, of portions of
the waste lands of these islands, has been receiving a
rather desultory consideration at the hands of the
Government of theday. At various periods in the last
score of years Royal Commissions have examined the
question (and numerous witnesses), and have issued
the results of their labours in voluminous Blue-Books.
The appearance of these latter has afforded oppor-
tunities for animated discussion amongst experts and
those claiming some knowledge of forestry. But they
have remained a dead letter so far as any practical
application of the suggestions they have contained
with reference to afforestation on a large scale in the

interests of the nation.

There are millions of acres of what has been termed

waste lands in these islands, variously estimated at
I

2 FORESTRY: WHAT IT MEANS TO THE NATION

4,000,000 acres in England, 4,200,000 acres in Scotland,
700,000 in Wales, and 1,500,000 acres in Ireland. It
may be said at once that a considerable proportion of
this area is suitable for tree growth; there are also
about 16,500,000 acres of mountain and heath land in
the two islands, part of which could be afforested. By
planting up a portion only of the suitable tracts a
large sum of money, which at present goes out of the
country to pay for timber imports which we could
grow ourselves, could be retained and be disbursed
amongst our own people. Some of our best blood
also, which up to the commencement of the great war
was emigrating, could find congenial employment at
home at the end of the war either in the woods or in
those industrial businesses and factories which arise
in the neighbourhood of wooded areas of sufficient size.

It will be asked why, with a great war on our hands,
worry about such problems as this one connected with
forestry, since up to the outbreak little had come of
the labours of various Commissions, that therefore
the matter could not have been considered, either by
the Government, the politician, or the economist, as
of vital importance in the interests of the nation. The
answer is to be found in the very fact of the incidence
of the war and the unprecedented effect it must have,
so far as the cheaper forms of timber are concerned,
on the timber markets of Europe, if not of the world.
Now, in these markets the United Kingdom up to
July 1914 unfortunately reigned supreme, so far as
our demand and our imports are in question, for we
took approximately half of the total world’s imports
of forest produce,

co | ele eee

_

INCREASE OF PRICES 3

At first sight the war would not appear to afiect
_ this matter, since we retain the command of the sea.
That prices would rise in the event of a European war
was a foregone conclusion. That they have risen for
certain materials to an unprecedented degree is of
course due to the closure of ports in the fighting areas,
to German submarines, and to the shortage of freight
vessels, so large a proportion of the mercantile marine
being occupied with transporting troops and their
impedimenta and supplies; whilst German vessels
have disappeared from the oceans. Such rises are
merely incidental ones, which the opening of the ports
and an addition to the available vessels for transport
_ purposes, other conditions remaining the same, would
readjust to some degree.

_ But there are other increases in prices which the
_ end of the war is unlikely to see sink to their former
levels. Much of the cheaper.timbers used in the build-
_ ing trade and for numerous other purposes fall within
this category. It will be admitted by those who have
followed the course of the operations of the war, pro-
vided they have some first-hand acquaintance with the
_ terrain in which it is being fought, that a very consider-
_ able destruction of forest is taking placeand has taken

_ place within the fighting area. To this must be added
| enormous amounts of timber felled and used up in the
_ preparation of trenches and fortified lines, which now

_ run into many hundreds of miles; in the provision of
_ Sleepers for the network of light railways behind the
firing line and elsewhere, and so on. Young pole
growth (7.e. young sapling woods) has been sacrificed
wholesale to form corduroy roadways and for other

4 FORESTRY: WHAT IT MEANS TO THE NATION

purposes. The destruction which has already taken
place in this manner in Belgium, North France, and
Poland must be immense. As is well known,Germany
has been making wholesale fellings in the Belgian
forests, and transporting the timber so cut into her
own country—to save, doubtless, felling in her own
woods.

The result of all this destruction must inevitably
react on the supplies available for use by the countries
in which it has taken place. In other words, we must
expect in the future to meet these countries as com-
petitors in markets to which up to now they have not
had to resort to any great extent. This is one point
which should receive early and serious attention. But
there is another which, although it has a direct relation
to the above, is really distinct, and requires to be con-
sidered apart. It falls within the category of passing
or temporary problems, but it is likely to prove for us
an exceedingly unpleasant one, and, so far as can be
foreseen, an expensive one to boot.

How are the towns and villages, the farms and
tenements of all kinds of stricken and devastated
Belgium to be rebuilt? How those of France and
Poland ? House-building at the close of the war will be
on a gigantic, a hitherto undreamt-of scale. Enormous
amounts of timber will be required, of the cheaper
kinds of timbers which are known to commerce as
soft woods ; these are practically all conifers—pines
(red and yellow deal), spruces, and firs (white deal) and
the larches.

It will be interesting and instructive to consider for
a moment where these materials chiefly come from,

ee ae a

AREAS OF SUPPLY _ 5

We ourselves grow only insignificant amounts, usually
_ absorbed and used locally, and now being cut out to
_ supply a great deficit in imports. Our main supplies
% are imported. The bulk of these come from Europe,
_ chiefly Russia, Sweden, and Norway, with smaller
amounts from France, Germany, and Austria-Hungary.
_ Both Germany and Austria-Hungary, it is interesting
- to note, possess large areas of well-conserved and
_ managed forests, although their exports to us in the
past have been comparatively small. Of the materials
here considered, the bulk of the supplies, outside
Europe, come from the United States of America and
Canada. The export and import of heavy forest
materials such as timber from and to any country
is determined by the geographical position of that
country. For a long time Sweden and Norway, ¢.g.,
have been felling their woods, and exporting the
materials both to Europe (Great Britain, France,
Germany, Belgium, Holland, Spain), and even to
Africa and the Cape. Austria-Hungary before the
war sent material to Germany, Italy, France, Greece,
Turkey, Rumania, all of whom are her neighbours.
Canada and the United States export their materials
by the Pacific to Asia, and by the Atlantic to Great
Britain, France, Portugal, and Germany. Russia
exports largely to Great Britain—also, before the war,
to Germany, France, and Holland.

From our point of view, the great exporting country
_ of cheap woods is Russia, who sent us in 1913 about
_ £15,000,000 sterling worth of wood materials out of

7 te se Ee <
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_ 442,725,000. Since I hold the opinion that our im-

our total import of forest produce for that year of _

6 FORESTRY: WHAT IT MEANS TO THE NATION

ports during the next thirty to forty years must largely
come from the Russian forests, I deal fully with this
subject in Part II. of this book. Next to Russia in
importance come Norway and Sweden. These three
countries send us the bulk of our supplies of these soft
woods, either in the form of split or sawn, planed or
dressed logs, or as pitwood for the mines, or as wood
pulp, in such large demand for paper-making.

The question, therefore, presents itself, What
effect is the exceptional demand for these soft-wood
timbers for house-building, etc., in the devastated
countries likely to have on our home market—7.e.
on the European timber market—in face of the great
competition which it appears must inevitably arise
with the advent of other European countries as bidders ?
Building timbers will not be the only requirements.
Wholesale refurnishing will also make considerable
demands on the supplies. Unless very careful ar-
rangements are made before the war closes, it ap-
pears inevitable that we shall suffer, that our
numerous industries which make use of timber of
varying quality as a raw material will suffer, to a
ruinous extent.

As a nation we shall be helpless in the timber
market, for we have no supplies of our own which,
carefully husbanded, would enable us to tide over
the next few years. Even in the pitwood market it
was calculated in November 1914 that our total re-
sources of this material in plantations in the country
would be exhausted in two years! Since the com-
mencement of the war fellings and thinnings have
been made in many of our woods to take advantage

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Pre I.

NOW BEING FELLED IN BRITAIN

CLASSES OF WOODS

ATHOLL ESTATES,

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LORD SELBORNE’S MOVE 7

of the rise in prices for this material, Some of these
fellings have been distinctly to the good, since they
have enabled proprietors to get rid at a profit of poorly
grown or wind or snow-broken woods—woods which
two years ago would not have paid even the cost of
felling and removal of this class of timber (vide PI. 8) ;
for it could not compete with the foreign imported
product of the same class, but infinitely better grown.
But the amount of material so provided has been a
‘mere drop in the ocean of the demand which exists.
And we are now exploiting our better-class com-
mercial woods, Heavy fellings are now being made
in these woods both at the instance of Government
and in the interests of wood merchants. A Home
Timber Committee has been appointed by Lord Sel-
borne. It was a wise move and well timed. But its
_ chief duties at present—its only duty of any import-
-ance—is connected with the cutting down of such of
_ the woods in this country as have a present com-
mercial value. Its reference of appointment was
confined to this matter. In spite of the very high
_ Tates as compared with pre-war prices now in force, no
_ Stipulation was imposed by Government demanding
| ‘that the woods disposed of in such a lucrative fashion
_ should be at once replanted. There are two points in
connection with these home timber fellings which
Inight, without undue hardship, be insisted upon: (a)
all woods purchased and felled by Government at the
present high rates should be at once replanted by the
Owner as a condition of contract; (b) the Home
_ Timber Committee should keep a careful record of the
amounts of material cut from the areas they purchase,
3

8 FORESTRY: WHAT IT MEANS TO THE NATION

its nature, locality in which grown, etc.; for such a
record will prove most valuable in future planting
operations. |

From the foregoing it will become apparent, even to
the man in the street, who pretends to no first-hand
knowledge of the aims of forestry in a country nor of
the timber markets of the world and their idiosyncrasies,
that the present position would appear to require im-
mediate consideration, and firm yet delicate handling,
with the object of arranging for our future needs in
timber, etc., and in order to prevent serious and un-
necessary competition in the European markets at the
end of fhe war. For, as matters stand, such com-
petition would take place almost solely between our-
selves and our Allies. The problem requires organising

to prevent corners being made by speculators. Steps ©
should be taken to ascertain so far as is possible the ©
amounts of timber which will be required for the |

rebuilding of the houses within the devastated area ;
we should endeavour to ascertain in good time the
available amounts of timber for export in Russia,
Norway, and Sweden; and from our own Empire,
Canada, Newfoundland, etc., and, finally we should
come to a definite understanding with our Allies under
which some arrangement with reference to the timber
available for export should be made in order to prevent
a competition which would send up prices to a ruinous
extent.

Since the United Kingdom has been by far the largest
importer in the past, and is consequently the country
which will feel competition in the markets the most

ee

severely, it would seem to be our business and to ©

Pt 2.

NEWLY FELLED AREA AS LEFT UNCLEANED BY TIMBER CONTRACTOR.

The area will have to be first cleaned by the forester before planting up.
Peeblesshire, February 1913. W.A. Fraser, photo.

“g .
wise OQ: Coa
a “ar al

YOUNG PLANTATIONS ON THE HaysTOWN ESTATE, PEEBLESSHIRE.
A wind-swept ridge in foreground which has proved difficult to plant up.
8)

NEED OF CAPITAL 9

our interest to take up this matter, and to come to
an understanding with our Allies on the subject, and,
if possible, with neutral countries such as Norway
and Sweden, as soon as possible.

In this connection one of the first problems requiring
solution is, as has been indicated, to ascertain the
amount of timber which it will be possible for Russia,
Norway, and Sweden to export for the next few years.
It should not prove a difficult business to obtain fairly
close enough estimates of these amounts. Russia,
as is well known, has vast forest resources, and, as
will be shown, she has been one of our chief suppliers
for some years past. But to tap these supplies capital
will be necessary, and organisation. With the inflated
values of timber it may be thought that capital should
be easily forthcoming. But the war will not leave
Russia with any capital to devote to the purpose, a busi-
ness in which she will not have as vital an interest as
we ourselves. We shall be the hardest hit by a failure
in our timber supplies, as we are in fact at the present
moment. As regards neutral suppliers, Norway and
Sweden might be inclined to hold up their supplies and
be unwilling to cut up to their annual increment, or
even over it, to take advantage of an enhanced market,
in the hope that prices might go higher. Any action
tending to the holding up of supplies at the end of the
war would have serious and disastrous effects, and the
_ risk should be removed by previous agreement between
_the parties concerned. Whatever steps it may be

decided to take, it would appear advisable for the
Entente Powers to discuss and settle the problem. For
none will have money to fritter away in operations

10 FORESTRY: WHAT IT MEANS-TO THE NATION

which, owing to unnecessary competition, are rendered
more costly than they need have been.

We may now briefly look a little further forward,
and examine the position of affairs as it is likely to
affect this country for the next score or two of years.
It is probable that we are faced with a permanent
increase in the price of timber materials.

What action should then be taken by the nation ?
Should we not take up this afforestation problem in a
business-like manner, and give up treating it as either
a plaything of the politician or an amusing if expensive
hobby of the landed proprietor !

Some beginnings of State afforestation have been
made in Ireland. The conditions in that island
favoured the acquisition of land by the State for the
purpose. In England and Scotland the conditions are
different. Education in forestry has been receiving
the close attention of the Development Commissioners,
and very considerable progress has been the result.
Some of the larger city corporations have commenced
to afforest the catchment areas of their water supplies.
A few of the largest landed proprietors, especially in
Scotland, have considerable areas of woods managed
on a commercial basis. Broadly speaking, this is
the present position. We shall discuss it at greater
length in a subsequent article. Afforestation from the
commercial point of view, the only point of view of any
real value to a country requiring the large amounts of
raw forest material annually needed by us for our indus-
tries, our manufactures, and so on, has not got beyond
the talking stage. To the public at large commercial
forestry is still an unknown industry. Its necessity

Se RE ss.

eh

A COMMERCIAL CONCERN II

and its possibilities are little understood. Asa re-
_ sult of this apathy on the part of the nation, we are
now faced with a very serious position. It has become
_ imperative, in the interests of the community, that a
certain proportion of the plantable waste land in these
_ islands should be placed under woods at as early a date
as possible.

__ How is this to be done?

It will be obvious that it is quite beyond the power
(t.e. the purse) of the private individual, unassisted.
Forestry is not like agriculture. Long periods have
to be passed before the harvest can be reaped, ordi-
narily sixty to eighty years for timber. It isa State
business. Forestry to be a success can only be under-
taken on a commercial scale. Large areas are re- —
_ quired, and these areas must be in contiguous blocks
of from five hundred to several thousand acres of
compact woodland. Only in this way can forestry

_ be made to pay as a commercial concern. For with

such areas the felling and extraction of the material is
facilitated, and the subsidiary industries which arise
in countries possessing a considerable head of popu-
lation can be supplied with the raw products they
require. This is not the duty of the private pro-

_ prietor. He can assist materially when he owns
__ compact areas of woods such as, in fact, exist on a few

_ of the large estates in the country ; or, again, a number
of smaller proprietors can similarly assist by clubbing
‘together woods or waste lands lying adjacent to one
another, and working them as one area under a trained
forester. The small areas of woodland dotted so
picturesquely over the countryside in these islands

12 FORESTRY: WHAT IT MEANS TO THE NATION

are useless from the commercial forestry point of view.
Nor can their owners make them pay or expect to be
able to do so, since there is no continuity in supply
of materials from such areas, and without such con-
tinuity it isnot to be expected that the wood merchants
will be able to offer a remunerative price for the timber,
nor can the railway companies be expected to provide
cheap facilities for its transport. These have been the
troubles of the past. They have been gradually
coming more and more into focus. The Great War has
brought them to a head.

The question, then, before the nation is—How are
we going to set about the afforestation of our large
waste areas on a scale commensurate with our neces-
sities, in order that succeeding generations may not be
left entirely at the mercy of foreign countries so far
as its timber requirements are concerned? For this
is our present position,

II

| THE POSITION OF THE AFFORESTATION QUESTION IN
BRITAIN AT THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR—AND NOW

In the introduction to these articles attention has
been drawn to the remarkable parallel existing between
the afforestation question as it confronted the country
in the early days of Charles II and the present time.

We are in infinitely better case to-day, for we have
not now to wait the long periods necessary for the
growth of large oak timber such as was required to
build the ships of the old Navy before the introduction
of the steel-built vessel. Thirty-five to forty-five years
will suffice to produce pitwood crops and paper-pulp
wood, and double this period most of the other conifer
wood we so largely need.

Before dealing with a suggested planting scheme for
this country, it will be advisable to glance at the more
recent past history of the afforestation question, and

_to visualise the extraordinary, the startling, apathy in
_ the light of our present war requirements in timber
materials, with which the whole subject has been re-
garded in the past by Government and public alike.

To briefly recapitulate the earlier part of the his-
tory of this matter. We have seen that the planting
revival which took place in Evelyn’s day as a result of

13

14 POSITION OF AFFORESTATION QUESTION

his work carried out under the auspices of the Royal
Society was successful in providing the Navy with its
requirements a hundred years later, It has also been
shown that this excellent work was not continued after
1820 or thereabouts. The nineteenth century saw a
change in the materials required for shipbuilding and
the removal of import duties from colonial and foreign
timber ; economic factors which may be said to have
sounded the death knell of British forestry, already in
a moribund condition. It became unprofitable. And
yet it had been a profitable rural industry for centuries
in this country. It was not that the industry would
not still pay. It was simply that the old English
methods of growing timber which dated from 1540
or thereabouts, and which in that period had spread
throughout this island and across into Ireland, no
longer provided the clean stems free from knots required
by the market. The markets had changed both in
this respect and in the kinds of timber (species of tree)
they required, and we continued on the old lines growing
material for which there was no demand.' Practically
throughout the latter half of the last century the
woods came to be looked upon chiefly from the point

of view of game coverts and ornaments to large estates. |

We depended almost entirely on imports for our sup-
plies of forestry materials.

It is not proposed to burden this article with a
wealth of statistics. Figures, we all know, can be made
to show anything. But it will be necessary to glance
at the areas of land in Great Britain and Ireland and

1 This subject is dealt with at greater length in Article XII,
pp. 163-5.

ive a ee

PERCENTAGE OF WOODLANDS 15

the proportion of woodland and mountain and heath
land to totalarea. Roughly speaking over nine-tenths
of our wood imports are of coniferous timber. Now
coniferous trees are just the class of trees which we
could grow, and grow successfully, on our derelict and
waste lands, which aggregate roughly over 16} million
acres. Britain, once covered with forests, is now one
of the most poorly wooded countries in the world.
The land areas are roughly as follows:

Mountain Percentage.
Land Area. | Woodlands. ov Wood- | Waste
; land. land.
acres, acres. acres.
England 32,381,000 | 1,666,000 | 2,306,000] 5°1 71
Scotland 19,069,000 | 879,000} 9,375,000] 4°5 48°1
Ireland 19,323,000 | 303,000} 3,780,000] 1°5 18°5
Wales 4,748,000} 182,000} 1,251,000] 3°8 26'2
TOTAL. - 175,521,000 | 3,030,000 {16,712,000} 3°9 21°6

The percentage of woodlands in Great Britain and
Ireland is 4 only. The area of mountain and heath
land runs to over 164 million acres, and much of this at
present brings in a very small annual return, roughly,
save in exceptional circumstances, from 2s. 6d. per acre
to a few pence per acre only. There is a good deal of
the latter in Scotland.

I will commence by briefly indicating what we have
been doing towards attempting to ameliorate the
returns from this poor land.

During the past quarter of a century several Com-
mittees have been appointed to deal with the forestry
guestion. The result, so far as the actual planting of

16 POSITION OF AFFORESTATION QUESTION

woods for commercial purposes is concerned, has been
nil. Nota tree has been planted. In 1887 a Parlia-
mentary Committee considered this question and made
recommendations. Had these been given effect to
and had planting on a considerable scale been under-
taken asa result, we might now have had a series of
woods from which we could have drawn a supply of
pit timber for the mines. Well-grown woods of this
age are, where they exist in this country, actually
being cut down for this purpose at the present moment.
But we did nothing ! Again in 1902-3 a Departmental
Committee of the Board of Agriculture reported on
the subject. Unfortunately it did not advocate any
large planting scheme, but made valuable recom-
mendations on the subject of a more extended system
of forestry education. Effect was given to these
recommendations in different parts of the country,
and the question has since received hearty support
from the Development Commissioners. But no plant-
ing was done. In 1908 a Committee appointed by
the Department of Agriculture in Ireland recommended
a scheme of planting up 700,000 acres in that country.
Purchases of land for this purpose by the State were
commenced in Ireland and the work has since received
considerable support from the Development Com-
missioners, and what may be termed a State Forestry
Department has come into existence in Ireland.

In 1906 the Royal Commission on Coast Erosion
and Afforestation was appointed. The Committee
examined numerous witnesses, including all the expert
advice procurable, and issued its Report in 1909.
This Report recommended the planting of 9,000,000

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FORESTRY IN SCOTLAND 17

acres by the State, of which 6,000,000 were to be
planted in Scotland and the balance in England, Wales,
and Ireland. With the exception of Ireland nothing
was done. No planting was undertaken in Great
Britain.

In 1911 a Departmental Committee on Forestry in
Scotland was appointed and issued its report in 1912.
In addition to recommendations on the subject of
forestry education and the acquisition of a Demon-
stration Forest Area, the question of afforestation in
Scotland was considered. Flying surveys of the
country were advocated in order to ascertain the avail-
able planting areas, the establishment of a limited
number of State trial forests, and the appointment of
_ an Advisory Forest Officer. The last recommendation
of the three has been given effect to. In 1912 a very
practical Report appeared entitled ‘‘ A Forest Survey
of Glen Mor and a consideration of Certain Problems
arising therefrom.’ This Report was drawn up by
Lord Lovat and Colonel Stirling of Keir, late Presi-
dent of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society, and
was published under the auspices of that Society.

The following extract from the Preface gives the
reasons aimed at in the preparation of this Report:

“ This survey is the first serious attempt to grapple
with the economic difficulties which confront affores-
tation in that part of Great Britain” (to wit, Scotland)
“where the largest extent of plantable land—that is
to say, land sufficiently good and sufficiently cheap—
is to be found. It would have been easy to select an
area where most of these difficulties would have been
avoided, and tocreatea forest under ideal sylvicultural

18 POSITION OF AFFORESTATION QUESTION

conditions within a ring fence. Such areas do exist,
and no one will deny that they have the first claim
on afforestation. But if sylviculture is to become a
leading industry in the Highlands of this country, as
it is in those of France, Belgium, and Germany, and
to be an important source of national wealth and
national employment, as it is in those countries, it
must invade the wintering of the high sheep farms and
deer forests which occupy the bulk of northern Scot-
land. The writers have therefore, at the request of
the Council, deliberately set themselves to face the
difficulties which have there to be met.

“The Council believes that the Report establishes
the following propositions :—

“I, That it is possible to create forests in the High-
lands, even in districts where the economic conditions
appear most adverse, without seriously impairing
existing sources of wealth.

“2, That afforested areas will, even in the early
stages of the movement, gain greatly in employment
and population.

“3, That the actual work of planting can and ought
to be cautiously begun as soon as the progress of the
Survey justifies the selection of definite areas.”

This Report in effect practically drew up what the
scientific forester would term a Plan of Operations
for the afforestation of 60,000 acres in Glen Mor,
through which runs the Caledonian Canal. To those
interested in the matter and to the nation at large, a
perusal of this interesting and valuable scheme may
be recommended. The war has doubtless altered to
some extent some of the economic problems upon the
existence of which the Report is based, but its un-
deniable value still remains,

:
ee “ - :
a ee P\bere; eee gad ”

A NATIONAL WORK 19

_ The Development Commission was appointed in May
_ Ig10. During the six years of its existence it has en-
_ thusiastically taken up the forestry question. Briefly,
_ at the outbreak of the war as a result of the work of
_ theCommission the position was as follows. In England
| the counties had been formed into natural groups and
_ a Forestry Adviser been appointed to each group, the
_ salaries of these officers being paid from a grant from
_ the funds at the disposal of the Commission. In
_ Scotland an Advisory Officer to the Board of Agricul-
ture had been appointed and Advisory Officers were
being appointed in the west and east of the country.
_ The Forestry Advisers in both England and Scotland
were attached to either the University or Agricultural
_ College existing in their centre. But the Commis-
_sioners had gone farther than this. They recognised
that if the large areas of waste land existing in this
country, eminently suitable for afforestation, were to
_be planted up, it was no longer possible to expect
private proprietors to be able to find the necessary
money. In fact, they realised that the work had now
become a national one. The problem was admittedly
‘difficult, but after careful inquiry into the various
_ conflicting interests they offered a solution on the
_ following lines.
___ The owners of the greater bulk of the afforestable
_ land in blocks of size suitable to achieve the aims of
commercial forestry consisted of large City Corpora-
tions, Water Trusts of the great cities and towns
‘possessing large catchment areas, and large landed
proprietors.
To such bodies and proprietors the Commissioners

|
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20 POSITION OF AFFORESTATION QUESTION

were prepared to provide money for afforesting suit-
able areas on the understanding that the land should
be reserved for afforestation on commercial principles
for at least one complete rotation. No rent would be
paid for the land, but the landowner would receive a
fair share of the proceeds for the timber grown on the
area. The Commissioners would advance the money
required for the planting work. The landowner’s
share of the ultimate proceeds would be based on the
proportion which the value of the land bears to the
estimated capital expenditure required to produce the
crop.

The proportion of the receipts to go to the owner
of the land were to be a matter of negotiation and
arrangement between the proprietor and the Develop-
ment Commissioners at the start in each case. It
would be based on the present rental value of the land,
its character and other circumstances affecting the
finance of the scheme.

Owing to the necessarily great variation in these
data, it was not possible to draw up any general terms
of assistance. The only stipulations, or probably the
chief ones, laid down for advances of this nature were
that the land to be planted should be in a sufficiently _
large block (500 to 1,000 acres) to be commercially °
exploitable when the woods reached maturity, and
that these latter from the time of formation should
be skilfully managed in accordance with a previously
drawn up working plan and regular inspection by
the District Forestry Adviser. It was also laid down
that the afforested areas should be available as demon-
stration areas for the use of students and others

PRE-WAR EFFORTS 2

interested in forestry ; a condition which bas been
readily accepted.

The sums advanced were to be on a maximum basis
of {5 per acre, including the fencing of the plantations,
the loan to carry an interest of 3 per cent.

Up to the outbreak of the war loans of this nature
had been made or promised for the afforestation of
their catchment areas to the following Corporations
and Water Trusts in England and Scotland :

ENGLAND

Liverpool._—A large area on Lake Vyrnwy in North
Wales is being afforested on the above conditions,
Liverpool] having led the way in this new departure,
readily acquiescing to the condition that the area
_ should be available as a demonstration area.

Manchester.—Has been afforesting her catchment
area at Thirlmere during the past twenty years out
of funds provided by the Corporation.

Birmingham.— Has a magnificent unplanted area in
Central Wales, and has been for some time considering
the question of afforesting it.

Leeds.—Is also contemplating the advisability and
advantages to be gained by afforesting the land of this
nature it possesses.

SCOTLAND

Edinburgh.—The Edinburgh and District Water
Trust have commenced the afforestation of 600 acres
of the Talla catchment area, and are also afforesting
areas round the smaller reservoirs. The members of

22 POSITION OF AFFORESTATION QUESTION

the Edinburgh Water Trust by their enlightened policy
thus led the way in this matter in Scotland.
Lanarkshive.-—A scheme for afforesting part of an

area Of 5,000 acres on the Camps catchment area,
owned by the Lanarkshire County Council, has recently

been adopted by that enlightened body and the
planting work has been commenced.

Other places are also considering the matter, but for
various local reasons have not yet started their schemes.

It will be seen, therefore, that a commencement of
this important work had been made before the war
broke out. Still more significant perhaps is the fact
that a number of the business men of the country had
shown by their acceptance of the offer of the Develop-
ment Commissioners that they realised the great possi-
bilities of afforestation in this country. And this
realisation had come to them before the war.

The aspect of the question has now entirely changed.
As has been shown, the price of timber in the future
will certainly be greater than in the past, and affores-
tation will prove a paying investment.

IRELAND
The land conditions in Ireland are different and a

State Forest Department is now in existence. Land
has been purchased and three large centres are now ~
owned by the State, and are being planted out of funds —
from the Development Commissioners. These areas —
are in Central Wicklow, County Cork (Ballyhoura), and ~

in Queen’s County (Slieve Bloom).

This was, broadly speaking, the position of affairs :

% Fue - >...

PES As

THIRLMERE, LAKE DISTRICT: A CATCHMENT AREA OF THE MANCHESTER
CORPORATION, Now BEING PLANTED UP, SEPTEMBER 1913.

“Tatra CaTCHMENT AREA, EDINBURGH AND District WATER TRUST,
Now BEING PLANTED UP, APRIL 1914. PHOTOS BY AUTHOR.

22]

A PAYING PROPOSITION 23

at the outbreak of war. Now it is not open to doubt
that the war has intensified the urgency of the affores-
tation question in this country. However near to
_ their former level we may be able to bring prices, the
_ tendency of the future will be an inevitable increase.
} " For years the possibility of a timber famine in Europe
has been discussed by experts as the probable outcome
of the utilisation of the accessible available supplies
in different parts of the world. That prices would
| = risen in a comparatively few years even without
_ the war wasacertainty. The war leaves the question
in no doubt. Consequently forestry, commercial
forestry, will be an even more paying proposition in
the future than would have been the case.
And I believe all experts are convinced that far
from postponing the matter for any further future
_ consideration steps should be taken now to prepare
schemes of sufficient magnitude to ensure both suc-
cess and adequate supplies for posterity. Asa nation
we are ever more wide awake in times of stress and
danger, and since peace failed to bring this question
home to us, even with the numerous Committees and
Royal Commissions which have sat upon it, may we
not hope that the stress of war and the price we are
paying for our fathers’ dilatoriness may rouse us to its
great urgency ?

Had our grandfathers, sixty to seventy years ago,
planted up a proportion of the waste lands of these
islands we should have been saved a large sum of money
and a great deal of anxiety during the past year and
three-quarters. Had our fathers planted thirty or forty
years ago the pitwood required for the mines would have

4

24 POSITION OF AFFORESTATION QUESTION

been available in this country, and the great trouble
to which mineowners were put and the ruinous prices
they are paying for their timber, and we are all pay-
ing for our coal, would not have existed. Paper pulp
from areas of spruce woods which many parts of our
lands can grow to perfection would also be available,
and the Press would not be faced with the position in
which the action of a neutral and of our own Govern-
ment has now placed them.

With these facts staring us in the face, will it not
strike us that the crusade preached by Evelyn two and
a half centuries ago and the spirit for planting—as it
was quaintly termed—which it aroused, should once
again be raised throughout the country, and that the
few who have preached it in and out of season during
the last quarter of a century should now have the ©
nation at their back ? ;
_ After all, it isa question for the country. There are ,
3,000,000 acres of so-called afforested land—of wood- —
lands. And we have, say, 9,000,000 acres of afforest-
able land; put it at 7,000,000 or even 5,000,000. It
will do to go on with. It has been stated by many
who know what they are talking about that this land
or much of it will bring in more under trees than under
any other form of cultivation ; or, to put it in another
way, that this land will prove a greater national asset |
under woods than managed in any other way. Why |
not then set to work and get it planted up? If for no ~
other reason than the one of national economy, the
matter must be regarded as one of urgency. We
can no longer afford to leave any source of national ; |
wealth unexploited. We must all agree that it has _

SS ee ae ee
e a <

ieee Sc

ADVANTAGES OF PLANTING 25

become a duty—a national duty—to see that every
acre of land in this country is made to bring in the
best return possible in the interests of the community
asa whole. Well, there exists a considerable acreage

_ of land which experts are agreed is not bringing in
anything like an adequate return. This land can be
_ made to grow produce which is in great demand in
_ the country, and which in the absence of home-grown
_ supplies necessitates large imports which have to be
_ paid for, and which are going to be more expensive
| in the future. The aspect of the forestry problem

has entirely changed from its pre-war position. The

_ prices for timber are not likely to fall to their former
_ level. So long as prices were low there was a good
_ deal to be said for those who were against afforesta-
tion in this country. The arguments they urged had

a certain element of soundness, as, e¢.g., the contention

_ that forestry would not return even the 2} to 3 per
cent. claimed for it. The Great War has swept away

such doubts and arguments. Prices have gone up
and the nation is now assured of successful financial

-Tesults from its afforesting work. On all counts the
_ planting of this land will be of immense advantage to
us. It will save imports, employ labour, and help

home industries. In the last connection it will do
more than help. It will result in establishing new
ones. For the maintenance of a considerable area of
forest in a country leads to the establishment of sub-
sidiary industries such as paper-pulp mills, saw mills,
bobbin mills, furniture manufactories and soon. And
these afford employment to a considerable head of
population.

26 POSITION OF AFFORESTATION QUESTION

All that appears to be wanted is a plan of campaign
and a favourable hearing from Government. It is
not demanded here that additional work should be
piled upon already overworked and harassed officials.
It cannot be the desire of any one to add any extra
burden to the heavy ones already being shouldered by
the Government. Rather the reverse. But at the
present time it becomes a duty of each one of us to do
all in our power in the interests of national economy
and thrift. The termination of the war is an indefinite
period. Meantime there are large areas of land in this
country which can be better utilised in the national
interest, given the inauguration of a suitable scheme.
Trees take a long time to grow: even the shortest ro-
tation for a tree crop is approximately half of the pro-
verbial ‘‘three score and ten years.’’ Therefore each
year which elapses without a commencement being
made in remedying the deplorable state of affairs is a
waste of national resources which can easily be ex-
pressed in pounds, shillings, and pence. There are men
in this country perfectly acquainted, by knowledge,
training, and experience, with such work, who would be
quite capable of organising a scheme of this nature and
of seeing that the nation got a full return for the
capital sum laid out.

Is it too much to expect that the country will
realise the economic importance of getting these
millions of derelict acres under a profitable crop, and
insist on the job being put through ?

a
Sl aa I

Ill
A NATIONAL PLANTING SCHEME

_It has been shown in the previous article that we
possess in this island considerable areas of land, run-
ning into millions of acres, which are entirely suitable
for planting, that these areas are in fact more suit-
able for growing crops of trees than for any other
purpose, and that by planting them up at the earliest
opportunity we shall be putting into practice that
campaign of thrift, economy, and the conservation of
national resources which the Government of the day
are so earnestly preaching.

The present position as regards prices of forestry
materials has also been alluded to. The important
question involved in the application of methods by
which these prices can be reduced to a more normal
level and that other equally serious one—the question
of making some arrangement by which our timber
supplies can be placed on a sound basis during the
period our newly planted timber crops are reaching
felling size—are matters outside the province of this
article and will be considered in a subsequent one.

We are here concerned with the afforestation of the
derelict areas in this country ; with, in fact, the inaugu-
ration of a planting scheme of adequate dimensions.

27

28 A NATIONAL PLANTING SCHEME

The abortive attempts of the past quarter of a century
by various Royal Commissions and Committees to
tackle this planting problem have been already re-
viewed. One and all have made recommendations.
Almost without exception the urgency and necessity
of undertaking planting operations has been admitted.
Some of the schemes were too meagre and small; others
were said to have been too bold and large. But without
exception they met the same fate. Nota plant was
put in as a result of the labour given and money spent.
The apathy of the public on this subject, an apathy
born of ignorance, was complete. And the Govern-
ment of the day, satisfied with this evidence of the lack
of public opinion and public interest in the subject,
and being almost equally ignorant of the economic
aspects of the case—for were we not getting with ease
all we required from across the seas ?>—were only too
well content to let the matter drop. In those days
economy in running the nation was not an urgent busi-
ness, nor any one’s business, nor did it appear to matter
that we possessed millions of acres of land—land
lying derelict—which could grow so much of the
forestry materials which we were content to import
and to pay for. The planting of this land would
apparently give rise to contention, would be objected
to, and so the Government of the day were only too
glad to appoint a Commission, let the matter simmer,
boil over in the Press, and relapse into oblivion once
again.

The position has with so many others altered with
the coming of the Great War.

We can no longer ignore the fact that the land is

SRS TRADE LY IE I oy glk

. oe PO yee

THE PLANTING UP OF A GLEN.

Young plantations of larch (above the road), Douglas and common spruce (below road),
Haystown Estate, Peeblesshire, February 1913.
W. A. Fraser, photo.

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THE ONLY SAFE COURSE 29

there waiting to be planted. We can no longer shut
our eyes to the fact that to leave these derelict areas
unplanted any longer will be a national disgrace
and at the same time prejudicial to all efforts on the
part of the Government to preach a thrift campaign.
Weare aware that immense destruction amongst young
pole crops has taken and is taking place on the Con-
tinent within the fighting areas (vide frontispiece).
In this country we are perforce sacrificing consider-
able areas of young woods and felling old ones of
any value, since we must supply the urgent needs
of the country. It is impossible to forecast the future,
but that the demand for timber materials forty years
hence is likely to be larger even than at the present
day is at least a strong probability—and prices will be
higher. It rests with this generation to say whether
they will leave their posterity to face a worse position,
if this is possible, than we are in to-day.

The only safe course, practically the only course,
to follow is to undertake at once the planting up of
such parts of our available waste lands as are obviously
capable of growing a good marketable crop. The
selection of such areas would be comparatively easy
once a definite policy were laid down and the campaign
properly organised. It would not be advisable or
necessary during the first few years to deal with exposed
areas or to go up to doubtful altitudes. No heroic
measures are demanded or necessary. The country
has been already divided up into forest districts, each
comprising several counties, to each of which a forestry
adviser has been appointed. In these districts the most
suitable areas for immediate planting are probably

30 A NATIONAL PLANTING SCHEME

already known,or could be quickly ascertained ; the only
necessary stipulation being that the planting blocks
should have a minimum size of, say, 500 to 1,000 acres.

The land selected would mostly belong to private
proprietors, municipalities, and so on. It would be
necessary to come to terms with them. It should
prove feasible in certain cases to do this on the lines
already laid down by the Development Commissioners
on the principle of shared profits, the Government
finding the money for planting and fencing up to a
certain prescribed sum per acre, and the proprietor
of the land and the Government sharing the profits
resulting from the crop raised, after the repayment of
the loan. The proportion of profits to be shared
would naturally vary with the value of the land, and
would vary in individual cases. This was the proposal
before the war, and as has been shown, was accepted
by certain corporations and water trusts.

A more recent offer of the Development Commis-
sioners differs from the above. To meet suggestions
made by landowners it is now considered possible that
the latter may prefer to lease areas of considerable
size for planting, and to receive the annual rental plus
a percentage of the ultimate profits from the woods
as afforestation value on renewal of the lease. And
this would appear an equally fair arrangement to both
parties. |

Lastly, Government may purchase land for afforesta-
tion and become the owner of a certain proportion of
the forest area of the country.

The question of national afforestation then may be
approached in several ways, all of which, with the

eg eee

WASTE LANDS 31

varying conditions obtaining, are worthy of considera-
- tion. To put them as briefly as possible the methods
open to us are:

(a) The lease and afforestation of waste lands by
Government, the proprietor sharing in the expenses
and profits.

(6) The lease and afforestation of waste lands by
Government.

(c) The purchase and afforestation of waste lands by
Government. .

Any one of these methods should produce satis-
factory results given a correct choice of method for a
particular locality and efficient management. Ifpublic
funds are to be sunk in this industry, and the war can
have left us in no doubt now that a certain sum will |
-have to be allocated for the purpose, efficient manage-
ment is a sine gua non. Such management can only
be obtained by the establishment of Forestry Branches
in the Departments of Agriculture with their own
personnel and funds. Commercial forestry cannot
come into existence in the absence of such branches,
and unless the matter is treated solely from the business
and commercial point of view the public money de-
voted to it will be wasted. It is unnecessary here to go
into the details of what “ efficient management ”’
implies. Both Government and public alike may rest
satisfied that they have in this country men who are
fully capable of carrying out afforestation schemes
without the waste of public money entrusted to them
for the purpose. It is no longer necessary to go to
Germany to seek advice. In fact, Germany has far
too long clogged our feet in this matter, both in this

32 A NATIONAL PLANTING SCHEME

country and elsewhere, to the detriment of all real
progress. We know what we want, we know what
we can do, we know what dangers we have to confront :
and once we undertake the proper protection of our
woods, a branch which has been entirely neglected in
the past, if we except the unnecessary extravagance of
protection from vermin, e.g. the rabbit, we can show
as good financial results as anywhere on the Continent
of Europe. All that has to be settled is which of the
above enumerated methods for the acquisition of the
areas is most suited to the different local conditions
pertaining throughout the country. With that de-
cided Government should be able to allocate funds for
the purpose in view with an easy conscience, for it
will prove a paying investment both financially and
in the national interests.

In connection with the purchase of land by Govern-
ment a word may be added. Of course where possible
this may be regarded as the best method, since full and
permanent control ensues, In this case it has often
been assumed that the capital invested in the purchase
should be recovered from the proceeds of the woods,
This is not the case, however, since it is merely a matter
of a permanent investment. The Government con-
tinue to own the land and with efficient management
the quality of the soil, which may be very poor at the
outset, will steadily improve when maintained under
a crop of trees. The land will steadily increase in
value, ¢.e. will ultimately pay a higher rate of interest.

