.ru 3- ru NATIONAL AFFORESTATION WORKS BY A. D. WEBSTER SEASIDE PLANTING For Shelter, Ornament, and Profit With 33 Illustrations. Crown 410., cloth, i8s. net Mr. A. D. Webster, expert on Forestry and author of several works on trees and planting, and who has had extensive experience of seaside plant- ing both in Wales and England, has produced an exhaustive book on " Seaside Planting for Shelter, Ornament, and Profit." Some of the subjects dealt with are Sand Dunes and Coast Erosion ; Preparation of the Ground and Planting ; Tree Growth around the Coast and on the adjoining Islands ; Trees and Shrubs for Seaside Planting ; Cost of and Returns from Shore Planting ; and Insects that are most Injurious to Maritime Planta- tions. There are thirty-three illustrations of trees, shrubs, and grasses that have been found best adapted for seaside planting. FIREWOODS : Their Production and Fuel Values Illustrated. Cloth, 125. 6d. net T. FISHER UNWIN, LIMITED, LONDON NATIONAL AFFORESTATION BY A. D. WEBSTER AUTHOR OF "SEASIDE PLANTING," "FIREWOODS," BTC. -a LONDON T. FISHER UNWIN, LTD. i, ADELPHI TERRACE, W.C. First published 1919 so All rightt raerved PREFACE THE pressing need of afforestation and the lifelong interest that I have taken in the subject have caused me to record my ex- perience and observations. The Scottish laird's advice to his son, " Be aye stikin* in a tree, Jock; it'll be growin' when ye're sleeping" was never more appropriate than at the present time, when the axe of the woodman should give place to the spade of the planter. The cultivation of -timber where formerly heath and gorse abounded is equally laudable with the making of two blades of grass grow where only one grew before. CONTENTS PAOB PREFACE - - 5 INTRODUCTION - • 9 I. HISTORY OF BRITISH WOODLANDS - - 21 H. THE APPROACHING DEARTH OF TIMBER, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE UNITED STATES, CANADIAN, AND CONTINENTAL SUPPLIES - 35 x HI. TREE-PLANTING BY THE STATE : WHY STATE OWNER- SHIP IS IMPERATIVE - 45 IV. COST OF FORMING PLANTATIONS, WITH ACTUAL FIGURES FROM ENGLISH, SCOTTISH, WELSH, AND IRISH ESTATES - 57 T. FORMATION OF PLANTATIONS : LAYING OUT THE GROUND, DRAINAGE, FENCING, AND PLANTING - 69 * vi. TREES TO PLANT: LIST OF THE BEST FOR PURELY ECONOMIC PLANTING - - 79 I VH. FINANCIAL RETURNS FROM TREE-PLANTING, WITH RETURNS FROM SEVERAL AUTHENTIC SOURCES • 93 * VIII. ADVANTAGES OF AFFORESTATION : IN THE MATTER OF SHELTER, CLOTHING OUR BARE HILL-SIDES, AND AFFORDING WORK TO THE UNEMPLOYED - 103 IX. AFFORESTATION AND SCHOOLS OF FORESTRY : NECESSITY FOR ESTABLISHING SUCH - - 109 7 CONTENTS CHAITKR PA.OB < X. AFFORESTATION AND THE UNEMPLOYED • - 119 XI. COMPARATIVE VALUE OF BRITISH AND FOREIGN TIMBER, WITH EXAMPLES - 131 XII. TIMBER TRANSPORT .... 141 XIH. FORESTRY SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE RECONSTRUC- TION COMMITTEE - -». - 147 XIV. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS - - - - 155 8 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION INTRODUCTION NOT only as a matter of national safety, but in order to provide timber for our every- day requirements, it is imperative that the Government should, without delay, not only replant areas that have been denuded for war purposes, but afiorest at least a million acres of waste or otherwise unprofitable land. Commercially, forestry is in this country an almost unknown industry, its necessities and possibilities being but little understood, and that although we are the largest timber- consuming country in the world — larger, indeed, than all the countries of Europe put together. We have fully 15,000,000 acres of mountain and heath land where timber could be successfully and profitably cultivated, and yet the sum total of our woodlands previous 9 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION to the war was only 3,035,590 acres, a smaller percentage than that of any other country. The percentage of woodlands held by the Crown is only about 2J per cent., or a little over 66,000 acres. The produce of these woodlands is quite inadequate to meet our ever-increasing demands, which, roughly speaking, approximate 11,000,000 loads an- nually, the total value of which exceeds £33,000,000. Time after time the writer has urged on the Government the pressing necessity of extending the woodlands of our country, so that a great national industry would be brought about, and that we might be less dependent on foreign supplies. But little or nothing has been done, and, broadly speaking, the position stands thus: In Scotland the Government has planted a few thousand acres of land, while some of the larger city corporations have done good work by afiorest- ing the catchment areas of their water-supplies, and in Ireland some planting of rather an experimental nature has taken place. This, 10 INTRODUCTION with the little efforts that have been made by private landowners, is the sum total of our planting operations. There are, perhaps, no exact statistics of the total quantity of stand- ing timber that we possess, but according to the most reliable estimates about 3,000,000 acres out of a total of 77,000,000 acres are wooded, and the value of this may be roughly conjectured as about £33,000,000. Now, previous to the war our annual imports amounted to fully £45,000,000, or, in other words, the total value of standing timber in the British Isles is less than has been yearly spent on purchasing that commodity from abroad. Assuming that the war had con- tinued for another two years with the restricted imports, there would have been little or no timber left standing in this country. This is a wrong state of matters, that can only be put right by the Government, at once, planting up at least a million acres of land during the next twenty-five years. It is most unfortunate that the tendency of the war has been to seriously check planting 11 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION operations, and at the same time to greatly increase the felling of all kinds of timber. The war has certainly brought home to us in a clear and unmistakable manner the danger of relying too much on foreign supplies of timber, and it is to be hoped that after peace we will settle ourselves down to make amends, not only for past neglect in that way, but in order to make up for the lost ground, by re- planting some, at least, of the land from which timber has been felled. But the matter must be viewed in a still more serious light, for unless the Government take steps to stop the present tendency to check planting and hasten felling, another year of war would most certainly have found this country seriously denuded of its best timber. We are no pessimists, but unless something is done, such as by Act of Parliament, to either induce planting or stay the axe of the woodman, the woodlands of our country will be sadly depleted in another year or two. Heretofore the State has done extremely little either in extending the area of our