But however the matter is approached, whether by
purchase or leasing in one form or another, the chief
desideratum is to get this land planted up.

a el ee eee

THE FUTURE PROBLEM 33

If the nation is to face the future and retain her
position in the world, she will have to husband all her
resources. It is no answer that other nations will
likewise be crippled with debt. Some, Germany for
one, are likely to recover more quickly than we shall,
if the past is any criterion to the future. In any event,

_ we shall not be able to afford to pay {42,000,000 for

forestry products, the bulk of which could be grown
at home, on land at present but little productive ; nor
shall we get anything like the same amount of material
in the future for this sum. In the national interest
it would be a crime to neglect any longer the raising
of as much timber as possible, on the areas at present .
producing little or nothing of use to the community.
There appears little doubt that public spirit and
patriotism alone will render agreement between pro-
prietor and Government on this question easy of
adjustment. Added to this there is the unfortunate
factor that many who before the war were planting
on a certain scale may now find themselves unable to
bear the expense of such operations. And this at the
very time when, in the interest of the nation as a
whole, it is most important that planting operations
should be extended and carried out on a commercial
scale. 7

The necessity for undertaking planting operations
on a large scale having been accepted, the next step
will be to ascertain the number of plants it will be
possible to obtain for next season’s planting work,
and to ensure an adequate supply for the following
years. Steps have been already taken, to some extent,
in this direction. For instance, extra nurseries—

34 A NATIONAL PLANTING SCHEME

emergency nurseries—have been instituted in the
Crown woods, e.g. at the Forest of Dean, Tintern,
Windsor, and elsewhere, where many million plants are
being raised for planting out. But many more will be
required if planting is to be started on a scale at all
commensurate with the nation’s needs. A list of nur-
serymen in this country should be drawn up,’and the
amounts of the various commercial species of two, three,
and four-year-old plants available in their nurseries be
correctly entered. This would give us the number of
plants existing in the country, and, therefore, the
number of acres which could be undertaken with home
produce during the first two years or so of the work.
If required—and they probably would be—additional
plants could be obtained from certain famous nurseries
in the neutral Continental countries. Thus it should
be possible, before the next planting season opened,
to ascertain definitely the exact area it would be
possible to undertake with the plants available.*

We now come to the labour question. The question
of available labour is left for a subsequent chapter.
A planting campaign such as is here suggested could
not be left to individual effort. It would have to be
inaugurated by a central organisation, e.g. the Board
of Agriculture, who would undertake and control the
whole of the supply of labour, as also of plants. For
this purpose, the most feasible scheme would probably
be to raise a labour corps, preferably embodied in the

1 Since this was written a list has been prepared and the approxi-
mate amounts available are known.
2 It is estimated that 10,000 acres could be planted up now with

the available plants.

EE

Pr. 6.

“ HYBRID” LARCH PLANTATION, 7 YEARS OLD, MURTHLY, PERTHSHIRE.
Photo August 1913.

fs |
a

a

BS Ps

|
|

JAPANESE LARCH PLANTATION, 9 YEARS OLD, BLAIR ATHOLL, PERTHSHIRE.

Photo August 1913. Photos by Author.

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FINANCE | 35

same way as transport and other labourers have been
embodied. In the case of the planting corps, it would
be possible to include all refugees who had any ac-
quaintance with forestry work, and a percentage of
women. To these might be well added a percentage
of prisoners, so long as the war continues, who were
cognisant with forest occupations. Drafts from this
corps would be sent to the various centres as demand
was made for them. The nucleus of the corps would
be permanent or appointed for a term of years. The
bulk of the labourers would be engaged for the planting
season only. Each draft should be equipped with
tools, and the corps could be divided up into sections
enrolled in different parts of the country with a terri-
torial headquarters under the charge of an officer of
the corps.

As regards the finance of the scheme, there should be
no difficulty. In the Development Commission there
exists a Government body, armed with powers to |
recommend schemes of this nature for Treasury sanc-
tion. All that would be necessary, therefore, would
be that the Department receiving the grant should
appoint an officer to have charge of a national planting
scheme, and give him sufficient powers and funds to
carry out the work. The existing advisory officers
would make recommendations as to areas to be
planted, and, if necessary, assist in the negotiations
with the proprietor. If found necessary the powers .
of the Development Commission could be extended
by a short Act of Parliament to suit the needs of
the case. The advisory officer would determine
the species to be used for planting the areas. The

36 A NATIONAL PLANTING SCHEME

~ officer in charge of the planting scheme would then
be responsible for supplying the plants and labour.
The plantations when formed would remain under
the local estate foresters, the advisory officers
being responsible that they received proper super-
vision and tending to ensure that the objects desired
are attained. It is not within the province of this
article to discuss the staff which would be ultimately
required for the management of the woods so formed.
The chief desideratum at present is to plant up avail-
able areas of afforestable land within the shortest
space of time possible. Experts are well aware that
no insuperable difficulties will be encountered in their
subsequent supervision.

It is suggested that a plan such as is here sketched
would achieve the result aimed at in the quickest and
most effective manner.’

1 This article and Art. 1 appeared in The Scotsman, October 19,
26, 1915. They have been slightly revised.

Se et ee

——

ETN REL PO gs its yl WI

IV
FINANCE AND PLANTING METHODS

THE finance of the afforestation problem may be said
to have been the chief stumbling block to progress in
the past—finance plus the ignorance and apathy
exhibited on the subject by Government and public
alike. Reams have been written on this matter of the
cost of land, cost of planting, and so forth, but not a
single tree has been planted as a result. In fact, since

it is always possible to juggle with figures, the affores-
_ tation question has over and over again become safely

buried beneath masses of statistics. It is therefore

proposed to treat of this part of the subject extremely

- briefly.

In this matter of financing planting operations it

may be contended that money will be harder to get

now than before the war; interest will be higher ;

5 per cent. will be now asked instead of 3 per cent.

_ Granted. But with a return of prosperity this per-
centage should drop and may even reach 3 per cent.

_ again before the completion of the work. And it must

| _ be remembered that the additional cost should be well

repaid by the excess price of the wood, which will be,
so far as can be foreseen, some 25 to 30 per cent.
37

38 FINANCE AND PLANTING METHODS

higher than in pre-war days,' as the supplies we have
depended upon for the last thirty to forty years become
cut out. Further, the investment will be a sound one.
For when the woods become ready for the axe our
children and grandchildren can utilise the considerable
sums which such an investment will give them to defray
some of the enormous national debt with which the
country will be saddled. If from no other point of
view the planting of our waste lands at present bringing
in from 1d. to 2s. or so per acre will be a sound invest-
ment.

To come now to a practical suggestion. Of the
3,000,000 acres of existing woodlands, it is extremely
probable that the woods of merely commercial value
will have been cut out by the end of the war. These
woods are being felled firstly at the instance of the
Home Timber Committee, who are purchasing areas
of standing woods and converting them by Govern-
ment agency, and secondly and to a larger extent by
timber merchants. The Government purchases run
into 1,000,000 cubic feet a month—approximately

25,000 B.G. sleepers and 250,000 cubic feet pitwood —

and scantlings. This exploitation by Government

agency, amounting to 12,000,000 cubic feet or theve- |

abouts per annum, would be inconsiderable even if
only half the area of our 3,000,000 acres of woodlands,

that is 1,500,000 acres, were fully productive. This

is certainly not the case, however.

1 The great increase in price of materials during I915 as com- :

pared with 1913 is discussed in Article XIV. Roughly speaking we
obtained 25 per cent. less material and paid 30 per cent. more for
the reduced amount than in 1913.

, as

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. Tk a en
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INE, MucH UNDERSTOCKED,

Scors'":P

W.

A FEW

OLD LARCH Woop wITH

FRASER, PHOTO.

A.

PEEBLESSHIRE.

[39

UNDERSTOCKED WOODS 39

I saw the other day a claim for compensation owing
to a fire having occurred in some woods. The largest
item in the claim was for an area of wood said to be
of pit prop size, the trees growing on an average at 12
feet apart! Woods of this nature and age would be
no more than half-stocked and the material of very
poor quality. There is a good deal of this sort of thing
inthecountry. Similarly the majority of the old woods
of commercial value are very open and understocked.
If 1,500,000 acres were in full bearing they would give
under proper management at 70 cubic feet per acre
(50 cubic feet final cut and 20 cubic feet thinnings)
105,000,000 cubic feet of mature timber annually on an
eighty-year rotation. As these woods are very far
from carrying normal crops per acre, the 12,000,000
eubic feet being cut out yearly by Government—and
the total may be larger if all sources of supply are
taken into account—together with the far larger annual
amounts of wood being felled by timber merchants,
‘must result, if the war is prolonged, in the disappear-
ance of most of our home woods possessing a com-
‘mercial value. And we have to add to this large areas
of immature woods being felled for the necessary sup-
plies for the collieries.

The considerable areas which have a value other
than the purely commercial—i.e., which serve for
shelter to stock and crops, are intimately connected
with the sporting value of estates, or are maintained
for amenity purposes—may be taken at about 1,500,000
acres. These will and should be left standing. They
are, in the main, of small size, and would not come
within the minimum of 500 acre blocks which commer-

s)

40 FINANCE AND PLANTING METHODS

cial forestry requires if it is to prove successful.

There is no reason, however, why the larger areas of —
this kind should not in the future be managed so as to —
provide a certain proportion of the large-sized high- —
quality timber required by our industries—more —
especially of the hardwoods such as oak, ash, syca- |
more, elm, etc. The maintenance of such areas for —
sport, shelter, and amenity purposes (Plate 9) is not
incompatible with their treatment on sound sylvicul-
tural and commercial lines. These woods are, however,
of no considerable importance for our present case.
The young commercial woods which have not yet
reached felling size must, however, be also included
here. The areas which will have been felled (either
clear cut or with a residue of worthless trees left on
the area), together with the considerable tracts of
useless scrub, classed as woodlands, may be taken at
1,500,000 acres. If we add to this area 5,000,000
acres of the poor-class waste lands which could be —
profitably planted, we obtain an area of 6,500,000 ©
acres which, in the interests of national economy, —
should be planted up at once. Therefore the planting —
work resolves itself into:

(a) Replanting the areas felled over during the war
and the areas at present occupied by worthless scrub —
(of which there areextensive tracts in Scotland) amount-
ing to 1,500,000 acres.

(5) Planting Up 5,000,000 acres of at present treeless! ‘4
land, selecting in each county the better areas, which —
will yield a good return for the capital laid out.

In view of our growing requirements in timber, it

is unlikely that this area of 6,500,000 acres will, when
|

a ee ee a Te re

ee ee

Pu. 8.

= . Ps ni.

Fevtitinc RovuGH OAK CopPiIcE FOR PitwooD, HERMITAGE Woop,
DUNKELD, ATHOLL ESTATE, APRIL IQI6.

TEMPORARY SIDING ON HIGHLAND RAILWAY NEAR DUNKELD FOR LOAD-
ING UP OAK Pitwoop, APRIL IgI6.

LoaDING Oak PITWOOD INTO TRUCKS AT A TEMPORARY SIDING ON THE
HIGHLAND RAILWAY.

Price of the pitwood 18s. per ton loaded in truck. The material was cut within a few hundred
yards of the siding and was unsaleable before the war. April 1916, Photos by Author.

40)

'

.

Tae ae a

ve

2

PLANTING BY COUNTIES 41

it comes into bearing, supply us with more than two-
thirds to three-fourths of our needs of the future.
But if the woods are scientifically managed, such an
area should place us in a position of safety in the
case of a sudden national emergency. Under proper

_._ management such an area should yield some455,000,000

cubic feet of all classes of timber.’

On the subject of cost, if we take an all-round sum
of £3 per acre for the felled-over area, etc., class, and
£4 per acre for the waste lands,® our planting cost
would come to {4,500,000 and {£20,000,000 respec-
tively or a total of {24,500,000 sterling—about a
week’s war expenditure. If 200,000 acres were
planted annually, the area would be planted in thirty-
two years. A planting plan should be drawn up,
county by county, under which the felled-over areas,
scrub areas, and the most accessible of the waste lands
would be selected, and the order of the planting be
laid down so as to ensure a proper arrangement of
the woods for felling purposes, etc.

It may prove of use here to glance briefly at the
nature of the work which has been advocated in the
previous articles. It has been shown that our chief
imports consist of coniferous timber, pines, and
spruces, and that we can grow these species to per-
fection in this country. In fact, much of the waste
land whose afforesting is being considered will grow

1 We imported 454,000,000 cubic feet of coniferous timber and
14,@00,000 cubic feet of pitwood in 1913.

* This estimate makes no provision for netting the woods against
rabbits. The extermination of this pest is a first necessity in woods
managed on commercial lines.

42 FINANCE AND PLANTING METHODS

this class of material and probably no other as a
successful commercial proposition.

The greater bulk of the oak, ash, elm, etc., utilised
in this country will, as we have seen, probably be raised
in the woods kept either for sport, shelter, or amenity
purposes, and may to a great extent be left out of the
question. It may be suggested, however, that a certain
percentage of the better-class oak soils in England
should be confined to the growth of this species as, e.¢.,
in the Forest of Dean, High Meadow Woods, Tintern,
etc. England has been famous for its oak throughout
the centuries, It is a national tree and it would be a
pity to see it disappear from areas which have known
it for so long. Beech will probably be more largely
used in the future to form a lower storey in woods of
light-demanding coniferous species.

If therefore we confine ourselves here to the conifer-
ous species we may restrict ourselves to those of whose
commercial utility in this country there is no doubt,
to wit—Tyrolese Larch, Scots Pine, Common Spruce,
and Austrian Pine, to which we may add, with less
certainty, Douglas, Sitka Spruce, and Japanese Larch.

This little work is not intended to be a manual of
forestry, but a brief note may be given on planting
methods and the difference in cost of such.1 Expert
opinion is probably unanimous on the point that the
planting methods in force in Britain in the past and
even now amongst the older generation of foresters,

1 I have added the following note as the result of a criticism
made by a friend interested in planting who had read my MSS.,

on the absence of all mention of planting methods and thet relative
costs,

Younc Oak NATURAL REGENERATION UNDER OAK, ETC., OVERWOOD,
QUEEN’s Woop, FRITH PARK, SURREY, OCTOBER I9gI2.

W. P. D. Stebbing, photo.

Younc NATURAL OAK SEEDLINGS ONE YEAR OLD UNDER UNDERWOOD,
QUEEN’s WooD, FRITH PARK, SURREY, OCTOBER I9Q12.

W. P. D. Stebbing, photo.

42]

ARTIFICIAL PLANTING 43

that is planting by the notch system, have had at
least as much to do with the subsequent poor develop-
ment of the crops and the catastrophic windfalls (which
have been the usual results of bad storms in the past)
as either the soil, species used, or other local factors.
Of coursethe haphazard methods of felling and planting,
with no reference to wind and the direction of the
prevailing storms, under which woods, which have
grown up in the shelter of neighbouring ones, are
suddenly exposed by the removal of the latter, are
also a fruitful source of windfalls. 3

The plantations will be mostly formed artificially,
i.e. by planting in the plants, although there is no
doubt that in some parts of the country woods under
proper scientific management could be obtained by
naturalregeneration (vide Plateg). Artificial planting
is usually done by one of four methods: (a) Dibbling, (d)
Notching, (c) Pit planting, and (d) Mattock planting ;

_ and tools of a varying nature are used for the purpose.

(a2) Dibbling—This method can only be adopted for

_ very small plants which have not as yet produced
_ strong side roots. A peg or dibbling iron is pressed
into the soil and moved backwards and forwards in one
_ plane to make a wedge-shaped hole in which the plant

is inserted, the peg then being pushed into the soil at

an angle a few inches away, and levered up so as to

force the wedge-shaped mass of soil thus disturbed
into the hole occupied by the roots of the plant,
which thus becomes filled up. The peg is then with-
drawn, the empty hole filled up by pushing the soil
into it with the boot or peg, and a fresh plant put in
at the planting distance,

44. FINANCE AND PLANTING METHODS

(b) Notching—Notching with the heavy wedge-
shaped spades which may be regarded as glorified
dibbling pegs or irons is undertaken in a similar
fashion to that already described above. A larger
wedge-shaped hole is made and therefore a larger plant
can be made use of; but even here the plant should
not possess large side roots, as these will be doubled up
against the walls of the hole and arrest the develop-
ment of the young tree and of its root system.

The common notch planting in force throughout
this country is done, however, with an ordinary spade.
Conifers up to four years of age are “‘ notched in”’ by
methods which only differ in the shape of the notch,
and are one and all equally pernicious. The methods are
as follows: The common spade is used to make a notch
in the ground of one or other of the following shapes:

T notch.—The spade is inserted perpendicularly

first at A and then at B; the blade is kept in at
B and the handle pressed downwards so as to raise
the turf, with the result that A opens out. The
plant is then inserted in the opening at the top
of the blade of the spade and slipped along until it
reaches the foot of the T. The spade is then removed,
the turf being pressed down with the foot so as to close
up again in a natural manner.

Double 7 notch. In this the vertical limb of the
T is divided into two by another horizontal cut.
In other respects the method is the same as the one
already described.

H notch.—This is only a modification of the T

notch,

PIT PLANTING 45

- L. notch—Is similar to the T notch, except that

an L is formed instead ofa T.
The T notch system and its modifications are cheap

_ and quick, but destroy the root system of the plants,
which are necessarily bent to. one side with the roots
knotted into a ball. Plants put in in this fashion are
greatly checked in their growth and may on poor
soils show scarcely any height growth or development
' for several years after planting. They are also much
more susceptible to wind damage (this latter danger
increasing instead of decreasing with the growth in
height and age of tree), insects and fungi. The system
and its modifications are probably one of the chief
causes of the heavy windfall damage experienced
in these islands and especially in Scotland. As will be
shown in a comparison of first costs of planting work,
it is at least not cheaper than one of the forms of pit
planting. It has therefore nothing to recommend it
and should be discontinued.

(c) Pit Planting —This method is adapted to plants
ofall sizes. The tools which may be used for the work
are the common spade, cylindrical spade, semi-circular
__ and semi-conical spades, trowel, and the spiral spade.

_ The object of pit planting is to place the plant in an
enlarged hole or pit with its root system in a natural
position. The various methods in force fulfil these
conditions.

The common spade, and various modifications in the
shape of the tool, is used to make a hole of sufficient
size to take the roots of the plant either naked or with
a ball of earth. The hole should be made of the same
width at the bottom as at the top in order that the

46 FINANCE AND PLANTING METHODS

roots may. have room to hang freely when held in the
hole, and not be twisted up at the bottom. This hole
will ordinarily be about 2 feet square and 2 feet deep.
The turfs cut off the surface should be placed to one
side of the hole, and the finer soil from the top below
the turfs be also set by itself to one side. This soil is
first filled in upon the roots when the plant is held in
position in the hole, the poorer soil being added on
top of this till the hole is full. The plant is then pulled
up to a position slightly higher than it will occupy
when the operation of planting is complete. This raising
of the plant draws out the roots so that they occupy
a natural position in the pit. The planter holding
the plant firmly in his hands then presses down the
soil all round with his feet, thus lowering the plant to
its proper position, adds the remaining soil and presses
this and places the top turf, cut into two pieces, on the
surface of the filled-in hole on either side of the plant,
if the surface vegetation is not of a rough character.
Should it be so the turf is left off. If the pits are
made some time before planting the rotten turf is
placed in it. The plant is held in the hole before
planting by a boy or by the plant-holder.

The cylindrical, semi-circularand semi-conical spades,
—Planting by means of these spades is very similar
to the methods employed with the common spades.
The holes are made with the spades, the plant held
in position, and the earth filled in with a trowel. The
size of the hole made depends upon the size of the

plants.
The semi-circular spade is undoubtedly one of the

best tools to use for planting four-year-old conifers,

MATTOCK PLANTING 47

especially in old agricultural land which has gone out
of cultivation. This method of planting is the only
one employed on the Murthly Estate in Perthshire and
gives excellent results. It is also used to a certain
extent on the neighbouring Scone Estate. The figures
of cost for planting with this spade at Murthly are
given in a statement of relative costs inserted at the
end of this section.

The spiral spade is used to slacken up the soil in 1 the
hole. The soil is then taken out with the trowel or
other tool, and the plant put in and the soil filled in as
already described.

(d) Mattock Planting—This method consists of a
combination of notching and pitting, and isa useful
one for planting up stony hillsides. The planting
mattock, a tool which is a combination of pick and a
mattock, is used, and is infinitely superior to the
ordinary pick. A smaller tool like a small half-mat-
tock, the iron portion resembling the flat part of the
mattock, is also required. To plant with the mattock:
The turf is first pared off the surface with the flat-
tened end of the tool, the pointed end being then used
for loosing up the soil. The flattened end then again
comes into play, the soil and stones being extracted
so far as possible from the hole by means of it ; should
the soil be full of bracken roots, and so on, the flattened
end is also used to break up these and remove them,
The turf and stones may be placed on the lower edge
of the hole (on a hillside) to serve as a trap for snow
and water.

The plant may be notched in to the hole with the
spade or preferably be planted by means of the small

ems =

48 FINANCE AND PLANTING METHODS

tool described above, which is used to draw the re-
mainder of the soil from the hole. The plant is then
placed in the soil and the tool used to fill in the soil
on to the roots.

As regards the above methods spade planting is
costly ; the semi-circular spade gives equally good re-
sults and is far less costly. Mattock planting is confined
to stony ground for which the spades are unserviceable.

RELATIVE COSTS OF PLANTING !

Cost per 1,000 plants for labour alone in the first planting.
Daily labour wage per day of 10 hours: For a man 3s. 6d.
per day ; a boy ts. 8d, per day.
Mau. Boy.

Notching ‘ - 48.0d.4+ Is. 11d.= 5s. 11d.
Dibbling without previous preparation = 4s. 6d.
Mattock planting : + 458. 2d.+ 2s.0d. = 6s, 2d.
Pitting—

With common spade » 9s. 6d.+ 6s.0d, = 15s, 6d.

Semi-circular spade . « 58. 6d, to 6s. 6d.

LABOUR REQUIRED

Notching . ° . I manor 1 manand 1 boy.
Dibbling . + I manor 1 manand 1 boy.
Mattock planting ; . I manand 1 boy or 2 men.
Spade planting . ‘ - 1 man and 1 boy or, less
quickly, 1 man and the
plant-holder,

Semi-circular spade . .- 2 men and 3 planters work
as a squad together. This
has been found the best
number for a squad at

Murthly.

1 The figures here given are those in force in parts of Perthshire,
They are based on practical experience and were obtained for me
by Mr. J. M. Murray, B.Sc., Assistant in the Department of Forestry,
University of Edinburgh. .

ee

PL. I0.

Mattock PLANTING, TALLA CATCHMENT AREA, APRIL I914.

iz squad of men ahead ate preparing the holes whilst those behind are putting in the plants.

| Pir PLANTING.

burgh University students digging pits into which four-year-old Douglas are to be planted,
Craig Vivian, near Dunkeld, Perthshire, March 1914. Photos by Author.

48)

RATE OF PLANTING 49

The following has been done at Murthly, with well-
trained men using the semi-circular spade :!

Two men make 2,400 holes per day of 10 hours.
Three planters (boys) put in 2,400 plants per day of 1o hours,
Therefore total cost for 2,400 plants = 12s,

On very free soil one man can make 1,000 holes a day
and together with the planter will put in 1,000 plants.
The man making the holes finishes the 1,000 soonest,
and then helps the planter with the remainder of the
1,000 plants which are also finished in the day.

The total cost in this case comes to 5s. 2d. or cheaper
than notching.

* Mr. A. Murray, Chief Forester, Murthly, also gives me the
following illustration: On Kingswood Moor, Murthly, two years

ago we averaged about 900 per man per day of 8 to 10 hours and
this may safely be taken as a fair average.

V
AFFORESTATION AND LABOUR

IN previous articles the question of the labour supply
has been touched upon. The war has brought about
such a complete change in labour problems generally
that old-time ideas upon this subject are now anti-
quated shibboleths. The whole question of employ-
ment and labour is undergoing revision in our minds,
slow it may be, but still revision. And perhaps in no
direction is this revision of pre-war ideas more promi-
nent than in the question of the employment of women
on the land. It is for this reason that I have included
in this book articles I have published on this subject
with reference to the employment of women in
forestry. It has been pointed out to me that these
articles, if left without their complement, may seem
to give an undue prominence to this question and seem
to convey an idea that forestry work and operations
could be chiefly undertaken by women. This is far from
my meaning. Forestry is pre-eminently a man’s work
—necessitating as it does in all its varying branches
an open-air life and considerable exposure, in fact, a
life of ‘‘ roughing it.” For this very reason it proves
an ideal existence for those of good physique who are
at the same time lovers of nature in some of its finest
9°

Se ae rye er

WORK FOR INCAPACITATED WARRIORS 51

phases. The main difficulty in the past has been to —
obtain sufficient labour in the woods. Or perhaps it
may be better expressed by saying that sufficient labour
has not been utilised in the woods. Woods—commer-
cially grown woods—require constant supervision.
It is not sufficient to plant them and then go away
and leave them to shift for themselves up to such
period as it may be possible to make a thinning
in them which will prove saleable. These old-time
methods, combined with others, have brought us to
our present position. If we are to maintain in the
future that area of woods which our requirements
have shown us should in the interests of national
economy and safety be kept up in this country, and if
we are to make them pay, they will have to be grown
properly and given constant attention. For this work
both men and women can be employed, in their several
departments, with advantage. We are only con-
cerned here with the employment of men.

One of the results of the war will be the necessity of
providing work for partially incapacitated soldiers
and sailors, They could be utilised in a certain amount
of the light forestry work which does not require the
services of able-bodied men.

- There will also be the question of employment for
the numbers of young men-who, leaving their former
sedentary occupations, have gone out to fight for the
country. On their return these young men are likely
to look with distaste at their former work. They will
ask for a more active life. If that life cannot be pro-
vided for them in this country they will emigrate. And
yet, if a campaign to plant up our waste lands, the

52 AFFORESTATION AND LABOUR

present position of which is economically a disgrace
to the nation, and one very far removed from the
thrift and conservation and rehabilitation of the
national resources which is now being so strongly
advocated—if, I submit, a campaign of sufficient magni-
tude is undertaken to plant up these derelict acres
which could grow so much of what we want, we should
be able to provide employment for these young men ;
as also for our partially incapacitatea soldiers and
sailors.

One of the reasons why the recommendations of the
Coast Erosion Commission were not acted upon was
said to be the impossibility of employing the townsman
in planting work owing to his inability to stand the
strain and exposure of working on the soil, and his
ignorance of the use of the spade and pick. That
this was a fallacy the war has proved. Modern warfare
entails the constant use of both these implements.
In fact, they are probably used as much as the rifle,
ifnotmoreso. Themen of the towns have stood their
training in the use of these tools, and numbers of
youngsters, having a thorough acquaintance with them,
and also hardened to exposure, should be available
for afforestation work.

Without undue optimism it may be considered then
that a large planting scheme should no longer present
any difficulties on the score of labour once the war
has come to an end—in fact, the drafting of men
willing to take on such work into one or more Planting
Corps when the disbandment takes place at the peace
will provide one source of employment for the men
who gave up their jobs to join the armies which would

rw

PE? Tt:

LARCH INTERPLANTED WITH DOUGLAS, ROHALLION PLANTATION, MURTHLY,
PERTHSHIRE, AUGUST I913.

The larch were given a three years’ start.

ARCH UNDERPLANTED WITH DouGLas, NovAR, ROSS-SHIRE, JUNE IQI2.

Douglas five-year-old. Larch 28-year-old. ‘The larch were attacked hy larch canker
and heavily thinned before being underplanted. Photos by Author.

52)

EDUCATION AND TRAINING 53

prove most serviceable to the country. But to
enable such corps to be immediately formed, without
that inevitable friction and delay which is so apt to
ruin schemes of this nature, a cut-and-dried plan should
be drawn up beforehand ready to be at once put into
force when the moment arrives, and this plan should be
on a sufficient scale to ensure the adequate realisation
of the objects aimed at.

As regards education and training. It has been
shown that every soldier nowadays knows how to use
the spade and pick. Therefore with supervision there
should be no difficulty in getting the planting work
done satisfactorily. The education in forestry of those
who elect to take to a forestry life should also present
no difficulties. There are forestry classes for wood-
men in the Agricultural Colleges throughout the
country and there is an excellent Woodmen’s School
at the Forest of Dean, a fine new building, up-to-date
in all respects, having been completed just before the
outbreak of the war. Selected men from the Planting
Corps could be sent to these schools in the summer
season when forestry work is slack to take the wood-
man’s courses. In this way a trained subordinate
forest staff would be built up ready for employment
in the supervision of the large areas of commercial
woods which the country would possess.

The higher training for the gazetted ranks who would
be responsible for the scientific management of the
woods on strictly commercial lines likewise offers no
difficulties. Many of the most important Universities
of the country now possess Forestry Departments in
which students, as the result of a three years’ course,

54 AFFORESTATION AND LABOUR

take either a degree of B.Sc. in Forestry or a diploma
in Forestry.

_ These men would proceed to the woods in the first
instance as assistants to the officers in charge of the
different areas, ultimately looking to obtaining a charge
themselves when they possess sufficient practical know-
ledge of the work. In this direction therefore a career
presents itself for young officers who at the close of
the war will wish to follow a life which will have plenty
of the open air about it with a minimum of the office
stool.

The courses for the Forestry Degree given by the
University of Edinburgh are fully described in Article
XVII (p. 249) under “‘ Employment of Women in
Forestry ’’ and need not be recapitulated here.

As one who has had plenty of experience of the
glorious ‘‘ freeness,’’ combined with the considerable
responsibility, of a forester’s life, the writer can assure
all those who wish to, comparatively speaking, remain
their own masters and live in the open air that there
are few occupations to rival it.

PART II

BRITISH TIMBER SUPPLIES AND THE
FORESTS OF RUSSIA

VI
TIMBER SUPPLIES AND FAMINE PRICES

WHat are we going to do about timber supplies both
in the near future and a more distant one? —

This is one of the war problems which has received
but little attention until quite recently. We have so
long been accustomed to get all the timber we required
without trouble that we had come to forget that it
was practically all imports and that we grew but
little of the timber of commerce ourselves. And yet,
as will be shown, this material has come to be one of
the necessities of the warfare of the present day.

In obtaining the supplies we have required we can-
not even be said to have “‘ muddled along” satisfac-
torily, for we are simply living a hand-to-mouth
existence ; have been doing so for months; and it is
proving a most costly experience. And there is every
probability of the position assuming a graver com-
plexion. It has been recently asserted by a prominent
expert in the timber trade that if the present demand

6 55

56 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND FAMINE PRICES

continues a timber famine in this country may be
expected. We do not know what this may mean.
We have never experienced such a thing. It is doubt-
ful whether the world has ever seen a famine of this
nature. On what is the assertion based and what are
the steps which should be taken to avert such a
calamity? Prices, we all know, are preposterously
high. What can be done to bring them down to a
more normal level ?

Before the outbreak of war there had been a con-
siderable stringency in the timber market, and at the
beginning of August 1914 the prospects of the market
in this country were most gloomy. For two or three
years antecedent to this date difficulty had been
experienced in obtaining loans, and as a consequence
the house building trade was in a depressed state.

Then came the war and with it a quite novel demand
for timber materials from an unexpected quarter, viz.
the Admiralty and War Office. Hutting accommoda-
tion, timber and props for trench construction, railway
sleepers, barbed wire entanglements, waggons, entrench-
ing tools, and so on were all required on a large scale and
at short notice. Within a very short time it was dis-
covered that the stocks of timber in this country were
quite inadequate to supply the demands. Our chief
source of supply, our Ally Russia, who sent us before
the war about half of our imported European timber
materials, to a great extent failed us at a very early
stage, since the exports from Petrograd, Riga, and the
Finnish ports were closed. As is well known, this
closure, with the stoppage of fellings in the French pit-
wood areas, at once reacted on the pitwood supplies in

CHAOS IN BUYING 59

this country, and the collieries were faced with a
difficult problem during the earliest days of the war.
Of course this could not have been foreseen and the
Cabinet had its hands very full at that period. The
mine-owners toa great extent had to settle the matter
for themselves. The English Board of Agriculture
issued within.a few months a pamphlet which was of
considerable assistance. It might have been antici-
pated, however, that the pinch which was at once felt
on the score of pitwood would have opened our eyes
to the other directions in which a shortage was likely
to make itself felt. We had been too long spoon-fed,
however, and the reverse was the case. No efforts
were at once initiated to place the whole matter of the
timber supplies of the country on a firm basis under a
central and business-like control. Different interests
competed the one against the other, and in this /aisser
faire policy the most powerful, because backed by
unlimited funds, were the Admiralty and War Office.
Orders were placed right and left and prices were of
little account. These prices, with the dearth of freight
steamers, added to the later activities of German sub-
marines, jumped up and continued to do so. In the
haphazard manner in which the whole business was
approached there was nothing to prevent merchants
from asking what price they pleased. True the Govern-
ment put on an adviser, paying him an enormous
commission. But he was in the trade himself! The
Swedish merchants who, with the closing of the Russian
ports, were quick to perceive their opportunity, took
full advantage of our predicament. Prices went higher
and higher until they now stand at two and a half to

58 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND FAMINE PRICES

three, and even more, times the ordinary pre-war
figures. Millions of pounds sterling must have been
thrown away in the purchase of timber, the ordinary
common timbers of everyday use, which could cer-
tainly have been saved had matters been placed on a
business footing. It is useless to cry over spilt milk,
but had the matter been entrusted to a man, not
connected with the trade, who understood the princi-
ciples of scientific forest management and had himself
been in charge of large areas of State forest, very
different results would have been obtained.

And we are in no better case at the present moment.
The Home Timber Supply Committee has been already
alluded to. Its chief raison d étre is to obtain supplies
of timber for the Government needs. It is doubtful
whether it will be able to do much to stay unnecessary
fellings made to take advantage of a high market.
And in any event it has no hold over timber merchants
—no more than Government can exercise at present
any control over the market and prices. Nor do these
fellings affect the matter, for the amounts of timber
available in this country are so small that their influence
on the market so far as the future is concerned is insig-
nificant. Far bigger issues are at stake than can be
settled by the comparatively small area of woods, prac-
tically all privately owned, standing in Britain. In the
meantime the home timber trade is doing well. Pro-
prietors have offered their woods freely and they have
been as quickly taken up by the home merchants and
also by colliery proprietors. In fact these latter were on
the scene, as has been stated, very early in the war days,
for they were compelled to turn to home-grown wood,

ASH 59

rough and heavy as it was, since the foreign pitwood
market was failing them. A remarkable feature of this
home trade has been the demand for ash. In England
five to six times the amount of ash (numbers of trees)
has been sold in the past year than in any previous year
and the price has risen from Is, 6d. to 3s. (and even as
high as 4s.) per cubic foot for the trees standing in situ.

The wood of this tree has been largely used by the
naval and military authorities for all sorts of transport
appliances. In the Lake district and elsewhere the
wood has been fashioned in the local saw mills into
handles for entrenching tools and grenades.

In the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries Report
“On the Supplies of Home-Grown Pitwood”’ above
referred to, which was issued on November 30, Igr4,
the following extract indicates the position of affairs
in this connection in this country at that date based
on a careful estimate made by the Board’s officers:

“‘ Assuming the volume of ‘ extraordinary ’ fellings’”’
(‘‘emergency fellings”’ would perhaps have been a better
term ) “‘ to be the same per acre in Scotland as in
England (and it is probably considerably greater)
there would be approximately 1,600,000 tons of pit-
wood; possibly 2,500,000 tons would be a better
estimate. If the volume of the ‘ extraordinary’
fellings for England and Wales, viz. 3,410,000, be added
to this amount, a total of nearly 6,000,000 tons is
reached, and it is a fair assumption that the addition
of supplies from Ireland would give a total equal to
one and a half years’ total consumption for the
collieries. It would appear, therefore, that the position,
while it requires rational handling, is by no means
disconcerting.”

60 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND FAMINE PRICES

It was thought at the time that the war would be
over by the following summer. The comfortable assur-
ance of November 1914 has quite another aspect in
May 1916,

That home timber can be made to, in some small
degree, supplement even temporarily the great scarcity
is of importance and value, but it will not help the
nation at large to face the position at the end of the
war and a more distant future.

This is the much larger question before us. Suppose
that the war lasts another year, or even longer. What
is going to be done about the timber supplies? Are
the Allies—is this country going to make no effort
to place the matter on a basis which will at least give
some stability to prices and prevent the wasteful, the
criminally wasteful, extravagance of the past twenty
months.

At the beginning of the past season the bulk of the
timber supplies for war purposes was procured from
the port of Archangel, but where future supplies are to
come from appears to be a grave problem in the eyes
of prominent timber merchants. It is said that there
will not be sufficient supplies from Archangel to meet
the demand. Should Germany succeed in restricting
the shipments from Sweden or manage to torpedo the
boats carrying timber cargoes, it is probable that there
will be something of a timber famine in this country
provided the present demand is maintained. And
as long as the war continues there is no guarantee that
the demand and prices will not remain at a high level.

The Home Timber Committee will see that we get
all that is possible from home woods. But the Board

THREE POINTS 61

of Agriculture Report fairly indicates the limitations
in this direction. They will not meet the demand.

Three points present themselves for serious con-
sideration: (1) Freights, (2) Other sources of supply,
(3) Prices.

(1) Freights—At the beginning of last season, as
we have seen, the bulk of the supplies for war purposes
were procured from Archangel. Freights were sup-
posed to open at about 60s. to 70s. per standard (165
cubic feet), but shippers, realising the scarcity there
would be in tonnage, held out for 80s. to gos. which
was gradually increased until it reached the figure of
£9 tos. per standard in November 1915, as against
30s. to 45s. in pre-war times. Even in September
1914 the highest freight paid to this country would
not exceed 65s. per standard, which was considered a
high rate.

Much could have been done at that time had
Government been wide-awake enough to have placed
the matter on a business-like footing. Last September
shippers were ready to pay £8 15s. to £9 Ios. and even
£10 for ship room. In February 1916 shippers were
quoting for the present season at {10 per standard from
Archangel to thiscountry. Last spring (1915) battens
were {II per standard f.o.b. They had to carry a
£9 10s. freight with in addition about 30s. insurance,
freight and insurance being equal infvalue to the f.o.b.
article! The trade remarked that the like has never
been known before from the Baltic and White Sea ports!

That some one has blundered, and blundered badly,
is only too obvious. We are simply throwing away
good money owing to our complete ignorance as a

62 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND FAMINE PRICES

nation of everything connected with forestry—what it
means, what it supplies, and how these supplies are
marketed.

The question of the want of vessels for freight
purposes has been receiving considerable attention in
the Press and need not be entered into here. That
vessels are required and will have to be made avail-
able for the carriage of certain classes of timber to this
country appears now to be a matter of considerable
urgency.

We can do without mahogany and other foreign
valuable timbers. We need not import oak or elm,
etc., which can be obtained from our own woods. It
is the coniferous timber—-pines and spruces—which
will be required in large amounts.

(2) Other Sources of Supply.—Are we envisaging this
question in the most economic fashion in depending
upon neutrals for our supplies? The trade say that if
the demand continues on past lines we cannot obtain
sufficient supplies from Archangel. Since we took no
steps at the commencement of the war to ensure
supplies from other Russian ports, this is more than
probable. Of neutrals Sweden has taken advantage
of the high prices to send us timber, but she is a
doubtful supplier for several reasons which are well
known. America, and our own people in Canada and
Newfoundland, have greatly benefited by the great
rise in prices and huge quantities of timber have been
imported from these countries. This is satisfactory
for the present. We should have been hard put to it
without them. But it must be remembered that they
are coming in, to a considerable extent, as the result

2 ‘ a -
< 52 wre, EE OO RS y- ty: a

SOURCES OF SUPPLY 63

of the ruincus rates in force. With a fall in prices,
which, in the interest of national economy, must be
brought about in one way or another, can we depend
on these supplies reaching us? And in any event for
how many years could they be maintained? It is
well known also that Canadian and American spruce
is not in as much favour with the trade as the Baltic
material, as the former is soft and mild (probably owing
to its quicker-grown character) and is by no means as
durable as the close-grained article from the Baltic
and White Sea. And even if the material were as
good we should be chiefly concerned to lower the
prices in force, and that cannot be done by making
one of our chief sources of supply in countries several
thousand miles distant, and which moreover have
already in past years cut out much of the timber
accessible at ordinary market rates to these islands.

The problem before us is to obtain a definite source
of supply at a reasonable rate. Having achieved this,
the present ruinous market prices will drop to a more
normal level. Some increase, of course, must be
expected but not the present famine rates, which
should never have been incurred.