INTRODUCTION woodlands and plantations or in inducing owners of suitable lands to do so them- selves. The war has made unusually large demands on timber all over the Continent, as well as at home, and it is quite possible that, with foreign supplies greatly diminished, we will be compelled to still further make severe inroads on our own resources. To those who rightly regard our forests as a national asset it is quite plain that, in order to keep up supplies for the future, replanting of ground from which a timber crop has been cut and the afforesting of fresh areas is the only feasible way of facing the difficulty. When we consider that the total area of woodlands in this country is only a little over 2,000,000 acres, that fully 15,000,000 acres of waste lands exist, and that we an- nually import over 10,000,000 tons of timber at a cost of over £45,000,000, the necessity for an increased area of woodlands will be apparent to all, and all the more so as a dearth of timber is imminent and outside supplies are being 13 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION rigidly conserved, while our home demands are ever on the increase. Taken as a whole, Europe has not enough timber to meet her demands, about 4,000,000 tons in excess of what she produces being annually required, and stringent laws have been passed regulating the output. This is the case with Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. The Canadian forests and those of the United States are both nearly exhausted, and by a competent judge it has been said that in fifteen years little or no timber will be left if depletion goes on in these countries as at present. But the worst is that there are no forests to fall back upon, for the timber of those of Africa and India and South America is unsuited generally to our wants. Australia, China, and Japan require at present more timber than they produce. For the past thirty years I have not failed to urge on the Government and private owners of woodlands the pressing necessity of planting up some, at least, of the waste and unprofitable lands of our country in order to 14 INTRODUCTION provide timber for the future, and leave us less dependent on the gradually dwindling supplies that are annually sent us from abroad. England being, so to speak, a residential country, the retention of a certain amount of heath, mountain, and commons land for the purpose of deer forests, grouse moors, game coverts, and golf-links, is imperative, and will considerably reduce the amount of land available for afEorestry purposes. But I think that I am well within bounds in allotting, out of the 15,000,000 acres of waste lands, 1,000,000 to afforesting and 14,000,000 acres to game preserves and recreation. Having personally explored much of the mountain and heath lands in England and Scotland and some of the vast tracts of bog- land in Ireland (which alone extend to fully 1,125,000 acres), I have carefully computed that, of the land up to 1,200 feet where timber would grow perfectly well, about 9,000,000 acres are available for afforesting purposes. As far as I have been able to find out, the average rental of such ground would be con- 15 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION siderably under 3s. per acre, while, on the other hand, I am quite convinced that any land which does not bring in at least three times that amount for grazing or agricultural purposes would be more profitably employed in carrying a crop of timber. It is, perhaps, unfortunate that much of these waste lands is private property, the owners of which, even could they afford it, have little inclination to sink, for a period of, say, twenty-five years, the necessary capital required to be expended on the formation of woods and plantations. Under such conditions the question naturally arises, What is the most feasible way to over- come the difficulty ? In answer, and without the slightest hesitation, I would say that suitable waste lands at the rate of 40,000 acres should be planted annually for a period of, say, twenty-five years. Such lands could, in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, be gradually and cheaply acquired where the owner himself was unwilling to plant, and in Ireland vast tracts of bog-land would be willingly handed over at the present time 16 INTRODUCTION at a small sum per acre. Quite recently, in Wales, 7,412 acres of upland, described as " rough grazing and sheep walk," was sold by public auction for £15,670, or at the low rate of £2 2s. 3d. per acre. The land was particu- larly suitable for the growth of larch, as the highly remunerative plantations adjoining clearly pointed out. But numerous similar cases will be given later on so that the excuse of no available land is not tenable and could be dealt with by a waste land reclamation society. After careful computation I have no hesi- tation in saying that the area of plantations in the United Kingdom could at once be doubled by the planting of waste lands which at present do not bring in over 2s. per acre rent annually, with infinite benefit to the country generally and a vast increase in the value of land both to the owner and farmer who cultivates it. I have already suggested that altogether not less than 1,000,000 acres should be planted over a period of twenty-five years at the rate of 40,000 acres per year, B 17 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION which would be an outlay of about £290,000 annually — a small sum, it will be admitted, when compared with the £45,000,000 yearly expended by this country on supplies brought from abroad. My original scheme of afforestation was, however, on much more ambitious lines, the proposal being that 3,000,000 acres should be planted over a period of twenty -five years, at the rate of 120,000 acres annually, this, with the existing 3,000,000 acres, making a grand total of fully 6,000,000 acres of woodlands, the produce of which would leave us to a great extent independent of foreign supplies. But supposed difficulties in the matter of procuring suitable land and the necessary money and labour knocked the proposal on the head, and the lesser scheme was substituted as more likely to find favour with those who will have to provide the necessary funds for carrying out this pressing and important work. Now, however, that a timely lesson has been learnt as to our timber requirements in time of war and the present sadly depleted 18 INTRODUCTION state of our woodlands, it is to be hoped that no grudging hand will be stretched out against the rendering of the British Isles as far as possible self-supporting in the matter of timber. At present we have less than 3,000,000 acres of woodlands, or 4 per cent, of the total area of land in the United Kingdom. Between 12,000,000 and 15,000,000 acres of waste lands have been mapped out as suitable for tree- planting, so that the proposed 3,000,000 acres would work out at considerably less than one- half of the available area. In