In peace times our main source of supply in Europe
was Russia, more than half our European imports
coming from that country. This one fact, had it been
realised early in the war, might have opened our eyes.
Russia is*our ally. Russia has enormous tracts of
unexhausted forests. Russia has a huge population.
A year ago it would have been possible to make
arrangements in Russia which would have resulted—
and this is not written at random—arrangements could

64 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND FAMINE PRICES

have been made which would have resulted in the
saving of large sums of money to this country. We
should not have had to pay in cash, in gold, for this
Russian timber. It could have been set against the
equipment, shells, etc., which Russia has received from
the Allies and the matter would have been subsequently
adjusted. Instead we have preferred to pay out gold
into the pockets of neutrals. And yet we are urgently ~
called upon by the Government to restrict all imports !
Presumably imports from neutrals chiefly.

The timber industry has proved a necessary part of
the provision required for the furtherance of the war.
The problem, commencing with the mines, has been
acute from the start. It is still more acute to-day,
and in order to guarantee supplies and to put an end
to the hand-to-mouth policy, it has become essential,
if we are to stop the present appalling extravagance
in the nation’s timber bill, to face this urgent problem
and make arrangements which will increase our timber
supplies in the future. This problem is considered in
the next article.

(3) Prices.—Prices since the commencement of the
war have been entirely influenced by the action or
want of action on the part of the Allies in this timber
matter. It isimperative that the ridiculous prices now
being paid by our Government and by ourselves (for
the public has been hit badly in this matter, as the
family household knows), for our essential requirements
in timber, should cease at as early a date as possible.

The following table shows the present rates being
paid for home timber materials as compared with pre-
war prices, The table was prepared in February 1916 :

COMPARISON

OF PRICES | 65

PRE-WAR PRICES COMPARED WITH PRESENT PRICES

Pre-War Rates per Cubic

Foot
TIMBER

Larch j ’ 11d.—1/-
Scots Pine 5d.—6d.
Spruce ‘ 4d.—6d.
Oak ; 1/3—1/6
Ash : scr ae

Elm 1/-

Birch (bobbin wood) 26/- ton DD
Beech (rough, bobbin
wood) 24/ ase = ars
oe) (eeeaey cs is BIS
Sycamore (rollers

bobbins) 28/- ton.
Sycamore (large
timber) . - 2/6—5/-

COLLIERY Woop
Piiwood per too lineal feet DD.
Pit Props:
Scots Pine (3” top diam.) 4/6

” 29 (4” oe) ” ) 6/-
a? 3, (5” ” re] ) 9/-
” 99 (6” 2” Pe) ) 12/-
Larch (7. el
2” . (4” ” 99 ) 18/-
ded (5” ” 9 ) 26/-
oo « (4 ») 32/-
Oak Scrub 3 ; —
Pit Sleepers, per 100:
a % 5° X 2°). 12/6
(3’ 6” x 5” x 2”) 14/9
(3’9” x 5” x 2”) 18/-
RAILWAY SLEEPERS
Pine. ° ; . each 3/6

Present Rates per Cubic

Foot

TIMBER
Larch ‘ . Ife —1/1
Scots Pine 8d.—84d.
Spruce. . 8d.—8 jd.
Oak 1/3 —1/9
Ash 2/3 —3/-
Elm 1/-

Birch (bobbin wood) 10/— ton
Beech (rough, bobbin) 10/- ,,

a RO ee BIS
Sycamore (rollers

bobbins) 28/- ton
Sycamore (large .
timber) . - 2/6—s5/~

COLLIERY Woop
Pitwood per 100 lineal feet DD,

Pit Props:
Scots Pine (3” top diam.) 16/6
os sss 14 ke ae RS
39 2”? (5” ” 9 ) 28/6
»» (6° »» 5 ) 33/6
Larch Co. Sis see Pee
99 (4” a? 99 ) 22/6
” , (5” 2 22 ) 32/-
(6” 5, ) 38/-
Oak Scteb per ton de-
livered on railway loaded.
in trucks 18/-
Pit Sleepers, per 100:
(3° Sak 26/-
(3’ 6” x 5” x 2”) 31/-
(3°9" x 5” x 2”) 36/-
RAILWAY SLEEPERS
Pine. . each Sth»
ae
§ ees ao
es le.)

fay ms ‘4
Pe titty

he

66 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND FAMINE PRICES

Comment on the above figures is scarcely necessary.
They are a direct outcome of two facts—the first, an
almost total lack of interest on the part of the nation
as a whole in all pertaining to the economic questions
involved in commercial forestry and the maintenance
in these islands of that acreage of woods managed
commercially which our population and industries
demand ; and, secondly, to the failure on the part of
the Governments of the past fifty yars, to go back no
farther, to realise the position in this respect which
would confront the nation in the event of just such
a European conflagration as has taken place. The
Government existing in this country 250 years ago
was more clear-sighed. True, it may be said that
out ‘“‘ wooden walls’”’ of that day and the necessity
for maintaining them were factors which both Govern-
ment and the public could more easily grasp. But
no Government of the present day would care to
shelter itself behind such a plea. Our economic needs
in timber are far greater now. We have only to look
at the gigantic imports—they rose by {12,000,000
in the four years from 1909 to 1913—to realise this.

The next four articles are devoted to pointing out
the manner in which it should prove possible to bring
down these prices and to ensure our timber supplies
in the future.

EERIE? HS ae

VII
BRITISH TIMBER SUPPLIES AND RUSSIAN FORESTS

IN previous articles brief allusions have been made
to the forests of Russia, the very considerable impor-
tance they have enjoyed in the past in the European
timber markets, and the immensely larger influence
they are likely to exert in the future. The question
is one of very serious moment to this nation. How
serious and how important it is the aim of this and
succeeding articles to demonstrate.

It has been already mentioned that our timber, etc.,
imports increased by {12,000,000 between 1909 and
1913. |

A more significant factor than even the rapid increase
in the imports is the fact that 67 per cent. of them came

from European countries, chiefly Russia, Sweden, and

Norway. France sent us annually considerable
amounts of pit props for the collieries, the cutting off of |
which supply so seriously hampered us during the first
few months of the war. The produce from the other
European countries is negligible for our present purpose.

The Board of Trade Returns show that Russia sent
us about {15,000,000 of timber and other products
during 1913, or approximately 35 per cent. of our whole

1 This subject is fully dealt with in Article XII,
67

68 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND RUSSIAN FORESTS

imports. The materials sent were chiefly conifer logs,
dressed and undressed timber, pit props and pitwood,
wood manufacures and smaller amounts of wood pulp,
oak logs, tar, pitch, and oil of turpentine.

How is the war going to affect our timber supplies
from Russia? We need not consider the amounts
at present coming in. Weareall aware of the various
reasons for the shortage. It is the position as it will
arise at the end of the war, and for some years subse-
quently, that requires our most careful consideration.

Can we hope that conditions at the end of the war
will be the same as before its outbreak ? That Russia
will be in a position to send us the same or increasing
amounts of forest materials? Will the markets be in
the same condition? Their present position with the
great upheaval of pre-war conditions which we are
witnessing can scarcely lead us to form so optimistic
an opinion,

What then should be the policy of this country ?

So far as the past and recent trend of events in this
matter enables a judgment to be formed, it would appear
(and the statement also applies, though perhaps to a
smaller extent, to our Allies) that there are two clear
and separate issues upon which a decision should be
arrived at in this timber supply problem.

(1) The arrangements to be made to cope with the
position which will face ourselves and our Allies at the
end of the war.

(2) An arrangement under which our timber supplies
during the next forty to fifty years may be ensured.

As introductory to a detailed description of the
forests of Russia, both in Europe, Finland, and

THE TIMBER MARKET 69

Siberia, our position under these two distinct counts
should be clearly understood ; so far, that is, as it
can be estimated from data collected on the resources
of the existing forests of the world from which the
timber markets have been drawing their supplies in
the past.

The present position of the timber market is
admittedly abnormal. In the last article the prices
existing in February 1916 were contrasted with the
market rates in force just previous to the outbreak of
war. It has also been shown that we are now com-
mitted to a policy of felling in our own woods which
probably will leave us with little of commercial value
at the close of the war.

It becomes apparent then that the urgent points
for consideration now before the nation are those
embodied in the two heads above stated. That we
should make such arrangements as shall ensure supplies
of an adequate nature becoming available as soon as
the war ends, or as soon as the trend of the fighting
shall have opened ports now closed, in order to supply
in the cheapest manner the enormous demand which
will exist; and secondly, that such steps shall be
taken as shall ensure our needs in timber, pit props and
wood pulp, etc., being satisfied at reasonable rates
during the next forty to fifty years.

(1) Lhe arrangements to be made to cope with the
position which will face ourselves and our Allies at the
end of the war—Where are we and our Allies going to
look for the large supplies of timber, etc., which will
be required at the close of the war? The present
high prices and the large demand for materials which

vo TIMBER SUPPLIES AND RUSSIAN FORESTS

will be required for rebuilding the devastated areas
have been already alluded to. Is the end of the war
going to witness a ruinous competition between the
allied countries in the timber markets of Europe?
And are colossal sums to be spent, colossal fortunes to
be made, in rebuilding the houses, etc., in the areas
destroyed by war ?

It is difficult to see, unless the Allies come to an
early and definite understanding on this head—it is
difficult to perceive how matters can be otherwise.
When all allowances have been made for America,
Canada, and Newfoundland continuing the imports
they have been sending us or increasing them, will
there be sufficient to meet the enormous demand ?
And will these latter imports bring down prices. As
has been stated elsewhere, a considerable proportion
of the amounts reaching us are a direct outcome of
the prevalent high prices. To have to continue paying
the present exorbitant prices or even prices double
pre-war rates will be suicidal and a most unstatesman-
like policy. It cannot be maintained that war time
is not the time to consider these matters. If there
is one thing certain it is that the termination of the war
will be too late. We had not the foresight to grasp
what would happen at the outbreak of this colossal
war. Let it not be said of us that its termination
found us in the same state of unpreparedness.

My proposition is that it will be imperative that
the Allies should be in a position to control the
European timber market at the end of the war, to
exercise in fact a State control over prices for a time,
as the only effective means to lessen the enormous

RESOURCES OF THE ALLIES ai

cost of the reconstruction work which will otherwise
result. It is no plea that such a thing has never been
done before. The end of the war will find us, the
war itself is finding us, doing a good deal we never
thought to have to do. First then we want to place
our finger on accessible supplies in large quantities
and owned by the Allies; and, secondly, to come to
an agreement by which these supplies can be made
available at the earliest possible moment with the
object of bringing down the present preposterous rates.

If we examine the forestry resources of the Allies
the one great fact which immediately becomes apparent
is the gigantic area of the forests in Russia, the Land
of Forests, as it has been called. For some years past
I have made some study of the forests of European
Russia and also those of Finland and Siberia, and the
following three articles serve to indicate to some
extent the great value of these forests. It is a most
unfortunate thing for this country that we have known
so little of Russia in the past, of its enormous possi-
bilities and potentialities and its great value in many
ways to this country. Germany discovered it. Russia
is honeycombed with Germans and German enterprises,
in no wise conducted for the welfare of Russia or in
the interests of Russia and her people, but for the
furtherance of German Empire objects and of those
alone. Even in the matter of forestry imports Ger-
many was undermining our previously unquestioned
supremacy in the Russian timber markets. Germany
has vast forest resources in her own country, a consider-
able proportion of which is afforested, and not only
afforested but with the woods managed on the highest

7

72 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND RUSSIAN FORESTS

commercial basis possible. And yet in recent years
her imports from Russia have increased rapidly, the
increase being greater in proportion than the increase
to Great Britain. And she has been importing from
elsewhere also. Why? Was it because she really
required the materials, or is the reason to be found in
the fact that she has been deliberately storing up her
woods, undercutting in them, with a set purpose in
view. Did her wonderful organisation for the World
War and her deliberate intention to make it as fright-
ful as possible foresee the enormous damage that. would
be done to towns and the enormous demand which
would exist for timber at the close of the war? During
the war we know that she has been cutting down the
woods in the territory she has occupied and either
utilising the materials for trench construction or other
purposes or storing them up for the great demand she
expects at the peace! We know how Belgium is
suffering in this respect. In a recent Foreign Office
Memorandum it was stated that in one month from
October 26 to November 25, 1915, the Germans ex-
ported from Belgium into Germany by one route alone,
amongst other things, 340 tons of pit props cut from
promising young woods. |
To return to Russia. From Russia we imported
35 per cent. of our timber supplies in 1913. In
Russia the Allies have for the purpose here con-
sidered a source of supply which should fulfil the
objects required. Russia in Europe has an area of
447,500,000 acres of forests, Finland another
62,800,000 acres, and Siberia and Turkestan the
gigantic total of 853,000,000 acres more. Now much

RUSSIAN POSSIBILITIES | 73

of this area in Russia and Finland and Western Siberia
produces the very materials which will be required in
such enormous quantities at the close of the war. Had
we been far-sighted enough, had we shown a tithe of
the resource and organising powers of the Germans,
we should have long ago arranged for tapping these
Russian resources in the event of war on a previously
formed plan. But this is in the past.
These enormous areas of Russian forests contain
large amounts of unexploited timber. If we take
Russia in Europe to commence with. A few years
ago it was officially recorded by the Russian forestry
authorities that they were cutting far below the
possibility, in other words, that the annual incre-
ment put on was greater than the volume of timber
taken out of the forests. Also that large areas of old
woods had almost ceased putting on increment and
were going back, 7.e. losing their sale value. At that
time the Government estimated that the fellings made
were something under 50 per cent. of the possibility.
Matters have altered somewhat since then. But
Russia, with its immense forests, scanty population
(in the afforested areas), and want of communications,
cannot move quickly in such matters, and there can be
little doubt that there is a great margin to work upon.
For instance, the larger portion of the State forests
are in the north in the Governments of Archangel and
Vologda, areas we are most interested in, since much
of our imports came from this region. These forests
are difficult to work owing to the deficient communi-
cations. Consequently only ‘7 cubic feet of timber
per acre were felled out of a prescribed 7 cubic feet

74 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND RUSSIAN FORESTS

per acre or about 10 per cent. The averages have
been higher more recently but are still a long way
below the possibility. We come now to Finland with
its long stretch of sea-washed coast-line and its excel-
lent system of internal waterways offering the cheapest
and easiest method of transporting timber and other
forest produce. A perusal of the article on these
forests will show that here also there are large areas
of unexploited material of the kinds, Scots pine
and spruce, we import so much. The export trade
from Finland, although it has made some progress
in recent years, is still far from having reached its
maximum. On thesubject of the State forests figures
for 1908 showed that whereas the mean annual incre-
ment of wood put on per acre was valued at 21 cubic
feet for the whole country, the total amount sold from
the State forests was only 3°4 cubic feet per acre.
Moreover, as a result of a partial enumeration of the
growing stock on some areas it was estimated that
there were something over 21,000,000 trees of approxi-
mately 10 in. diameter and over at chest height
standing in the State forests, and it is considered prob-
able that at least this number, and probably a larger
one, also exist in the areas of privately owned forests
in the country. On the subject of the gigantic area of
forests in Siberia it is very difficult to form an estimate
of the amounts of timber they contain, owing to the
fact that only about a fourth of the area has been ex-
plored by the Forest Department. Want of demand, a
sparse population, and absence of communications
have preserved these forests so far from the lumberer.
Only in the dry steppe region and parts of Turkestan,

FUNDS AND ORGANISATION 78

with which we are not concerned here, is there a
scarcity of wood. In these Siberian forests, therefore,
even in those of which something is known, one would
expect to find that the fellings were far below the esti-
mated possibility of the areas. And this is borne
out by such figures as are available. For instance,
according to estimates framed in I91I it was shown
that no less an amount than 1,800,750,000 cubic feet
of timber were available from the State forests. Of this
amount 171,500,000 cubic feet only were disposed of, or
something under 10 per cent. In some forests, viz. in the
Government of Enessey, the.percentage sold was only 5.
And these figures apply only to such of the areas of
State forests as have been explored and organised !

Russia has then these large areas of unexploited
accessible forests or forests which can be made acces-
sible by a not very heavy expenditure. She has also
a very large population which can be drawn upon to
provide labour. Under the existing methods for
exploiting this forest wealth there exist throughout
the country over 2,000 saw-mills.

How then can this great store of timber be most
easily and expeditiously opened out in order to place
in the hands of the Allies the large amounts of materials
which these areas contain and which will be in such
great demand at the close of the war? The difficulties
confronting this problem do not appear insuperable.
The first necessity would be the provision of funds
and the second organisation.

My suggestion is that Russia should be asked by the
Allies, by the British Government, if necessary, since
we are very deeply concerned in this matter, as, unlike

76 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND RUSSIAN FORESTS

our other Allies, we have no forest resources of our
own at our back, to institute fellings on a large
scale in those of her forests which are adjacent to the
most suitable ports. Every saw-mill in these regions
should be set to work converting timber at high pres-
sure, the materials being stacked in suitable depéts for
transport to the areas required at the earliest possible
moment. A definite scheme for the freight vessels
necessary should be drawn up and the tonnage re-
quired be earmarked for the purpose for which it is to
beemployed. Assoonas the ports or any port of supply
becomes open a part of this tonnage should be made
available to start bringing the materials ready to the
spots arranged upon. This question of freight vessels
has been very much before the public latterly. In
itself it has of course greatly enhanced timber prices.
The maintenance of the present prices is no more to
Russia’s advantage than ours or any of the other
Allies, since we all have to foot the bill. To undertake
the above sketched scheme money will be required to
finance the saw-mills, open up inaccessible areas, pay
the sawyers and so forth, and my suggestion is that the

\British Government advance the sum which will be
required for the purpose; whatever the sum neces- —
sary, it would be a mere bubble in the enormous
present expenditure, and the savings which would
result would several times over recover the amount
spent. It would be money well laid out.

All that is required is a practical working scheme.
So far as a study of the question has enabled a con-
clusion to be formed it appears that the one practical
possibility is to be found in Russia and Russia alone.

TO BRIDGE THE INTERVAL | 77

It appears to be inadvisable to depend on the possibility
of obtaining the materials to any great extent from the
forests of the Central Powers. We have got to beat
them first. No onedoubts that we shall, but no one
knows how long the war will be prolonged. Weshould
face the position as it now is and make arrangements
which will depend for their fulfilment on the Allies alone
and on their resources. A brief outline of a suggested
scheme is only attempted here. A perusal of the
following three articles will, it is trusted, indicate that
it is based upon some considerable foundation.

We now come to the second point which requires
consideration :

(2) An arrangement under which our timber requtre-
ments during the next forty to fifty years may be assured, —
If Great Britain takes up the afforestation question
on the scale now so urgently demanded we shall have
to wait thirty-five to forty-five years (save in exception-
ally favourable areas when the period may be shorter
for some species) before we obtain a yield of pitwood
and a longer period for timber of larger dimensions.
To bridge this interval therefore we should make
suitable arrangements in order to ensure supplies reach-
ing us at a price at which, economically speaking, it
will pay ustotakethem. A survey of the regions from
which such supplies are likely to be available during
the next forty years is by no means reassuring. It is
scarcely possible to credit that some of the countries
on whom we have drawn so largely in the past or are
so heavily indenting upon at the present moment,
and to whom we are paying preposterously high rates
for the materials received—it is scarcely possible to

478 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND RUSSIAN FORESTS

believe that these countries will be able to continue
to satisfy our requirements during the next forty to
fifty years. Take the countries across the Atlantic
in the first instance. Is it likely that America, with
her own colossal demand for timber of all classes and
her rapidly diminishing area of, for our purpose, acces-
sible forest, will be able to supply the European market
for many more years? Canada again isa country with
a rapidly increasing population. She has extensive
forests. But a great part of the more accessible areas
have been cut out. It is not easy to estimate how long
she could help the Mother Country with supplies, but
it is difficult to perceive how, with her own growing
requirements, she could do so for anything like this
period. And in each case the cost of transit of the raw
material, as the more accessible forests are cut out,
will increase.and must inevitably react on the prices
and keep them high. The controversy which arose
a few years ago over the question of Canada granting
America a preferential tariff for wood pulp must be
fresh in the minds of many. And how long in any
event are these countries likely to be willing to export
raw materials as against manufactured articles? Our
industries require the raw materials. It cannot pay
us to import manufactured ones. A tariff on raw
material would kill our industries. Newfoundland
may help us for a time with wood pulp, but that is
only one item of our requirements.

Turning to Europe, the countries from which we
have mainly drawn our supplies in the past are Norway,
Sweden, and Russia. It is difficult to credit that any
one who has any acquaintance with the position of the

DEPENDENCE ON RUSSIA — 79

woods of the first two of these countries would be
prepared to say that either will be in the position to
send us during the next forty years the same amounts
of timber we have received annually during the past
decade. And if the past is any criterion to the future,
we shall require more! Both of these countries have
been carrying out heavy fellings to supply the Euro-
pean timber market—not merely the British one—and
it would be folly to rely upon or expect that the inten-
sity of these fellings can be maintained for anything
like the period to which we are here limiting ourselves.
And this period, remember, leaves out the question of
large timber for sleepers, etc., altogether; for it will
take us seventy to eighty years to grow that.

A careful examination of this problem will, it is
suggested, show that, omitting the Central Powers—and
even if they are included the position would scarcely be
very much better for Great Britain—but leaving these
Powers out of the question, it can be shown that it
is to Russia and Russia alone to whom we must look
for the bulk of the supplies which we shall need, and
must consequently obtain from somewhere, during the
next forty years.

Russia has large forests, how large and how rich in
materials it is the aim of the following three articles
toindicate. These enormous forest areas contain large
quantities of the very materials, pines, spruces, and
firs, which will be so much needed in the years to come.
Vast areas of forest in this gigantic country lie un-
tapped owing either to the paucity of the population
or to their inaccessibility owing to the absence of roads
and other export facilities. They contain large

xe ay:

80 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND RUSSIAN FORESTS

amounts of mature timber—timber which requires
felling and marketing before it decays and becomes
worthless. In drawing attention to these valuable
forests there is no intention on my part to suggest any-
thing in the nature of the ruthless exploitation which,
for instance, has taken place under the egis of great
lumber companies in the countries of the New World.
Such exploitation in the past has resulted in the total
‘disappearance of the forest in the areas subjected to
this treatment. The removal of the surplus growing
stock in primeval forests as yet untouched and unex-
ploited by man is a very different affair. Under such
treatment not only is the surplus harvested before it
decays, thus yielding a perfectly legitimate revenue,
but the forests are improved by its removal and proper
plans for their future management can be drawn up.

The accounts of the forest areas in Russia in Europe,
in Finland, and in Siberia which follow will, I think,
show without question that they do contain a surplus
stock of old material which it will be to the interests
alike of the forests themselves and the Russian Govern-
ment to market. And a unique opportunity has un-
doubtedly arrived for marketing them.

Great Britain more than any other of her Allies is
totally dependent on supplies from without and must
inevitably remain so for another forty to fifty years,
even if she starts planting on an adequate scale at once;
for the small stock of commercial woods she had at
the commencement of the war will be practically ex-
hausted at its close.

It is with Russia then that our Government should
cometo an agreement—an agreementwhich should have

LEASE OF AREAS 8I

as its outcome the certainty that a proportion of the
annual amounts of timber, etc., which we require should
reach us from Russia during a definite period of years.

It might be suggested that the most feasible arrange-
ment, for there are several ways of dealing with this
matter, would be to lease a considerable tract,!or several
tracts, of forest for a period of years and exploit them
ourselves under such conditions as regards restocking
felled areas, etc., as might be agreed upon. . We have
leased oil areas in Persia. There does not appear to be
any reason why we should not assure our timber
supplies for the next few decades in the same fashion.
Du reste, there isa precedent of a kind ; for the Govern-
ment of India leased the valuable deodar forests in the
Western Himalaya from their local chieftain owners and
exploited them. And this exploitationwas commercially
most successful both from the Government of India’s
point of view and that of the chieftains themselves.

It should, it is submitted, prove quite feasible to
arrange for the lease of areas in European Russia, in
Finland, and in Western Siberia of sufficient size to
guarantee our requirements or the greater portion of
them so far as they can be at present estimated for
this period of forty to fifty years. For such a length
of time must elapse between the afforestation of, we will
say, 5,000,000 acres of the afforestable derelict lands
in this country, provided this work is taken in hand
at an early date and on an adequately large annual
scale, and the period at which the woods so planted
will become exploitable.

1 This suggestion was first publicly put forward in a paper I
read before the Royal Society of Arts in March 1916.

VIII

THE FORESTS OF RUSSIA IN EUROPE!

Owinc to the disafforestation which the last few
centuries has witnessed in Europe it was held com-
paratively recently that amongst European States
Russia, Sweden, Norway, and Austria alone possessed

areas of forests in excess of their requirements which |

enabled them to be exporters instead of importers of
timber and other forest produce. Our Board of
Trade Returns show that so far as Russia, Sweden, and
Norway are concerned, the same held good up to the
outbreak of the war in August 1914. That Austria
was also in the same position there is little doubt,
although, owing to her geographical situation, her
imports to us were small, consisting principally of oak
timber. Russia has been termed the “Land of
Forests’? and she well bears out the name, for her
woods in Europe are of enormous extent, embrace a
variety of soil, climate, and species of tree, and where
they exist are very intimately bound up with the
welfare of the population. Of their importance and
influence on the national life the following is rather

1 The information contained in this article is based on observa-
tions made and statistics collected during a visit to Russia, and on

publications of the Russian Government. It formed part of an
article published in the Nineteenth Century for March 1916.

82

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FORESTS IN EUROPEAN RUSSIA 83

a striking illustration: Only some 4 per cent. of
Russian houses are built of stone; 30 per cent. have
plank roofs, 70 per cent. thatch or wooden tile roofs,
and only 3 per cent. have iron or metal roofing !

The forests in European Russia and the Caucasus
have been demarcated approximately and their con-
tents ascertained. Those in her Asiatic territories,
which are still vaster, are but little known. In their
eastern parts and in portions of Western Siberia,
investigations have been made to determine the extent
and contents of the forests. But much remains to be
explored. In the Caucasus 16 per cent. of the total
area is under woods, these latter covering approxi-
mately 19,354,000 acres. The greater part of these
forests extend along the Black Sea region, half of the
area of the two Governments of the Black Sea and
Kontais being afforested. In European Russia
510,300,000 acres are afforested, representing 39 per
cent. of the whole country or, omitting Finland (which
has 63 per cent. of its area under woods), there is still
37 per cent. of European Russia under forest. If the
large lakes, marshes, etc., are excluded 33 per cent. of
Russia in Europe may be taken as afforested—a high
percentage. As regards the distribution of Russia’s
European forests, the north is well wooded, whilst the
steppes of the centre are nearly free of woody vegeta-
tion. The south is less well wooded than the north,
its average being about 20 per cent. In the north
two-thirds of the forests are principally found in the
following seven governorships—Archangel, Vologda,
Olonetz, Novgorod, Kostroma, Viatka,and Perm. The
Governments of Archangel and Vologda alone cover

84 THE FORESTS OF RUSSIA IN EUROPE

an area of 1,041,096 square versts (a square verst
== 281 acres), equal to the area of Germany and Austria
together. In the south the forests are to be found in
the ten Governments comprising the Vistula basin,
Volhynia, Kiev, Tchernigov, Orel, Riazan, Tambov,
Penza, and Orenburg. For forestry purposes Russia
as a whole has been divided into the following thirteen
zones, each zone having the same lines of export for
its materials:

1. North—The Governments of Archangel and
Vologda, served by the ports on the White Sea.

2. North Baltic-—Comprising the Governments of
Olonetz, Novgorod, Petrograd, served princi-
pally by the ports of Petrograd and Cronstadt.

3. South Baltic._—Governments of Esthonia, Livonia,
Courland, Pskov, Smolensk, and Vitebsk, served
by the important port of Riga.

4. Basin of Niemen.—Governments of Kovno, Vilna,
and Grodno. The Niemen river is used to float
timber exports into Germany and down to
Konigsberg.

5. Basin of Vistula.—Six Governments served by
the Vistula, and via Germany to the port of
Dantzig.

6. Dnieper Basin.—Governments of Mohilev, Minsk,
Volhynia, Kiev, Tchernigov, Podolia, Bess-
arabia, Poltava, Ekaterinodar, Kherson, and
Taurida. Produce exported to Central Russia
by way of Kiev, Kherson, and Odessa.

7. Mineral Region of the Ural.—Governments of

_ Perm, Oufa, and Orenburg. Most of the pro-

THIRTEEN ZONES 85

duce of the forests of these governments is used
locally in the mineral workshops, etc.

8. Upper Volga Basin—Governments of Tver,
Jaroslav, Kostroma, and Viatka.

9. Middle Volga.—Governments of Vladimir, Nij ajar.
Novgorod, and Kazan.

10. Lower Volga.—Governments of Simbirsk, Sam-
ara, Saratov, Don, and Astrakan.

11. Central Russia.—The Governments of Moscow,
Kaluga, Riazan, Penza, Tambov, Orel, Toula,
Kojelsk, Veronega, and Kharkov. The produce
from the forests of these regions is disposed of in
the markets of Moscow.

12. The Caucasus,

13. Siberia and Turkestan.

The bulk of the forests in European Russia belong
to the State. There are, however, both private and
communal forests in existence, some being State-aided,
as will be subsequently shown.

It is well understood that industrial operations are
developed as a direct outcome of the presence of fuel
and combustible resources in a country. Russia is
well off in these factors. In the north, Ural, and the
north-east the factories are supplied with wood fuel,
in Donetz and the Vistula basin by oil fuel, in Moscow
by naphtha. Each of these forms of industry is more
or less intimately connected with economic forestry.
Sport and the collection of the seed of the cembran
pine, important as the latter is in the winter to the
population in Siberia, take only a secondary place to
the real forestry industry, which, with the develop-

86 THE FORESTS OF RUSSIA IN EUROPE

ment of the nation and the growth of industries depen-
dent on large areas of forests, is taking a preponder-
ating place in the national economy. Throughout the
empire the forests play a varying and important part.
In the industrial regions large amounts of timber and
fuel, etc., are required in work connected with ship-
building, railways, engineering works and chemical
works using wood. In the agricultural areas sylvi-
culture enables the more sterile parts of the tracts to
be planted up, as also the fixation of the moving sands
(to prevent the engulfing of valuable lands) and of
hills subject to erosion, ravines, etc. Protective belts
are planted to afford protection against cold and
drying winds and shelter to cattle; also to provide
fuel which is preferable to straw or cattledung. In the
neighbourhood of large forest areas the agricultural
population work in the forests in winter to supplement
their incomes. The forests are also made use of for
grazing herds of cattle, and are also essential to their
protection throughout the long rigorous winter period.
The Kirghiz of the Asian steppes, for instance, find
shelter in the winter in the forests. both for themselves
and their animals; the woods also provide timber to
construct their houses and fuel for burning. To the
fishing industry the forests furnish material for the
construction of ships and boats and also prevent the
silting up of the rivers by maintaining a cover to the
soil of their catchment areas, thus preventing erosion
and denudation in the hills. Finally the large export
trade of forestry materials from Russia makes con-
siderable demands on her forests, in the management
and upkeep and exploitation of which-a large popula-

SPECIES OF TREES 87

tion finds employment. The forestry labourers proper
supplement their incomes during the long dark hours
of the winter by toy-making from materials obtained
in the woods. ay

The greater number of the known European com-
mercial timber species of trees are to be found
in Russia in Europe, viz. Conifers—Spruces, Pines,
Larches, Silver Firs; Broad-leaved trees— Birch,
Aspen, Oak, Beech, Black Alder, Lime, Ash, Maple,
Plane, Elm, Willow, Black Poplar, Box, Walnut. The
chief species are found either as pure woods (of one
species only) or in mixed woods, the latter being the
commoner. Two-thirds of the total domanial forests
of the empire consist of conifers. The most extended
of these are the mixed conifer woods in which spruce
predominates; then come the pure spruce woods.
The fir mixed woods follow in which the firs form the
chief species, then the pure fir woods. A fifth of the
total domanial forests are mixed woods of conifer and
broad-leaved trees, the former predominating.

The common spruce (Picea excelsa) is the most widely
spread species, forming the chief tree of Northern Russia
and of Siberia. P. ajanensis also occurs. P. orientalis
is the Caucasian species and P. schrenkiana is the Thian
Shan. The spruce grows to a fine size, and is exceed-
ingly valuable. The Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris)
comes next in extended distribution ; it spreads farther
down towards Central Russia than the spruce. In the
Ural and Siberia the pine present is the Cembra (P.
cembra), valuable in Siberia for its seeds. In the
mountains of North Siberia the species present is Pinus
pumilio. In the Crimea P. taurica occurs and in the

8

88 THE FORESTS OF RUSSIA IN EUROPE

Caucasus the Scots pine and P. halepensis. In this
latter region the pines are, however, of secondary im-
portance, spruces, firs, beech, and oak being the most
valuable species. The pines occur as pure woods
covering large areas. The birch forms a natural
mixture with the pine and is the most extended of
all the broad-leaved species in Russia. It is also
found in pure woods which are of great value in the
steppes of Western Siberia where it is accompanied
by the aspen, and is used for a variety of purposes.
With its light seed easily wind borne and its great
adaptability it spreads itself easily, occupying areas
newly felled over or burnt, etc. The birch grows to a
large size, as visitors to Petrograd and elsewhere in
Russia must be well aware. The tree in Russia pre-
sents very little of the appearance we are accustomed
to in these islands. As widespread as the birch is the
aspen, which covers large areas as pure and mixed
woods both in European and Asiatic Russia. The
areas of this species, like the birch, are increasing owing
to the extreme ease with which it reproduces itself.
It replaces the spruce in the north and the oak in the
south. On suitable soils it reaches a large girth and
height.

The oak is far less widespread than the above
species. It is not found in the north nor beyond the
Urals. It is at its best in the south, where it forms
fine forests. Both European species, Q. pedunculata
and Q. sessiliflora, occur. In the Caucasus there are
several other species, Q. pubescens, Q. castanecefolia,
Q. armenica, Q. macranthera, and Q. mongolica in the
Amur region. The larch takes. a considerable place

LARCH AND FIR 89

in the forests of the north. The European species
(Larix europea) grows in the extreme west on the
confines of the Carpathians and in the southern portion
of the basin of the Vistula; the Siberian species (L.
sibirica) is widely spread in the forests of Western
Siberia and is also found in the north-east of Russia
in the forests of Archangel, Vologda, Perm, and in parts
of Viatka and Kostroma; in Eastern Siberia the
L. daurica replaces the other species of larch. This
conifer only occurs pure over small areas. It is chiefly
found in mixture with other conifers, chiefly pines.
The common silver fir (Abies pectinata) occurs in fine
extensive pine forests in the Western Vistula basin,
the tree here growing very fast and reaching a great
size with a high quality of timber. In the north-east
of European Russia it is replaced by the Siberian fir
(Abies sibirica), which here stretches into the larch zone,
crossing the Urals and spreading into the Siberian
forests, where it is usually found in mixture with
spruce covering extensive areas as yet little exploited.
The well-known Nordmann’s silver fir is found in the
wooded mountain; of the Caucasus, where it forms pure
woods in which the tree is found of large size with re-
markably fine timber of high value. The beech occurs
in the south-west of the Vistula as also in the Crimea
and the Caucasus. In the Vistula basin it is usually
found mixed with fir, but it occurs as extensive pure -
woods in the Crimea and especially in the Caucasus.
The tree reaches great size with a fine timber greatly
sought after for furniture making. The old beech of
the Vistula is disappearing, but the Caucasian forests
are still almost intact. The black alder is fairly widely

90 THE FORESTS OF RUSSIA IN EUROPE

spread in damp localities, forming areas of pure woods
remarkable for their straight boles and the consider-
able height of the trees. The lime ha; a wide distribu-
tion, outside the northern regions, over nearly the
whole of Russia in Europe and Western Siberia. It is
not often found pure, but rarely with oak, and usually
occurs as scattered trees in mixture with two or more
species. In the broad-leaved forests of Middle and
South Russia, the following species are found in mix-
tures: ash, maple, plane, pedunculate elm, common
elm, and willows, various osiers, aspen, and black
poplars in the lowlands near rivers. Of these the
black poplar grows with great rapidity and is becoming
of some importance. In the Caucasus there are a
large number of woody species, over three hundred
having been enumerated. In the west the box occurs
growing as a lower storey beneath broad-leaved species.
The wood fetches more than a rouble the pood (1
pood = ‘32 cwt.). In the forests of Turkestan the
walnut has a particular value. It produces knobs
and excrescences of large size which sell at as much
as 20 roubles the pood.

The present development of the Russian forests may
be told in a few words. Strict protective measures
were inaugurated towards the end of the seventeenth
and commencement of the eighteenth centuries. In
order to safeguard the timber for the purposes of naval
construction, Peter the Great instituted restrictions on
fellings in privately owned forests in order to enhance
the value of the State-owned property of this nature.
The lines on which this policy proceeded were somewhat
similar to those instituted on private forest property

ae ee eee ee ee

EE eee

STATE ORGANISATION a

by Colbert in France. The Acts of Colbert in this
respect were abolished during the Revolution. But
before this (about 1788) Catherine II in Russia had
eased the restrictions on privately-owned forest
property instituted by Peter the Great. From that
date the economic forestry problem as it affected the
empire occupied the attention of Russian statesmen.
These efforts resulted at length in the law of April 4,
1888, in the reign of Alexander III, under which a
proper system of forest conservation was inaugurated.
Forests which were being overcut were placed under
restrictions and valuable woods, as yet untouched,
were opened out by the improvement of communica-
tions. The law also made express provision for the
planting up of areas of moving sand threatening to
engulf valuable agricultural land, for the protection
of hillsides from erosion and the catchment areas of
the great rivers, so important for the floating of timber
and for fishing purposes, etc. A Forest Department
was created with its central administration under a
Director-General of Forests with two Assistant
Directors placed under the Minister of Agriculture.
The headquarters of the Department, presided over by
the Director-General, is divided into ten sections.
Purely technical forestry questions are settled by a
forestry committee of professional experts to which is
attached a Forestry Bureau. The work of this bureau
is to examine the whole forestry problem of the
empire, both from an economic and general point of
view ; to decide upon the value of new suggestions for
working particular forests, and to report on forest
inventions and special points or questions submitted

92 THE FORESTS OF RUSSIA IN EUROPE

for consideration by local administrations or private
persons. Joint Forestry Advisers are maintained by
the State, each with his own area of operations, to
advise private proprietors as to the management of
their properties and to aid them in preparing plans of
management for these areas. Seed and young plants
are sold to private owners at reduced rates. Expert
foresters engaged by private proprietors to manage
their woods have been placed on a simila scale of salary
and promotion to that enjoyed by State forest
officers and are rewarded in the same manner with
State honours and distinctions. Forestry Institutes
and Colleges are maintained for the proper training of
the upper and lower forestry staffs. The Forestry
Institute at Petrograd for the training of the upper
controlling staff, a magnificently equipped forestry
building, the largest in Europe, has been in existence
for over a century. Research work is carried out at
experimental stations, and several Forestry Societies
are in existence.

The first systematic plans of exploitation of the
forests of Russia were made for those in the mineral
districts in 1840. Since then very large areas of woods
have been brought under proper forest management.
The general rotations are from 80 to 100 years for
high forests, and 30 to 60 for coppice. Where
possible felled areas are naturally regenerated, 1.e.
restocked from seed falling from a few trees left stand-
ing per acre for the purpose. Latterly, however,
artificial re-stocking by planting up with young plants
or by sowing seed direct upon the area is being more
and more resorted to. Considerable attention is being

he

a Ronee £P- my

MATERIAL AVAILABLE 3 93

given to the planting of areas of waste land in popu-
lated districts poor in forest and in planting shelter
belts for stock and the protection of the crops; also,
as already mentioned, in the planting up of shifting
sands and areas subject to erosion in the hills.

The next point of importance, a most interesting
one to Great Britain, is the question of the amount
of materials available for felling and more especially
for exportation in the Russian forests. A few years
ago it was officially recorded by the Russian forestry
authorities that they were cutting far below what is
called the possibility; in other words that the in-
crement put on in the woods each year was far in
excess of the amount of increment, 7.e. the volume of
timber, taken out. Also that large areas of old woods
which had practically ceased putting on increment
and were going back, 7.¢e. losing their sale value,
remained standing owing to the impossibility of selling
and felling them. The Government estimate of the
fellings was that they were removing something under
50 per cent. of the possibility. Matters have altered
somewhat since. But there would appear to be a
considerable margin to work upon. Of course the
chief deterrents to heavier fellings have been scanty
population, absence of industries requiring wood, and
want of communications, roads, etc., the latter the
chief and greatest obstacle. The following example
will render this obvious. The larger portion of the
State forests are found in the north in the Governments
of Archangel and Vologda. Owing to imperfect com-
munication these forests are difficult to work. Conse-
quently whereas the annual fellings laid down were

94 THE FORESTS OF RUSSIA IN EUROPE

7 cubic feet per acre, the amounts actually felled were
only *7 cubic feet per acre or about 10 per cent. Out-
side these two Governments the fellings to be made
in the State forests were fixed at 22 cubic feet per acre.
- Only 13 cubic feet per acre were actually felled, or about
60 per cent. of the prevision. The Vistula basin, where
the highest prices were obtained, and the less wooded
areas of Central Russia showed better returns, only
6 per cent. of the prescribed cuts remaining unfelled.
The Governments of Poltava, Veronega, Lublin, and
Radom gave returns of 81 cubic feet per acre of the
afforested area. The prices obtained for the various
forestry produce naturally vary greatly in different
parts of the country. It would not serve any useful
purpose to consider this here. Nor need we pause
to deal with the fellings made in the private and
communal forests of which the returns available are
doubtful, since the exact amounts of the fellings and
prices obtained are difficult to ascertain.

The trees in the State forests are usually sold
standing on sealed tender, or by auction, the buyer
felling and transporting the produce. State fellings
and conversion of the material is only undertaken in
rare instances. One of these was during the construc-
tion of the Siberian Railway and the installation of
the Settlements.

Fellings take place between the middle of October
and the middle of March. In the north labour is
plentiful, the forestry industry being the chief source
of livelihood of the population. In Central Russia and
in the west there is also no labour difficulty, since the
winter puts an end to agricultural activities and the

ee al

——

MEANS OF TRANSPORT 95

people are available for forestry work. Work is usually
paid by the piece. Wages are cheapest in the scantily
populated areas in the north and east. For the
initial transport of the felled material from the forest
horses are generally used to convey it either to the
river, railway station, or the nearest local market.
The transport is done in winter, snow and frost being
counted upon to give the otherwise impracticable roads
a hard even surface and render them negotiable.
Streams, rivers and canals are the most practical, as
they are the most used of all communications for the
transit of the forest produce to the distant markets,
and Russia is well off in all of these. The rivers, of
which we daily read so much in the newspapers, are
put to a very different purpose in peace time. Then
you may see great rafts of timber, floated many miles
from the forests in which it was cut, proceeding silently
down-stream to some distant market. The length of
floatable water is thus estimated—69,000 versts (a
verst = about two-thirds of a mile) floatable, 83,000
versts navigable for boats, and 50,000 versts navigable
for steamers. It is estimated that European Russia
possesses 25,000 versts of river exclusively reserved for
the floating of large rafts of logs, etc., 1,500 used by.
the timber boats of wood merchants, 38,500 versts of
double tow paths, together with 26,000 versts navigable
by steamboats. There are only about 2,000 versts of
canals. The most important river is the Volga, and
tributaries connected by canals with the Neva and
the Northern Dwina ; then comes the Dnieper, Western
Dwina, Niemen, and the Vistula. The period during
which the rivers, which are free to all for this purpose,

96 THE FORESTS OF RUSSIA IN EUROPE

>

may be used for floating is the ‘‘ open’”’ season, 1.¢.
when they are not ice-bound, and the same applies to
the streams (five to eight months). In some Govern-
ments, Archangel, Vologda, etc., permission, which will
usually be granted, must be first obtained from the
Government.

The railways also help, to a smaller extent, in the
carriage of the produce of the forests, but the freights
are of course much higher than for water-borne
materials.

We now come to a consideration of the wood indus-
try itself. This industry has made the most extra-
ordinary development in recent years. In 1877 its
total value was only about 17,000,000 roubles. In
1897 it had reached 103,000,000 roubles. It is now
nearer 200,000,000 roubles (£21,667,000).

The chief branches of this industry are the saw-mills,
of which there are some 2,000 in the country. The
most important are to be found in the Governments
of Archangel, Livonia, and Petrograd. The materials
sawn up in these mills are mainly exported, the greater
part to Great Britain. Elsewhere the chief mills are
situated at the mouths of the Volga, Dnieper and the
Don, and in the Governments of Orel, Saratov (especi-
ally the town of Tsaritayne), Volhynia, Petrokov,
Kherson, Smolensk, Kiev, Novgorod, Olonetz, Jaro-
slav, and Keletz.

The companies which own and run these mills are
well-known commercial undertakings and in some
cases are very intimately concerned with the forestry
materials exported from Russia to this country. In
fact, the saw-mills may be considered to be one of the

re er el ~

SUBORDINATE INDUSTRIES 97

most important factors connected with the foreign —
export trade.

Next to sawn timber comes furniture making, which
is animportant industry. The chief factories are to be
found in the Governments of Petrograd and Moscow.
Cooperage also employs a considerable amount of
labour in the Governments of Astrakhan, Kherson,
Kontais, and Jaroslav. Amongst subsidiary forestry
industries are those of the wheelwright and coach-
builder, which chiefly flourish in the Governments of
Petrograd, Moscow, and Kiev. The match-making
industry is spread throughout the forest regions.

The industries of wood pulp and cellulose manufac-
ture are still in their infancy, though both are now
developing with some rapidity.

The dry distillation of wood is another industry
which has a future before it. Tar, pitch, and oil of
turpentine are all produced in Russia, but in compara-
tively small amounts considering the enormous area of
the woods. The industry is, however, developing.

It will be now of interest to glance at the exports
of forestry produce from Russia. A very large amount
of the materials from the vast forests is of course used
in the country, the chief means of transport being the
rivers, down which the materials are floated. Of these
the chief are the Volga and tributaries, the Dnieper
and the Vistula. A smaller proportion is carried by
railway, more especially in Central Russia. The
material thus transported is used in the industrial and
populous centres of the country. In the northern
provinces, in the Governments of Archangel and Vol-
ogda, forestry materials are scarcely required in the

98 THE FORESTS OF RUSSIA IN EUROPE

country owing to the scanty population and to the
absence of industries requiring wood. This area is
exclutively an exporting one.

_ The chief Russian forestry exports are:

(a) Logs, poles, faggots, fascines.

(6) Squared timbers, posts, manufactured wood.

(c) Planks, laths, shingles.

(d) Pitch and tar from conifers and the birch, oil of
turpentine, turpentine.

(e) Walnut wood, palm tree wood, and oak bark.
These may be divided into five classes of exports ;

(1) Raw materials.

(2) Dressed materials.

(3) Wrought or worked up (planed) materials.

(4) Products of dry distillation of wood.

(5) Products of wood.

The chief countries to which Russia exports forestry
materials are Great Britain, Germany, Holland, and
France. The first two take over one-fourth of her
total exports. In recent years her imports to Germany
have increased rapidly, the increase being greater in
proportion than the increase to Great Britain. In
Great Britain Russia finds as rivals in the timber
markets Norway, Sweden, Canada, and the United
States of America. In Germany her rivals are Austria,
Sweden, and North America. Next to Great Britain
and Germany, Holland occupies the third place as a
buyer of wood from Russia, Sweden being a competitor.
Lastly comes France—Russia’s competitors in this
market being Sweden and North America with Austria,
who sends her oak.

A large proportion of the wood is exported by sea

——-* ——- CCU lee eee eee ee ee ee ee -

EXPORTING CENTRES 99

transit from the ports of Riga, which is the chief
Russian port for this produce, Petrograd, Cronstadt,
and Archangel. The exports to Germany are princi-
pally floated down the Niemen to K6nigsberg and down
the Vistula to Thorn, Schulitz, Dantzig, etc.

So far as the values of the exports are concerned, Riga
holds the first place as an exporting centre, from whence
we get the trade name of “‘ Riga pine.’’ The chief
materials are planks, sleepers, squared timbers and
dressed timber and pit props, of which several millions
are annually exported abroad. Great Britain takes
the greater part of the Riga exports. Much of this
material holds a high place in the timber ‘markets,
owing toitsgreat excellence. Petrograd and Cronstadt
take second rank as exporting centres. The material
consists chiefly of sawn timber (planks), of which spruce
planks are the chief. Over 60 per cent. of these exports
come to Great Britain (Hull and London), 20 per cént.
to Holland (Dordrecht and Rotterdam), 10 per cent to
Germany, and the rest to France and Belgium (latter
2 per cent. only).

Archangel takes the third place, planks being the
chief material exported, three-fourths of which are
sent to Great Britain, the remainder to Holland,
France, and Belgium. Tar, pitch, and turpentine are
also exported from Archangel in barrels, the greater
part coming to Great Britain, the remainder going to
Holland and Germany. On the White Sea after Arch-
angel comes the port of Onega, which exports abroad
considerable amounts of sawn timber. On the same
sea other ports of export are Kem and Kovda, Soroka
and Keret.

too THE FORESTS OF RUSSIA IN EUROPE

On the Baltic, after Petrograd, Cronstadt, and Riga
come the ports of Narva, which exports annually
large amounts of logs and planks, Libava (dressed wood
materials), and Windaw and Pernau (the same).

On the Black Sea Odessa is the most important port,
dressed and squared timber being the chief exports,
principally sent to Great Britain. Oak timber is also
sent to France and Algeria. Novorosiiske is also a
rising timber-exporting port on this sea.

In the Caucasus Batoum is the chief port, exporting
walnut wood and palm wood.

On her western continental frontier Russia’s chief
exports of forestry materials go to Germany. These
are cut in the wooded provinces through which flow
the Niemen and Vistula, the mouths of which are both
in Germany. The material is principally exported as
logs or roughly squared timber floated down the rivers
in rafts. On the Vistula some of the material is sawn
up in saw-mills situated at the Russian frontier. It
is important to note, however, that all this material
is not taken by Germany. A considerable amount is
floated down the German portions of these rivers to
the ports of Kénigsberg and Dantzig, both of which
are important ports for the Russian timber trade, and
is sent to Great Britain and Holland, etc. At this
juncture this is a point worth remembering.

In spite of its great richness in forest materials,
owing to inadequate development of its forest property
and the poor state of communications Russia herself
imports forest products, to certain of her unwooded
centres, of the kind she exports from her afforested
areas. Her imports consist of logs, poles, billets,

IMPORTS TO BRITAIN 10

faggots, squared timber, planks, laths, tar, turpentine,
cellulose, wood pulp, valuable exotic woods, oak bark
for tanning, cork, etc.

These imports could all be obtained at home either
in Russia in Europe or in her Asiatic domains, except
perhaps one or two of the more valuable exotic timbers,
and in the last few years she has made great strides
in developing her forests. How far she will be able to
maintain or increase her exports from the European
part of her dominions in view of the growing needs
of her immense population is. a matter which remains,
perhaps, in some doubt. Unquestionably, however,
there are still large amounts of exploitable timber in
North Russia, Finland, and Western Siberia. Itisa
matter in which we, more than any other nation, are
supremely interested.

A glance may now be taken at the Russian imports to
Great Britain for the last year of which we have record
before the war burst on Europe, #.e. for the year 1913.

The materials received may be divided into six
classes of produce, consisting of conifers, ¢.e., pines,
firs, larches ; and hardwoods—oaks and other broad-
leaved species, as follows :

(1) Logs, sawn, split, and planed.

(2) Pit props and pitwood.

(3) Wood pulp.

(4) Oak logs.

(5) Wood manufactures, furniture, etc.

(6) Foreign hardwoods.

The amounts in loads and values in pounds sterling
of these materials received during the year in question
were as follows :

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: :gIeyMOD | : seyTUOD
(9) (S) (*) (£) (z) (t)

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€161 YVAA AHL ONINAG VISSOU WOMA GAAIBOAU SIVINALVW ISHAHod

102

NEED OF A NATIONAL PROGRAMME — 103

No acetone, a material of such importance at the
present moment owing to its use in the manufacture
of munitions, was imported from Russia during 1913.
As may be known, wood yields 2 to 6 per cent. of its
weight in pure acetic acid, which is extensively used
for making vinegar. In wood vinegar there is always
some acetone, which is a combustible liquid in which
oils, resin, and gun-cotton are very soluble. Acetone
is now, of course, used in the manufacture of propul-
sive powders.

It would appear that Russia equally with ourselves
was far from appreciating the importance of this pro-
duct of wood or the danger of allowing Germany to
retain a practical monopoly of it. With our extensive
and valuable Indian forests and those in the Colonies
we could have supplied our own needs in this material,
and doubtless those of others also to some extent, at
this juncture. Russia with greater ease than ourselves
could have provided from her vast European forest
resources all that was needed. But factories and
plant are required and organisation, and all this takes
time, and is difficult to arrange for in actual war time.
We are getting to work now in this direction, but a
more general appreciation of the need of a national
afforestation programme and the economic importance
to a nation of maintaining a certain percentage of its
lands under woods worked on a commercial basis
would have prevented our present dangerous position,

IX

THE FORESTS OF FINLAND AND EUROPEAN TIMBER
SUPPLIES '

THE Great War has given rise, in certain parts of
Europe, to almost unprecedented demands for various
classes of timber. The materials have been utilised
in a variety of ways, outside their ordinary peace-time
usages ; for the flooring, walling, and roofing of trenches
and dug-outs, the hutting of troops in training, the pre-
paration of barbed wire entanglements, the handles of
entrenching tools, and for many other purposes, both
naval and military, which are better perhaps left
undisclosed. It was estimated the other day that
there were some 2,000 odd miles of trenches on the
Western and Eastern fronts. To construct these an
enormous amount of wood has been needed. The
whole of this material is lost to the world, for what
remains of it at the end of the war will never prove
serviceable. This excessive consumption of wood,

outside its legitimate purposes, has rendered necessary

the institution of a very careful inquiry into the
sources of present and future accessible supplies and

1 Atlas de Finlande. Articles by Prof. A. K, Cajander, P. W.
Hannikainen (Director-General of State Forests), and A. B. He-
lander (Inspector of Forests). Helsingfors: Geogr. Society of
Finland, ro1r.

104

— ae

FUTURE GREAT DEMAND 105

into the probable amounts available in the forests of
the allied countries situated in Europe. Urgent as
this problem has already become to some of the Allies,
ourselves for instance, the question will be still more
acute at the close of the war. A previously undreamt-
of demand must inevitably make itself felt with the
advent of peace. It is becoming therefore an impera-
tive duty—and each month that passes adds to the
urgency of this duty—that the Allies should place
themselves in a position to deal with the question in
the least wasteful and most efficient manner possible.
Owing to our insular position, we are, or should be,
even more concerned in grappling with this problem
than those of our Allies who will have forest resources
of their own to fall back upon. Competition in the
timber markets at the close of the war between coun-
tries now fighting as close allies will on the one hand
be playing into the hands of the Central Powers, and
on the other be alike fatal to true economy and to
rapid progress in the rebuilding of the towns, villages,
and homesteads which have practically ceased to exist
within the areas devastated by the operations of war.
And this great demand, even in the absence of such
competition, must, it is to be feared, react unfavour-
ably on industries dependent on wood for their raw
material. The economic questions involved require
to be carefully thought out and a settled plan of
action determined upon between the Allies now.

The great forests of some of the European nations
and their contents, both in volume of timber, sizes and
classes of materials, and estimated values, are more
or less well known. For instance, the fine forests of

106 THE FORESTS OF FINLAND

the Central Powers and their prospective value and
importance when peace comes can be more or less
correctly estimated. The same may be said for the
forests of France and of some other western European
nations. Norway and Sweden, as is well known, have
continued to supply, down to the commencement of
the war, and in fact to the present time, large amounts
of materials of the classes here under consideration.
It is difficult, however, to forecast the extent to which
they will be able or prepared to assist us in meeting
the infinitely greater demands which must arise in
the near future. They have been taking advantage,
Sweden especially, of the high prices now existing.
But are they prepared to continue to do so and can
their forests stand the strain? Sweden has been

cutting very heavily in her northern forests for several -

decades past, large tracts of which were leased about
the middle of last century to big saw-mill companies.
There appears little reason to expect, or even, in the
future interests of the countries themselves, to hope,
that the Scandinavian Governments will continue
to consent to the exhaustion of their forests even
to take advantage of an excessive inflation of prices,
It has also become the duty of the countries most
directly concerned to endeavour to prevent such
an inflation of prices as would be- the immediate
outcome of direct competition amongst themselves
in the timber markets. At the same time, it is a first
necessity in the interests of future generations that
the forests of Europe should be so managed that as
little interference as possible may take place in the
existing plans of management of the woods. Such

a

SOURCES OF SUPPLY 107

plans are primarily based on the removal of the normal
increment; or, to put it in more popular language,
on the removal of the annual interest, while the capital
is left behind intact. Over-cutting means trenching
upon the capital, interference with the supplies of the
future, and is financially unsound in the case of large
areas of forest managed by the State on commercial
principles in the interests of the community.

It is admitted that to some extent it should be
possible for America and Canada to assist us in this
matter. They have, in fact, been taking advantage of
the high market rates, but it is these rates which it is
imperative should be brought to a lower level at the
close of the war, and if possible before this proble-
matical date. This problem, in its main issues, is one
for the Allies alone, and they will certainly be called
upon to solve it for themselves. ee

The sources of supply form the first point for con-
sideration. It becomes necessary to ascertain whether .
there exist in Europe accessible areas, or areas which
can be made accessible with comparative ease and at
a remunerative outlay, of commercially exploitable.
forest which can be utilised to supply the heavy
demands which will exist. There are other matters of
urgent importance, such as the afforestation through-
out Europe of all land which in the opinion of experts
will prove financially sound in the interests of the
several communities. This and other problems which
will arise have to some extent been already dealt with.

Having settled upon the source of supply, the next

_.point to ascertain is whether the commercially exploit-
able forests referred to above contain an excess of old

108 THE FORESTS OF FINLAND

growing stock, t.e. whether, owing to insufficient
demand in the past, or to a scanty population, to their
inaccessibility, or the existence of forests in the country
with better export facilities, these forests have been
left unexploited up tonow. Itis forests of this nature
which the world has been busily cutting out for over
a century, and more especially since the advent of steam
communication. The greater part of them have been
already exploited or ruined by fire and other causes.
Tracts of considerable size and practically untouched
do, however, exist; and Russia probably owns the
greatest area of them in Europe. A considerable
portion of these forests are managed by the State
Forestry Department of the country, and, save in
the more densely populated parts, the fellings made
annually in these areas have been far below the possi-
bility ; in other words, want of demand or of export
facilities have rendered it impossible to remove the
annual amount of timber which proper forest conser-
vancy and a correct management of the areas on finan-
cial lines would indicate and justify. Russia proper
has been already dealt with. There remain Finland
and Siberia, both of which contain vast tracts of such
forests, some more accessible than others. It is pro-
posed here to confine ourselves to a consideration of
the forests of Finland, which, owing to their proximity
to the sea and their comparative accessibility, should,
if the matter is managed on statesmanlike lines, prove
of incomparable value to the Allies in the near future.

Finland forms the N.W. corner of Russia in Europe ;
it is bounded on the south by the Gulf of Finland ;
the lower half of its western shore is washed by the

FRESH WOODS | 109

‘Gulf of Bothnia, while the upper half is bounded by
Sweden. ee
From time immemorial the forests of Finland have
played a very important part in the development of
the country. In the distant past, when the popula-
tion lived a nomadic existence, they hunted in the
forests to supply themselves with food. With the
advent of agriculture, the forests still continued to
play an integral part in the life of the people. Areas
were felled and burnt to provide additional room for
the raising of crops, the ashes of the burnt materials
forming a valuable manure for the new fields. The
method is still practised in Eastern Finland, economi-
cally wasteful asitis. Materials for building purposes,
heating and cooking, agricultural implements and so
on, were all derived from the forests. But except to
provide the local needs of the population the forests
had little other use. Until comparatively recent times
there was no export of forest produce, nor were the
forests conserved in any way. Small beginnings were
made in 1862-3 with the establishment of a Forest
Service and a forest school at Evo. But progress
languished. It was thought that agriculture would
pay better; and for years subsequently all efforts
were concentrated upon this business. It was grad-
ually perceived, however, that the high hopes placed
on successful agricultural development were to be dis=
appointed ; exports of agricultural produce remained
small, while, so late as 1907, Finland was importing
over £4,000,000 worth of cereals, grain, etc. On the
other hand, during this period, the value of the forests
gradually increased. The exports of timber, from

be &0) THE FORESTS OF FINLAND

being negligible, amounted in 1907 to nearly {9,500,000
sterling, or 70 per cent. of the total exports of the
country. And this in ‘addition to providing all the
wants of the local population.

The greater part of Finland, with the exception of
the coastal regions, where the-soil is argillaceous and
- more or less fertile, and the great prairies stretching
along the rivers of Ostrobothnia, is a forest country.
The soil is poor and stony and the climate cold—both
factors more adapted to tree growth than to agricul-
ture. Other points favourable to the maintenance of
the forests of the country are the ease with which
they can be renewed naturally by seed falling from
parent trees, thus eliminating the expenses of planting ;
the small snowfall, which does not impede felling and
extraction operations in the winter ; the abundance of
water transport, which forms a net-work of excellent
communications ; and the amount of available water-
power for driving saw-mills, etc.

The State owns about 36 per cent. of the area of
Finland, or 32,804,695 acres, excluding some small
areas purchased by the State for various purposes.
Of the above area 32,078,457 acres are covered by
Government forests, the remaining 726,238 acres com-
prising chiefly farms and other Government enterprises.
This large area was constituted a State forest in olden
times, as in so many other countries, when forests
were not considered to possess any economic value,
all land not at the time under private ownership, or
occupied by villages, becoming crown property. At
this period the area was considerably larger than 36
per cent, of the whole country, large grants having

APPROXIMATE AREAS OF FOREST m1

been made from time to time for extending cultivation
and other purposes.

Even at the present day such grants continue to.be
made, but only after a careful examination of the
areas to ascertain whether they can be put to better
economic use than by the growth of trees; for the
economic value of the forest, in the interests of the
people and the country at large, is now fully recognised.
Accordingly, the Government has within the last few
years extended the forest area in the south and centre
of the country by purchasing extensive .areas of
privately owned forests. The following table shows
the approximate areas of forest in the eight Govern-
ments of Finland :

Estimated approximate areas, in acres,
Area
Name 7 Cultivated lands
including ‘
of
water, Best lity {Better classes
Government. | i acres. vil ed Meadows foresteciia: |° marsh and | Water.
‘ areas.
Nyland . 6,662 85 190 4,755 1,132 500
Abo. . 368,467 | 3,187|- 8,030} 174,237] 173,117 9,875
Tavastehus 249,757| 3,539| 5,837; 146,815 84,420 9,145
Viborg . 624,132} 365] 4,832 322,317 260,835 35,682
St. Michael 102,627| 537 680 64,412 31,462 5,535
Kuopio . | 1,318,197] 1,425| 7,552 668,242 597,847 43,130
Vasa + | 1,034,430] 4,715| 13,332] 527,700] 465,155] 23,527
Uledborg . | 28,374,562 | 6,242 |110,977| 11,814,245 | 15,294,147| 1,148,950
TOTAL . 32,078,834 20,086 |151,430 | 13,722,723 | 16,908,115] 1,276,344

The above figures show that forest soils of the best

quality occupy an area of only 13,722,723 acres, or 43
per cent. of the total forest area. Bog or fen areas of
the better class (16,908,115 acres) are either covered
with forests or are rocky and bare areas of little forestal

112 THE FORESTS OF FINLAND

importance. A portion of the good quality forest soils
are situated in the far north, and the forests on them
are chiefly maintained for protective purposes. There
remains, however, a large area of State forests con-
taining merchantable timber of good quality. But
this does not by any means exhaust the forest resources
of the country. In 1899 (the last valuation made)
it was computed that there existed 24,688,677 acres
of private forests occupying best quality forest soil,
and 4,597,235 acres of afforested bog and fen land.
These figures include areas of forests on Government
farms, ecclesiastical farms, and communal forests. The
communal forests, belonging to towns and villages, are
of interest. For instance, the town of Kajana, which
owns the largest forest estate, possesses an area of
24,192 acres; the town of Tornea about half this
amount, Kuopio nearly a third, and so on.
Timber-working companies also possess forests of
their own amounting to 1,421,847 acres, managed for
purely commercial purposes. No less than 55 per cent.
of the country which has been cadastrially surveyed is
in the hands of private proprietors, who thus own the
greater part of the private forests. These areas, in
consequence, play an important and, so far, a not un-

successful part in the economic forest policy of the ~

country, although their sylvicultural treatment leaves
‘much to be desired. So far as their exploitation goes,
i.e. their conversion into cash, the private properties
‘have been the chief source of timber export in the past.
In 1906 only about 13 per cent. of the raw material
used by the saw-mills came from the State forests,
and in 1907 only 16 per cent. In 1907 Finland ex-

NATURE OF THE TREES II3

ported one million cubic metres of pit-timber and
420,000 cubic metres of wood for paper-making, while
in that year all the State forests only yielded 78,000
cubic metres of these materials. There is practically
no restriction to fellings made in areas of forest owned
by timber companies and private persons ; and conse-
quently their methods of working are usually wasteful
and extravagant. There exists a law under which the
owner is bound to take measures to reafforest all areas
of above twelve acres in extent which he clears, but it
is a dead letter. The future of the country, so far as
its forestry resources go, will depend more and more
upon the State forests, unless the forest laws are revised
and drastic measures taken to enforce them. Here,
however, we are more concerned with the timber
export possibilities of the country at the present time ;
and in this connection the whole area of forests, State
and private, requires careful consideration.

The history of the forests of Finland and their nature
may be told in a few words. When man first made
his appearance in Finland the whole country was a
vast forest. The chief trees were the Scots pine and
the spruce. The pine had originally formed vast pure
forests, but on the better classes of soil it was giving
place to the spruce, which had come in from the East.
The areas on the shores of the Arctic Ocean and the
elevated mountains were bare. Between the barren
area (tundra) along the Arctic Ocean and the forest
zone proper stretched a narrow band of stunted birch.
In the south, especially to the south-east and south-
west, groves of oak occupied the more fertile soils in
the plains and on the lower slopes of the hills.. On

II4 THE FORESTS OF FINLAND

similar soils in other parts of the country mixed woods
probably existed, containing in the centre and south,
amongst other species, the maple, ash, elms, lime,
etc. The water-courses were bounded by meadows
and fringed with narrow belts of birch and alder.
This period was followed by the drying-up of the
lakes and the flooding of the forest soil by water which
gave rise to vast marshes. The peat areas grew
stunted pines, the swampy ones spruce or birch, or, in
places in the south, the glutinous alder. Man has
since then considerably modified the nature of the
forests, the marked transition following the period at
which he settled down on the soil in organised com-
munities. Fire played animportant part in the change.
There are probably few of the afforested areas in Fin-
land which at one time or other have not been ravaged
by fire. For example, fires destroyed either wholly or
partially 160,752, 135,557, and 168,905 acres of State
forest in 1868, 1883, and 1894 respectively. These
fires have considerably altered the distribution of the
pine and spruce. The former, having a thick bark and
deep-going roots, is easier able to resist fire than the
thin-barked, shallow-rooted spruce. Also the young
pines suffered less from frost and drought, and were
thus able to occupy, with greater ease, the burnt, ex-
posed and dried-up areas. The more often fire passed
over an area the quicker was the disappearance of the
spruce from the locality, the species only remaining
in deep damp hollows into which the fire could not pene-
trate. Inareas which suffered in this way in the past,
the drier sandy soils are now occupied by forests of pure
pine, the more fertile soils being covered with birch,

SPRUCE 115

This latter species, owing to its very light seed,
easily wind-borne, and to the fact that it seeds abun-
dantly every year, while the pine in Central Finland
only produces a seed-crop every seventh year, quickly
invades burnt-out areas. The year following a fire
will see the birch beginning to appear. The great
stretches of birch forest existing in Lapland and
Northern Finland arose in this fashion. Other great
tracts of poor soil existing in Finland, now absolutely
devoid of tree-growth, are also chiefly the result of
incendiarism, and, to a less extent, of the wasteful
devastation by man of the previously existing forests.
With the protection of the forests and the rarer occur-
rence of fires the distribution of the species again began
tochange. Starting from the swampy lands and damp
hollows where it had held its own, the spruce invaded
the pine and birch forests, forming at first an under-
wood. With the development in height and crown
extension of this spruce underwood, it in time came to
form a high forest, from which the old pine or birch
gradually disappeared. Owing to the thick shade
which.the spruce throws on the forest floor below, no
young pines or birches—both species requiring light to
enable them to develop—could grow. Young spruce,
on the other hand, are able to develop in the shade of
their parent trees; and, owing to this peculiarity,
the species gradually took possession not only of all the
soils on which it was able to grow to perfection, but
also of others less well suited to it, which, from a com-
mercial point of view, were better occupied by the
pine. In the coastal regions of Nyland and the
Governments of Abo and Vasa the spruce is already

116 THE FORESTS OF FINLAND

more widespread than the pine. In other parts of the
country, such as Ilomantsi and Korpiselka, great
stretches of spruce forest exist; and here, doubtless
owing to the presence of extensive swamps and deep
ravines, fire was never able to spread to any great
extent, so that the spruce forests were never destroyed
by this agency. Another agency, probably even more
destructive than fire, was the pernicious custom of
** shifting cultivation.’’ A patch of forest was felled ;
the felled trees were fired, and the burnt ashes strewn
over the area; and one or more successive agricultural
crops were then raised upon it. As soon as the area
no longer yielded a satisfactory crop without under-
taking a more intensive cultivation of the soil, the
cultivator moved on to another patch of forest, which
he treated in the same fashion. The spruce forests
were the first to be dealt with in this fashion, because
they occupied the best soil. When the cultivator left
the area, it was seized upon and rapidly covered by
the light-seeded birch. Where the cultivation had
taken place on drier areas of poorer soil, the pine
subsequently appeared. Of all methods of cultiva-
tion this system is the most pernicious.

But the birch forests were not the only result of
treating areas of better-class soil in this fashion. When,
in course of time, the birch forests were in their turn
felled and burnt for a like purpose, the birch gave place
to forests of white alder; and the more often the
burning took place on such areas, the purer became
the resultant alder forest, owing to the fact that the
alder reproduces itself by sucker and coppice shoots,
and that these grow quicker than seedling birch, and

ALDER 117

thus in the struggle for life killed out the latter. The
extensive forests of alder which exist round the
villages in Carélie, in the Savolaks, and in parts of
Tavastland, originated in this manner. The system,
which is still practised in the east of the country with
Government consent, has caused the disappearance of
great areas of valuable forest in Finland. Already, in
parts, efforts have been made to ameliorate the con-
dition of affairs by burning areas of pure alder and
sowing pine seed on the resultant bed of ashes. The
one favourable feature of the alder forests in the past
was the fact that, owing to the open nature of the
woods, a fine crop of grass grew up which was used
for pasturing cattle. But, as has been shown above,
most of these areas would carry a much more valuable.
conifer forest. Large areas of privately owned
“ forest,” if it can be given the name, consisting mostly
of birch and scattered alder, are also used as cattle
parks, a most wasteful method of utilising good forest
land where national economy is considered.

In the north of Finland and in Lapland the custom
of reindeer breeding is also destructive to the forests,
by rendering it almost impossible to raise young crops
of trees. Since the reindeer lichen, which grows on
the moors, is not nearly sufficient for the great herds
reared, the shepherds fell large numbers of spruce
covered with lichens (A/ectoria, etc.), upon which the
reindeer, in the absence of a sufficiency of the other
plant, have to feed. The State suffers considerable
losses owing to illicit fellings made for this purpose in
areas where the forests are very large and the protec-
tive staff too small to stop these wholesale thefts.

118 THE FORESTS OF FINLAND

_ The distribution of the various species of tree in the
forests of Finland is a point of considerable interest at
the present time.

The Scots pine (P. sylvestris) is the dominant species
_over the greater part of the dry moorlands and areas
of pure sand. It also occupies, practically alone, the
numberless peaty areas. Mixed with other species, it
covers the slightly better class of soils, although here
the spruceis usually present asan underwood. Onall
these classes of soil, both favourable and unfavourable,
the pine in Finland develops a fine straight stem which
always finds a ready market.

The spruce (Picea excelsa and P. obovata with inter-
mediate forms) covers the greater part of the swampy
soils. It also forms the dominant species on the more
fertile soils which have not been subject to bad fires.
It is for this reason that the spruce is commoner than
the pine in Finland proper, the sea-coasts of Western
Nyland andthe Government of Vasa, and the northern
parts of Carélie in the direction of the Russian frontier.
In the State forests in the north and in the regions
adjacent to Suomenselka the spruce occupies areas
in which, from the commercial forestry point of view,
it is not the species most suitable to the soil. It is
also present in nearly all the mixed forests which grad-
ually pass into pure spruce areas.

The birch (Betula verrucosa and B. odorata) forms the
chief species on the extensive tracts of Lapland and
North Finland which have been subject to incendiarism.
It also forms more or less extensive forests in all parts
of the country which have been subject to fire, or to the
pernicious system of shifting cultivation in which fire

BIRCH, ALDER, OAK 119

plays so important a part. Cattle parks are often
chiefly covered with birch. It is also present in the
mixed forests and in the areas which have been long
worked irregularly to furnish the domestic require-
ments of villagers and private proprietors. The two
species are found generally together, B. verrucosa pre-
ferring the drier and B. odorata the moister localities.

The white alder (Alnus incana), originally only exist-
ing as a fringe to the water-courses (with the exception
of the coast in the south-west of Finland), has become,
as a direct outcome of the system of shifting cultiva-
tion, the chief species over great tracts in Carélie, the
Savolaks, Tavastland and the regions beyond Kajana.
The glutinous alder (A. glutinosa) forms narrow pure
woods along the shores of the lakes, especially in the
south-west of Finland. In the south it spreads over
the marshy lands, where it occasionally forms pure
woods, as, for instance, in the coastal regions.

The oak (Quercus pedunculata), which formerly, in
the “‘ oak period,’’ held a place of considerable import-
ance amongst the forest species in the south, is now
only found in small isolated woods in the extreme
south. The aspen (Populus tremula) is widespread,
and is found on the fertile soils as well as on the
driest of the sterile moors, but only reaches consider-
able dimensions on the former soils, where it occa-
sionally formssmall pure woods. Larch (Larix stbirica
and L. europea) has been introduced and some of the
plantations formed have done well. The oldest, of
L. stbirica, was planted between 1738 and 1820 and
shows excellent results. Willow, maple, ash, lime, and
elm occur sparingly in the south.

Io

120 THE FORESTS OF FINLAND

The oldest fellings in the forests of Finland were
made for what may be termed purely domestic require-
ments, such as firewood, charcoal, timber for building,
household and other purposes, for small enclosures,
and for obtaining tar. The fellings were undertaken
without system, the best materials for the purpose in
view being selected and the remainder left standing
on the ground. In this fashion, in the neighbourhood
of villages and townships, the forest gradually became
open and honeycombed with holes and glades in which
birch, alder, and aspen made their appearance. The
trees were also topped and hacked about to provide
litter or fodder for cattle and sheep. When an out-
side demand for timber sprang up and made itself
felt in the country, the really destructive fellings
began; and certain of the privately owned forests
have been more effectively ruined by the methods of
felling employed than by all the previous damage they
suffered from fire, shifting cultivation, and cuttings
made to supply local requirements.

The sales from private forests commenced with the
introduction of the saw-mill industry in the middle of
last century. At first only material for the mills was
required, and the damage done was not of great con-
sequence. But soon the demand arose for pitwood,
wood pulp, etc. ; and private forests were felled whole-
sale. Great stretches of them were often sold standing
to the timber merchants, who cut everything on the
ground which could be sold, what was left on the areas
being worthless. Thusconsiderable areas of privately
owned forest wereruined. In the State forests, on the
other hand, the management went to the other extreme.

;

‘ ——

4
i
4
i)
i

C

————— ————————

UNDERFELLING 12

The only fellings undertaken were made on what is
known as the selection system. Only sound logs were
sold, the oldest trees being selected here and there
in the forest for the purpose. Only small openings
were made in the canopy by the removal of these
trees; the forest was thus kept too dense, and young
trees, with the exception of spruce, had not sufficient
light to enable them to develop and take the place
of the old onesremoved. Under the system the spruce
came in and occupied soils which should have been
confined to the Scots pine only. The idea underlying
this method of felling was “‘ to spare the forest,” 7.¢,
that to underfell was good sylviculture ; whereas, to
carry over from year to year a preponderance of
mature and over-mature growing stock is neither good
sylviculture nor sound forest finance. Recently this
system has been modified by the order that cleanings
should be made in the cutting areas when the old trees
are selected and felled. The chief point for our pur-
pose in this management of the State areas is that, as
the forests have been admittedly underfelled in the
past, they must contain a considerable preponder-
ance of old growing stock, 7.e. of mature timber ready
for the axe—timber which it would bein the interest
of the forests themselves to remove, and which should
prove a great asset to the Allies at this juncture.
The Finland Forestry Department was created in
1863, but owing to the almost total absence of timber
sales from the forests the progress of the new Depart-
ment was very slow. The protection of the forests
formed its chief work and proved most necessary.
The people, as has been the case in most other coun-

122 THE FORESTS OF FINLAND

tries, looked upon the forests as their own to enter and
cut timber, etc., at their will; and the forest officials
had for years to face open hostility on the part of the
public in carrying out the new regulations. The staff
was far too small to undertake the work entrusted to
it; and the revenue realised from the sales of timber,
in the absence of all knowledge as to the contents of
the forests, did not even cover until 1872 the expendi-
- ture of the Department. From that year a surplus,
which gradually increased in amount, was realised ;
but the excess of receipts over expenditure only showed
a notable increase (with small drops) from the year
1890 onwards, as the following table exhibits :

t

Year. | Receipts in f- dle “Fe Deficit in £. | Surplus in f.| “in a ie

‘ receipts
1861 5,064 18,247 13,183 360°33
1870 10,242 21,389 11,147 208'84
1880 49,337 33,898 15,439 67°70
1890 108,332 39,126 69,205 36°12
1900 | 244,900 47,884 197,015 19°57
Ig0I | 176,973 45,619 131,354 25°78
1902 185,108 50,548 134,559. 27°31
1903 326,660 74,540 252,120 22°82
1904 306,606 72,115 234,491 23°51
1905 240,775 88,859 _ 151,915 36°91
1906 | 349,790 90,752 259,037 25°94
1907 | 496,717 | I11,253 385,463 22°40
1908 | 463,396 | 147,421 315,974 31°84
1909 | 464,089 | 189,529 278,559 40°80
19101 | 660,000 195,000 465,000 29°00

These figures prove two things: (1) a satisfactory pro-
gress in the exploiting of the Government forests be-
tween the years 1900 and Ig10; and (2) that the
additional expenditure for additional staff, opening

1 Approximately.

_-——_- --—- — —_ =

a

TABLE OF EXPENSES 123

out of communications, and so forth, led to a satisfac-
tory increase of receipts, a result well understood by
the forestry expert.

The receipts and expenditure and free grants of
forest produce for the State forests of Finland between
the years 1861 and I9I0 may be diagrammatically
shown as follows:

750
725
+4700
675
650
625
600
575
550
525
500
1475
450
! 425
400
375
; 350
NT 00
j 44275
+4 250
225
} 44200
175
4i T 150
pti te 125
100

Baw Bi: tte 75
ewe enane 50
4 ear Ase os = Je “ | 25
| ELEY 0
Thi eT = -25

wil86) = 1865 1870 1875 1880 1885 1890 1835 1900 1905 IN10

bite ht

Pm, Poe

Grants co teene ee » Expenses ames om + Receipts

124 THE FORESTS OF FINLAND

The work of enumerating the contents of the State
forests was commenced in 1904, and some progress has
been achieved in this direction, the object being to
draw up plans of working for periods of ten years,
under which a regular system of fellings and regenera-
tion of the areas cut over will be undertaken. These
enumerations of the standing crop in the various forests
brought out the pleasing fact that the number of trees
of timber size proved to be considerably greater than
had been anticipated, especially in the northern dis-
tricts. The work is still uncompleted, and the Forest
Department are as yet unable to definitely state the
numbers of trees of timber size ripe for felling.

The following table based upon actual enumerations
of some forests has been drawn up for the ten Forest
Districts in the country which are in the charge of
Chief Forestry Inspectors:

Stems with a | Stems witha
diameter of diameter of
30 cm. (113 25-30 cm.
District. ) or more |(9§-11}@ inches) Total.
at a height of | at a height of
4’ 3” from 4’ 3” from
ground level. | ground level
Govt. Abo-Tavastehus 2,628,824 | 3,539,383 6,168,207
Dist. Evo-Vesijako . 78,192 319,914 398,106
Govt. of Viborg-St. Michael 2,701,818 | 4,803,933 7,505,751
Joroinem District . 41,520 352,270 393,790
Govt. of Kuopio . «| 5,290,605 | 7,580,420] 12,871,025
Govt. of Vasa . . -| 2,622,760 | 4,439,414 7,062,174
Ulea Lake ; 4,787,58 7,349,068 | 12,137,255
1: es ° 5,887,1 10,438,643 16,325,811
Kemi . 13,870,000 | 13,129,964 | 26,999,964
Lapland 13,457,133 | 17,974,086 | 31,431,219
TOTAL : 51,365,607 | 69,927,695 | 121,293,302

? ae
ae ye a

a

AUCTIONS 125

Some 121,000,000 trees, of approximately Io inches
diameter and over, at 4 feet 3 inches above ground,
therefore exist; and, in the present exceptional cir-
cumstances, considerable fellings could be made to
remove old growing stock, ripe or over-ripe. Its
removal, with the additional transport facilities which
would doubtless in places require to be created, should
place the Department in a far better position, and in
a far shorter period of time than could have otherwise
been hoped, to take up the many interesting sylvi-
cultural questions which demand attention in these
forests. The trees in the State forests are usually
sold by auction standing, chiefly by the stem, but also
by volume. A deposit must be previously made by
bidders, which is forfeited if the bid is not completed.
The bids are submitted to a higher authority and may
be refused or accepted ; in the latter event the bidder
completes his payment before felling and extracting
the trees. These auctions for the big timber are
carried onin August atlargecentres. Smaller auctions,
at which the smaller material is disposed of, are held
locally as may be required. Even here the offers have
to be submitted to the district forest authority before

they can be accepted. The chief difference between

the two auctions, omitting the size of the timber, is
that for the small material one year only is allowed
between purchase and its removal from the area,
whereas for the larger timber two or more years may
be granted to the contractor to fell and extract the
trees purchased, these trees having previously been
marked by the forest staff.