order to reduce expenses it was proposed to extend the plant- ing of the whole area over a period of twenty- five years, at the rate of 120,000 acres per annum. The cost of so doing, including purchase of land, would work out at £900,000 per year. There are advantages in spreading the planting over a period of years, as by the time the last portion was dealt with, the first planted sections should be worth at least £60 per acre, which might be looked to as a permanent yearly return. Besides this, actual returns from coniferous plantations 19 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION have proved that up to sixty or seventy years there is an annual return of 15s. per acre per year for thinnings. The cost of felling and converting the timber on each 120,000 acre section would approximate £50 per acre, or a total of £6,000,000, to which should be added another £2,000,000 for haulage and railway carriage, this work giving constant employment to about 70,000 men. Taking the cost of planting each year, this would represent work for fully 4,000 men. From carefully compiled figures, based on the experience of the past thirty years, the afioresting of waste land which at present brings in an annual rental of under 3s. per acre would yield, after paying cost of land and planting, 42s. for larch and 20s. for Scotch pine and spruce. CHAPTER I HISTORY OF BRITISH WOODLANDS THE face of England has changed considerably since the days when Julius Caesar described it as " one horrible wood," and when his soldiers had to hack their way from Deal to London. Nearly all these primeval forests that barred the march of the Roman soldiers have disappeared. At that period and for many centuries afterwards we had plenty of timber and little use for it, a striking contrast to to-day, when we are left with little timber and such a demand that before the war our bill for the wood we imported stood roughly at £45,000,000 annually. War greatly in- creased the demand, while submarines reduced the supply, and as a result we were compelled to fall back on our home-grown timber, only to find that economic forestry was one of the many home industries that we had neglected 21 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION and quite forgotten to establish. Then, too, we found out that whereas France and Ger- many had half an acre of woodlands per head of the population, Britain could barely average a fifth of that amount. Early historians tell us that in their day, not only England, but the greater part of the British Isles, was forest land; but as time progressed and the population increased, the calls for timber gradually reduced the area and density, until to-day the sum total of our woodlands is less than 3,000,000 acres out of a total of 77,000,000 acres. The South of England was particularly well wooded, trees and underwood extending in an almost unbroken line from east to west, while both the Midlands and North had their de- tached forests. Remnants of the southern woodlands are Epping, Eichmond, Windsor, and the New Forest, while Sherwood, with its memories of Robin Hood, was one of the best- known and most valuable of the earlier forest lands. Scotland had its great Caledonian Forest, while the famous Shillelagh and other 22 HISTORY OF BRITISH WOODLANDS forests in Ireland, particularly in the County Wicklow, stretched in an almost unbroken line from the Atlantic to the Irish Sea. In the Domesday Book (1081-1086) mention is made of forests in Berks, Hants, Dorset, Wilts, and Gloucestershire; while no less than 156 forests are described in the Royal Forests of England. When the early Britons settled in London, thick, almost impenetrable forests of oak and scrubwood covered the high ground where St. Paul's Cathedral now stands, and extended away towards the Tower on one side and to Highgate, Hampstead, and St. John's Wood on the other. Previous to the Great Fire of London in 1666 most of the 65,000 picturesque old framework houses were built of wood, and in order to accommodate some 400,000 souls and their belongings large quantities of timber must have been requisitioned, not only for the erection, but in the repairs to these un- pretentious structures. As little or no foreign wood was imported at that early date, it is only reasonable to suppose that home-grown 23 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION timber entered largely into their construction; indeed, samples of charred wood from the Great Fire that I have been privileged to examine were all of oak or chestnut, and of very excellent quality. London in those days was, however, well situated for obtaining supplies of native timber, and as the nearer forests became exhausted the builder went further and further afield for his oak and elm> much of which was obtained from the Sussex and Surrey woodlands. There are still several interesting remains of oak and chestnut timber that were used in the construction of thirteenth and fourteenth century buildings; but many have been pulled down during the past century, some of which would include the wooden galleries of the " Four Swans " in Bishopsgate Street, the Tower of London and Peter Pindar's house, which were some of the finest examples of early woodwork. Then the roof of Westminster Hall is acknowledged to be the most perfect wooden structure in the world, the oak of which was obtained from the Surrey woodlands during the reign of HISTORY OF BRITISH WOODLANDS Richard II. To-day the greatest part of the oak is in perfect condition, though some of the logs have been badly attacked by insects. The original roof of 1098 was of Irish oak obtained by King William Rufus from the Wicklow hills. The cloister alleys of Durham Cathedral is another early and splendid example of the beauty and lasting properties of British oak; while Cochwillam barn, in Carnarvonshire, contains quantities of the hardest and most beautifully coloured oak timber that I have ever seen. The massive roof of St. Paul's Cathedral was formed of oak from Welbeck in 1695. In rebuilding London after the fire large quantities of timber were brought from the adjoining forests, notably those in Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, as well as Middlesex and the heights of Hertfordshire . From Kingston- on-Thames it is also on record that remarkably fine oak timber was brought to London. But as well as buildings, the consumption of timber as fuel must have been considerable at that early date, and so helped towards the destruction of the woods and forests, for it is m NATIONAL AFFORESTATION only during the past century that coalfields were developed. Large quantities of the finest oak and other timber from the Sussex forests were also converted into charcoal to be utilised in the production of the far-famed Sussex iron, which had a wide reputation and was largely manufactured until the requisite timber for producing the charcoal run out. It may be of interest to mention that the massive iron