Latterly the Department has been working depart-

126 THE FORESTS OF FINLAND

mentally, z.e. felling and converting the trees in the
forest itself and selling the converted material on the
spot to purchasers. The Department appears to favour
this method. But, except in abnormal circumstances,
experience has shown, in other places where the
method has been tried, that the trouble entailed usually
so ties the hands of the staff that necessary inspection
and protective work and the proper sylvicultural care
of the forests are sacrificed, to the ultimate detriment
of the woods themselves, although doubtless at the
time a greater revenue is made. The departmental
work in this instance is undertaken to supply Govern-

ment Railways with sleepers and fuel for the engines, —

and with material for the three existing Government
saw-mills.

The following table for the twelve years 1898 to 1909
shows the numbers of stems sold at the main public
auctions, the sales at these furnishing the best indica-
tion of the prices obtained for large-sized timber and
of the increased demand during the period :

Year. Number of stems sola. | eam price Per stent in
1898 . > : 816,962 4°12
1899. . . 1,306,344 4°13
1900. > 2 933,848 5°16
190I . : ; 1,306,483 4°62
1902. ‘ ‘ 1,568,746 4°29
1908. ey ye sg 996,889 5°78
1904. ° ‘ 1,360,033 4°21
1905 . ‘ ° 1,868,331 5°03 .
1906. . ‘ 2,205,166 5°39
1907. . . 2,392,579 4°75
1908. . > 2,874,037 3°60
1909 . . . 31395,042 3°53

FIGURES OF EXPORTS 127

The drop in the mean price is explained by the fact
that in 1908, 1909 the chief fellings were made in the
great forests in the north, where prices always rule
lower than in the centre and south of the country ; it
was also to some extent attributable to the fact that
the marking of trees for sale is now done on better sylvi-
cultural lines, the selection not being made only amongst
the finest stems, as was formerly always the case; the
system of cleanings having, as has been already stated,
come into operation. In 1908 the total timber sold
from the State forests amounted to 0°24 cubic metres
per hectare (24 acres) of dry forest soil. The mean
annual increment of wood put on per hectare has been
valued at 1°5 cubic metre for the wholecountry. There
should therefore be, and in fact is, a considerable
excess of mature timber in the State forests..

The figures of exports from Finland in 1907 show the

following forest produce exported from the country :

Net measurement in
cubic metres.

Poles, stems and logs . ‘ : ‘ 215,727
Pitwood and wood for paper pulp . : » 1,135,008
Fuel ‘ i 640,892
Beams, approx. in the round , ‘ ‘ 1,113
Spars, squared, approx.inthe round . ° 234,200
Sleepers, approx. in the round . , ; 45,382

TOTAL . : : =. 23492j;322

In the same year industries Nisdctied the following
amounts :

Saw mills . : + 5,169,025
Bobbin mills (in 1906) approximately n ‘ 177,559
Sed pulp mills (mechanical and chemical), 1st

794,975 ©
Paper irik ‘mills (mechanical and chemical),
fuel approx. . : : 350,000
Wheels, blocks, rollers, etc. R é > ° 13,500
Charcoal making . . . . *. ° 33,718
Distillation of tar. ‘ . > ‘ ° 79,721

Tota.» ‘ e - 6,528,498

IZ). THE FORESTS OF FINLAND

Added to this were the amounts of wood utilised on
lines of communication steam-boats, which consumed
250,000 cubic metres rough measurement. Railways
absorbed in 1908 a total of 9,000,000 cubic metres as
fuel and for other railway work; and telephones and
telegraphs another 10,000 cubic metres. In round
figures it way be said that in 1907 industries and
exports utilised about 10,000,000 cubic metres of wood
net measurement. Now of this total only 1,303,582
cubic metres was of State forest origin. The remainder,
a total of 8,500,000 cubic metres net measurement,
came from the privately owned forests of the country.
This is an important point, for these private forests are
by no means yet exhausted; and therefore to the
estimated total of 121,000,000 trees with a diameter
of approximately ro inches and over at 4 feet 3 inches
above ground existing in the State forests must be
added a total probably as large, and in all probability
far larger, standing in the privately-owned forests.

It has been estimated that the domestic requirements
of the population absorb 13,186,452 cubic metres net
measurement, in addition to the amounts given above.
These materials are, however, of small size and do not
affect the question from the point of view here con-
sidered. It is the commercial timber which exerts the
chief influence on the exploitation of the forests;
for it is the timber markets which demand the finest
timber, the local requirements being satisfied with
inferior qualities. It is the big markets which attract
the private owners of woods, as also, to a considerable
extent, the Government owner; since it is in these
markets that the best prices are obtainable for the

AN OPPORTUNITY 129

larger material which they are in a position to
supply.

An endeavour has been made to point out in this
article! that in the forests of Finland there exists one
direction at least to which the devastated countries
may look to obtain materials at a reasonable price with
which to repair the destruction wrought by the Great
War. Those industries in the Allied countries which
depend upon timber for their raw material may also
hope to obtain a part of their requirements from these
forests. But both these possibilities remain possi-
bilities only. It will depend on the Government being
sufficiently far-seeing to come to some definite working
arrangement between themselves and Russia before
the war closes, if advantage is to be taken of existing
opportunities. And the Finland forests, with their
easy export facilities offered by their numerous water-
ways and available timber of the kinds which will
be most in demand, Scots pine and spruce, present one
of these opportunities. Are we in Great Britain going
to see that it is taken in time?

1 This article was published in the Quarterly Review for April 1916.

D4
THE FORESTS OF SIBERIA, INCLUDING TURKESTAN

IN two previous articles, the forest resources of Euro-
pean Russia and of Finland have been dealt with,
and some indication has been given of their undeniable
importance to the Allies in a near future.

A review of the forest resources of Russia would
not, however, be complete without a survey of the
enormous forest tracts existing in Asiatic Russia:
for portions of the great Siberian forests hold a place
which cannot be neglected in the Western European
timber markets, e.g. in that of Great Britain—a
position which is likely to increase in value in the Min
to come.

As yet, however, in spite of the valuable work that
has been already accomplished in the exploration
and survey of these regions, it is too soon to say
definitely how great will be the influence of these
Asiatic Russian forests on the world’s markets. The
areas are so enormous that the forestry resources,
that is the number, species, and value of the trees
covering a very considerable tract, still remain
unsurveyed.

In the year of the outbreak of the Great War, the
Chief Department of Agriculture published a volume

130

rns.
i

a

:
:

ASIATIC RUSSIA | 131

entitled Asiatic Russia, with an accompanying hand-
some volume of maps. One of the sections of this
important work deals with the “forest wealth ’’ of
this enormous stretch of country. It is written by
V. V. Faas, and its appearance at the present time
must be looked upon as most opportune. From this
and other sources open to me, it has been possible to
form a very fairly accurate idea of the position,
probable yield capacity and importance, both present
and prospective, to the world’s timber markets of
these forests of Asiatic Russia. |
The area of country now being dealt with stretches
from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific, including
Siberia, the Steppe region, and Turkestan. Lake
Baikal divides Siberia into two almost equal parts,
western and eastern. The western half comprises the
Governments of Tobolsk, Tomsk, Enessey, Irkutsk,
and the districts of Turgai and Uralsk; the eastern
half has the Transbaikal, Sea-coast, Amur, and Sachalin
districts. That vast tract, the Steppe region, com-
prises the Semipalatinsk and Akmolinsk districts,
and in addition there are the great stretches of Turkes-
tan. As will be understood, the climate, or various
climates, of this extensive country vary greatly from
arctic to hot, and this variation in climate is accom-
panied by a considerable divergence in character of
the forests occupying different parts of the region.
The forests of Asiatic Russia are very unevenly
distributed throughout the different Governments of
Siberia, the Steppe region, and Turkestan, and,
owing to the sparse population inhabiting these tracts
in the past, very little attention has been paid to

132 FORESTS OF SIBERIA AND TURKESTAN

the woods or to their possible economic value. The
scanty population was allowed to treat them pretty
well as it liked. They took what they wanted from
the forests, practised shifting cultivation after the
fashion already described in the Finland article, or
_ set fire to large areas annually to get up new grass
on which to pasture their cattle. The building of the
Siberian Railway and the influx of population from
European Russia has had, it is true, some effect on
portions of the forests, but the areas are so vast that
it appears probable that they will be capable of
furnishing materials for export for a considerable
period of years.

Roughly speaking the forests owned by the State
predominate throughout Asiatic Russia, the area
amounting to the gigantic total of 642,600,000 acres,
or about two-thirds of the total State forests of the
Empire. The forests occupying such extensive tracts
naturally vary considerably in quality, but 249,750,000
acres or 39 per cent. of the whole area is classed as
rich forest soil, This percentage is small when com-
pared with the 80 per cent. in European Russia and
the 63 per cent. in the Caucasus. It must, however,
be borne in mind that in the area under consideration,
especially in the zone bordering on the twndra (Siberian
swamp), vast tracts exist covered with a poor scrub
forest with no exploitable trees in it; the areas
of value being confined to the southern hill slopes, or
to the valleys sheltered from the cold north winds.
Large tracts of fen-land, marshy lake areas, and great
stretches of burnt-over forest lands also exist in
Siberia, and go to swell the total of “‘ poor forest soil.”

TABLE OF DISTRICTS 133

The following table shows the distribution of the
State forests in the Governments or Districts of Asiatic
Russia, and also the numbers of forest divisions and
forest estates in each division. The Russian word
here translated into “division” is lesnitchestvo. It
may be that our technical forest term of “ circle”
would more nearly express the meaning, but division
will perhaps be more readily understood.

The Russian word daicha means an “ estate,’ and
it is left at that. Technically, we should probably
call it a district, or if ‘‘ circle’’ were used for the
larger area, a division.

The table is as follows:

Number Areas in acres,
; Ons.| es. :
Total Area. | “forest soll.

Uralsk . . I 22 79,944 48,575
Turgao. . 6 72 1,434,677 982,675
Tobolsk . ; 33 497 170,808,917 45,503,156
Tomsk ‘ é 27 190 92,857,876 22,047,425
Enessey « ° 23 113 23,021,571 20,394,063
Irkutsk . ; 17 324 23,795,051 17,191,272
Semipalatinsk . II 190 9,255,254 5,818,675
Akmolinsk ; 15 302 6,130,293 1,119,344
Transbaikal . 5 15 79,893,000 7,989,300
Amur . 8 7 94,070,700 31,839,750
Sea-coast . . 15 17 93,025,800 59,312,385
Sachalin . ; I I 10,530,000 6,750,000
Semirechensk . 8 61 3,445,726 3,445,726
Syrdariansk » 7 179 23,050,664 17,996,350
Samarkand ° 6 31 10,567,484 7,672,001
Fergan . . 9 45 2,593,876 1,609,880

TOTAL ° 192 |2,066 644,560,833 249,780,582

Thus there are 2,066 forest estates having an average

134 FORESTS OF SIBERIA AND TURKESTAN

area of 311,850 acres apiece; whilst the average
acreage of the forest division exceeds 3,356,100 acres.
That is, the average forest division in Siberia is greater
than the total acreage of the woods in Great Britain,
which amounts to 3,030,000 acres; or had that area
at the commencement of the Great War. Of course
all these forest divisions have not this excessive area.
The average is high, owing to the enormous extent
of a few in Northern Siberia, such as, ¢.g., one in the
Government of Tobolsk which covers a tract of
81,000,000 acres.

Of the total area of 642,600,000 acres of State
forest, 297,900,000 acres or 40 per cent. have been
constituted regular State Reserves, the remaining
345,600,000 acres being still subject to the elimination
of areas as allotments to settlers, or for increasing the
agricultural holdings of the existing population. To
the 642,600,000 acres of forest under the administra-
tion of the State have been recently added 118,800,000
acres of newly explored forest in parts of the Yakutsk
district, and about 10,800,000 acres of forest of com-
paratively small value in the Transcaspian district,
giving the total area of State forests in Asiatic Russia
as approximately 772,200,000 acres.

These do not, however, form the sole existing
forestsin the country. Next to the State, the greatest
forest owner in the countryis the Crown, which possesses
some 54,000,000 acres of forest land (chiefly on the
Altai), whilst the Cossack population of the Amur
district possess about 27,000,000 acres of forest on
the left bank of the Amur. Thus those of the forests
of Asiatic Russia which are more or less well known

=

FOUR MAIN REGIONS 135

cover the enormous area of some 853,200,000 acres ;
that is, a total area greater than that occupied by
either the forests of Canada (which cover 799,200,000
acres), or those of America (604,800,000 acres).

The areas of State forest containing exploitable
material for export purposes vary considerably in
size in different parts of Asiatic Russia. It has been
shown that the country is divided into four main
regions, namely the Western region of Siberia, the
Eastern Siberian region, the Steppe region, and
Turkestan. The amounts of “rich forest soil” in
each of these regions are as follows:

Region. Acres, Bar

I. The Western region of Siberia. . | 106,227,169 | 42°5
II. The Eastern region of ie F - | 106,091,435 | 42°4
III. The Steppe region ; . / 6,938,019 2°8
IV. Turkestan . . , ' 30,723,958 | 12°3
ToTaL : 249,980,581 | 100°0

The above table shows that the largest areas of
forests are in the Western and Eastern regions of
Siberia, the acreage in the two being nearly equal;
that the afforested areas in the Steppe region are very
small, whilst those of Turkestan are equal to about
two-sevenths of the Eastern Siberian region.

Before dealing with other important aspects of
these forests, it will be necessary to give some general
account of the peculiarities of the forest flora of the
different regions. The tract from the Ural Mountains
to the Ochotsky and Yellow Seas will be first. dealt
with. As may be inferred from the vast area under

II

4

136 FORESTS OF SIBERIA AND TURKESTAN

consideration, the climatic conditions in different
parts vary considerably. There are also considerable
differences in the nature of the surface formation and
soil. The character of the forests is, therefore, ex-
tremely varied.

THE SIBERIAN REGIONS

The great region bordering on the Arctic Ocean and
stretching from the Ural Mountains to the Bering
Strait is designated the Arctic tundra (swamp).
There are no real forests in this belt, but the area is
covered more or less densely with bushes and dwarf
forms. As is the case in the Government of Arch-
angel in European Russia, patches of tall trees are
found here in the far north encroaching upon the
tundra. In this way small forests are to be seen even
along the rivers Kolima and Anadir. In 1909 the
Chukotsky expedition discovered woods in sheltered
valleys at the source of the Great River (Bolshaya)
and even near Cape Dezhneff. Owing to these inroads
of the forest into it the southern boundary of the
tundra runs in a zig-zag fashion, gradually passing into
the forest zone. Next to the tundva comes the forest
zone, termed taiga,‘ which stretches right across
Siberia to the Pacific Ocean, and occupies the tract
between the ¢wndva and the Steppe region, an area of
from 1,000 to 2,300 versts broad and 7,000 versts
long. This zone is very varied in character, and does
not consist of uninterrupted forest. The belt is

1 Taiga—the word applies literally to the vast marshy forests
of Siberia.

ay

a

WESTERN SIBERIA 137

constantly broken by vast fens and areas of burnt-
over forest where only patches of the old woods exist,
the rest of the tract being covered with a scrub of
raspberry bushes and other shrubs. This is often the
aftermath of fire, either due to incendiarism or applied
in the interests of a shifting cultivation. On its
northern limits the faiga first appears as separate
clumps and patches of trees on the slopes of ravines
and river valleys. The fir (spruce) tribe predominate
in the ¢aiga, but there are many other species of trees.
This great forest zone is subdivided as follows :
Western Siberia.—From the Ural Mountains to the
lower reaches of the Enessey and to Lake Baikal:
This area is divided into a dry zone and a swampy
zone. In the dry zone the predominating species
are the so-called Siberian ‘‘cedar’’ or cembran
pine (Pinus cembra), a valuable tree which furnishes
both timber and an edible seed; the much-prized
Siberian “‘fir”’ or spruce (Picea obovata), the Siberian
Pichia or silver fir (Abies sibirica), and the still more
valuable Siberian larch (Larix sibirica). On sandy
soils pine woods are occasionally found. In the
swampy zone the character of the forest changes. The
larch disappears, and the spruce predominates with
an admixture of deciduous species such as the birch,
aspen, and alder. The most wide-spread type of
forest in Western Siberia is a mixture of common
and Siberian spruces. This type is interrupted here
and there by the so-called uymant, a local name for
mixed deciduous and non-deciduous forest in which
the spruce and cembran pine predominate. In the
Government of Tobolsk this urmani type of forest

138 FORESTS OF SIBERIA AND TURKESTAN

occupies vast tracts chiefly on the right bank of the
Irtish river, and also on the Ob river. Generally
speaking in the Government of Tobolsk the upper
parts of the hills are occupied with pine, the pine being
mixed on the lower slopes with spruce, larch, cembran
pine, and sometimes birch, spruce and cembran pine
predominating on the lowest levels. The larch is
seldom found pure in this Government, as the pine
takes possession of all the drier areas.

Eastern Siberia.—East of the lower reaches of the
Enessey and Lake Baikal: A considerable change
takes place in the character of the ¢aiga in this region.
The Siberian larch is replaced by the daur larch (Larix
daurica). The daur birch also appears, with the
fragrant poplar, and in the south in addition to such
Western Siberian forms as alder, bird-cherry and
mountain ash, the tamarisk and the rhododendron
appear ; further east the Mongol oak, wild apple, and
the walnut commence to come in.

Eastward to the Amur and Sea Coast Districts and
southward to the Manchurian forests: The further
east and south we proceed the greater becomes the
change in the character of the forests. Thedaur larch
is still present, but the Siberian fir (spruce) is replaced
by the Ayansk fir (Picea ajanensis), which is very
wide-spread, forming thick forests in places; the
ordinary birch is replaced by the Betula Ermani.
The Manchurian pine (Pinus mandshurica) of great
height-growth and fine quality timber appears. Pinus
funebris occurs along the river Ussuri. Two silver firs
are found, Abies nephrolepsis, growing in both the
Amur and the Sea-coast districts; and the Abies

SIBERIAN AND STEPPE REGIONS 139

holophylia, which occurs in the south Ussuri region.
A yew, Taxus cuspidata, occurs in the forests of the
Sea-coast district, its timber being of little value,
however.

As regards deciduous species, the Amur district is
very rich, the forest flora of the Sea-coast district
resembling in many respects the forests of Korea,
and, in part at least, of Japan. Among the chief
deciduous species are two oaks, Quercus mongolica,
found along the middle course of the Amur and in
the south of the Sea-coast district, and Quercus grosse-
serrata in the Ussuri district; two species of ash—
Fraxinus mandshurica, distributed almost throughout
the Amur and the sea-coast districts except in the
extreme north, and Fraxinus rhynchophylia, found in
the southern Ussuri district; the walnut (Juglans
mandshurica) occurring in.the Amur and the central
and southern parts of the Sea-coast district; the
Dimorphantus mandshurica, which furnishes a beautiful
veneer ; and two species of lime (7a amurensis and
Tilia mandshurica). Generally speaking, both in the
Amur and the Sea-coast districts coniferous forests
predominate in the north, covering the mountain
slopes, leaving the lower ground to the deciduous
species.

THE STEPPE REGION

The Steppe region lies to the southward of the
above-described zone. In its westward part there is
a marked change in the character of the forest from
that of the faiga. In the south of the Government of
Tobolsk, and still more so in the Semipalatinsk and

140 FORESTS OF SIBERIA AND TURKESTAN

Akmolinsk districts, the ¢aiga gradually yields to the
steppe vegetation, and meadows and feather grass ap-
pear, occasionally penetrating far into the forest, or
elsewhere completely enclosing patches of forest.

In the two districts above mentioned, the forests
occupy scarcely 2 per cent. of the whole area. In the
forest-steppe tracts in these last two districts, how-
ever, islands (kolk1) of forest of varying size, some
being considerable, occur, consisting chiefly of deciduous
species. Birch and aspen are the most numerous,
followed by the black alder, bird-cherry, mountain
ash, black and white poplar, and acacia. Birch and
aspen kolki are chiefly found in the north of the
Akmolinsk district adjacent to the Government of
Tobolsk, whereas the pine and the juniper occur
scattered throughout this Government. In the Semi-
palatinsk district the Western Siberian species of pine,
spruce, silver fir, and larch occur, but they are not
equally distributed in all parts. Also in this part of
the forest-steppe shrubs such as the sallow-thorn
(Alaternus), hawthorn, raspberry, elder, white hazel,
medlar, occur, and, amongst others, the dwarf almond,
spireea, and several kinds of roses. The forest-steppe
region extends as far as the Transbaikal district, where
it gradually merges into the black-earth steppe which
possesses no forest on it, being covered with feather
grass and other steppe plants, interrupted by salt
marshes and sands.

THE TURKESTAN REGION

The Turkestan deserts are situated to the south,
and here the shrub known as the saksaul (Halaxylon

—————————s —

THE TURKESTAN REGION 141

ammodendron) forms the chief tree species. This
species grows freely over the wide tract from the
Caspian Sea to Lake Balcash, in spite of the bad
treatment it receives from man and the constant
damage done to it by cattle. There are consider-
able forests on the Turkestan plateau, though here
again grazing cattle do a great deal of damage,
as also do fires. Many tree species are present in
these forests in the Fergen, Samarkand, Sirdarya, and
Semirechensk districts, the chief being the spruce
(Picea schrenkiana), which forms the principal species
in the Semirechensk district; the archa (a species of
juniper); the walnut, maple, poplar, birch, and ash.
In addition in the hill forests of Turkestan, the wild
apple, almond, plum (uruk), apricot (caragach), etc.,
are commonly found.

The Transcaspian Forests.— Finally a few words
may be added on the species found in the fairly
extensive but as yet scarcely explored Transcaspian
forests. These forests.play an important part in the
Transcaspian district, as they keep the sands from
shifting—that ever-present danger in a desert region—
and help to form fertile oases. They also render possi-
ble cattle-breeding. A considerable proportion of the’
species growing in the forests are of the desert type, and
similar to those occupying the Turkestan deserts, e.g.
the saksaul, etc. In addition, the acacia occurs, here
called suzem, and reaches a height of 21 feet with a dia-
meter of 7 inches at the surface of the ground. About
I,350,000 acres of the Transcaspian forests are situated
in the hills, including those in the valleys of Murgab,
Fedzhena, and along the smaller rivers in the rural

142 FORESTS OF SIBERIA AND TURKESTAN

district of Karacalin. In these hill-forests the archa
(juniper) appears, and is often of considerable size,
58 feet high and 2 feet 11 inches in diameter at the
surface of the ground. The mountain maple, noted
for the hardness of its wood, also occurs. In the
Merosk and Tedzhensk districts copses of pistachio-
nut trees exist. On the banks of the rivers, which
overflow in the spring-time, forests of poplars and
tamarisks help to keep the banks stable, and are
thus of considerable importance.

Having regard to the extensive area over which
these Asiatic Russian forests are spread, it will be of
interest now to glance briefly at the nature of the staff
and present organisation and protection afforded to
the areas. Up to January I, 1912, the State forests
were divided, for administrative purposes, into 192
divisions (lesnitchestva) under the control of 9 Boards
of Agriculture and State Lands: viz. those of Tobolsk,
Tomsk, Enessey, Irkutsk, Amur, Omsk, Turkestan,
Uralsk, and Turgai. According to the estimate for
1914, the staff of the local forest administration was
to consist of 583 officials, namely 35 forest inspectors,
222 foresters, 68 assistants, and 258 forest guards—a
staff which cannot be said to err on the liberal side,
and will need a great deal of strengthening when the
work of exploiting the forests is commenced on a
large scale.

In addition it was laid down for 1914 that another
170 officials were to be employed on the work of
exploring and organising the forests. These additional

DANGERS FROM FIRE 143

officials were to comprise 4 inspectors of forest organ-
isation, 15 head-taxators, 45 under-taxators, and
106 surveyors.

With the above quite inadequate staff, even when
supplemented by two to three thousand extra guards
and fire patrols, the latter being, by the way, unpaid,
it is not surprising that the protection it is possible
to give the forests is very inefficient, and that one of
the greatest dangers to which they are subject is fire.
On the subject of fire, and the appalling damage it
causes in forest lands, the people are apparently quite
ignorant, and wilful incendiarism is as common as
used to be the case, and still is in parts, in India.
The points of greatest danger, the dry areas, are
exactly those in which the forests have the greatest
local value, because so scarce; ¢.g. in the Steppe
region and parts of Turkestan and in some districts
of the Tobolsk and Tomsk Governments a scarcity of
wood is already being felt by the local population.
The chief causes of fires are the burning of the dry
grass in the hot season in order to get up an earlier
crop of new young grass for grazing purposes with
the arrival of the first rains. The fires are allowed
to ‘“‘ run,” that is, no effort is made to restrain them,
and they spread into the neighbouring forests; the
drier and more windy the weather, the greater the
area of the latter consumed. Camp fires made by
travellers and left alight after their departure are
also a fruitful source of forest fires. Indian forest
officers are well acquainted with this form of forest
devastation, which was of annual occurrence throughout
the afforested areas in India in olden times. A forest

144 FORESTS OF SIBERIA AND TURKESTAN

staff and careful organisation in the latter country
have done much to mitigate this, the greatest enemy
of the forests during the hot dry periods of the
year.

When one finds that in these Asiatic Russian forests
a single forest guard may be in charge, for protective
purposes, of an area which runs from 30,000 to
250,000 acres of forest, there can be little real pro-
tection from fire save on paper. It is stated that
recently, just before the outbreak of the war, larger
sums were being allocated for the purpose of pro-
tection, and certainly in the interests of the community
and the future welfare and prosperity of the country,
for these forests are a very valuable, an increasingly
valuable, property, expense should not be spared in
ensuring their safety. As a result of the forest fires,
which are said to rival those of Canada and America
in size, considerable areas of country are covered
with shrubs of little value or with grass and moss, the
latter preventing the growth of young seedlings of fir
and spruce, etc., which may germinate from seed
fallen from the scattered trees standing on the area.
The fires also seriously interfere with hunting, which
forms an important trade in parts of Siberia. As long
ago as 1774 the Government were awake to the serious
nature of these fires, for in that year a law was passed
forbidding ‘‘ the burning of the forests in the Siberian
Government in which the sable was hunted.”” With a
staff inadequate to enforce the law it practically
remained a dead letter.

Considerable progress has been made with the
work of investigation into the resources of the large

es

INVESTIGATION 145

area of forest in Asiatic Russia, and more especially
has this been the case in the Western Siberian region,
in which we in this country are perhaps more deeply
interested. A plan was drawn up by the Forest Depart-
ment under which the exploration work was to be
completed in the year 1928. The object of this inves-
tigation work is to ascertain the distribution of the
various species of tree over the different areas of
forest, the approximate amounts and quality of the
old mature timber standing on the ground, the pro-
portion of woods of the younger ages in existence, and
the amount of increment in wood being put on in the
forests. For on this latter becoming known, it is
possible to fix the amount of timber which can be safely
cut out annually. In old primeval forests which have
never been felled in, it is usual to find standing on the
ground an excess of old growing stock, and it is desir-
able on all counts that this excess should be cut out
before it decays and thus becomes valueless. The
investigations of the forest areas being undertaken by
the department aim at ascertaining as nearly as
possible the amount of this old growing stock standing
on the ground. The organising and exploration work
carried out by a portion of the trained staff may be
divided into two classes. Firstly, detailed and closer
investigation work in the areas containing the more
valuable and accessible forests combined with an
enumeration, to a certain extent, of the growing stock
standing on the ground, in order to ascertain the
numbers of existing mature trees ready for felling.
Work of this nature has been carried out in the Western
Siberian areas. Secondly, work of the nature of

—

146 FORESTS OF SIBERIA AND TURKESTAN

flying surveys having for its object to ascertain the
nature of the forests, species and relative abundance
of each, with an approximate estimation of the pro-
portion of old growing stock, and so forth. This
work is simpler, not so accurate or expensive to
undertake, and is applied to areas which for various
reasons are not at present workable. The more
detailed work of investigation and enumeration in the
forests enables the department to fix the varying
amounts of exploitable timber, 7.e. the number of
trees which can be felled yearly, and the information
already compiled on this head for the great forests
of Western Siberia has shown that there exists
a very considerable excess of growing stock to come
out.

In the Forest Department Report for the year
ending January I, 1912, out of the total area of
624,000,000 acres of State forests, 8,300,871 acres had
been subjected to the detailed investigations, and
67,914,917 to the operations of the flying survey,
giving a total of 76,215,788 acres, or about 12 per
cent. of the whole forest area. But the work, with the
increased estimates sanctioned, has since proceeded
at a greater pace, with the result that an area of
44,055,900 acres was subjected to detailed or partial
investigation in IgI2 and 1913, and 22,182,200 acres
in 1914. By the beginning of 1915 the Department
had organised either by detailed or partial investiga-
tions an area of 143,100,000 acres, or approximately
one-fourth of the total area of the State forests in
Asiatic Russia. A good and most useful piece of
work,

SANDY WASTES 147

Other directions in which calls will undoubtedly be
made upon the scientific abilities of the forest staff
will be the necessity for grappling with the planting
of the great sandy wastes which have resulted from
the destruction of forests in the past, and which now
threaten to engulf valuable agricultural lands. This
problem is already receiving considerable attention in
European Russia, as has been shown in a previous
article. It will certainly demand skilful treatment in
her Asiatic dominions.

From the descriptions already given of this great
area of forests, it will be realised that they form a
source of immense wealth, a wealth which for the
most part is as yet untapped. It has been shown that
in the drier parts of this tract the percentage of forest
is very small, and that in these regions, owing to the
bad treatment, in former times, of such forest as there
was, it is now reduced to small areas insufficient for
the requirements of the population. But although
this is true enough in the case of the Governments or
parts of Governments concerned, e.g. the Steppe
region and Turkestan, it does not apply to the bulk
of the great forest areas. These, in spite of fire,
in spite of the war waged against them by man either
for the purpose of extending agriculture, or from
thoughtlessness, ignorance, or for the mere pleasure
of being wastefully extravagant—in spite of all they
have suffered in the past and suffer at the present
time, these forests still cover an enormous extent of
country, and contain a vast amount of unexploited
timber and other forestry materials. In the past the
conditions which would have enabled them to be

148 FORESTS OF SIBERIA AND TURKESTAN

worked or which would have justified their being
exploited—to wit, favourable communications and a
demand—have been absent. The forests have been
for the most part untouched. For instance, according
to the framed estimates in IgII, no less an amount
than 1,800,750,000 cubic feet of timber were available
for sale from the State forests. Of this amount
171,500,000 cubic feet only were disposed of, or some-
thing under 10 per cent. In some parts as, ¢.g., in the
Government of Enessey, the percentage sold was as
low as 5‘I.

As has been shown, the population is very sparse,
and in many parts owned areas of forest sufficient for
its requirements, and so had no reason or necessity
for having recourse to the State forests. Of export
trade until recently there was none.

There appears to be little doubt that one of the chief
sources of the wealth of Asiatic Russia will be found
in its forests, and will be reflected in its export trade.
Already such a trade has developed, and these forests
are taking a place in the international timber markets
of the world. Up to the outbreak of the Great War,
Russia's chief competitors in the timber markets were
Austria-Hungary, Sweden, and Norway, and the
United States and Canada. Already, however, Russia
was looking to taking a bigger place in the competition
with her rivals, and so far as Great Britain was con-
cerned, she out-distanced them all, since we took about
35 per cent. of our total imports from Russia. To
maintain the position in the markets she has already
acquired, and the greater one she must inevitably take
in the future as the exports from her rivals diminish

ee

DIFFICULTIES. OF TRANSIT 149

with the cutting-out of accessible stocks, Russia will
have to draw upon her vast Siberian forests. When
all is said that can be said on the subject of past
destruction and so forth, they remain, if not inexhaust-
ible, at any rate of so vast a size that with proper
management they should prove an extremely valuable
asset and serve Russia’s purpose for many years to
come.

The fact that facilities for the export of timber
from these areas are bad or totally wanting has been
already alluded to. A certain amount of wood from
the Tomsk and Tobolsk Governments has been exported
within the last few years via Archangel and Petrograd,
but the material requires to be first class to pay for
the long transit. The following illustration on the
subject of export difficulties places the present position
in this respect in a nutshell :

The export of wood by the rivers Ob and Enessey,
i.e. by water carriage, would enormously facilitate
and promote the timber trade in the Governments of
Tobolsk, Tomsk, and Enessey. Some ten or twelve
years ago an attempt was made by a private agency
to export timber from the Enessey district to London,
but it ended in failure, although a considerable portion
of the timber did reach Galchika, a village at the
mouth of the Enessey river. Thelate General Makaroff
undertook to place the timber on the steamer for
shipment to England, but his attempt was thwarted,
as ice prevented the ship from entering the mouth of
theriver. A few yearslater a flotilla of ships, equipped
by the Ministry of Ways and Communications, suc-
ceeded in entering the Enessey,' but were unable to

150 FORESTS OF SIBERIA AND TURKESTAN

return the same year and had to winter there. The
steamer on which the famous traveller, Fritiof Nansen,
arrived in Siberia in 1913 also succeeded in entering
the Enessey river. Thus it has been proved that it
is possible for ships from the west to enter the Enessey
river. But this is not sufficient. The timber markets
of Western Europe would require the organisation of
a regular service of timber steamers plying during the
open season. Only with such a service would it be
possible to undertake fellings on a large scale and the
conversion of the material in saw-mills ready for
transport to the western markets. As sawn or other-
wise prepared timber cannot be kept lying up in-
definitely without risk of spoiling, in the absence of
guaranteed export facilities merchants have not in
the past been ready to risk their capital in this business.
The war has considerably altered the position, how-
ever, and there is little doubt that these rich Siberian
forests will be able to furnish very considerable sup-
plies of the timbers which, at the close of the war, will
be so largely in demand.

Owing to the absence of waterways and railways,
the timber export trade from the forests of Turkestan
is as yet wholly undeveloped. Until comparatively
recently, walnut, on account of the beautiful patterned
veneer the burrs yielded, was exported in considerable
amounts from Turkestan to Western Europe. The
demand for the veneer has, however, fallen off of late
years, and the considerable profits of yore have
dwindled. Vast and valuable forests are to be found
in the Irkutsk Government and the Transbaikal and
Yakutsk districts, but owing to the absence of con-

THE FAR EAST 181

venient waterways no exports of timber have yet
been made from this centre.

As regards the forests in the Far East, the export
problem is far less complex. The Amur and other
rivers flow through the country into the Pacific, thus
affording cheap communication by waterway. Owing
to this fortunate position, a great and increasing
export trade in timber from the Pacific ports has
developed. According to statistics issued by the
Vladivostok bureau, the timber exports from Vladi-
vostok in 1910 amounted to 6,446 tons, increasing to
15,310 tons in the following year. The more valuable
kinds of timber exported go to Western Europe,
chiefly to Great Britain, whilst the inferior kinds are
taken by Japan and China. In the same year about
110,000 cubic feet of cembran pine and spruce wood
were exported from Ferney Bay to Australia, and
from the Gulf of St. Olga 374,000 cubic feet of mine
props. In the same year exports were started from
Pasietta, about 100,000 cubic feet being sent away.
With this extensive and rich area of forests at
their back, a very considerable and valuable export
timber trade is likely to develop, and we should
make it our business in this country to become
thoroughly acquainted with it, and ascertain exactly
what classes of timber and what amounts it will
pay us to secure from this region to supplement
supplies obtained from Russia in Europe, Finland,
and Western Siberia. China will not interfere with
the supply of our demands. China is a large con-
sumer of timber, and Russia in this quarter have their
eyes upon the Chinese trade. Mr. Wilks investigated

12

152 FORESTS OF SIBERIA AND TURKESTAN

the Chinese timber market in Ig11, and his figures
showed that about 16,000,000 roubles’ worth of timber,
in the raw state and converted, was imported into
China, the greater part being supplied by Japan and
the United States. With better organisation, how-
ever, it should not be difficult for the Amur region to
compete with the above-mentioned countries, more
especially as the Chinese market is not particular
about the quality of its timber, cheapness being the
first desideratum in the eyes of the Celestial. Second-
or third-class timber, and even the material obtained
from the crowns of the trees, the “‘ tops ”’ of the forester,
is said to be good enough for this facile market. Cer-
tainly no more convenient market could exist, since it
should enable the forest officer to clear his forests of
all inferior material, and get paid for doing so into the
bargain—a most enviable position.

Apparently the greatest difficulty to be faced in
organising the Amur timber trade is the labour one.
The State, for various reasons, has set limits to the
employment of Chinese labour, and owing to the
sparse population it is extremely difficult to obtain
Russian labourers locally. The heavy expense con-
nected with importing labour from great distances
makes a large hole in the profits from the timber
business. It is anticipated that this difficulty will
disappear, as, owing to the rich nature of the Amur
district, the population is likely to increase rapidly.

The revenue obtained from the State forests of
Asiatic Russia is as yet insignificant when compared
with their unquestioned value. As we have shown,
the forests have been scarcely touched as yet.

PROFITS 153

The total profit for the three years IgI0-IgI2 was
as follows:

Year. Roubles.

IgIo ; : ; ‘ . 4,234,000
IgII , ; ; ‘ . 4,079,000
Igi2 : : : : - 4,259,000

The profit from the forests varies in different dis-
tricts, as would be expected, since in areas like parts
of the Steppe region we have seen that wood is of
comparatively high value. For instance, in I9gI2 in
the Akmolin district the better-class forest soil gave a
return of 33 kopeks per acre, whereas in the Tobolsk
Government it was just under 2 kopeks per acre, and
in Tomsk about 24 kopeks. In other forest divisions
in the Tobolsk Government where exploitation is
easier, the profit is higher, amounting to 554 kopeks
per acre of good forest soil.

Such profits, however, from fine forests containing
large amounts of over-ripe timber, strongly emphasise
the backwardness of the areas in communications
and export facilities. With the extraordinary en-
hancement of timber prices which the war has brought
about, and which its termination will not see lowered
unless very careful steps are taken, there should be a
considerable future before these valuable forests of
Asiatic Russia, especially in Western Siberia and in
the favoured Amur region.

XI
THE CEDAR (CEMBRAN PINE) TRADE OF ASIATIC RUSSIA

WHEN considering the Siberian forests from the stand-
point of their trade value and as a source of income
to the Government, it will be necessary to glance
briefly at the important “‘ Cedar”’ trade as it is called,
i.e. the collection and sale of the seed of the cembran
pine (Pinus cembra). The trade is a local one, but
contributes greatly to the welfare of the local popu-
lation, as the seed is widely eaten throughout the
Russian empire.

The pine is widespread throughout Asiatic Russia,
the Pinus cembra being the commonest species; on
the Altai and Sachalin, however, the P. cembra var.
pumilla occurs. Both trees produce the edible seed
so well known and valued in the Russian market.

The trade in this commodity is chiefly carried out in
the Governments of Tobolsk, Tomsk, and Enessey, and
especially on the Altai, where there are still beautiful
and as yet untouched pine forests and groves. In
other parts of Siberia the cembran pine forests have
suffered as badly from fire and the axe as has been the
case with the other species—spruces, firs, larch and
so forth.

The gathering of the seed of the cembran pine, or

154

PRIMITIVE METHODS : 155

“ the cedar harvest’ as it is called, commences about
_ the middle of August. At this period the local popu-
lation and the ‘“‘ cedar’’ merchants proceed together
to the cembran pine woods and groves to collect the
seed. The method of collection, as also the tools
used, is most barbarous and would appear to inflict
the maximum amount of damage to the trees from
which this source of profit is derived, and whose
preservation, it would be thought, should be the
first object of the harvesters. This is a common
characteristic of the Asiatic races. In North Baluchis-
tan and in Southern Afghanistan a pine known as
Pinus Gerrardiana, the chilgoza or silver-barked pine,
occurs in small forests clothing the steep mountain
sides and crests. The seed from the cone of this pine
is collected for sale, and is widely eaten throughout
the Punjab. The methods in force in collecting it,
as will be shown, have a curious parallel with those
used in harvesting the cembran pine seed in Asiatic
Russia. The tools used in Siberia are extremely
primitive, consisting of axes, sieves, bark ladles,
graters for the cones, mallets, poles, bags, etc. The
gathering of the cones is effected by climbers—men
and boys who climb up into the trees and knock or
pull the ripe cones off the branches. As these branches
also contain the young cones of next year’s crop, the
primitive methods of harvesting usually result in a
number of these being-knocked off in addition to the
ripe ones, thus diminishing the harvest of the following
year. This method of collection usually results in
numbers of branches being broken off the trees, their
future bearing capacity being permanently reduced.