railings which partially surround St. Paul's Cathedral were amongst the last production of these Sussex ironworks. With the disappearance of the timber, the charcoal- burner was unable to follow his occupation, and so one of the earliest and most interesting of our woodland industries came to an end. At what date timber merchants appeared on the scene would be difficult to say, but we know that pine- wood was imported from Norway to this country in 1656, though only in small quantities, as we find from the Geographical Directory that even as late as 1815 the annual value of deal sent from Norway did not exceed £175,000. The home 26 HISTORY OF BRITISH WOODLANDS or English timber merchant is, however, of much older standing than the foreigner, and probably dates from the beginning of the fifteenth century, as we find that in 1407 one William Pomfrett, a timber merchant on the borders of Sherwood Forest, was indicted at Nottingham for placing timber upon Tymber- hill on the King's highway to the nuisance of the neighbours; and, moreover, through the default of that timber there lying, John Ward, a barber, was killed. Actual sales of timber even at an earlier date are recorded, as in 1379 John Turner entered a debt of 6s. 8d. (about £5 of our money) in the court against a publican for " timber pertaining to an ale booth " which should have been paid for at the Feast of St. Martin. As early as 1290 Queen Eleanor, wife of Edward I., set up large timber works at Glencree, in Ireland, to supply timber for her castle at Haverford in Wales. The records of the Worshipful Company of Carpenters, which were fortunately saved from the Fire of London, make no reference to the home timber merchant previous to 27 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION that date, and no guild or company of such trades is known to have existed. It is there- fore probable, though we have authentic accounts of timber merchants in other parts of the country, that in and around London the dealer in timber was in all probability combined with the carpenter or wood- worker. Eegarding timber-yards, we know that early in the sixteenth century, on the bank of the Thames, a considerable plot of ground was set apart for the storage of such materials as were required for keeping London Bridge in repair, and several pit-saws were at work along the stream. Here, again, it is only reasonable to suppose that the materials used for the re- pairs of a wooden bridge would consist mainly of timber, and the plot of ground be a timber- yard. For the rebuilding of London foreign timber was imported, but the houses, though mainly erected of stone, were often lavishly embellished with oak panelling and carvings from one or other of the adjoining forests. Most of the timber in those early days was cut into boards and planks by the pit-saw, 28 HISTORY OF BRITISH WOODLANDS several of which could be seen at work within easy reach of old London Bridge. Strange though it may sound, a pit-saw is to-day at work in Westminster Hall converting the oaken logs into the requisite shapes for repairs to the ceiling. When the first sawmill was erected it would be difficult to say, but prob- ably not earlier than the middle of the four- teenth century, and the Bishop of Ely, in 1555, quaintly describes one he saw at Lyons as " being driven by an upright wheel, and the water that makes it go is gathered whole in a narrow trough which deliver eth the same water to the wheel." In 1633 a Dutchman erected a " wind sawmill " near the Strand. The pit-saw at use in Westminster Hall to-day recalls to memory the old method of converting logs before the circular or bench saw was introduced. As late as a century ago it was not uncommon for timber to be sold in London " by candle," meaning that bidding could continue while a certain portion of the candle was being consumed, and sand- boxes were used in lieu of blotting-paper. 29 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION Regarding the scarcity of home-grown timber and need for tree-planting, the earliest warning I have been able to find is that in August, 1608, Philip Cottingham, of London, Carpenter, was sent over to Ireland to report on timber for the Navy and sent fifty-six tons to the Thames as a specimen. In " Practical Husbandry/' published in 1656, the author writes as follows: "Now, the multitude of timber brought yearly from Norway and other parts does plainly demonstrate the scarcitie thereof here; also it may be conjectured what a miserable case the Kingdom will be plunged into in an Age or two hence for want of Timber." Again, Evelyn in his " Silva," published in 1662, gave an historic account of the sacredness and use of standing groves with reference to an enquiry regarding oak timber for the Navy. A few years later, in 1675, Dr. Thornton said: "The deputies or lieu- tenants of the Duke of Newcastle, Justice of Eyre of all His Majesty's forests North of the Trent (after 1660), have allowed such and so many claims that there will not very shortly 30 HISTORY OF BRITISH WOODLANDS be wood enough left to cover the bilberries/' In 1731 the question was brought before the Irish House of Commons in an Act (the 5 George II. c. 5) " To encourage the improve- ment of barren and waste lands and bogs, and planting of timber trees and orchards." But even from the time of the Norman Conquest enquiries have from time to time been made regarding our available timber supplies, especially with reference to oak for building and keeping in repair the " Wooden Walls of England." From official and other papers I have had good opportunities of learning what vast quantities of special oak- trees were felled in the Eoyal and other forests in connection with the upkeep of the Navy. Even in two of the London parks upwards of 4,000 picked oak-trees were felled for the Navy and mercantile purposes during one season, 2,976 being from Regent's Park, in the very heart of the Metropolis. But coming down to later times, we find that Lord Kames, writing in 1776, said: " Considering the great quantity of waste 31 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION land in Scotland, fit only for bearing trees, and the easiness of transporting them by navigable arms of the sea, one cannot but regret the indolence of our forefathers who neglected that profitable branch of commerce, and left to us the necessity of purchasing foreign timber for every use in life." On no less than seven occasions during the past thirty-two years has the question of afforestation been brought before Parliament, while private conferences would treble that number. There have been, in addition to private meetings, a Select Committee, a Departmental Committee, a Committee to consider the Desirability of Tree-planting in Ireland, Royal Commission on Coast Erosion, and the Forestry Subcommittee of Recon- struction, at all of which much valuable in- formation was given, not only as to the press- ing need of afforestation, but financial results that have been obtained in various parts of the country from properly managed planta- tions. The Forestry Subcommittee of Recon- struction has now issued its report, to which 32 HISTORY OF BRITISH WOODLANDS special reference is made in Chapter XIII. It is sincerely to be hoped that this report will not follow its predecessors into oblivion, but be adopted and carried into effect without delay. Briefly the scheme is that 1,770,000 acres of coniferous forest which it is proposed to create are reckoned to be mature at 80 years, and the whole area is to be planted up within that period, 250,000 acres in the first 10 years, and the remainder in the following 70 years. It is with the first 10 years that the published scheme deals. Of these 250,000 acres 50,000 are to be purchased, 100,000 leased, 25,000 treated on a proceed-sharing basis, 25,000 dealt with by local authorities and private persons, and 50,000 to be replanted. Regarding the utility of timber, it may truly be said that from the time we get up in the morning till we retire at night, from the cradle to the grave, we are daily availing our- selves in one way or another of the products of trees. Timber, whether in a converted or unconverted state, is essential in practically every form of commercial enterprise, including c 33 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION railway construction and maintenance, ship building and repairing, street-paving, building construction, and for mining purposes gener- ally; while the wheel and cart wright, maker of agricultural and other implements, cooper, furniture and packing-case maker, are almost entirely dependent on timber for carrying on their profession. In every country it is noticeable that the more civilised a commu- nity becomes, the greater are its requirements for timber, both in the round and converted state . In connection with home-grown timber , one of the most instructive and enjoyable mornings that I have ever spent was in ex- amining the five-century-old colossal oak beams and purlins on the roof of Westminster Hall. The roof is truly a marvel of oak timber and engineering construction, and may well be described as " one of the finest feats of carpentry extant." CHAPTER II THE APPROACHING DEARTH OF TIMBER THE Controller of Timber Supplies informed the Council of the English Forestry Association that there was a world shortage of timber. In the United Kingdom there were approxi- mately 4,500,000 standards still unfelled, and during the next twelve months it has been estimated that for reconstruction purposes 350,000 standards of good timber will be required. These demands are for national requirements such as house and ship building, railway and engineering works of all descrip- tions. Calculating on the rate of output during the war, it has been carefully computed that the timber still left standing in this country would last about eighteen months. By those who are best competent to judge, repeated warnings have been given as to an approaching timber famine. The late Presi- 85 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION dent Roosevelt said with reference to the United States: " If the present rate of forest destruction is allowed to continue with nothing to offset it, a timber famine in the future is inevitable. Eemember that you can prevent such a famine by wise action taken in time, but once the famine occurs there is no possible way of hurrying the growth of trees necessary to relieve it." These remarks, made some years since, are amply corroborated by the following figures which have just been pub- lished regarding the wood imports and exports of the United States : "For nearly three years now we have been confronted with the stubborn fact that we actually import more lumber and timber pro- ducts of all kinds than we export. There is every chance, too, that this change will con- tinue to grow upon us till, instead of seeking for an outside market for timber and lumber, we will be seeking outside for a timber supply to help provide for our domestic needs. ;' Taking the fiscal year ending with last June, and in round figures our imports of 86 APPROACHING DEARTH OF TIMBER wood and manufactures exceed the exports by about $10,000,000, the exports rounding out about $85,000,000 and the imports total- ling something like $95,000,000. Back before the war started in Europe we had an export trade that had reached beyond the 100,000,000 mark. After the war started it fell oS to about 60 per cent., and it has since recovered to something near 80 per cent, of the original volume, though the bulk of the trade is going to different points than formerly. Meantime, however, we have been adding to our own outside purchases, till now we are buying more than we are selling. So far the big feature in the gain of imports over exports has been in pulp and pulp wood, but there is an increase in the timber and lumber purchases proper. " Our imports are made up of mahogany, cedar, and other cabinet woods, mainly in log form, amounting to something like $5,000,000 a year. Then we have lumber proper, much of it coming from Canada, which runs up to something like $40,000,000, pulp wood about 37 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION §10,000,000, and wood pulp about $25,000,000. The balance is made up of rattan, reeds, etc. " Our exports show a total of lumber proper just about equal to that of our imports, so the main gain of imports over exports is in the pulp wood and wood pulp, though we export some wood pulp too. The fact that we do import even to-day lumber proper in an amount equal to, and promising to exceed, our exports is significant as possibly marking the beginning of a new era in our relation to the outside world in the matter of timber products. All authorities agree that at the rate we have been going for a number of years we will eventually reach the point where there will not be enough timber stumpage to supply domestic needs, unless the needs are cut down or some way is discovered to make the stump- age go much farther. Our present import and export figures point towards the conclusion that we have already reached the point where we will need to import more than we export, which would make us a timber-buying rather than a timber-selling country. APPROACHING DEARTH OF TIMBER " There is that in the situation which should furnish food for serious thought on the part of those prominent in lumber-production in the United States." Again, the late Mr. Lewis Miller, who had vast forests both in Sweden and Nova Scotia, told me that in twenty-five years neither the United States nor Canada will have much timber left, while Sweden and Finland are already played out. " I am also of opinion/' he says, " that during the next twenty-five years timber will be double its present price, and that it will not only pay to plant land valued at 3s. per acre, but that worth 20s. per acre." Canada, with its 798,000,000 acres of wood- lands, sends its entire