156 THE CEDAR TRADE OF ASIATIC RUSSIA

But worse damage than this, serious as it is, takes
place. ‘“‘ Rather often,” asit is expressed by a Russian
writer on the subject, ‘‘ wholly inadmissible and
barbarous methods are employed, whole trees being
cut down or large branches cut off.” The folly of
thus “‘ killing the goose’’ must seem incredible to
those who have no acquaintance with the peculiar
point of view of the wilder and ignorant portions of the
Asiatic peoples. The cones are collected and placed
in bags by old men, women and children, and are
carried to the camp where the cedar merchants have
made their temporary headquarters, or taken direct
to the village. The extraction of the seeds from the
cones is now undertaken. For this purpose the cones
may be simply dried, when the scales open and the
seeds fall out, or the latter are extracted by means of
a grater and a roller. The seeds are then sifted by
being passed through a coarse sieve and winnowed in
the wind. The seed, if these processes have been
carried out by the collectors themselves, is then
disposed of to the buyers—the cedar merchants—who
themselves undertake the further operations of cleaning
and drying it. The drying is done throughout
the autumn, and the seed is then stored. The mer-
chants usually build and own barns and store-houses
in which to store the dried seed as conveniently adjacent
to the pine forests and groves as possible. On the
Altai there is a large centre of this nature in the
Bezelbeke meadow not far from the confluence of the
Hara and Sasacockshee. In the following January
the seed is taken from the store-houses and dispatched
by the buyers to the various markets.

DESTRUCTIVE PRACTICES 157

It will be of interest to contrast the above method
of collecting and dealing with the seed with that in
force in the wild border land of North Baluchistan,
Afghanistan, and the frontier to the west. The seed
is collected by the tribesmen of these parts, who
regard it as a right, and in fact consider the forests to
be their own property. They fully recognise the
value of refraining from felling the trees, except when
absolutely required to obtain timber for building
purposes, etc., but their regard for the trees goes, no
farther. The forest has an extremely ragged appear-
ance, and this is in part due to the methods of collec-
tion, this work being carried out in the summer time.
To obtain the seed, men climb the trees, and by
means of long poles to the end of which a hook is
affixed, they wrench from the boughs the seed-bearing
cones. The wrench invariably breaks a portion of
the branch, with the result that a tree from which
the cones have been recently stripped bleeds from
numerous places, and is in a condition most sus-
ceptible to attack by insect and fungus pests. The
attention of a Political Officer of these regions
was drawn to the fact that, owing to the greed of
the tribesmen, in addition to the injury done to
the trees scarcely a cone was left upon them
to produce seed for the natural regeneration of the
forests, 1.¢. the production of a new crop of trees.
This must be an equally vital point in the parts of
the Western Asiatic forests which are subject to the
collection of the seed of the cembran pine. In the
case of the chilgoza pine the cones after collection are
gathered together in heaps, and the heaps fired whilst

158 THE CEDAR TRADE OF ASIATIC RUSSIA

the cones are still green. The heat forces open the
cone scales, and the seed is then picked out. This is
the common procedure adopted, and when marching
through these forests in the autumn, heaps and mounds
of empty cones collected in the centre of some small
glade are often met with.

At the request of the Political Officer, a note was pre-
pared laying down some simple rules for the improved
collection of the cone harvest in the interests of the
preservation of the trees themselves. We had a
solemn jirgah in the forest one day. The heads of the
local villages and so forth attended and received the
explanations of the proposed future procedure with
no great enthusiasm, but with promises to see that it
was carried out. They are childishly difficult, not to
say dangerously difficult, people to deal with in these
parts, and as they burnt down the Political Officer’s
summer head-quarters rest-house, situated in these
forests, the following year, it is to be feared that the
rules for the collection of chilgoza cones have not yet
been introduced very effectively.

To return to the cembran pine of Asiatic Russia.
The yearly collection of seed is said to amount to
several tens of thousands of poods (1 pood equals
‘32 cwt.), the average wage of each workman being
from six to nineteen roubles a season; or when the
work is undertaken by the Labourers’ Association
(artel) each member of the Association who takes
up the work makes from thirty to forty roubles during
the season.

As a popular dainty the cembran pine seed is much
appreciated both throughout Siberia and European

THE CEMBRAN PINE 159

Russia. The seeds also yield the “cedar” oil. To
obtain it the kernels are extracted from the seed, the
husk being stripped off, and ground into a powder.
The powder is put into pots covered with water, and
placed in slightly heated stoves. The oil from the
seed rises to the surface and is poured off into vessels
ready for use.

It has been necessary to glance briefly at this trade
in the seed of the cembran pine since it naturally
affects the exploitation of the forests of this species
as also the felling arrangements in mixed forests
containing this pine in any abundance. A tree which
has a value other than for its timber alone owing to
the fact that it produces a minor product of marketable
value in addition to the major one—timber—must
necessarily be subject to a different form of treatment.
to that applicable to the purely timber-yielding
species. And this fact has to be borne in mind when
considering the exploitation of the Pinus cembra
woods of Siberia and their possibilities as regards
supplying material to the timber markets of Europe.

PART III
TIMBER SUPPLIES AND THE WAR

XII

TIMBER SUPPLIES AND THE WAR!

IMPORTS IN I9I3

For a considerable number of years past the possi-
bility of the occurrence of a wood famine has been
discussed—a famine, that is, unprecedented in the
history of the world. Many have scouted the idea
of such a proposition as a fantastic chimera, pointing
to the vast forest resources still existing on the surface
of the globe. Others, with a more intimate knowledge,
perhaps, of the real position of affairs, have persis-
tently sounded the note of alarm. They have drawn
attention to the enormously increased démand for
forest produce of all kinds which the past half-century
has witnessed; to the great destruction of forests
which has taken place in the opening out of the coun-
tries of the New World during the same period; to
the wasteful and extravagant utilisation of these

1 This article was written in September 1914, and published in

The Nineteenth Century and Afiey in February 1915.
160

a

DISADVANTAGES AT HOME 161

resources largely through fire by an ignorant popula-
tion allowed to pursue its own way by an apathetic
Government ; and, finally, to the fact that the markets
of the world have for some time been supplied with
large quantities of material at a low and more or less
fictitious price—material that was easily accessible,
which paid, for the most part, a very small royalty or
none at all—material, in other words, which had cost
man nothing to produce and therefore could undersell
in every country a similar article which had been
grown by man himself. True, in this country we had
our own special troubles. A better class of material
than we had produced in the past in our own woods
on soil and in a climate at least as favourable as that
from which the imported articles came, easily ousted
the home-grown produce, the position being aggravated
by the high railway freight rates in force in these
islands.

Amongst European States, of course, the importance
of the forest received recognition several centuries
ago, as soon, in fact, as the pressure and needs of the
growing population came to be felt upon the forest
lands.. These were only saved by closure and the
enactment of forest laws protecting both State and
privately owned woods. With the increase in popu-
lation came the timber market, the enhanced value
of forest products, and the raising of new crops to
take the place of those felled over for sale. But this
recognition of the value of forests was confined to
Europe or the more densely populated parts of it.
Elsewhere wasteful utilisation held sway. Gradually,
however, expert opinion in this matter during the

162 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND THE WAR

latter part of last century came to receive a certain
meed of attention from the Governments of the States
of the world. One of the more recent and notable
recognitions took place in America under the Roosevelt
régime. That great and far-seeing statesman studied
the question, became convinced of its importance, and
set himself to put a stop to what may be said to have
been one of the most notorious instances of wasteful
utilisation of forest material in any country. Roose-
velt took up the question in his own vigorous fashion,
preached the conservation of the natural resources of
his own country, helped to create a Bureau of Forestry,
and by all the means in his power encouraged a forestry
opinion and a forestry knowledge amongst the people.
The crusade resulted in the creation of large forest
reserves, in large plantings, and the enlistment of the
great lumber interests in checking forest fires, which
were imperilling the future material prosperity of
the nation, and in replanting areas they had felled
over.

The energetic action of America in the direction of
forestry caught first the imagination and then the
attention of the world. Outside Europe, India, long
years before, had recognised the importance of con-
serving her vast forest area, and under that able
administrator, Lord Dalhousie, a permanent policy
for forest administration was laid down in 1855; a
work which, subsequent to the Mutiny, with its imme-
diate after-result of rapid railway building, was to
be greatly accelerated by the formation of an Imperial
Forest Department. But India does not advertise.
The officials carry on their work in an almost total

CONSERVATION. OF FOREST RESOURCES 163

obscurity so far as the outer world is concerned, and
it was many years before the existence of the fine
Indian department was to win recognition throughout
the world, or even within the British Isles. Many
British Colonies—notably the Cape and Canada—soon
followed the Indian and American lead, in many
instances borrowing men from India to start their
forestry work or advise in the'matter. At the present
day most of the British Dominions, Colonies and
Protectorates have a forestry department in being
or are laying the foundations of one. In other words,
the conservation of their natural forest resources in
the interests of their present and future populations
has become a recognised branch of the administration
of all States, although in many cases much remains
to be done before such administration can be con-
sidered efficient.

Turning now to our own country, the British Isles
may be said to be the last to enter the arena of forest
production and conservancy. Not that forestry as a
science and a source of revenue had not been pursued
for a long period in this country. It had! But the
position has been far different from that existing on
the Continent of Europe. These islands started, as
did many other now densely populated parts of the
world, with primeval woods covering the greater part
of them. These, with an increasing population, were
mostly wantonly wasted by fire and axe, considerable
areas formerly covered with pine remaining bare at
the present day, witness the Scottish Highlands. The
areas still under wood—such as, e.g., the New Forest
in Hampshire and the Forest of Dean in Gloucester-

164 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND THE WAR

shire—owe their preservation to the fact that they were
maintained as Royal shooting forests in the olden
days. But forestry, in areas of privately owned woods,
was understood in England and dates back a long
way. In 1543 a Statute of Woods was enacted.
Under this it was decreed that all woods should be
enclosed for four, six, or seven years after each cutting
over of the coppice for different rotations, and that at
least twelve standards per acre should be reserved or
left on the area to grow into timber of a certain girth
or age. These standards were to be oak, if possible,
or elm, ash, aspen, or beech, these being the timbers
most in demand, whilst the coppice consisted of
chestnut, hazel, ash, oak, willow, birch, etc. The
object of this and subsequent enactments was to
ensure the maintenance of a supply of suitable timber
of the requisite size for shipbuilding, both for the
Navy and the merchant-vessel classes. The success
which attended Evelyn’s planting campaign in the
reign of Charles II has been commented upon. This
practice of forestry, which came to be known as British
forestry, remained in force for a long period, and
supplied the country with the bulk of its timber
requirements in the direction of home-grown materials.
It was successful as long as, and only as long as, it had
its home market. The introduction of the steel
vessel, the abolition of the import duties on Colonial
timber in 1846, and for all other foreign timber in
1866, sounded the death-knell of British forestry
methods as at the time practised. And not only this.
These methods unfortunately came to be positively
injurious. The requirements of the old shipbuilding

Pag
&
F

RESULTS OF IGNORANCE 165

trade necessitated the production of large branches,
crooks, and curved timber on the trees. In order to
produce these it was essential that each tree should
be given a great deal of growing space, the result
being loss of height-growth, short bole, and large
branches. As soon as these latter no longer found a
market for which they were grown, forestry operations
resulted in a loss, the only saleable part of the tree
being the bole, of greatly curtailed length. This was
bad enough, but worse was to follow. Plantations
were formed of other species, especially conifers, to
which the old principles and methods of thinning were
applied, or something having a close resemblance to
these old methods. Consequently the new woods
were systematically over-thinned, the trees branched
low, the bole was stunted and full of knots, the volume
of timber realised per acre was much below what it
should have been—all witness to the impracticability
of applying a perfectly correct sylvicultural system
for one class of material to the production of a different
one. The results of the past half to three-quarters of
a century have not been due so much to a decadence
of British forestry as to an unfortunate want of know-
ledge of the methods to be employed to produce the
classes of material imported in large quantities from
the Continent, classes which have easily and success-
fully competed with the home-grown article. A golden
opportunity would now seem to have arrived to
rectify matters.

With this brief summary we will now turn to a
survey of the present production of forestry materials
(timber, pit props, and wood pulp, and so on) and

166 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND THE WAR

their imports into this country from various parts of
the world. It will then be possible to consider the
position, so far as forest imports are concerned, in
which the sudden incidence of a general European
War has placed us. It will be pointed out how, whilst
helping to the utmost extent of our resources the mine-
owner, builder, and other trades employing wood, an —
admirable opportunity has arrived for clearing off a
number of wrongly formed and badly grown planta-
tions and of starting afresh. A study of the imports
for 1913, which will be now proceeded with, will
sufficiently support this contention.

The United Kingdom buys nearly half the timber
exported from all countries, and the prices ruling in
British markets affect the world! With a war of
the present magnitude on our hands this state of
affairs appears worthy of some consideration. An
investigation of the Board of Trade Returns for 1913
shows that the value of wood and timber and manu-
factures thereof imported into this country amounted
for that year to £37,300,000, as against {25,600,000
in 1909. For the same years the value of imported
wood pulp, including millboard and wood-pulp board,
was £5,425,000, as against £4,135,000. The rise in
each case over a period of four years only is note-
worthy. The chief exporting countries in Europe
are Russia, Sweden, Norway, Germany, France, and
Austria-Hungary, the three first being the most import-
ant. Outside Europe the United States of America
and Canada send us large amounts of wood material.

OUR IMPORTS 167

The chief supplies of fir (coniferous wood—hewn,
sawn, and planed—other than pitwood) come from
Russia, Sweden, Norway, Germany, United States,
and Canada, the total values of the imports from these
countries for 1913 being {16,000,000 from Europe
and {6,500,000 from the United States and Canada.
The Russian imports were £10,330,000, as against a
total of £5,700,000 from Sweden, Norway, and Ger-
many, the totals from the United States and Canada
being £3,383,000 and £3,150,000 respectively.

Russia again is the chief pit prop and pitwood
supplier, £2,400,000 worth of this essential com-
modity for the mines of the country being imported
in I9I3 (as against £1,400,000 in 1909, an increase of _
a million!). The next important supplies came from
France, £830,000; Sweden, £560,000; Portugal,
£280,000; and Norway, £200,000; Germany, Spain,
and other foreign countries sending together £154,000.
No pitwood came from British possessions during
1913. The importance of the position revealed by
these figures can scarcely be exaggerated.

Wood pulp, of which a shortage has probably already
made itself felt, to judge from the dwindling in size
as also in quality of the paper in use by many of the
daily papers and the weekly and monthly periodicals,
is shown in the Board of Trade 1913 Returns under
five heads: Chemical dry, bleached and unbleached ;
chemical wet; mechanical dry and wet. Of the first
named, Norway is the largest importer into this
country (£136,000 in 1913), with £23,000 from Sweden.
The largest amounts of unbleached came from Sweden
(£1,945,000), Norway (£377,000), Russia (£329,000),

T3

168 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND THE WAR

and Germany (£322,000). Chemical wet came chiefly
from Sweden (£37,000), mechanical dry from Russia
(£22,000), and mechanical wet from Norway (£701,000),
Sweden (£281,000), Canada (£156,000), and New-
foundland (£123,000).

The greatest quantities of oak in I9I3 were im-
ported from the United States (£1,134,000), Russia
(£186,000), Germany and Austria-Hungary (£273,000),
and Canada (£85,000). The chief amounts of teak
came from India (£752,000), Siam (£119,000), and
Java (£40,000). The mahogany came from French
West Africa (£344,000), Southern Nigeria (£226,000),
Gold Coast (£198,000), British Honduras (£135,000),
United States (£115,000), Cuba (£72,000), and German
West Africa (£52,000). Thelargest amount of furniture
and cabinet ware came from France (£106,000) and
the United States (£104,000), with {60,000 from
Germany and {58,000 from Belgium. House-frame
fittings and joiners’ work came from Sweden (£71,000)
and the United States (£40,000). Wood ware and
wood turnery from the United States (£1,392,000),
Russia ({£806,000), Germany (£364,000), Sweden
(£85,000), France (£70,000), and Canada (£53,000).
The chief imports of staves were sent from Russia
(£481,000), United States (£266,000), Sweden (£120,000),
Germany (£64,000), Norway (£46,000). Chip boxes to
the value of £38,000 were imported from Sweden,
and half a million pounds’ worth of matches from
Russia (£21,000), Sweden (£292,000), Norway (£38,000),
Netherlands (£22,000), and Belgium (£134,000). Cork
to the tune of £895,000 was imported from Portugal
and Spain.

~ ee , —

CLASSIFICATION OF TIMBERS 169

Turning now to the classification of timbers. In
commerce timbers are classified into two chief groups :
softwoods and hardwoods—a purely arbitrary classi-
fication. The former are practically all conifers, pines
(red and yellow deal), spruces, and firs (white deal),
and the larches. The timber of these species is com-
paratively light, strong, and easy to work, and is
extensively used by all trades, and generally for building
purposes. Coniferous timber is imported as _ logs,
deals (thick planks), and boards. It is logged and
sawn up from selected well-grown clean stems, free as
possible from knots. Pit-props are cut from thinnings
in middle-aged woods, from the tops of older trees
which have been logged, and from stunted growth
which will yield material of the requisite size. Wood
pulp is preferably made from trees of 4-inch to 8-inch
diameter, and is largely used, of course, for the
manufacture of the cheaper classes of paper. With
the exception of oak and a few other species, the
imported hardwoods do not grow in these islands.
Even in the case of oak the foreign timber of this
species is preferred to the indigenous, as it is less
hard and easier to work. The foreign imported
hardwoods are used for veneering, panelling, flooring,
furniture, and wood turnery, etc. They are usually
heavy woods and difficult to work, and consequently
more costly.

The imports of wood and timber receivedearto this
country may be divided according to the Board of
Trade Returns into six divisions as follows, taking
hewn (i.e. logs) and sawn, planed, and dressed coni-
ferous material as one division :

170 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND THE WAR

Division. Classification. Value.
I Conifers (firs in Board of Trade Returns)—
Logs, sawn or split, planed or dressed . | 22,800,000
2 Conifers—Pit props and re ‘ - | 4,400,000
3 Conifers—Wood pulp ; : - | 5,425,000
4 Hardwoods—Oak logs. 1,700,000
5 Wood manufactures—House frames, furni-
ture, joiner’s work, staves, turnery 4,600,000
6 Hardwoods—Teak, mahogany, veneers, and
other foreign furniture wood . 3,800,000
TOTAL . ‘ ; ‘ ‘ - | 42,725,000

An analysis of the above six divisions of the imports
of wood and timber into this country brings into
prominence several important and interesting features.
The first four, involving a sum of £34,325,000, comprise
materials obtained from coniferous species and oak,
all of which can be grown in this country. For the
manufactured articles in division five both conifers
and hardwoods are employed, the sixth division being
confined to purely foreign exotic timbers. A second
point is the steady rise in the imports under all the
divisions during the past four years, the increase for
I9I3 over 1909 being nearly £12,000,000. From the
above rough classification it can be seen that the pinch
is likely to be early felt in the imports of pitwood,
wood pulp, and building timbers. It will be useful,
therefore, to tabulate the amounts of materials in our
divisions coming from the various countries. These
latter may be divided into three distinct categories
of States: (I.) European; (II.) Non-European States
and Foreign Colonies; (III.) British Possessions,
including Protectorates.

Ee

TABLE OF VALUES 171
VALUES IN STERLING OF IMPORTS UNDER THE DIFFERENT
DIVISIONS
Div. 1 DIv. 2 DIv. 3 DIv. 4 Div. § Div, 6
; Wood
aes Conifers: | Conifers: Conifers:| Hard< | Manufac- F
Logs, | Pit PTOPS| “Wood | woods: | tures: —
Sawn, split, and pulp | Oak Logs s Hard-
planed. | Pitwood ture, &c. woods.
I. Imporis from Europe.
£ £ £
Russia FS « |10,416,000| 2,415,000] 5§41,000| 186,000} 1,299,000] 117,000
Sweden + | 3,920,000] 560,000 | 2,492,000 —_ 317,000 —_
Norway . - | 3,143,000! 200,000] 1,261,000 -- 6,000 _
ae ° 680,000 53,000| 460,000} 134,000} 509,000 37,000
Netherlands ° 45,000 — 13,000 — 61,000 10,000
Belgium . . — — —_ ae 77,000 _
France ‘ ° 55,000! 830,000 6,000 oe 187,000 55,000
Portugal . s —_ 278,000 15,000 _ —_ —_
Spain ® “ — 91,000 — = 31,000 —
Austria-Hungary 5,000 — oo 139,000 57,000 —
II. Non-European States and Foreign Colonies,
German West
Africa . ’ a ae — — — 52,000
Java and Dutch
Possessions . — a — — — 52,000
French West Africa) _ _ —- a 344,000
Siam . . A —_ — -— oa — 119,000
Japan ° é — _ _ 57,000 II,000 —
United States . | 3,383,000 _— 29,000 | I,134,000| 1,802,000 | 1,019,000
oo . . . — oo a. ee — 89,000
Nicaragua . Ps — -- fa _ _ 22,000
Mexico . 3 -- — soe os —- 9,000
Hayti and San
Domingo - — _- _ — oo 23,000
III. British Possessions (including Protectorates).
Gold Coast ‘ => coe — —_ —- 198,000
Southern Nigeria — — — -—— —~ 226,000
F _ _ —_ _ 7,000} 752,000
lon é nine nasi a _ a 14,000
British North
‘ sade fille pare — _ 11,000
Australia (including
Tasmania) ‘ _ —_ — _ _ 243,000
New Zealand ’ 11,000 -— — — — —
> + | 3,150,000 -~ 265,000 85,000 71,000 94,000
3 2,000 — 123,000 _ _ _
British W. India
é 4 — —_— -- _— nt 16,000
tish Honduras _ _ _ oy — 135,000
British Guiana _ — — — — 55,000
TOTALS + | 22,800,000 | 4,427,000| 5,205,000] 1,735,000| 4,515,000] 3,692,000

N.B.—The slight differences shown here from the lump sums quoted above are
due to small additional entries in Board of Trade Returns under “ From Other
Countries’ unspecified

ed,

172 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND THE WAR

Columns 2, 3, and 4 of this form are perhaps of
greatest interest at the present juncture, since some
important industries are dependent on the materials
they deal with being available. Column 1 includes
the bulk of the timber in general use by the building
and other trades employing wood. Approximately
one-half of the imports of 1913 are probably closed
for the present. In column 2 about three-fourths of
the pitwood imported came from Russia and France. ©
Supplies from these countries are unlikely to be
available for some months to come, probably at the
earliest well over a year, since no fresh fellings are
likely to be carried out till the men return from the
Colours.! About three-fifths of the wood pulp (column
3) comes from Sweden and Norway. Whether this
material can be delivered must depend on North Sea
naval problems. The United States, Canada, and
Newfoundland should, in course of time, be able to
help us here. To the United States and Canada we
shall have to look for our supplies of oak, unless the
trade will be content to use the harder but finer
quality oak of theseislands. As regards the £4,500,000
of wood manufactures, the present will be an excellent
opportunity to ascertain how many of these articles
we can produce in this country. In the foreign hard-
woods only one-sixteenth comes from Europe. The
command of the sea throughout the world should,
therefore, enable supplies of these commodities, of

1 Since this was written the Board of Trade Returns for Sep-
tember 1914 show that 240,000 tons of pitwood were imported that
month as against 600,000, the normal amount for the month, The
greater part came from France,

ee

AREA UNDER PLANTATIONS 173

which probably teak is the most important, to continue
to arrive in our ports; provided always ships are
available to carry them. The match producers in this
country will not be sorry to secure the half million
of money paid for imports of this article to these shores.
Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands could, how-
ever, ‘maintain or increase their supply with a safe
North Sea passage maintained for them.'

The area under woodlands and plantations in these
islands is roughly about 3,030,000 acres, as follows:
England, 1,666,000; Scotland, 879,000; Ireland,
303,000; Wales, 182,000. With the favourable con-
ditions of soil and climate of this country these three
million odd acres should give an average annual
growth or increment of 60-70 cubic feet of timber per
acre, instead of about 10 cubic feet, which is, roughly,
the actual present average production per acre. Fifty
cubic feet is the estimated average annual growth in
Germany. As has been said above, the United King-
dom buys nearly half of the timber exported from
all countries, and the prices ruling in British markets
affect the world. It has been shown that at least
one-half of the 1913 imports of conifer logs and sawn
and planed coniferous timber are at present closed to
these islands, and to all appearances are likely to
remain so for a considerable period of time. Also
about three-fourths of the pitwood imports (coming
from Russia and France) are lost to us. The supply,

1 This article was written in September 1914. It is perhaps of
some interest when the position of affairs a year and a half later is
taken into account,

174 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND THE WAR

so far as is possible, of these two classes of wood during
the next few months, until more distant countries
can come to our help, is the problem before us. That
efforts will be made by countries farther afield to take
advantage of this decrease in imports in the British
market has already been evidenced by the offer of the
Government of Newfoundland. It has already in-
timated its desire and intention to supply the pit-
wood market. For this purpose there are, it is under-
stood, considerable areas of scrub and stunted material
in the Colony on tracts formerly over-run by fires,
which it is expected will be able to furnish considerable
supplies of pitwood of the smaller sizes. America
and Canada, who already send us well over a fourth of
the imports of coniferous logs and sawn and planed
timber, may increase this amount. This may, how-
ever, take time. The supply of imported oak timber
will also be practically confined to the United States
and Canada. It would appear, therefore, that in
these three directions there is a great opportunity for
home-grown material, material which, owing to a
variety of causes, chiefly perhaps the rough knotty
nature of the wood grown and the heavy railway freight
rates, has not up to now been able to compete in the
open market with imported material of the same
species and class, but of better quality. For the figures
of imports already tabulated emphatically prove that
colliery-owners and others are no longer in a position
allowing them to pick and choose. True, owing to
our contracted exports to the countries engaged in
war less wood materials may be required in these
islands. But our imports are so vast, and the home

NEEDS AND OPPORTUNITIES 175

supplies available so comparatively small, that there
is no need to worry on that score. The important
point is to get rid of our own inferior material, whilst
at the same time giving a much desired support to the
market, before more distant fields step in and once
again cut out the home-grown. Incidentally the cause
of scientific forestry in this country has all to gain by
such action. How is this unique opportunity to be.
taken full advantage of ?

It has been shown that all the imported conifers of
divisions I and 2 can be grown in this country. The
chief are Scots pine, spruce, larch, and fir. The first
two are the pit-prop woods (In France and South
Europe the Maritime pine is used.) Considerable
tracts of Scots pine exist in this country. Of spruce,
the available supply is, unfortunately, very small
owing to the extraordinary neglect which this species
has received at the hands of planters up to compara-
tively recent years. Larch for colliery purposes is
only used in the main galleries owing to its greater
cost. We have little fir growing, save as ornamental
trees in policies and parks, and soon. With a heavy
demand and restricted supply, however, we can
reckon on colliery proprietors being prepared to take
anything which will serve as a pit prop, provided it
has fair straightness, the necessary strength, and is
of the requisite size. There are plenty of scrub areas
of oak and other species in the country, in parts of
Scotland especially, grown up from the old oak coppice,
which will furnish material of pitwood size. Such
areas before the war were worthless, and in many
cases would not, or scarcely, cover the cost of felling

176 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND THE WAR

and replanting. Their opportunity has now arrived.
It should prove possible to fell all accessible areas of
this nature at a profit, provided the operation is
undertaken in the near future and before other more
distant supplies are placed upon the market.' Thus,
broadly speaking, it may be said that almost any
area which is fairly accessible and has on it a crop of
size and sufficient durability to produce pit props
has at the present a market before it. Areas of older
trees can supply logs and sawn and planed timber in
addition to pitwood. Other hardwoods which will
now be taken are chestnut, beech, birch, sycamore,
elm, and alder.

It is possible to differentiate between the different
classes of woods which may be utilised in this manner
in the service of the nation, and to the advantage of
the proprietor.

Taking first the Scots pine woods of Scotland. There
are unfortunately considerable tracts of both middle-
aged and old woods which were very badly blown out
in the great gales of November 1911 and April 1912.
Other areas of middle-age and under have been badly
opened out by snow-break and wind. Others, again,
planted in unsuitable localities, have never fulfilled
the anticipations formed for them, and already before
middle age it is seen that they will require a very long
rotation to produce timber of sleeper size. The oppor-
tunity for all these classes of woods is to hand, and
there should be every prospect, if they are dealt with

1 It has already been shown in Article I, p. 8, that such areas
are being felled in Perthshire (and elsewhere), the material being
delivered on the Highland Railway at 18s. per ton, Vide Pl. 8.
These props are being sent to Newcastle.—E. P. S. May 1916.

Seritiadns Latmen anaceieciedt iene ’
5 ‘Phe Oe Pe

CLASSES OF WOODS 177

at once, of a profit being obtained from their sale and
clearance.

The second class of woods for consideration are
those from about thirty-five to fifty years old Scots
pine, Scots pine and spruce, or with a few additional
larch in mixture. These may have been grown to
produce pit props, as in the instances at Raith (on a
forty-year rotation) in Fife, or the original idea may
have been to grow them on a longer rotation for large
timber. It will be for consideration now whether it
will be more profitable, and to the greater interests of
the nation, to clear fell these areas and convert the
material into pitwood.

It is unnecessary to consider here at any length
the next class, old mature, or nearly mature, woods.
With a good market their removal will be financially
desirable.

The next class, from the scientific forester’s point
of view, is certainly not the least important. This
consists of immature woods from about thirty years
of age and upwards, in which thinnings can be made.
In all accessible woods of any size, these thinnings
should provide a considerable amount of pitwood
material. The important point will be that the
thinnings should be made with care, the trees to be
removed being marked beforehand by a reliable
forester well acquainted with the principles of scientific
thinning.

Finally, for general purposes there are the few pure
spruce, larch woods, and various hardwoods. Of pure
spruce there are few in this country. Such as: are
available will doubtless be marketed at wy profit. Pr.

We Wa ts if

< / a
Nags te i
eed ie oa 1%
hs ae fi ae |
ly, &
y

178 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND THE WAR

Little need be said here of larch. The timber always
finds a ready market, and there will probably be an
upward tendency in prices for this material. For oak
high forest the scrub areas have been already dealt
with—in the absence of the nearest supplies which
come from Austria-Hungary and Germany there is
likely to be a larger demand and a higher price. Birch
may be in demand for furniture-making purposes, in
addition to pit props;-as also our other useful hard-
woods, to take the place of imported manufactures.
As to the size of the wood materials in demand.
It will be unnecessary to dwell upon division 1, logs
and sawn timber. A few remarks may, however,
prove useful on pitwood. The following is a quota-
tion (abbreviated) for Scots pine and spruce pitwood
drawn up in August 1914 by a large colliery proprietor
in Scotland.' The classes are four in number—round
props, quartered props, crowns, and pit sleepers; the
prices are carriage paid, delivered at the mines.
Round props—3 in. up to 4 ft. in length fetch 3s. 11d. per roo ft.
in 4 in. classes, and varying lengths, to 5} in. up
to 8 ft. in length, fetching 10s. 9d. per 100 ft.
Quartered props—Ex. 5 in., 6 in., and 7 in. up to 4 ft. long fetch
2s. Id., 2s. 9d., and 3s. 7d. per 100 ft. respec-
tively.
Crowns—3}4 ft. x 3. in. x 14 in. fetch 1d. each.
4 ft. x 34in. x 1} in. fetch 13d. each.
5 ft.x4 in.x2 in. fetch 1$d. each.
5 it.x 4hin. x 2} in. fetch 1d. each.

5 ft.x5 in. x 2}in. fetch 24d. each.
Pit-sleepers—3 ft. 3 in. x 5 in. x 2 in. fetch 15s. 6d, per 100.

The butt ends of trees are usually cut up into quartered
wood, pit sleepers, small crowns, and hutch-boards.
1 The prices have since greatly increased.

PITWOOD* REQUIREMENTS 179

Of the amounts of timber and pitwood available in
these islands to fill the gap made in the imports, it is
not at present easy to speak.! There is no forest law
in this country, and therefore no power to compel the
felling, in the interests of the nation, of areas of woods
in private ownership, as is the case in many Conti-
nental countries. Nor is there any evidence that
such a law would be necessary in Britain. The diffi-
culty in the past has been to find a good market for
the produce of the woods. With a market at the door
there can be little doubt of the willingness and patriotic
spirit of proprietors to take advantage of it. It has
been estimated by one large Scottish colliery proprietor
that he would require about 200 acres per annum of
fair, well-grown Scots fir, forty to fifty years old, for
his needs. And he further estimated the total Scottish
colliery requirements at 6,000 acres of the same
material per annum. It has not been stated whether
the calculation is based on Continental methods of
growth or on British ones—a matter of some import-
ance, since the British woods as grown in the past
carry far less per acre than is the case with the better-
grown woods of the Continent. The estimated average

annual requirements would thus be probably nearer

8,000 acres per annum. And this is for pitwood
alone !

In conclusion, there is one other point which may

1 Inquiries by the English Board of Agriculture, published in
November 1914, on the subject of the amount of pitwood available
in England and Wales estimate 7,900,000 tons standing in the
woods, of which 3,800,000 tons could be exploited by extraordinary
fellings. This would supply the demand for one year, the total
amount available only supplying the requirements of two years.

180 TIMBER SUPPLIES AND THE WAR

be briefly touched upon here, for it scarcely comes
within the purview of matters herein considered. I
allude to the labour supply. To work the woods in
the country will almost certainly require a supply of
imported labour, and provision will have to be made
for the housing of such labour. Even so, this labour,
or much of it, will not be satisfactory for the present
emergency, which demands good and rapid work. At
the present moment we probably have as fine a supply
of well-trained forest labour as has ever been in exist-
ence in this country. It is to be found amongst the
German prisoners.! One-twelfth of the population of
the German Empire is said to be connected in one
way or another with the working of the German forests.
There must be, accordingly, at the present moment
amongst our prisoners men who are first-rate forestry
labourers. It would appear possible that in this
emergency some use could be made of these men, their
services being remunerated. In thinning operations
trained hands would be invaluable.

1 Also to a certain extent amongst the Belgian refugees.

ee Rk er i EVO ARO T Th in ee. 4g Se

XIII

THE EFFECT OF SIX MONTHS’ WAR ON THE TIMBER
SUPPLIES

THE outbreak of the Great European War inevitably
brought about an immediate and considerable dis-
location to trade in all departments. That a war in
Europe, even on a small scale, given that certain of
the Great Powers were the belligerents, would result
in such a check had, of course, been anticipated for
years; but some of the direct causes for this diminu-
tion could scarcely have been foreseen. For instance,
the shortage in freight steamers was perhaps not
expected to the degree which has actually taken place
owing to the large number of vessels taken up by the
Government for military and naval purposes. The
First Lord of the Admiralty told the House some
months ago that a considerable portion of the British
mercantile fleet was being so used.'! This action on
the part of the Admiralty, whilst quite necessary, has
resulted in a shortage of vessels which has had a direct
bearing upon the shrinkage in imports both of timber
and other produce of the forests—for shiinkage there
has been. Then, again, the removal from the ocean
of Germany’s entire mercantile marine, plying as it
did on every sea, has naturally still further assisted

1 This article was written in February 1915 and published in the
Nineteenth Century in July 1915.
181

182 EFFECT OF WAR ON TIMBER SUPPLIES

the depletion of cargo vessels, since so large a pro-
portion are interned, and consequently unavailable for
transport purposes.

That timber supplies as a result of a European war
would naturally prove one of the first commodities
to suffer in this country was a foregone conclusion
amongst those who had studied the subject at all
closely, the point of greatest and immediate danger
being the pit prop and pitwood supply of the mines,
of which some {4,400,000 worth were imported in
1913. Further, it was realised that a war in which
Russia was involved with her near Western neighbour
would, with the closure of ports, be seriously felt in
this country, since we are indebted to Russia for
some {12,800,000 sterling of timber imports annually,
more than a fourth of our total imports of forest
materials from the whole world.

An examination of the Board of Trade Returns for
the first six months of the war (to end of January 1915)
shows that the imports and consumption under all
heads of timber, etc., including wood pulp and pulp
board, dropped slightly less than a third, the total
values for the six months August 1913 to January 1914
being £22,346,000, as against £15,714,000 for the first
six months of the war.

Considering first pit props and pitwood, we find
that the supply of this material fell considerably. The
returns for the six months show that 1,051,054 loads
were utilised, as against 1,932,823 for the similar period
in 1913-14, the values being {1,653,366 and {2,585,801
respectively, a decrease of nearly a million pounds
sterling. Wood pulp and pulp board is another com-

LARGE TIMBER gee 5x:

modity in which a shortage was feared. This anticipa-
tion has not, up to the present at any rate, been ful-
filled, the imports even showing a slight increase for
the period, though an advance in price is apparent.
This satisfactory state of affairs is probably due to
the fact that the chief importing countries are Norway
and Sweden, the command of the sea having enabled
the trade to be maintained. The supply for the six
months has been 571,483 loads, as against 570,865 loads
of the previous year. As has been said, the price has
risen, the values being given at £3,214,903, as against
£2,932,745 for 1913-14.

As regards large timber—logs of fir, oak, teak, etc.—
there has been a considerable falling off in the supply,
289,021 loads as against 448,896 the previous year,
valued at {1,442,080 and £2,027,402—a drop of over
half a million. Under this head there is, as was to be
expected, a big decrease from Russia, whilst Germany
sends nothing and America 18,700 loads less than
during the corresponding period last year. In the case
of converted wood materials imported under the heads
of sawn or split, planed or dressed timber, the returns
show a decrease of well over a million loads (2,444,027
as compared with 3,794,377 loads in 1913-14), the
values being £8,313,558 as compared with {11,965,891
—a decrease of over three and a half million pounds
sterling. Lastly, for a miscellaneous group, com-
prising staves, mahogany, and unenumerated items,
the values for the war period are given as {1,089,802,
as compared with {2,833,843 for the corresponding
months the previous year—a drop of about one and
three-quarter million pounds sterling.

14

184 EFFECT OF WAR ON TIMBER SUPPLIES

The total decrease in the values of timber imports
for the first six months of the war amounted to

£6,632,000.

The totals under the five groups into which the
timber and other forest imports may be divided are
shown below in pounds sterling:

, Previous Year War Period
Group. Classification. Aug. 1913 to Aug. 1914 to
Jan. 1914. Jan. 1915.
I. | Hewn Timber—fir, oak, teas : £
etc. 2,027,402 1,442,080
II, | Pit props and pitwood . 2,585,801 1,653,366
III .| Sawn or split,planed or dressed
timber . 11,965,891 | 8,313,558
IV. Miscellaneous—staves, maho-
gany, : 2,833,843 1,089,802
V. Wood Lies and pulp board . 2,932,745 3,214,903
22,345,682 | 15,713,709
Deficit for six months war
period. ; ° ; 6,631,973

Now, the total value of the imports of these materials
for the year 1913 amounted to a sum of £42,725,000,
roughly divided among the above groups as follows:

Values in Sterling
Group. Classification. of Imports during
1913.
£

I. | Hewn Timber—fir, oak, teak, etc. : 5,500,000
II. | Pit props and pitwood . ; 4,400,000
III. | Sawn or split, planed or dressed timber ‘ 22,800,000
IV. | Miscellaneous—staves, etc. . 4,600,000
V. | Wood pulp and pulp board ; 5,425,000

TOTAL

42,725,000

COMPARISON OF FIGURES 185

The totals in Groups I. and IV. are not quite correct
for these groups, since in the Annual Statement of the
Board of Trade the items are grouped differently,
mahogany being included under I. For our purpose
the above lump totals are, however, sufficiently ac-
curate. A comparison of the above figures with those
given in the table analyses for the six months August
1913 to January 1914 and August 1914 to January 1915
shows:

(1) That the totals of imports for the period com-
prising the six months August 1913 to January I914
are slightly higher in value than those for the other six
months of the twelve—7.e. {22,345,682 as against
£20,379,318. |

(2) The decrease for the first six months of the war
amounts to practically a little under a third of the
total imports of the year, supposing the decrease
were to be maintained during the following six
months.