surplus to the United States. It may be said by some that the timber of our foreign possessions will partly fill up the gap, but such is not the case. Indian timber, principally teak, is not in request to any appreciable extent, while the great African forests are hardwoods, and as a rule unsuited to our wants. The forests of 39 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION South America are on a par with, those of India and Africa, while China, as also Australia, require more timber than they possess. Although large territories of forests, especially in China, Korea, India, and South America, remain to be utilised, it is certain that the question of the future wood supply of the world, now attracting the attention of economists, will continue to excite great interest. Japan is better off in the way of timber. In Japan proper there are some thirty kinds of good timber trees, and over 200 varieties if we include all others which may be called subsidiary timber trees. The area under forest amounts to 47,264,000 acres, being about one-half of the entire area of the country. The Japanese authorities have always taken an interest in the protection and preservation of forests and woodlands. Eussia has vast forests of splendid timber from which we will be able to get some of our supplies, which is specially referred to in Chapter XIII. Than timber no article is probably more indispensable to the welfare of a nation, 40 APPROACHING DEARTH OF TIMBER entering extensively, as it does, into almost every trade and industry. For England, therefore, with an ever-increasing import, the possibility of a dearth of timber must be regarded with the keenest anxiety, more par- ticularly as such would entail prohibitive prices and seriously cripple the trade of the country. The following table, as reported to the Washington Bureau of Manufactures, will show at a glance the annual imports of timber of the principal countries of Europe : England ... ... 16,342,600 cubic yards Germany ... ... 11,766,667 France ... ... 8,496,300 „ Belgium 1,897,777 Italy ... ... 915,148 Denmark ... ... 849,630 Spain ... ... 392,222 Switzerland ... 313,778 „ In face of this it is only reasonable, therefore, to suppose that the Government should act promptly in the matter, remem- bering that no scheme of afforesting, however extensive or well ordered, can bring the neces- sary relief for at least forty years after its 41 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION inception. For all this, and in spite of numerous warnings as to the pressing neces- sity for tree-planting and the ominous signs of a timber famine, little or nothing has been clone, save the holding of meetings by the Board of Agriculture and the purchase of a few hundred acres of waste land in Scotland. To sum up briefly, the situation is this: Eng- land's imports have rapidly increased from a trifle under 3J million loads in 1864 to fully 10 million loads in 1906, thus showing an incre- ment of fully 7 million loads in forty-two years. Most European countries have large internal supplies of timber, so that, by a system of conserving and protective tariffs, the pinch of want would not be felt severely for years to come. But not so England, which is almost wholly dependent on supplies sent from abroad. These are no idle words, but the records of those who know well what they are talking about; neither are the writers in any sense pessimists. With all these warnings from men whose business it is to study the question 42 APPROACHING DEARTH OF TIMBER and who are fully qualified to advance an opinion, surely it is time that we took up seriously the question of afforestation. It goes for the saying that much of the best timber of our country has been sacrificed to meet the requirements of the war, some of the oldest and finest plantations of Scotch pine in various parts of Scotland in particular having been felled. Hardwooded species have not, however, suffered to the same extent, though the country has been practically skinned of its best ash, and heavy consignments of the biggest beech have followed suit from such places as the chalky districts of the Chiltern Hills and other parts of the adjoining counties. However, we have as a nation this consolation, that our home supplies of timber, with, practically speaking, little from old pre-war sources, have tided us over a four years' demand for war purposes of which the world has never had an equal. CHAPTER III TREE-PLANTING BY THE STATE ON no less than seven occasions during recent years has the question of Afforestation and a School of Forestry been brought before the House of Commons. There have been private sittings, Select Committee, Departmental Committee, a Committee to consider the Desirability of Tree-planting in Ireland, Royal Commission on Coast Erosion, and the Forestry Subcommittee of Reconstruction, at all of which much valuable information was given, not only as to the pressing need of afforesta- tion, but financial results that have been ob- tained in various parts of the Kingdom from properly managed plantations. Two of the original pioneers of afforestation in this country were the late Sir John Lubbock and Dr. Lyons. I can well remember on a Sunday afternoon in his beautiful woods at 45 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION High Elms discussing the question with Sir John and Professor Marshall Ward, when the former decided to again approach Parliament on what he described as the momentous question of providing timber for the future and taking steps to promote the study of forestry in this country. A few days after- wards I mentioned the matter to Lord Derby, who, being an ardent arboriculturist, was much in favour of the proposed scheme, and told me to plant up any waste land on his estate at Holwood and on the newly acquired properties at Leaves Green and the Vale of Westerham. Shortly afterwards Sir John Lubbock persuaded the House of Commons to appoint a Select Committee to enquire into the best methods of developing British wood- lands. This Report, which strongly urged the study of forestry and the commercial aspect of tree-planting, was, however, shelved, and no direct action taken till 1902, when, in order to enquire fully into the matter, a Depart- mental Committee was formed, but with no better results. Dr. Lyons 's scheme fared no 46 TREE-PLANTING BY THE STATE better when a Committee was appointed to consider the possibilities of tree-planting in Ireland. Nine years ago hopes of afforesta- tion were high, when the Eoyal Commission on Coast Erosion issued their Report, but again nothing was done. Further than the planting of some ground at Knockmullen, in Ireland — which, by the way, was a complete failure — and the purchase of a comparatively small area of land in Scotland for experimental purposes, little has been done by the State towards meeting our wants in the matter of an extensive and well-thought- out scheme of tree-planting. It was announced last November that the Government had appointed an interim autho- rity to make preliminary arrangements for developing afforestation in the United King- dom. The chairman is Mr. F. D. Acland, M.P., and there are representatives of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. The repre- sentative of Scotland is Brigadier-General Lord Lovat, who acted as Director of Forestry in France for the British Army, and superin- 47 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION tended the felling of French woods for the British Army, so as to set shipping free for other requirements. The authority has power to obtain seed, raise nursery stocks, train foresters, make surveys, and initiate schemes of replanting and afforestation. A sum of £100,000 has been provided for these purposes. Private individuals and public bodies have, so far as possible, assisted by the planting of estate lands and catchment areas, but this is about the sum total of our contribution to one of the most pressing and important of our national problems. It has been left to the war to bring home to the Government the pressing need of afforestation and the neces- sity for large and assured timber resources within its own boundaries. Unlike agriculture, long periods have to elapse before the forestry harvest can be reaped. It will be obvious, therefore, that extensive tree-planting is quite beyond the power of the private individual unassisted. It is a State business, in which regularity of action and large wooded areas are first 48 TREE-PLANTING BY THE STATE necessities; but, unfortunately, in this country commercial forestry is but little understood — in fact, may be described as an unknown industry. Extensive plantations of from a thousand to several thousand acres each, and in com- pact blocks, are required, for it is only in dealing with such areas that the planting, tending, thinning, and conversion of the timber can be most economically and pro- fitably carried out. From the purely economic point of view, the many small plantations dotted over the face of our country are worse than useless, though exceptions might be noted, especially in Scotland, where a number of woods have been planted and managed on a commercial basis, and from which much of the timber for carrying on the war has been procured. With compact blocks of forest 2,000 to 4,000 acres in extent, and with timber crops of mainly the same species in each, a contin- uity of supplies could be guaranteed, which under existing circumstances is quite out of the question. In many outlying districts all D 49 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION over the country that are far removed from road and rail it is difficult — in some cases im- possible— to get rid of the usual small amount of timber that is periodically cut down; but were large quantities of the same kind and a continuity of supply ensured, merchants would be tempted to make special transit and other arrangements, as well as offer a remunerative price for the timber, while railway companies would no doubt provide cheaper facilities for its transport. Our canal and other waterways might be profitaby employed in the carriage of timber. With a lifelong experience of British forestry, I have become more and more con- vinced that, in order to carry out the work and to place such on a systematic and sound economic footing, State aid and the afforest- ing of large areas of land are first necessities. There are few landowners or capitalists who would care to embark on a large scheme of afforestation from which they cannot expect to reap a return during their lifetime; and while, for capital invested, a safe and sure 50 TREE-PLANTING BY THE STATE return is guaranteed by many mining and other industrial companies that are financially safe, attention will be directed to these rather than to a project that is experimental, and from which there can be no return for thirty or forty years. The resources and continuity of a nation will always make the State the best custodian of forest property; indeed, only the State can readily acquire the necessary land on the most favourable terms and in sufficient quantity for the purpose of extensive afforesta- tion. Private individuals, or, indeed, public bodies, labour under many disadvantages in that respect, not the least, as before stated, being the length of time required before the money expended in planting can be even par- tially repaid, while regularity of action and large wooded areas are first necessities to successful timber culture. The question of national reafforestation has on several occa- sions been exhaustively dealt with by the writer and others during the past thirty years. As early as 1883 I drew attention to the matter in " Woods and Forests," and at later periods 51 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION in most of the leading journals and papers of the day, including a special article to the Field and the Gardener's Chronicle, while in my evidence given before the Select Committee on Forestry, and in a paper contributed by special request to the Board of Agriculture, I went fully into the question of afioresting, and pointed out the need for and saving to the country that would be effected by a well-organ- ised scheme of tree-planting. In connection with such I suggested, as before stated, that as a start 1 ,000,000 acres should be planted over a period of twenty -five years, at the rate of 40,000 acres per year, which would be an outlay of £300,000 annually — & small sum when com- pared with the £45,000,000 expended for many years by this country on supplies from abroad. The Forestry Subcommittee of Reconstruc- tion has now reported that 1 ,180,000 acres are to be planted in the first forty years, which cannot be considered as an extravagant scheme, and is practically what the writer suggested twenty years ago and at several later dates since. 52 TREE-PLANTING BY THE STATE The Prime Minister recently said : ' ' You also have forest lands which are unsuitable for higher cultivation. You have no idea how we were handicapped because we had to bring timber from Norway, Sweden, and Canada, when you have plenty of land in this country that in the old days used to grow fine timber." And the Subcommittee rightly remarks: " Dependence on imported timber has proved a serious handicap in the conduct of the war/' It also estimates that approxi- mately 100,000 acres will require to be afforested with hardwoods in order to render the Kingdom safe during future wars. Owing to the long rotation necessary for hard- wooded over coniferous trees, the planting of such must necessarily be carried out by the State, 150 to 200 years being nothing in the lifetime of an oak or elm. Restocking denuded areas, which are estimated at fully 1,000,000 acres, will mainly fall on the proprietors of these lands, and, owing to the enormous quantities of timber that have been removed from many estates, there will naturally be a