(3) That importing countries, unaffected directly by
the war—.e. non-belligerent countries—have not yet
taken full advantage of the favourable market con-
ditions existing in this country to increase their supplies
to any very large extent, with the exception perhaps
of Norway and Sweden. This apparent inaction in
the face of so favourable an opportunity is probably
due, in part at least, to the shortage in freight vessels
already commented upon.

A great variety of different industries and trades in
this country are dependent upon the various classes of

186 EFFECT OF WAR ON TIMBER SUPPLIES

timber and other forest imports, such as, e.g., pulp
mills, saw mills, furniture factories, brush factories,
bobbin manufacturers, etc., and builders, carpenters
and joiners, etc. It will therefore be of some interest
and perhaps of value to analyse group by group and
month by month the imports of the various materials,
indicating where possible the countries from which
the imports have been obtained and the deficits in the
amounts received. Such an analysis will enable us
to form an opinion as to the directions in which the
pinch is already being felt, by a comparison of the fall
of imports with an increase in price; at the same time
it will be possible to ascertain the directions in which
increases in imports over those for the same months
of the previous year have taken place. In the previous
article it was pointed out that Norway and Sweden,
as also the countries across the Atlantic—Newfound-
land, Canada, etc.—would be likely to take advantage
of a rise in prices and a dearth of material in this
country. Such a state of affairs has to some small ex-
tent already made itself felt, transport facilities in the
way of available ships having probably been the chief
deterrent up to date. There is still, therefore, scope
for the exploitation of available home supplies, which,
owing to their inferior quality and heavy railway
freights in this country (now somewhat lowered for
some classes of produce), could not previously compete
satisfactorily with the imported material. Taking our
first group, Hewn Timber (fir, oak, teak, etc.), the
table on p. 188 shows month by month the quantities _
and values received during the periods August 1913 —
to January 1914 and the war period August 1914 to

DETAILS OF IMPORTS 187

January 1915. Some points of interest can be derived
from the figures there given.

In the first instance, each month of the war showed
a steady drop in the imports as compared with those
of the same month during the previous year; and all
the countries from which the imports came participated
more or less in this decrease. German imports dis-
appear at once, as also, though not shown separately,
does Austrian oak. Russian imports drop from
222,000 loads valued at £522,000 to 99,000 loads at
£203,000, the latter figure being fully as much perhaps
as one could have expected from her under the circum-
stances. From Sweden the imports show a slight
decrease of 2,600 loads, whilst the price rises by £2,000.
odd. Norway exhibits consistently rising imports for
the six-month period, the total being nearly double |
that of the previous year, valued at £50,700 (as against
£25,200)—a most satisfactory state of affairs. From
the United States, as also Canada, the imports fluctuate,
some months of the war showing arise, notably August
and November for America, and August, September,
and October for Canada. America has a total decrease
of about £180,000 in values for the war period, whilst
Canada, with a slight total increase of imports, has a
corresponding slight increase in values. From British
India the chief export in timber is teak, and here the
market would appear to be recovering itself by January
1915, this latter month (with the exception of Septem-
ber) being the only one to show an increase of this
material over that of 1914. The totals exhibit a
small decrease (15,000 loads to 13,000, valued at
_ £280,000 and £249,000), there being an advance in

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-

PIT PROPS AND PITWOOD 189

price per load from {£186 to f19'1. From ‘“‘ Other
Countries ’’ in this group there was a considerable
increase during the first three months of the war,
followed by a drop in each of the subsequent months.
The quantities for the war period more than doubled—
15,000 to 33,000 loads, valued respectively at £194,000
and £261,000, a most satisfactory item to the credit
of the account.

Group II., Pit Props and Pitwood, has been already
dealt with, each month showing a decrease, as is
indicated by the following figures for the periods:

II. PIT PROPS AND PITWOOD.

QUANTITIES IN LoaDs, VALUES IN {.

1913 I914| I914 T9I5|} 1913 1914} 1914 1915

“s ‘, . e Sion] 2 . oa] . . e ~~ .

3) &8| 5) 8) 8/2) 8) 3) S| S| 83) 8/8) 6) 8) gi Bele 5) og

Q1ZIOLAIAIRI<| DIOLAZlAl Alida ZliAIRI AI BZIOlLZI Alm
Totals for OPH) He] OC] HO] AHH) CO] F/O] O] BH] WH) DO] oH] TH] |] O Alo '
first six || 8) %) S|) | S/8) S18 )8) oy Ri o3 N18) 8) o/ 8) SSIS Sl lg
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War com- Si SL LL OTH RL HOO] mM Al al Ri al al ol om ale
pared with
same months | |- — ——, F || s he Y
of 1913-14 1,932,823 1,051,054 2,585,801 1,653,366

There was a slight increase in price per load (from
£1°36 to £1°54). In view of the fact that our chief
supplies of pit materials come from Russia, who sent us
£2,400,000 worth during the year 1913, and from France
(£830,000 in 1913), it is to the good that supplies have
been as well maintained as the above figures indicate.

The third group consists of sawn or split, planed or
dressed timber, including sleepers, which the Board of

——

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7

“SdVO’'T NI SaILIINVOD
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"E> ale iE oe

190

RESULTS IgI

Trade now show separately in its returns. With the
omission of India and Germany, the countries from
which the imports come are primarily the same as
those of Group I. The table on p. 190 shows the
variations in the imports for the two periods under
review. Under this group we have a very heavy de-
crease in Russian imports, from 2,013,000 loads to
683,000, valued at £5,894,000 and {2,150,000 respec-
tively, a decrease of value of approximately three and
three-quarter million pounds. Sweden exhibits. a
better position, there being a decided recovery and
increase in imports during September and October of
Ig14, resulting in a balance on the right side for
the six months, the figures being 826,000 loads (as
compared with 769,000 for 1913-14), valued at
£2,776,000 (compared with £2,190,000), an increase of
half a million. Norway also comes out with a satis-
factory rise on totals for the six months of the war,
whilst at the same time showing a consistent increase
for each month over the imports for the similar months
of the previous year. The totalscome to 171,000 loads
(compared with 114,000), valued at {694,000 (against
£417,000). Similar results cannot unfortunately be
recorded for the United States of America, there being
a decrease on imports for every month except August
1914, the total values being {640,000 for the war
period, as against {1,028,000 for the previous year.
Canada, on the other hand, after a considerable drop
in imports during August and September of Ig14,
showed a consistent increase for the remaining four
months of the war period. The totals for the whole
period, however, did not reach those of the previous

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192

WOOD PULP 193

year—530,000 loads to 572,000, valued respectively at
£1,819,000 and £2,034,000. There was also a small
decrease of about £62,000 sterling under the head of
“ Unenumerated Countries’’ for this group.

Group IV. consists of miscellaneous products, in-
cluding mahogany, staves, etc. The details of the
imports for the six months’ period are given on p. 192.
The imports of staves, as shown by the table, have
dropped to exactly one-third during the past six
months—33,000 to 99,000 loads, valued at £237,000
and £547,000, the price having risen from £5°5 per
load to £7'1 per load. As was to be expected, the
imports of mahogany decreased from 92,000 tons to
42,000 tons, valued at £805,000 and £315,000. A
point of interest about these figures is that the price
of this fine timber dropped during the period from
£8°7 per ton to £{7°5 per ton. The ‘‘ Unenumerated ”
materials in this group also show a decrease of nearly
a quarter of a million pounds sterling.

Our last group, Group V., consists of wood pulp and
mill-board and wood-pulp board. It is a group
possessing peculiar interest at this juncture. Setting
aside the question of the daily Press, which is so de-
pendent upon this material, we should all of us find
it difficult to get on without the cheaper forms of paper,
even in our domestic life. Perhaps the most significant
feature of the imports of this product of wood lies in
the fact that whilst the imports during the war period
actually rose to a slight extent, the price has also risen
as compared with the same period during the previous
year. This increase must presumably be attributed
to the rise in shipping freights. The price rose from

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194

WOOD PULP 198

£51 per ton to £5°6 per ton. The detailed table. of
Group V. isgiven onp.194. Russia exhibits a curious
fluctuation in her imports under this group. An
almost total absence of cargoes during the first two
months of the war is succeeded by a considerable
increase over the previous year’s totals for October
and November, followed by a decrease in December
and January, resulting in a total drop of £42,000
worth of imports. Sweden, in spite of some fluctua-
tions, shows a decided increase of imports for the period
from 219,000 tons to 254,000 tons, valued respectively
at {1,318,000 and {1,792,000, an increase of {I per
ton in price. Norway has also secured a rise in price
for her imports of this material, although the bulk
imported is some 17,000 tons less than during the same
months in the previous year. The increase price, as
in the case of Sweden, amounts to {1 per ton. The
German imports ceased altogether after August, when
£3,500 worth was received. This meant a decrease
from the previous year of 20,500 tons. In November
and January of the war period Canada imported no
wood pulp to this country, and in December her
imports were smaller than those of the previous year.
During the first three months of the war the amount
of wood pulp sent to this country was much greater
than for the same period the previous year, with the
result that her imports of wood pulp for the six months’
war period rose from 41,000 tons in 1913 to69,000 tons, _.
valued at £93,000 and £171,000. The increase in price

was only £°4, indicating that the chief rise in prices of
this commodity occurred during the second three
months of the war. From ‘‘ Other Countries”’ there

196 EFFECT OF WAR ON TIMBER SUPPLIES

was a slight decrease in the imports of wood pulp, the
price of the material rising by £2. Under ‘“‘ Unenumer-
ated ’’ there was an increase of 1,000 tons in the receipts
for the war period, the increase in the values amounting
to £1,000. Under mill-board and wood-pulp board
there was a decrease of 6,000 tons, valued at £62,000,
the price remaining the same for the period under
review.

There are several points which stand out in strong
relief from the above analyses of the imports of forest
produce into this country. The first, of course,
although it may not be fully realised by those who have
not studied this question, is our almost entire de-
pendence upon foreign materials. In fact, we purchase
half of the total forest imports of the world. The
comparatively small amounts grown in this country
are quickly absorbed, and the price obtained by the
grower or owner of the standing crop has in the past
rarely been higher than 50 per cent. of the full value
of the timber itself measured according to scientific
principles. There are, it may be at once conceded,
many reasons for this anomalous state of affairs—the
chief being the want of continuity in supplies in any
one locality and the smallness of the areas of woods
and therefore of the amounts of timber available from
them. It is perhaps scarcely fair upon the railway
managements to expect them to maintain the necessary
rolling-stock for the carriage of timber combined with
sidings for loading it and to quote low rates when sup-
plies are so erratic as at present.

RUSSIAN RESOURCES 197

Secondly, it may be held that as long as we are
supreme at sea there is no danger of our supplies
running short in peace time. But is this a safe in-
ference? We imported, e.g., in 1913 nearly fifteen
million pounds sterling worth of forest produce from
Russia. Russia with Finland has extensive tracts of
forest. The forests of Siberia have often been extolled
as inexhaustible. This is perhaps not quite the truth,
but, as has been shown, they are extremely valuable.
The question is how long can we rely upon a contin-
uous unchecked export of raw forest materials from
Russia or from any other country. It must be borne
in mind that, as with other semi-developed countries,
Russia’s population and industries are increasing and
have made rapid strides latterly. Also, not so many
years ago a Russian Finance Minister painted quite
a different picture of the state of the forests in parts
of Siberia from the one so commonly accepted. It
was in connection with the settlement of immigrants
in the country along the Siberian Railway. He
pointed out that it would be necessary to give special
attention to the forests of those parts, the actual
condition of which was, owing to wanton destruction
by the inhabitants by fire and axe, by no means so
rosy as was imagined. He foreshadowed protection
and State organisation of these areas. This work has
since been commenced and about a fourth of this
gigantic area of forests has been explored. As in-
dicated in Article X, the result of this investigation so
far has shown them to be even more valuable than
was anticipated. As regards the other countries Nor-
way for a time, if not at present, was overcutting

198 EFFECT OF WAR ON TIMBER SUPPLIES

her forests—t.e. trenching upon her forest capital.
Sweden was probably working up to her full
possibility in this respect. The controversy over
Canadian wood pulp exports with America and the
preferential tariff question will still be fresh in the
minds of many. Instances could be multiplied.
Countries which, up to recently, have been self-con-
tained as regards forestry products have now com-
menced to import and therefore to compete with us
in the open market.

Another important problem with which we are
faced is the effect of the war on the Continental forests
in the belligerent States. Immense destruction of tree
growth must be taking place in the fighting areas in
many parts of the world, and more especially in Europe,
whilst the consumption of wood must certainly be
enhanced by the enormous masses of men now con-
gregated together. We read of the Germans cutting
down whole tracts of forest in the Allies’ country they
are occupying and transporting the material into their
own country. The heavy howitzer shells are reported
to sweep through a forest and lay the trees low as if a
heavy storm had passed over the area. We have
heard that even the roadside avenue trees are being
destroyed wholesale, owing to the habit of picketing
the horses to them. A competent forestry observer
now at the Front wrote me as follows the other day :
“Tt will take more than a hundred years to repair
the damage done out here. All the trees (avenue)
have been girdled by the horses to about ro feet up
the stem. You see, horses are tied up under trees to
prevent aeroplanes seeing them, and the usual way is

THE OPPORTUNITY 199

to run a rope down a line of trees 3 feet or so up, and
then tie up the animals by short head-ropes to this.
Then they get at the trees and eat the bark and soft
bast off. Itis rather a shame, but ‘ a la guerre comme
a la guerre.’’’ It would seem highly probable that
one of the after-results of the war will be greater
competition and consequent higher prices for forest
materials, and this country will be the first to feel the
new condition. |

Two questions would appear to confront us:

(1) Are we making full use of the opportunity which
the shortage in timber supplies is affording us ?

(2) Are we seriously considering the forestry problem
in the new aspect in which the war presents it ?

(1) The Opportunity.—Much is being done by the
Boards of Agriculture, both English and Scottish, in
the direction of drawing the attention of proprietors
of woods to the possibilities presented by this unique
opportunity both for clearing out woods of poor de-
velopment or which have suffered irretrievably from
wind or snow damage; and, secondly, in adequately
thinning promising young woods and selling the
material as pitwood. Some proprietors realised the
position at once. The question now is, Is there not
some danger of available supplies being held up too
long in anticipation ofa still further risein price? The
opportunity is without parallel. It will be a pity to
miss it. We have heard already of mines introducing
iron props. These are more expensive, but, provided
they can be recovered for further use, they can be
made, it is thought, to pay. And by offering an extra
influcement by way of pay the men are being per-

qt)

200 EFFECT OF WAR ON TIMBER SUPPLIES

suaded to recover them. Once the initial difficulty of
introduction and recovery of these props is surmounted
the managers are unlikely to go back to the wood prop,
and the market for this article will be proportionately
lessened at a juncture when, with the advance in
British forestry, it is most important that it should
be maintained. An experienced colliery proprietor
said to me the other day: “‘ The shifts we were put
to after the outbreak of war to keep things going
resulted in all sorts of expedients being devised, and
some of these may have come to stay.” The iron
pit prop, for instance !

(2) The Forestry Problem.—Is it not time that a
decision should be arrived at as to the percentage of
the available plantable land in the country which
should be maintained under woods in the interests of
the community as a whole? There are many keen
planting proprietors in the country. It is known—the
various Forestry Commissions, appointed at intervals
by the Government of the day, have dealt fully with
the subject—that there are several million acres of
plantable land which could be made to produce a
proportion of the materials now imported. Inci-
dentally the woods would also give rise to flourishing
industries, such as pulp mills, furniture and toy
factories, and the thousand and one manufactured
articles which we now import, affording employment
to a considerable population.

The blue-books of the above-mentioned Forestry
Commissions have pointed out that town labour was
useless for planting and general forestry work, as the
townsman could not handle a spade or stand the hard

SES

LABOUR 201

work and climatic conditions entailed by forestry
operations. This plea was true at the time. It isa
question now, however, whether large planting schemes,
if well thought out and prepared beforehand by a
central organisation, could not be put into force at the
conclusion of the war. Every soldier now has to
learn to handle the spade and pick in trench work ;
and large numbers of young men who will have been
hardened to exposure will at the same time have been
imbued with a liking for outdoor life. At least, it
seems probable that after the war they will be rather
unsettled for a sedentary life in the cities. Many will
emigrate unless they can find congenial occupation in
this country. Numbers might be induced to take to
forest work, and planting on a large scale could be
undertaken.

A unique opportunity lies within our grasp. Is
it going to be let slip ?

XIV
TIMBER IMPORTS AND EXPORTS IN I9gt5

THE first year and a half of the Great War has brought
into prominence a number of economic factors and
questions, many of them by no means flattering either
to our vanity or organising powers as a nation. We
have discovered our entire dependence on our enemy
Germany for many of our everyday requirements, one
might almost write necessities—dyes, medicines, even
such an important fighting material as acetone, all
were made in Germany. For one economic essential,
however, we were not dependent upon Germany.
Our timber and other forestry materials did not come
either from Germany or Austria, with the exception of
comparatively small quantities. And yet, as has
been already shown in these articles, we were practically
entirely dependent upon imports for these materials.
By the end of the first six months of the war we had
realised, to some extent, our difficulties in this respect,
as the preceding article has indicated. But we were
still far from a full realisation of what was in front of
us. True, prices had already gone up, but to nothing
like the figure they were to reach by the end of another
year. Our true position in this timber matter does
not appear to have been fully grasped by the country

202

TIMBER IMPORTS AND EXPORTS 203

till well over a year of the war had elapsed. The
Home Timber Committee was not appointed till Decem-
ber 1915. We had by then realised that the shortage
of freight ships combined with the activities of German
_submarines had brought about a timber crisis—the
beginnings of a timberfamine. To meet the immediate
needs of the moment—the urgent requirements of the
War Office and Admiralty—we had to turn to such -
home woods as existed and make use of the material,
poor in quality though much of it was, which they
could furnish.

A comparison of the imports of timber materials,
and prices paid for them, during 1915 with those of
1913 (the last full year before the war) is of some
importance in this connection, for it exhibits both the
falling off in supplies and the great increase in prices.
In some cases—to wit pitwood—the extraordinary and
serious position is disclosed of a larger sum being paid
in 1915 for a smaller amount of material ({£4,700,000
for 2,100,000 loads) than was paid in 1913 for a larger
amount of material (£4,400,000 for 3,400,000 loads).
Had the sum of money thrown away in this manner
during 1915 been spent on afforestation twenty-five
to thirty years ago we could have hoped to have had
much of this material standing in woods in this country
at the outbreak of the war. Surely this one instance
alone should prove sufficient to awaken the nation to
the very great economic importance of the afforestation
question.

If we take the six groups into which forestry
materials are classified in the Board of Trade Re-
turns we obtain the following compatison of amounts

204 TIMBER IMPORTS AND EXPORTS IN 1915

imported and prices realised during 1913 and I9gI5
respectively ':

Total Amounts for Years

Classification. 1913. T9I5.

Quantity in| Vatuein ¢. | Quantity in | Vatue in £.

I. Hewn (fir, oak, teak,
928,903 | 4,398,478) 322,348 | 2,547,777

etc.) . . ‘
II. Pit props and pit- ‘
wood . . + | 3,451,32 4,445,066| 2,168,391 | 4,786,301
III. Sawn or split, planed
or a “gear : ;
ing sleepers - | 6,636,607 | 21,034,635} 4,764,584 | 22,728,621
IV. Miscellaneous (staves,
mahogany, hard-
wood, etc.) . ; — 3,910,705 -= 2,716,065
V. Wood manufactures _ 3,583,187 —_— 2,324,627
VI. Pulp of wood, wood-

pulp board, etc. . | 2,296,835 | 5,283,716} 2,167,032 | 5,979,486

TOTAL . ° ° — 42,655,787 — 41,082,877

During 1915 therefore we paid about one and a half
million pounds sterling less than in 1913 for our forestry
imports, but we received nothing like the same amount
of materials for this £41,000,000—roughly speaking
only about three-fifths; nor are we likely to do so in
the years to come and probably never shall again.
Nearly three-fourths of our imports fall in the first
three groups, coniferous timbers (firs and pines) and
pitwoods. Of these we imported in 1913 11,016,838
loads valued at{29,878,179, whilst.in 1915 only 7,255,323
loads were imported, for which we paid £30,062,699—
an increase of price of from {2°7 to {4'1 per load.

If the above groups are analysed it is observable that

* These figures are taken from the Trade and Navigation Returns
issued monthly.

EXAMINATION OF STATISTICS 205

in Group I. (Hewn Timber) for about one-third of the
material received in I915 (322,348 as compared with
928,903 loads) we paid a little over half the price paid
in 1913 (£2,547,777 as compared with £4,398,478).
In Group II. (Pitwood) the prices, as already men-
tioned, are even more startling. For an import
amounting to 1,300,000 loads less in 1915 (2,168,391
compared with 3,451,328) we paid {£300,000 more
(£4,786,301 compared with £4,445,066). Group III.
again(Sawn Materials, etc.) presents the same anomalies
—for, with a decrease of 2,000,000 loads (4,764,584
compared with 6,636,607 in 1913) we paid a million
and a half pounds sterling more (£22,728,621 com-
pared with {21,034,635 in 1913). Of Groups IV.
(Miscellaneous) and V. (Wood Manufactures) we im-
ported about {2,500,000 worth less in I915—about
one and a quarter million less in each group. Group IV.
merits analysing. It consists of staves, mahogany,
other foreign hardwoods and veneers. It is difficult
to understand why the step recently taken of pro-
hibiting the import of these foreign hardwoods, veneers,
etc., was not put in force at the end of the first six
months of the war. Even then the tonnage difficulty
was already being felt. Who requires mahogany and
veneers in war-time? Even if a demand existed it
would have been better to put an end toit. In 1913,
141,801 loads of mahogany valued at £1,225,879 ;. in
1914, 143,432 loads valued at {1,137,563 ; and in 1915,
48,284 loads valued at £385,635 were imported. For
the same three years hardwoods and veneers, etc.,
were imported as follows: 249,411 loads @ {1,684,778 ;

226,513 @ {1,508,795 ; and 191,154 @ £1,613,042—

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210 TIMBER IMPORTS AND EXPORTS IN 1915

a rise in price of £6°7 to £84 per load. With the
essentials for war operations becoming more and more
difficult to supply we still continued to import ma-
hogany, veneers and other unnecessary materials of
this nature! It would be ludicrous were it not so
disastrous. ©

Lastly in Group VI. (Wood Pulp) the importsin 1915
were a little less than in I913 (2,167,032.as compared
with 2,296,835 loads), whilst the price rose slightly
(£5,979,486 compared with {£5,283,716).

The table on pp. 206-9 shows the amounts of forestry
materials imported and their values month by month
for the years under review.

Under Group I. it is observable that the amounts
imported month by month during I915 were only
about one-third to a half of those imported in 1913.
As regards prices the rise between January 1915 and
December 1915 was {I'I per load (12,956 loads @
£101,739 to 20,709 loads @ £185,609). In Group II.
(Pitwood) the increase between January and Decem-
ber I915 was greater. In January 117,755 loads cost
£188,046, whereas in December 140,192 loads cost us
£461,632, an increase of from {£1°6 to £3'2 per load.
In Group III. (Sawn and Planed) there was also a rise,
the price going from £3°5 per load in January to £5 in
December (167,625 loads @ £669,466 to 265,287 @
£1,340,931 in December). In Group IV. (Miscellaneous)
staves fell from {9'4 per load in January to £5’9 in
December; whilst mahogany, other foreign hard-
woods, and veneers rose from {£6°3 per ton to {86
per ton (11,280 tons @ {£71,963 to 16,221 tons @
£140,085 in December). The imports of wood manu-

EXPORTS OF TIMBER rss:

factures (Group V.) rose from £107,767 in haus to
£239,512 in December. This group includes furniture
and cabinet ware, house frames and fittings, chip boxes,
woodware and wood turnery. The import of some of
these articles has been now prohibited, a step which
might preferably have been undertaken a year ago.
Lastly, Group VI. (Wood Pulp, etc.) exhibits a rise in
price of from £5’9 per ton to £6'8 per ton in December,
the amounts imported showing an increase (62,583
tons @ £373,989 as compared with 92,603 tons @
£636,610 in December).

Our exports of timber, etc., materials during the
past year exhibit decreases as compared with 1913.
They consisted of wood and timber (rough hewn,
sawn, planed) and wood manufactures, including furni-
ture. In the first group there is a drop on the year
from 47,363 loads @ £340,745 in 1913 to 28,260 loads @
£198,322 for 1915. In Group II. the price realised for
wood manufactures fell from {2,041,640 in 1913 to
£1,041,755, a decrease of exactly a million pounds
sterling. These figures can only be accepted on the
supposition that the export of this class of materials is
now almost confined to Government war necessities,
the export of all others having been stopped owing to
want of tonnage. If this explanation is incorrect it
would appear that Government timber exports, sleepers,
posts for wire entanglements, etc., are not shown in
the Board of Trade Returns. That enormous quanti-
ties of these materials are being used in the war areas
we know. We are also aware that we are intimately
concerned in their supply—probably to a greater
extent now than during 1915.

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214 TIMBER IMPORTS AND EXPORTS IN 1915

The table on pp. 212-13 shows the amounts of these
materials exported month by month during 1913 and
I915 with the prices realised.

In Group I. (Timber, hewn, sawn, etc.), 2,348 loads
valued at £17,394 were exported in January as com-
pared with 2,362 loads valued at £20,561, the price
rising from £7°4 per load to £8°7. In Group II. (Wood
Manufactures) values only are shown in the Board of
Trade Returns, the amounts realised for January and
December 1915 respectively being £79,538 and {91,824
—a slight increase only.

PART IV

THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN
FORESTRY

XV
WOMEN AND FORESTRY!

I AM very grateful to the Edinburgh Franchise Club for
affording me an opportunity of placing before them
some aspects of the forestry question in the country
and the directions in which, as I think, women can give
us very considerable assistance. Some of you may be
aware that there exists, amongst other economic
problems in this country, a forestry one. This pro-
blem is, or has proved in the past, somewhat com-
plicated since it has seemed to contend with or threaten
other vested interests. It will also necessitate the
expenditure of a certain sum of money. And in what-
ever form this money may be subsequently laid out it
has first to be secured. A treasury is always a difficult
place to delve for gold in, and a Government Treasury
often the most unproductive of all.

I do not propose to trouble you with the history of
the afforestation question in this country. Whatever

1 A lecture delivered before the Edinburgh Franchise Club on

February 2, 1916,
16 215

216 WOMEN AND FORESTRY

it was it is in the past, for one thing and for another
the Great War is bringing about so great a change in
our economic problems that in most cases the point of
view from which they were approached before the
outbreak has entirely altered. To some extent this
is true of the afforestation question.

And I for one believe that it is of the first importance
that the women of the country should now make it
their business to learn the nature of the forestry
problem, to grasp the directions in which it can be
made to help in the economic life of the nation, and
then to use the whole strength of their influence to see
that the desired ends are attained.

Women can help in forestry in more ways than by
actually performing the work of foresters or forest
labourers. Forestry is now becoming a vital question
to us. It had a very considerable importance before
the war in view of the fact that we import a very large
amount of timber and other forest products. It may
surprise you to learn that £42,000,000 sterling worth
were imported in 1913. And large industries depend
on this amount of materials coming into the country.
We could grow ourselves a considerable proportion
of this material on what is at present virtually un-
productive ground, that is, land bringing in as little
as 2s. to 2d. per acre or less. As I have indicated, the
matter was important before the war. As a result
of the Great War it has become a vital necessity that
this forestry business should be understood by the
public at large and that it should receive at the hands
of the Government the attention it demands in the
interest of the nation. Women can aid in this work.

ee

“NOT A FORESTRY NATION” a7

We are not a forestry nation. For instance, how
many of us have ever given a thought to where the
common wooden articles of the household come from ?
It would probably be a puzzle for many housewives
to say where the bundle of firewood, the ordinary
kindling, comes from; how it is grown; or how it
gets into the form they commonly know it by! And
if difficulty is experienced in furnishing a solution to
this simple conundrum, the more difficult ones in
connection with our timber imports, on which this
enormous sum of £42,000,000 annually leaves the
country, may well be looked upon as insoluble by the
average woman Or man.

Now though we are not a forestry nation in that we
do not grow the materials we require, before the war
we imported about half the total forestry imports of
the world and the British timber markets ruled those
of the world. All imports, mind you! What we grow
in these islands was a negligible factor on the market
in pre-war days. And yet we have ‘millions of acres of
waste land—land which if planted would maintain a
very considerable population on the soil, a population
which previous to the war was, as we all know, emigrat-
ing in hundreds and thousands. 3

I may be told that woods, the maintenance of woods
managed commercially, do not employ as much labour
as agriculture. Granted. They do not in the actual
working. But there is no idea of planting up agricul-
tural lands. The millions of afforestable land in this
country are worthless from an agricultural point of
wiew, and no outlay of capital could make them a
paying concern agriculturally.

218 - WOMEN AND FORESTRY

But a considerable part of them can be made a
paying proposition from a commercial forestry point
of view, and it is now an urgent duty on the part of the
Government to tackle this matter in a broad statesman-
like manner. In the interests of the nation and of our
children we want these millions of acres placed under
trees, in as short a space of time as possible. It will
be a sound investment and the nation will no longer
be at the mercy of the foreigner, as is the case atpresent.

And then remember that once you have a large area
of woods in a country, factories dependent on these
woods, pulp mills, furniture factories, saw mills, etc.,
appear and provide labour for a considerable popula-
tion, and labour which lies away from the large cities ;
since these mills and factories are erected as con-
veniently close to the forests as possible. The agri-
cultural population is also favourably affected by the
presence of considerable areas of woods in their neigh-
bourhood, for they can find employment in the woods
in the winter, when most of the forest work is done, to
supplement their farm wages at the other periods of
the year. Further, they can occupy the long winter
evenings in making toys. In all the continental
forestry countries, in Germany and Russia for ex-
ample, this toy-making industry is a considerable
source of profit and provides welcome additional money
to the field labourer, Our position in this toy-making
industry has been brought sharply to the notice of us
all in these days of stress, The import industry of
cheap toys made in Germany and elsewhere abroad
was brought to an abrupt end by the war, and the
grotesque exhibitions of our capacity in this direction

TOYS 219

were in evidence last winter. We shall of course im-
prove on this, have already improved on it. But so
far as the toys requiring wood are concerned, and their
number is legion, we have not got the wood in the
country and you cannot expect to get the cheap toys
made in afforested countries if you have first to import
your wood to make thém and pay the cost of importa~-
tion.

We all know how extraordinarily critical the child is
in all that pertains, I was going to say, to its welfare,
but I will limit myself to one branch of its life only,
its amusements. Very early in life the child com-
mences to form its own opinions on this subject and
any departures from what in its own mind it considers
to be the normal state of affairs are met by criticism
which we have all probably at one time or another
found it extremely difficult to explainaway. Many of us
must, I think, have had some uncomfortable moments
to face over this matter of the children’s toys since the
outbreak of war. It was but one of the numerous
directions in which we depended entirely on the
foreigner to provide our requirements. And more
especially was this the case with the enormous depart-
ment of the cheaper toys which after all are all that
the greater number of children of this country have
any acquaintance with. It is difficult to picture the
amount of sorrow, small sufferings if you will; but
looming very large in the childish ‘mind, which must
have been experienced by the childhood of the nation
since the well-known, eagerly welcomed, and, for their
price, exquisitely made foreign toys failed us with the
outbreak of war. Women naturally, ever in the fore-

220 WOMEN AND FORESTRY

front where the child’s welfare and happiness are con-
cerned, came to the rescue at a very early stage, and
extraordinarily good work in this, for us an entirely new
industry, has been accomplished. But*in all cases
where wood has been required for the purpose in view,
good work was an impossibility. For one thing good
seasoned material is a necessity. Such material as
was available in the country was quickly absorbed
for the important military and naval requirements.
We have only an odd 3,000,000 acres of woods in this
country, mostly kept up for sporting or ornamental
purposes. What these can give has been required for
national uses, pitwood for the mines, to mention a
necessary article known to us all; since without it
the supply of our household coal would fail us. And
“we all know how the price of this commodity has
jumped up with the enhanced price of this pitwood
and for other reasons.

To give you one instance of a toy which is dependent
‘on wood. Take the ordinary box of bricks. I tried
personally last year on more than one occasion, and
others tried for me, both in Edinburgh and London, to
buy a box of bricks, the ordinary wooden bricks so
dear to the heart of the child ; and with which, by the
way, it may be kept happily and peacefully quiet on
the floor whilst one sits equally peacefully in an easy
chair absorbed in paper or book. The old box of
- wooden bricks, beautifully made of seasoned wood, was
not to be had for love or money. The one actually
secured was, from the child’s point of view, very short
weight. The bricks won’t stand up, they won’t sit
down, not flat that is, and one has grown tired of trying

LAND AVAILABLE 221

to apologise for them. A volume in favour of afforesta-
tion could be written out of the criticisms of a child on
this ill-made box of bricks alone.

But you will ask, What has that to do with Women
and Afforestation? It is admittedly a very small
link in the chain, but still it is a link. From it we
realise, the women of this country can be shown how
to realise, how entirely dependent upon forestry im-
ports of all kinds, even down to the child’s WEES toy,
we were at the outbreak of the war.

And we, and this is the point, we have in Great
Britain and Ireland some 16,500,000 acres of mountain
and heath land much of it suitable for afforestation ;
in other words suitable to grow the wood from which
our box of bricks could be properly made; and in-
cidentally pitwood, wood pulp and other much needed
materials. To take what may really I think be con-
sidered a minimum—there are 5,000,000 acres of land
in this country which could be more profitably used
for growing crops of trees than for any other purpose.
How does this affect the women, the bulk of the
women in this country? It affects them in this way,
and this is my first point. The air at the present time
is full of the thrift crusade. We are told to economise,
to save, to refuse to buy or consume imports of all
kinds, to do this and that. This is more or less a
personal matter, a crusade in the home. It is of the
first importance and we are doing our best. But as I
see it there is another crusade of equal importance.
And this crusade has to do with the conservation of
the national resources, with a full utilisation of these
national resources.

222 WOMEN AND FORESTRY

_ We have in’this country this large area of land lying

unutilised. This is not thrift. Government Com-
mittees and Royal Commissions have sat upon this
afforestation question during the last twenty-five years
and nothing has come of their sittings. Urgent as the
question was before the war, it is doubly urgent now.
It will be a national crime if we allow these millions
of acres which could grow fine woods and employ a
considerable population to lie derelict any longer.
What can women do?

It is said, I with my Indian experience fully believe
it, that India isruled from behind the purda. In other
words, that though Indian women for the most part are
not seen in the streets, have in fact no personal contact
with the outer world, yet they assuredly rule that
world through the men in spite of the purda.

Well, I believe that true as this is for that great land
of mystery, India, it is equally true with the Western
nations. We men do not seem to have been able to
get Government to do much in this forestry question.
We hope to do so now with the powerful help of the
Development Commission. But if we enlist the
women of the country on our side and if they will
really work for this useful cause in the interests of
national economy, in the interest of their children
and grandchildren, we may feel even more confident
of success.

I now turn to the importance of the afforestation
question from the point of view of the labour it will
employ.

Here I hold strong opinions on the value of employing
women in a no inconsiderable portion of the work

EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN 223

connected with the woods, both in the superior grades
and the inferior or labouring classes. Before the war
I should have now proceeded to deal with this aspect.
As an outcome of the war, however, I have first a
suggestion to make to the woman and a plea to make
to her unselfishness. She will, I trust, help us to get
women to take up forestry work as a work in which
they can find useful and congenial employment and
help us to disabuse the minds of many of the sex of
their dislike to occupations connected with the soil
and to show them what possibilities lie open to them in
forestry work. But before dealing with this question
I would ask the women to remember another reason
for giving their aid to this afforestation matter. If the
question is taken up in the near future as it should be,
and on the scale it should be, it will afford, in some of
its easier work, employment to hundreds of partially
disabled soldiers and sailors who, having fought their
country’s battles and been maimed in doing so, can
never hope to resume those occupations which they
were fitted for before they went to the front.

If women will, as I hope, take up the afforesta-
tion crusade I have no doubts as to the place they
will give these incapacitated men in their pro-
gramme.

I will now turn to the employment of women—I hope
I have not unduly exercised your patience in getting
there—and to the openings which exist for women in
forestry work.

It will be best perhaps to consider first the possi-
bilities in front of the labouring classes. The employ-
ment of women in this direction is no new idea in

224 WOMEN AND FORESTRY

Scotland. A decade or so ago women were employed
in some of the Scottish nurseries, but they gradually
fell out and gave up the work. Since the war com-
tmenced they have taken up the work again. During
the season of 1914-15 complaints were made by the
nurserymen that the attendances were very irregular.
But in one instance at least-the women were exonerated.
The weather was bitterly cold and wet and the nursery
was several miles—three to four—from the town in
which they lived. If women are to be employed in
forestry work it will of course be necessary that they
should be suitably housed in the vicinity of the nursery
or woods, and further—an important point in my
estimation—that the hours should be so arranged that
they can get home to have good meals and to perform
that household work which is of such enormous im-
portance in the welfare of the home and in the up-
bringing of the children. It is, I think, more than
probable that the question of the employment of
women in occupations connected with the soil has
never been approached from the proper standpoint
in this country. Conditions different from those
suitable for men will have to be introduced if success
is to be assured, and a question of the very first im-
portance is, and I am sure every woman will agree,
that both in housing accommodation and in the hours
allowed for meals and household duties, their necessities
should be studied. This is one direction in which
women can greatly assist, for unless it receives adequate
recognition it is difficult to perceive how much progress
can be made in this question of the employment of
women and girls in forestry operations.

WORK IN THE NURSERY 225

_As regards the work itself. It may be considered
under two heads: (a2) Workin the nursery, and (6) Work
in the woods.

(a) Work in the Nursery.—In this country as in
many parts of the Continent the young plants required
for the formation of new woods are raised in an area
of ground termed a nursery. The commercial nursery-
man will be known to you al]. Many of.these large
nurserymen raise as part of their stock-in-trade young
trees for sale. Some confine themselves almost entirely
to this work. The larger landed proprietors of this
country who maintain a part of their estates under
woods usually possess a private nursery of their own
in which they raise the young trees required for their
operations. On the Continent numerous large com-
mercial nurseries exist, and owing to the fact that
they largely employ women and girls for their work,
and that labour is usually cheaper than with us, they
are able to undersell us in our home markets, or they
were able to do so up to the outbreak of war. Whether
the Continental plants are as good as those grown in
our home nurseries or whether plants grown on the
Continent and subsequently planted out in this country
produce as good trees or as good timber are points
upon which many experts have grave doubts. Any-
way, the war has changed our outlook in many direc-
tions, and in the future we should learn to produce
all we require in this respect in home nurseries and
not spend money abroad which could be earned by
our own people.

You will ask what is the nature of the work to be
performed in a nursery maintained for the raising of

226 WOMEN AND FORESTRY

young trees and in what respects it is suitable for
women. The description of the work required will, I
venture to think, provide the answer to the question
of its entire suitability to women. In fact, in many
ways women will be able to do some of it better than
men and with more care than boys.

We will consider briefly the rearing of the young
tree from the seed until it is planted out to form the
plantation. |

The area of the nursery is divided up into division
which consist of seed beds and areas or breaks in
which the older plants are placed until they have
reached the age at which they are to be removed into
the woods. These areas are managed on a rotation,
one or more in their turn lying fallow for a year, or
more usually having a crop such as potatoes taken
off them at this period. In any year an inspection of
such a nursery in the summer will show a certain
number of seed beds in which the young seedling trees
are being raised. The breaks will contain three- or four-
year-old trees. In the winter and early spring when
the heaviest nursery work is in progress certain areas
will require to be deep trenched. This work is not
. beyond the powers of a robust woman, but for our
purpose here we may leave aside the question as to
whether it should be done by the man er woman.