tendency on 53 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION the part of the owners not only to strictly conserve what is left, but restock the denuded areas as quickly as possible. It therefore stands to reason that private enterprise can do little in the afforesting of large areas of waste land, which must be left entirely in the hands of the State. Public bodies have in the past done ex- cellent work in the planting of catchment areas of waterworks and mine-heaps, but such is infinitesimal when compared with what is required. At the commencement of the war we had, roughly speaking, 3,000,000 acres of wood- lands, much of which required thinning, in addition to which the quantity of field and hedgerow timber was a big and valuable asset. But, in addition to this, we have been receiv- ing consignments of mining timber from France and other sources, and had, when the war commenced, a fairly good stock in hand of foreign woods. It has been carefully com- puted that a million acres of woodland have been denuded for war purposes, while minor 54 TREE-PLANTING BY THE STATE thinnings from small woods all over the country and that from field and hedgerow have been valuable additions in meeting the wants of the War Office during the past four years. The greater proportion of heavy elm, ash, and a goodly supply of oak, has been from field and hedgerow, while the whole of the coniferous timber, including larch, spruce, and Scotch pine, has been obtained from woods and plantations. Beech and sweet chestnut have been sup- plied from such well-known centres as the Chiltern Hills, and from large private pro- perties, as Welbeck and Woburn. It was prophesied by some wiseacres at the beginning of the war that our available supplies of timber would be exhausted in two years. Such, however, has not been the case, and at our present rate of consumption it is calcu- lated by those who have studied the question that there is still sufficient left to last for another two years. The afforesting, there- fore, of at least a million acres of waste land and replanting of the denuded areas will 55 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION leave us with fully 4,000,000 acres of wood- lands. No time should, however, be lost in setting to work, remembering that no scheme of afforesting, however extensive and well ordered, can bring the necessary relief for at least forty years after its inception. 56 CHAPTEK IV COST OF FORMING PLANTATIONS As will be seen from the following figures, the cost of forming plantations did not in pre-war days greatly exceed £5 per acre, much depend- ing on the nature of the soil, rate of wages, accessibility of the woodlands, and whether drainage and fencing had to be engaged in. Comparatively speaking, wages are un- usually high at present, though, as much of the preliminary work at least can be carried out by returned soldiers and sailors under Government supervision, the extra cost need not be prohibitive. The particular method of forming the plantations, such as whether notch or pit planting is adopted, will have much to do with the actual cost; but as the former, which is by far the cheapest method, was almost wholly carried out in forming most of the 57 NATIONAL AFFORESTATION Scottish plantations, where the largest areas of the finest coniferous timbers were felled for purposes in connection with the war, there is no reason why in dealing with similar ground the same system should not be adopted. But almost everywhere north of the Tweed notch-planting on rough, exposed ground, where it is imperative that comparatively small plants should be used, is carried out, and which mainly accounts for the smaller initial outlay in Scottish plantations. In order to get myself thoroughly posted up with the actual cost of forming plantations on several of the largest estates in Scotland, I approached amongst others the Woods Manager on the Countess of Sea-field's estate at Grantown, Strathspey, and found that no less than 20,000 acres had been planted up during a period of forty-seven years at the modest figure of £2 per acre, including the cost of fencing. He kept one plantation of 1,000 acres specially separate, and it cost exactly 30s. per acre for planting up 3,000 trees per acre, and the cost of fencing was under 10s. 58 COST OF FORMING PLANTATIONS per acre. The trees used were purchased as one-year seedlings one year transplanted, and after being grown for a year in an exposed home nursery, were finally planted out at the age of three years. By experience it was found that these were the cheapest and most profitable trees to plant in sheep pastures or heath-land, as bigger plants would be a mis- take, as they would be too much exposed to the storm and wind and would be blown to pieces. The fencing of these plantations never cost more than 8d. per lineal yard, ordinary block wire being used, and the posts were delivered on the ground by contract from timber merchants who have sawmills working on the estate. Such a fence will last for fifteen years, and is then allowed to go down. Before the land was planted it was let out for grazing at Sd.per acre, but after fifteen years a much higher rental for the adjoining land was received, owing to the shelter afforded by the trees. In Aberdeenshire a large area of land was planted by a local nurseryman at 35s. per NATIONAL AFFORESTATION acre, as a copy of the contract in my posses- sion shows. Each man planted from 2,000 to 3,000 trees per day, and a boy was provided for every two men, the boy putting in the plant to each man, and the men were responsible both for working the spade and firmly tramping the ground around the plants. But many similar instances could be given of the forma- tion of plantations on Scottish estates at from £2 to £3 per acre ; but it should be borne in mind that such woods were formed for purely commercial purposes, which is seldom the case with English plantations. For various reasons pit-planting is usually adopted throughout Southern England, the cost in comparison with notching being proportion- ately higher, not only on account of extra labour in opening the holes, but the higher price of the larger and stronger plants that can be used. For all practical purposes, however, the cost of forming plantations, taking the British Isles as a whole, may be put down at £5 per acre, as the average of the following figures will show: 60 COST OF FORMING PLANTATIONS ENGLAND AND WALES. Carnarvonshire, partial fencing and £ s. d- planting up to 600 feet altitude ... 5 2 0 per acre Carnarvonshire, planting and fencing up to 1,200 feet altitude ... 4 18 6 „ Gloucestershire, planting and fencing up to 1,200 feet altitude ... 7 10 0 „ Kent, planting and fencing ... 6 3 0 „ Lancashire, planting and fencing up to 1,200 feet altitude ... ... 6 0 0 „ Lincolnshire, planting and fencing ... 800 „ Yorkshire, planting and fencing up to 600 feet altitude ... ... 4 18 9 „ Average cost per acre £6 Is. 9d. SCOTLAND. £ a.