_ During suitable weather in winter the breaks con-
taining the four-year-old plants, as also some of the
three-year-old plants, will provide a good deal of work.
The plants are dug up, sorted out in sizes and done up
into bundles and packed for transport to the spots at
which they are to be planted out. In a commercial

SEED BEDS 227

nursery this packing requires to be done with con-
siderable care as the parcels of plants may have to
travel long distances to their new destination. The
sizing of the plants in itself takes time and requires
some care, work which women could be depended upon
to do and do well. The smaller plants will probably
be placed to one side to be put back into a break to
spend another year in the nursery All weakly ones
and diseased plants will be collected into heaps and
burnt. Their elimination is desirable on all counts.
We have now to consider the preparation of the seed
beds. The areas required for sowing the seed are far
smaller than the areas termed breaks. The seed bed is
usually 3 feet 6 inches to 4 feet wide raised above the
ground surface and has on either side a narrow alley
which permits of the bed being weeded later on. The
soil of the seed bed has to be carefully and finely pre-
pared, a work which women could be easily trained to
perform. The seed is sown uniformly over the surface
or in drills, rolled in and a covering of earth spread
over it, the thickness varying with the size of the seed.
A light roller is then drawn over the bed and this part
of the process is finished. But not so the attention
required on the beds. Almost from the time of sowing
the seed and throughout the summer the beds require
constant weeding. Boys have usually been employed
in the past, boys whose fingers are often all thumbs.
For such work women or girls with their deft fingers
are eminently more desirable. They would not only
do the work better, but would bring to it a greater
patience. For it is so easy to pull up the small tree
seedling instead of the weed. And the careful weeding

228 WOMEN AND FORESTRY

of the seed bed is one of the most important factors to
the success of the seedlings. The seedlings remain in
the seed bed for two years, so that there are two years’
weeding to be done in them, and in any big nursery
there may be many yards of beds, some in their second
year and othersin their first. Before the seed is sown,
usually early in May in this part of Scotland, the work
of transplanting the seedlings which are two years
old will have been finished. This work is undertaken
during the late winter whenever open weather favours
its performance. The young plants are carefully dug
up with a fork and sized, usually two sizes are sufficient,
all weakly and diseased plants being burnt as useless.
They are then “ lined out,’’ as it is termed, in the
breaks ; that is, placed in rows, the larger and stronger
plants separately from the smaller ones. This involves
a good deal of labour when your plants are numbered
by the thousand, for it will be evident that a few yards
of seed bed will produce several thousand plants.
The lining out involves digging a trench with a vertical
wall on one side, the placing of the young plants against
this wall with their roots hanging down freely (the
trench must be of the requisite depth to permit of this),
filling up the trench and treading down the earth firmly
so as to prevent all chance of the young plants shaking
or wobbling after being subject for a few hours to a
strong wind. Row upon row of these young two-year-
old plants have to be lined out in this manner, and in
a large nursery this work involves a good deal of labour.
But it is work which is well within the capacity of
women, and I believe they will do it better than the
average boy or young man. The young trees, trans-

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WORK IN THE WOODS. 229

plants they are called, remain in the break for one or
two years according to whether they are planted out
to form woods as three- or four-year-old plants. The
breaks will require hoeing between the lines during the
summer to remove weeds and let in air into the soil.

I have given above briefly the main outlines of
nursery work. There are numerous other jobs, as
must be the case in work of this kind, which can be
adequately undertaken by women. In fact, in my
opinion the main portion of the staff of a nursery would
better consist of women and girls than of men and
boys. They will require training, but so do the men
and the boys. This year will perforce see many
women employed in nurseries, and whether they take |
a liking to the work, for an aptitude they surely
possess, will depend upon whether due recognition is
paid to their comfort and necessities, which must be
different from those of men and boys. .

(6) Work in the Woods.—At first sight it may appear
that there is little place for women’s work out in the
woods. If we confine ourselves to the popular idea
of the work of a forester, that he must be always
cutting down trees—few seem to realise in this country
that the trees have first to be planted, and that is
probably the reason we have so many million treeless
acres—if, I say, we only consider the one aspect of
forestry, that of felling trees, it may be conceded that
the women would not be as much in their element here.
But there is not in my mind, or in the minds of any of
us I trust, the idea of eliminating the mere man alto-
gether, either from the woods or any other walk in
life. Out in the woods, anyway, he will have to

230 _ WOMEN AND FORESTRY

remain : for admittedly there, there exists certain work,
felling, fencing, draining, and so on, which requires a
muscular physique and great stamina. But there is
plenty of other work in the beautiful woods which
women can undertake. Those of you who have any
acquaintance with the forests of Germany, France, or
other Continental nations must often have met women
at work in the woods. I doubt however whether you
have often done so in this country, save perhaps
collecting a bundle of dead sticks or picking black-
berries.

But there is plenty of work for the women. To
start with we will follow our young four-year-old plant
to its new destination. It arrives at the area on which
it is to be planted. If the work is properly done it
will be planted in a hole made with a spade of some
shape or other. The work of preparing the holes is
usually the work of a man, because the soil on which
plantations are usually made is often heavy, may be
stony, and may have masses of roots init. This is
heavy labour requiring, for a long day’s work, the
digging of a thousand holes we will say, a man’s
stamina and strength. But the planting of the plants
in the holes, the filling in the thousand holes made by
the man, can be as well done by the woman or girl.
It is not heavy work, but according as to how it is done
will depend the after success or otherwise of the planta-
tion. This is one job then that women can assist in
outinthewoods. Thesowing of acorns in patches and
lines direct in the woods can also be done by women.
We will still remain with our newly planted tree.
During the first year or two of its life it will have to

DISEASED TREES 23%

struggle with a tangle of weeds of varying density.
It will require help, and the giving of this help by
freeing it once or twice during the’ growing season
can equally well be done by the woman. Broom,
whins, grass, young birch, bracken, etc., may all
require removal in favour of the young trees on the
area. A plantation of several hundred acres will
provide a good deal of work. Again, disease may
attack the young plants in early life. Plantations
require careful inspection in this respect and the
cutting out of all diseased plants, which should be burnt.
Also from one cause or another some individuals in a
newly formed plantation may die out in the first year
or two of their life. All blanks occurring in this fashion
require filling in with fresh live plants, work a woman
can easily perform. Young plantations of conifers
are apt to be attacked by insects. A weevil is es-
pecially bad in parts of this country. It breeds in all
felling areas and from here the mature beetle spreads
into newly planted areas of young trees and infests
and kills them. A variety of traps are made use of to
get rid of this pest. In Germany this work is usually
in the hands of women and girls. The larch sawfly
is another pest which women could attend to success-
fully. Birds, black game, animals,e.g. deer, also commit
injury in. plantations. Preventive measures are in
force to combat them which women could attend to as
well as men. Barking felled trees can be done by
women. In fact it may be said at once that the ém-
ployment of women in the woods would enable a good
deal of work to be attended to which in the past has
perforce, owing to a paucity of establishment, been

17

232 WOMEN AND FORESTRY

left undone or done ill, to the detriment of the woods
themselves.

_ I now come to the last part of my subject, one
which in some respects is one of the most interesting,
the training of women in the higher branches of forestry,
the training of women as foresters. I have already
dealt with this subject at some length in a paper in
the Englishwoman for December last,’ so may confine
myself to briefly stating the chief aspects of the case
as they appear to me.

The life of a forester is pre-eminently an open-air
one. A good executive officer will spend the greater
part of each month out of doors in the woods. This
of itself makes the profession a fascinating one for
those who prefer the open air to the desk. But at the
same time it renders the possession of a good physique,
good health, and active habits indispensable. Girls,
the modern girl at any rate, may be considered to
possess these attributes to much the same extent as
young men. In addition, the would-be scientifically
trained forester requires to possess a love for nature as
it exists in the woods combined with powers of close
observation. These latter the education of the forester
endeavours to stimulate and bring into full play.

How is the executive forester, that is the man who
has charge of areas of woods, trained ? The education
of such has been brought to a considerable state of
development during the last few years, thanks to the
liberal manner in which the Development Commis-
sioners have aided in this matter. Here in Edinburgh
a ere of B.Sc. in Forestry is conferred, whilst Oxford

4 Vide Article XVII.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS 233

and Cambridge and other centres grant a diploma in the
subject. It may be regarded as tolerably certain that
in the future the possession of a degree or diploma in
forestry will be looked upon as an essential qualification
for any young woman or man aspiring to obtain an
executive post in the management of woods in this
country. The candidate would not of course aspire to
obtain charge of an area of woods the moment the de-
gree had been obtained. He or she would have to
serve a probationership as assistant in such a charge,
as is the case with any youngster entering one of the
State forest services existing in afforested countries in
Europe and elsewhere. But the possessor of a degree
would aspire to take rank in the superior grades and
not commence in the subordinate ones. The curri-
culum for a degree is an eminently practical one. In
Edinburgh it includes courses in Botany, Zoology,
Chemistry, and Natural Philosophy; and advanced
courses in Forest Botany, Mycology, Forest Zoology,
Forest Engineering and Surveying, Forest Chemistry
and Geology, with Forestry Elementary and Advanced.
Three years’ work are required to obtain the Edinburgh
degree. The purely forestry portion of the curriculum
involves two years’ work (the second and third years
of the course) including practical courses of from six
to seven months altogether. The practical courses
are designed to give as thorough a training as time
permits in the manual part of forest work, both in the
nursery and in the woods. This work we have already
briefly considered. The student is made to do with
his own hands all these manual operations on the
principle that a man cannot be fit to give orders unless

234 WOMEN AND FORESTRY

he knows how the work should be actually performed.
In Scotland we have magnificent nurseries and areas
of woods available for this purpose, whose proprietors
give us a cordial welcome and permission to make full
use of them. In England the Forest of Dean now
forms a fine Demonstration Area. The advanced prac-
tical courses teach the student how to survey areas of
woods, measure up the cubic contents, how to carry
out thinning operations, and finally how to prepare
scientific plans for their management. Nor is the pro-
tection of the woods from the various dangers—insect
and fungus and so on—forgotten.

The only portion of these practical courses that
is likely to overtax the woman is heavy trenching
work with the spade (though I know of instances
where she can put many men on their mettle in this
direction), and the use of the heavy axe and saw in
felling trees. But though it is important that the ex-
ecutive forester of the future should know how these
operations are performed she will not herself have to
actually do this work. Hers will be the brain which
will control and direct the operations to be carried out
in the woods. Therefore it should be possible for the
woman, by using lighter forms of these tools, to make
herself sufficiently acquainted for all practical purposes
with the correct methods of using the spade, saw, or
axe during her practical courses.

Lastly as to the work of the forester. The above
sketches will, I trust, have afforded some knowledge
of his operations. But the life is a very diverse one.
The forester is always at school, for the better he is
acquainted with the varied life of the woods, veget-

Weipa <a :<0 1 vena

hon ek a) en ae

THE FORESTER’S LIFE 235

able and animal, the greater knowledge he possesses
on the habits of his trees and the localities in which
they grow, the better forester he will prove and the
better the results he will show. He has opportuni-
ties, perhaps better than fall to the lot of most, for
carrying out research work in one of several distinct
branches. He may be interested in or develop a love
for botany or mycology, entomology or forest en-
gineering, with which is associated that important
branch connected with the extraction of the materials
from the woods in the cheapest manner. There is
room for much work in this direction in this country.
He may be of a mathematical turn of mind and carry
out studies into the methods of calculating the yield
which different soils and species can produce; or
forest economics and the utilisation of the various
products of the forest may claim his interest; or
finally the law of the forest, its connection with the
civil and criminal laws of the country, and the numer-
ous loopholes it affords the forest offender of escaping
from all penalties, may provide a fascinating and
intricate study during hissparehours. All these forms
of forest research exist. All are within the powers of
women to assimilate. And, so far as the forests and
woods of our great Empire are known to me, all of
them offer opportunities to the young scientifically
trained forester to make a name for her or himself. ©

XVI

THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN FORESTRY!

THE MANUAL PART OF FOREST WORK

THERE are few industries in which conservatism is so
strong as those connected with the soil. The con-
servative nature and strong prejudices of the farmer,
and the grave suspicion with which he regards the
employment of new methods, have become a byword.
What is, perhaps, not so well known is the attitude of
the forester with respect to innovations. We foresters
are, in many respects, very much, if not quite, as
conservative as the farmer. As a general rule, the
forester looks with suspicion at new methods of sowing
seed in the nursery, of lining out young transplants,
planting out the young trees to form woods, and so on.
There is, of course, a good deal to be said in his favour.
If he has won success in the past by employing his own
or certain well-recognised methods, why imperil such
success in the future, even if the prospect is held out of
greater returns—returns which he himself cannot hope
to live to see? For the forester’s life and work are

1 This and the succeeding article appeared in the Englishwoman
for June and December 1915. They deal with the subordinate
or manual and executive or supervising branches of forest work.
I have deemed it best to leave them in their original form, although
this involves some slight repetition of the preceding article.

236

A SLOW PROCESS 237

apart and distinct from most industries. He has no
prospect, as a general rule, of reaping the fruit of his
labours. He raises his young trees in the nursery,
plants them out, and watches the first stages in the
life of the resultant wood. Since the life or rotation
of this wood may be anything from sixty to over a
hundred years, this is the utmost he can hope to do.
Succeeding generations will glean in the harvest, and
praise or vilify his memory according as that harvest
is good or bad.

Now, this conservatism of the forester is good in
some ways and bad in others. To a great extent it
keeps him from the temptation to gamble by planting
on a large scale exotics of all kinds whose success in
their new environment is very problematical. It also
prevents him from experimenting, to any dangerous
degree, with systems of forest management with which
he is ill-acquainted, and which, therefore, in his hands
would be foredoomed to failure. The converse of this,
however, is equally true, and systems of management
quite applicable to one set of conditions are kept on
when these conditions have completely changed, either
by differences in markets, introduction of conifers for
broad-leaved trees or vice versa, increase in wages and
reduction of available amount of labour, and so on. |

A direction in which the conservatism of the British
forester has certainly led to an increasing and, perhaps,
unnecessary expense in forestry operations—and this
is the point which it is proposed to deal with in this
article—is to be found in the nature of the labour he
employs. There is a certain amount of work con-
nected with forestry at present performed by men and

238 EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN FORESTRY

youths which could be equally well carried out by
women and girls—in fact, some branches which could
not improbably be done better by these latter.

The employment of women, in forestry operations at
any rate, is not the usual practice in Britain ; in fact, it
is exceptional. On the Continent, on the other hand,
it is quite common. In Germany, for instance, a fair
proportion of forestry work is carried out by women,
and very excellently it is done and at a greatly reduced
cost. In the large commercial nurseries abroad, female
labour is made use of to a large extent, with the result
that the wage-bill is kept down, and the plants raised
can, and do, undersell in our markets those grown in
this country. Doubtless, nurserymen with us would
be willing to follow their Continental brethren in this
respect could they obtain trained women and girls.
In some cases this has been done in the past, and the
war, with its resultant scarcity of ‘male labour, has
forced some to try again. In answer to inquiries
instituted, the manager of a large Scottish commercial
nursery writes (in 1915) on this matter as follows:

“‘ Up to ten years ago we employed women and girls
very largely for weeding and lining out. Since trawl-
fishing became such a big industry up here it has been
quite impossible to secure women for light nursery
work, and we have had to rely more or less on lads
from fifteen to eighteen years of age. This spring any
amount of female labour is available, but so far we
have found it not altogether satisfactory, owing to the
want of regular attendance on the part of the women.”

The reasons given for the want of regularity in
attendance were the prevalence of bitterly cold, wet

RESULT OF ONE ATTEMPT 239

weather, and the distance—three to four miles—of the
nursery from the town where the women lived, there
being no housing accommodation in the vicinity. The
women were paid 12s. per week, free insurance, with
car fare home—~.e. practically 13s. per week for a week
of fifty-six hours. Extra time on Saturday was paid
for at 3d. perhour. The manager stated, as his belief,
that had the weather been more genial last spring the
women would have proved more regular in attendance.
He stated that he would be able to employ twenty to
thirty women from April to October this year (1915),
and had no doubt that he would be able to train a
good women staff lateron. The few women who lived
near the nursery and could get home to their meals
proved most willing, active, and satisfactory workers.

The above report would appear to place this matter
in a nutshell. Generally speaking, throughout the
country it has never been approached in a spirit that
would spell success. If women are to be employed
satisfactorily they must be housed in the vicinity of
their work, so that they can, as a rule, get home and
have proper meals, and probably attend to domestic
duties as well. They will, not unnaturally, require
slightly different treatment to men; but their cheaper
wages should make it well worth while to attend to
such requirements.

But employment in the nursery is by no means the
only direction in which women can be used in forestry
operations. A most crying need is to cheapen the
cost of the lighter work out in the woods as well as in
the nursery. For with cheaper rates the former class
of work will be more efficiently done than is the case

240 EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN FORESTRY

very often at present, because it will be possible to
devote more time (7.¢. labour) to it.

It is at least open to doubt whether in normal times,
labour (7.e. the class of labour required) for carrying
out the large planting schemes which should be put
in force would be available if we adhere to the con-
servative practices of the past, and rule out of con-
sideration the employment of women and girls in
forestry operations. It has been stated that in some
of these latter, women could do as well, if not better,
than men. To make this contention clear it will be
necessary to glance briefly at the various operations
connected with forestry work in this country in which
women could be employed. Our plantations are for
the most part what is termed artificially formed—
i.e. the young plants are raised in a nursery, and
planted out when old enough, usually three to four
years, on the area on which the wood is to be formed.
According to the distance apart at which the young
plants are spaced, which varies with the species, eleva-
tion, etc., from 1,750 to 3,500 plants will be required
to the acre. It is quite easy to reckon, therefore, that
if planting operations on any large scale are to be
undertaken by artificial means, millions of plants of the
requisite age will be required, and will have to be raised
in nurseries. Two distinct forestry operations are
dealt with above—the raising of plants in the nursery,
and their planting out to form woods. During the
early life of the young plantations a certain amount of
supervision work is necessary. A heavy growth of
weeds may threaten the young plants with suppression
and death during the first two or three years. The

eee ee

i er re

THE FOREST NURSERY 241

young trees may require protection against pests, such
as insects, birds, deer, and so on; they require to be
carefully inspected for disease, such as the common
larch canker. All this class of protective work comes
under the category of ‘‘ light’ work.

The above instances of the lighter parts of forestry
operations will serve to show that in certain directions
there is work which could be easily performed by
women; work in fact, which they could do at least
equally as well as men, and on which it appears rather
a waste of labour to employ the latter.

We will glance at the operations I have sketched
above in greater detail.

The Forest Nursery.—In the nursery there is a
certain amount of heavy work connected with trench-
ing the ground, and so on, which requires to be done
by men. This, however, only occurs at one season of
the year, and forms but a fraction of the work carried
on in the nursery. Once the heavy trenching is done,
the upper layer of soil requires to be broken up and
reduced to a fine consistency—light work which can
be done by women. In the spring, seed-beds are pre-
pared and seed sown. Seedlings, one or two-year-old,
are lifted out of past years’ seed-beds and transplanted,
or lined out, in breaks. The trenching of these latter
areas will have been previously done by men, but the
work of lining out the seedlings at so many to the
yard in the line, and with a prescribed distance between

‘the rows, is work that can be done by women. Owing

to the fact that the latter are, as a rule, lighter-fingered
than men or youths, it is work that can be better and
more quickly performed by them. As the wage-bill

242 EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN FORESTRY

would be less, we could raise, buy, or sell our plants at
cheaper rates per 1,000, and they should have at least
equally good roots as those transplanted by men, and
in all probability would have better ones.

Transplanting and sowing work over, there comes the
heavy work involved in weeding. A great part of this
work is done by lads, and it would be interesting to
know the proportion of seedlings pulled up with the
weeds during a season’s work. Admitted that one
finds occasionally a clever-fingered youth; but the
average in this respect could in nowise compare with
the average in the other sex. Moreover, a number of
the seedlings of our trees are excessively small when
they first germinate and during their first year’s growth.
Surely if there is a work at which women and girls
should excel, it should be this job—a most important
one in a large nursery. There are numberless other
operations in the nursery which could be equally well
performed by women and girls with at least as good
results.

Turning now to the woods: it may appear that
here at any rate is man’s work, if only for the
reason that the manual labour connected with fell-
ing, converting and carting of timber, making roads,
fencing work, and so on, is heavy. It may be at once
admitted that this side of forest work is particularly
that of the man. But there is a variety of light work
in which there does not appear any adequate reason
why women should not find employment. This work
varies, both in nature and the season at which it has
to be done. For instance, in planting out young trees:
the manual work connected with the preparation of

WORK SUITABLE TO WOMEN 243

the holes in which the plants are to go, often heavy,
in stiff or stony soil, is man’s work, and can be done by
a squad of men. But experienced women or girls
could plant the trees in the holes thus prepared at
least as well as men or lads, and perhaps would be apt
to be less careless than the average man. For if the
young tree is to grow and thrive, it requires to be put.
into its new position with some degree of care. In-
attention to these requirements is responsible for at
least 50 per cent. of the deaths which occur within the
first year of the life of a young planted wood. Then,
as has been already mentioned, there is a considerable
amount of work in connection with the protection of
the new-formed wood.

During the first year a dense growth of coarse grass,
weeds or bracken, etc., may grow up on the area,
especially on the portion immediately surrounding the
plant, where the soil has been newly turned over. This
will require cutting back during the summer, and the
operation may have to be repeated in the following
year. Broom, whins, etc., may require like treatment,
as also young birch, which come into young woods by
means of blown seed, and thrive with amazing per-
sistency in this country, and require cutting back. —
Again, the young plants may become diseased early in
life.. This is particularly the case with young larch,
which get cankered. Searching for such diseased trees
and cutting them out is light work, and could be easily
done by women.

Young plantations of conifers are liable to attack
by insect pests. One insect, a weevil (Hylobius), is a
particularly bad one in many parts of Europe, and in

244 EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN FORESTRY

our own country. It infests and kills young conifers
in newly formed plantations, especially Scots pine.
Traps of various kinds (it is unnecessary to detail them
here) are made use of to attract and capture this
insect, and these traps require to be set in position,
and also to be visited at intervals, in order to collect
and kill the insects attracted to them. The larch
saw-fly is another pest which can be attacked with
success at a certain stage in its life-history.

The depredations of birds such as black game, and
animals such as deer, etc., can be circumvented by
either tarring the terminal shoots or whitewashing the
terminal buds of conifers; or, as is done in Germany,
by fixing a small metal clip to the terminal shoot which
pricks the deer’s nose when bending down to feed on
it. All these, and other operations, are carried out by
women and girls in Germany and elsewhere on the
Continent, and the work is done cheaply.

The present would appear to be an excellent oppor-
tunity for considering whether a commencement cannot
be made in this direction in this country. Forestry is
an expensive business with us. To some extent we
make it expensive for ourselves, and then are unable
to understand why we cannot compete with the
foreigner. We preserve our rabbits, which eat off
year after year all the young naturally germinated
seedlings, get into the plantations and destroy
numbers of the young plants planted out at con-
siderable expense, or wound them by gnawing the
bark, with the result that disease gets in; and finally
necessitates the tremendous s,s of netting every
acre planted.

DISTRIBUTION OF WORK | 245

Also, we only employ men and youths in forestry
work, when there is a large amount of work which
could be performed at least equally as well, and some
of it perhaps better, by women.

We hear a good deal and read a good deal about the
registration of women for employment during and after
the war. Surely one direction in which women could
find employment in this country is in the lighter
portion of the work connected with the industries of
the soil! And one of these is forestry, a business whose
importance to us and our industries in this country
will be one of the factors which the war will bring into
great prominence.’

Stress has been laid above on the cheaper rates at
which work in the nursery and elsewhere could be
undertaken by the employment of woman labour.
The cheapness, however, is a relative one only. It is
not suggested that the woman should necessarily be
paid at a cheaper rate than the man for the individual
piece of work done. Provided the work were equally
well accomplished, the rate paid should be a uniform
one to be earned by whoever performs the job.

So far as forestty is concerned, the disparity be-
tween the sexes is one of physique only. In forestry
operations the labour supply is usually a difficulty.
Thus, men have to be taken off their heavier, equally
important, and more legitimate work in the woods at
certain seasons to perform the lighter and cheaper
forms of work in the nursery, etc., which the women
could do equally well, if not better, in some cases.

1 This was written in April 1915. There can now be little
doubt after twenty-two months of the war, of the importance of
the forestry industry to this country.

246 EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN FORESTRY

This article has been of a purpose confined to a
consideration of that part of forestry work performed |
by thelabourer, or woodman, as he is generally classed, |
although, of course, there are degrees or grades of
woodmen according to experience, from the young
assistant and apprentice upwards. In a succeeding
article it may prove of interest to glance at the openings
in the higher grades of forestry—in executive and ad-
ministrative work, and so on—which it appears possible
might be open to, and filled by, women.

CHAPTER XVII
THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN FORESTRY—continued

THE EXECUTIVE OR SUPERVISING BRANCH OF FOREST
WoORK
In the previous article consideration is given to the
question of the employment of women and girls in
certain branches of the manual part of forestry work
in which, so far, men and boys have been solely
employed in this country. It was there mentioned
that it might prove of advantage to consider the
problem of openings for women in the higher branches
of forestry—that is, openings in the executive line.
That this question of the employment of women in
work connected with the soil is already receiving
attention will be apparent from an article in Country
Life (May 29, 1915), by Miss Haldane, entitled ‘‘ Edu-
cating Girls for Country Life.”’ The article in question
deals chiefly with the education of girls in dairy work,
poultry farming, and gardening. There is an interest-
ing allusion to forestry, however. On this subject Miss
Haldane writes:

“I know a capital young ‘ forestress’ who, after
learning gardening, begged to be allowed to attend the
forestry lectures with her father; and there are some
possibilities here, though, naturally, limitations also.’

18 247

248 EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN FORESTRY

There appears to be no adequate reason why women
who are physically strong enough for an open-air life
should not take up forestry asa profession. There are
one or two essentials requisite to make a good forester,
in addition to physical qualifications—to wit, a love of
nature and natural history, combined with powers
of close observation. The forester’s theoretical and
practical training develop and stimulate these, but
they should be there from the start to make the real
forester. As a race, the Britisher, man and woman,
possibly possesses these attributes to as great, and per-
haps a greater, degree than any other nation. It is
certain that in their absence a good forester cannot be
made.

It will be asked, How is a forester made? What is
his work, what are the chances of posts in this pro-
fession,and what the probability of a proportion of them
being filled by women? It is the purpose of this
article to answer these questions, so far as is at present
possible. |

First, as regards the making of a forester. The
education and training of the forester—that is, of the
executive officer who has charge of large tracts of woods
worked on commercial principles—has during the past
five years developed amazingly in this country, thanks
chiefly to the discerning enterprise and strong support
of the Development Commissioners, who have made
considerable grants of money for this purpose.
Forestry courses, including both elementary and the
highest branches of the subject, are now delivered
throughout the country at University centres and
Agricultural Colleges. The courses in the advanced

AT EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY 249

branches are intended for the education of the highest
grades of the executive forester of the future. For it
is certain that in the future the man with the forestry
degree or diploma will have the preference over the
man who does not possess either. In fact, he is
already receiving the preference. The training for the
degree or diploma in forestry at the Universities
(Edinburgh gives a degree of B.Sc. in forestry, Oxford
and Cambridge a diploma) is very thorough, including
courses in the elementary portions of the sciences—
botany, zoology, chemistry, and natural philosophy ;
and advanced courses in forest botany, mycology,
forest zoology, forest engineering and surveying, forest
chemistry and geology, with forestry elementary and
advanced. Practical courses and excursions accom-
pany the lectures.

At Edinburgh University three years’ work are re-
quired to obtain the forestry degree, the purely forestry
part of the curriculum involving two years’ work
(second and third years), including practical courses
of from six to seven months altogether. These latter
include a thorough training in the manual part of the
work, both in the nursery and in the woods. The
student is made to do with his own hands the whole
of the manual portion of forestry work described in the
previous article, on the principle that a man cannot be
fit to give orders unless he knows how the work should
be actually done. In Scotland we have magnificent
nurseries and areas of woods in which the student can
undertake this part of his work to perfection.

The advanced practical courses consist of the de-
tailed measurement of the cubic contents. of woods,

250 EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN FORESTRY

their survey and description ; in carrying out thinning
operations; in visits to woods scientifically managed
under working plans; in the preparation of a working
plan for an area of woods—and so on.

Now, the only part of this work a woman is likely to
find beyond her powers is the heavier ‘manual labour,
such as trenching with the heavy spade, the use of the
heavy axe in felling trees of large girth, and so on.
But there appears to be no reason why, by making use
of light tools, she should not be able to render herself
thoroughly acquainted with their manipulation in
order to ensure an adequate future control over her
staff. For the executive officer, whether in charge of
an area of woods or assistant in such an area, is not
required to do the manual labour. He is not there for
that purpose. He is required to possess the brains
and knowledge to run the machine.

It may be conceded, therefore, that so far as the
training of the scientific forester, both upper and lower
executive grades, is concerned, the woman should be
able to assimilate it and be turned out as good an
article as the man.

Now as to the work of the executive forester. It
would be easy and pleasant to detail it at great length.
It will, however, suffice for our present purpose to
glance briefly at the salient points.

The forester’s work is exceedingly diverse, and for
that very reason the more interesting. It has been
well said that the forester is always at school to the
end of his life, and the true forester is well aware of
the correctness of the dictum ; for the more intimately
a man becomes acquainted with the varied life of the

arene oi elle

TACT 281

woods—vegetable and animal life; the greater the
knowledge he possesses of the different species of trees
he may be raising or managing ; the more information
he gathers together upon variations in soil, climate,
and a thousand and one other points in his locality—
the better position will he be in to draw up a proper
plan of working for his woods, and the greater will
be the success he will attain in their working. To this
end, and for this reason, the forester must necessarily
remain a student all his days.

But the mere working of the woods in order to raise
a successful crop of any particular species over a
specified period of years, or rotation as it is called,
forms but a tithe (though a most important one) of the
forester’s duties. The felling and removal of the
matured woods entails a great deal of work. Protec-
tion, both against man, animals (including insects)
and fungi, etc., necessitates incessant vigilance and
care. Remedial measures have to be devised and put
into force, and this work affords scope for the exercise
of considerable ingenuity on the part of the staff.
Trespass and the commission of illicit acts, theft,
grazing of cattle and so on in the woods, are often the
cause of much anxiety and harassment to the executive
officer and his subordinates. These latter causes can
often be greatly diminished by the exercise of tact ; in
fact, can be managed better in this manner than by
any other at present known method. Tact to the
forester, 1.¢. the possession of this quality, is almost an
essential for success in his profession. For he, more
than any one else on the country-side, is greatly depen-
dent on maintaining good relations with and securing

252 EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN FORESTRY

the good will of the inhabitants in the neighbourhood
of his woods.

In addition, therefore, to considerable botanical
and zoological knowledge, the executive officer must
possess some acquaintance with the laws of his country,
civil and criminal, and, when there are such, of the
special forest laws. A correct appreciation of the
value of geological knowledge as it relates to soils,
meteorology as it affects development, etc., of species,
is of coursea sine qua non. Finally, the management of
his office will necessitate a knowledge of book-keeping
and accounts generally.

With this brief examination of some of the most
important aspects of forest work enough has perhaps
been said to indicate the nature of the duties of the
forester, and of the peculiar charm attaching to them
for the lover of the open-air life.

It will be apparent that the work above described
could be undertaken by the properly trained woman.

We come now to our third point—the chances of
posts for women as foresters.

This is a more difficult feature of the question to
deal with than the other two because here we are
treading upon new ground. But this war has brought
into prominence so much new ground which will have
to be ventured upon, that a few remarks upon the a
ject may be attempted here.

It will be necessary to eliminate from consideration
at the present all Government posts in the Forest
Services of India and the Colonies. There remain
posts in this country.

_ They may be divided into two classes, higher execu-

TRAINED FORESTERS WANTED 253

tive and lower executive. The first will in the future
be filled by fully and scientifically trained men holding
a degree or diploma in forestry from the Universities.
The second will for the most part be trained at the
Agricultural Colleges. In the past both these classes
of posts have, speaking generally, been held for the
most part by a man who has started either at the
lowest rung of the ladder as a forest labourer or labourer
apprentice, or as an apprentice of a higher class who
has subsequently taken elementary courses in botany,
zoology, and so on, or attended extension lectures in
such. The good men from one or the other of these
categories have ultimately risen to the position of
head forester (7.e¢. executive officer) in charge of
considerable areas of woods on large privately hedge
estates in this country.

Outside the Crown Forests (which do not of course
belong to the State) there are no Government-managed
areas of woods in England, Scotland, or Wales. In
Ireland, State forestry has been commenced. But
whether State-owned, State-managed, or privately
managed (perhaps under State supervision in some
cases), there can be little doubt that a much larger
area of land will be placed under woods in the near
future in these islands. The war has made this
imperative. It may therefore be taken as certain that
more trained foresters will be required—in fact, it
might almost be said, are required at the present
moment.

There is one further point. Experts for forestry
research work are already needed, and in some degree
will be required in the near future. This work consists

254 EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN FORESTRY

in studying the woods from various aspects. It may
be the purely sylvicultural aspect; the zoological, so
far as the study of forest pests is concerned ; botanical,
mycology and the study of fungus pests; the prepara-
tion of special plans for managing areas of woods;
forest engineering and the export of material; or
finally, forest economics and the means of utilising to
the full all the varied products of the woods, especially
undeveloped products.

In this matter of forest research work, not the least
fascinating of the many-sided and varied branches of
forestry, surely a woman could find herself at her best.
That the work is of the first importance cannot be
gainsaid. But to be able to prosecute it with success-
ful results entails, first, a thorough grounding in and
knowledge of forestry in all its branches, combined
with the necessary study of the allied subjects, botany,
zoology, chemistry, geology, and so on.

My sole excuse in writing on this subject in such
detail rests in the fact that since the former article
appeared in the Englishwoman I have received several
letters from various parts of the country expressing
interest in the subject, and a desire for further in-
formation. The above is an endeavour to place such
points as suggest themselves before the public.

4
in le

INDEX

Acetone, a forestry product, 103

Afforestation in Britain, area
required, 24, 39, 221

—— — arguments against, 25

— — — — for the, 24, 25

— — — past history of, 14, 41,
163

— problem in Britain, the, 10,
163 .

— — in Ireland, 10

— question and posterity, xii,
xix, 29

—-—apathy of public and
Government on, 28

—— at outbreak of war, posi-
tion of, 13

—-— in Britain, recent history
of, 13-22

—-— in reign of Charles II, ix,
xi, 13.

— — planting up of waste lands,
29, 38

— — position of, now, 23

— schemes, financing of, 35, 37,
41

— yield in materials from, 39

America, supplies from, 62, 70,
78, 107

Arboricultural Society, Royal
Scottish, 17

Belgium, destruction of forests
in, 72

Birmingham water catchment
area, planting of, 21

Bobbin mills, 25

Camps water catchment area,
planting of, 22

Canada, supplies from, 8, 62, 70,
78, 107

Cedar (Cembran pine) trade of
Asiatic Russia, 154

Central Powers, forests of, 79,
105, 106

Colliery proprietors and pit-
wood supplies and prices, 24,
57, 59, 178

Corporations and afforestation,
10, 19, 30

Demonstration areas, forestry,
20, 234

Destruction done to towns,
houses, etc., in fighting areas,
4,70 .

Development Commission, ap-
pointment of, 19

— — forestry work of, 19

— — offers of funds for planting,
30

— Commissioners and
education, 10

forest

Edinburgh and District water
catchment area, planting of,21
— University Forestry Degree,
curriculum for, 54, 233, 249
Education and training in

forestry, 53
— of an executive forester, 248-

52
Evelyn’s Sylva, ix, 24, 164
Exports of forestry materials in

1915, 211-14

Fellings in British woods, xxi,
7,29, 38, 60, 175

255

256 /
Finance and planting methods,

37

Finland, the forests of, 104

Forest materials, exhaustion of
world’s supply of, 108, 160

— of Dean, oak in, 42

— service, the Indian, 162

— survey of Glen Mor, 17

Forester, how to make a, 248 |

— life of a, 234

Forestry advisory officers, 19,
29, 35

— a State business, 11, 29

— branches of Departments of
Agriculture, establishment of,
3m

— commercial, 10, 11, 23, 31

Forests, destruction of, in fight-
ing areas, 3, 29, 198

— felling of, by Germans, in
occupied territory, 4, 72, 198

— State recognition of import-
ance of, 161

France, forestry materials of, 56,
106

Freight vessels, shortage of, 3,
57, 61, 181

Furniture manufactories, 25

Germany and Russia, 71
— forest resources of, 71

Home Timber Committee, 7, 38,
58

Imports and exports of timber in
1915, 202

— British forestry, where they
come from, 5, 55, 104, 166

— forestry, in 1913, 41, 160-173

— of forestry materials, effect of
war On, 3, 55

—of forestry materials to
Britain, 2, 55, 66, 166

Ireland, State Forestry Depart-
ment in, 22

Labour for afforestation, 34, 50
Lake Vyrnwy water catchment
area, planting of, 21

INDEX

Lanarkshire water catchment
area, planting of, 22

Landowners and afforestation,
10, II, 19, 30

Land purchase by Government
for afforestation, 30

Leeds water catchment area,
planting of, 21

Liverpool water catchment
area, planting of, 21

Manchester water catchment
areas, planting of, 21

Markets, timber, British and
European, 2, 166

—_—— competition in, by Allies,
4, 6, 8, 70, 105

— — control of, 70

National planting scheme, a, 1,
27, 38

— resources, utilisation and con-
servation of, xxv, 27

Newfoundland, supplies from, 8,
62, 70, 78

Norway, forestry resources of,
6, 8, 9, 78, 106

Nurseries, emergency, 34

Nursery, the forest, 241

— work for women in the forest,
225, 238, 241

Paper pulp mills, 25, 218

Pitwood from abroad, 56, 67

—imports in I915, 203, 205,
210

— in Britain, 6, 57, 59, 178

— supplies, effect of six months’
war on, 182, 189

Planting and the State, a
II, 30

—at Murthly with semi-circular
spade, cost of, 49

— corps, a, 34

— methods, 42-9

— relative conte of different
methods, 4

| Plants, cen of, for affores-

tation, 33
Prices of forestry materials, rise
in, 3, 23, 37, 38, 56, 57, OF, 64

INDEX

Pulp, paper, 24, 25, 167, 169, 218
> a » 193
——imports in 1915, 206-11

Research work in forestry, 253,

254

Rotations for forest crops in
Britain, 13, 26, 39

Royal Commissions and Com-
mittees and afforestation, 1,
15, 23, 28

— Society advocates planting,
ix, xii, Xx, Xxv

— — of Arts and tree planting,

xiii

Russia and British forestry im-
ports, 5, 8, 55, 60, 63, 67, 166

— forestry resources of, 9, 67, 71,

73
— in Europe, forests of, 82
Russian forests and British
timber supplies, 67

— — leasing of, by Great Britain,

81

Saw mills, 25, 75,218

Siberia and Turkestan, forests of,
130

Soldiers and sailors, incapaci-
tated, employment of, in fores-
try, 51, 223

Species to plant, 42

State and planting, the, xviii,
II, 30

Sweden, forestry resources of, 6,
8, 9, 62, 78, 106

Talla water catchment area,
planting of, 21

Thirlmere water catchment
area, planting of, 21

Timber famine in Europe, 23,
56, 160

— imports in 1915, 204, 206-10

— supplies, famine prices, 55

— — effect of six months’ war
on, 181, 183, 186

257

Timber, supplies of future, sug-
gestions for safeguarding our,
27, 68, 77

— uses of, in fighting areas, 3, 56,
104

Timbers, commercial classifica-
tion of, 169

—in most demand, pines,
spruces, firs, 4, 166

Toys, making of wooden, in
Britain, 218

Trenches, length of, on | Western
and Eastern fronts, 104

Virgil and planting, xxiii, xxiv

War, effect of the, on the affores-
tation question, 23-6, 28, 173

— forestry materials, demands
for, 56, 104

—six months of, effect on
timber supplies, 181

— timber materials, Govern-
ment purchases of, from
British woods, 38

— timber supplies and the, 160

Waste land in Britain, 1, 15, 24,
27

— — — afforestation of, 11, 24

Water trusts and the afforesta-
tion of catchment areas, 10,
19, 30

Women, assistance of, in pressing
afforestation of Britain, 216

—employment of, in manual
part of forest work, 236

— forestry posts for, in execu-
tive grades, 253

— in forestry, employment of,
50, 215, 236, 247

— in higher branches of forestry,
training of, 232,247

Woodlands, arealof British, 15,24

— big for shelter, 39

— — for sporting purposes, 39

Woods, work in, for women,
229, 240, 242

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TREES AND SHRUBS
HARDY IN THE BRITISH ISLES

By W. J. BEAN

ASSISTANT CURATOR, ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW

With over 250 Line Drawings and 64 Half-tone Illustrations.
2 Vols, 42s. net.

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of a master of the subject. No one who cares for trees and
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all the trees and shrubs which we know, but also a great
number of recent introductions, about which we know little
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the most complete and correctly named arboretum in Europe,
has managed to get into the space of two octavo volumes
a mass of knowledge and experience which is unrivalled,
and though one does not look for literary polish in a work
of reference like this, his writing is fluent, precise, and free
from the vague statements that in so many horticultural works
leave one in doubt as to what the author means, or whether
he really knows what he is writing about... .

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justice to this book, which must remain for many years to
come by far the best of its scope and price on a subject
which will always be dear to every lover of Nature and
gardens,”—Mr. H. J. E.wes, in Country Life,

LONDON: JOHN MURRAY

By A. D. HALL, M.A., F.RS.

FORMERLY DIRECTOR OF THE ROTHAMSTED EXPERIMENTAL STATION

AGRICULTURE AFTER THE WAR,
35. 6d. net.

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FROM MR. MURRAY’S LIST

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JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE ST., LONDON, W.

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