British forestry, past and future; a paper read before the Worshipful company of carpenters, on April 4, 1917

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Forestry. Mam Library

BRITISH FORESTRY

PAST AND FUTURE

A PAPER READ BEFORE

THE WORSHIPFUL COMPACT OF CARPENTERS
ON APRIL 4, 1917

BY

WILLIAM SOMERVILLE, M.A., D.Sc.

SIBTHORPIAN PROFESSOR OF RURAL ECONOMY
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

HUMPHREY MILFORD

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK

TORONTO MELBOURNE BOMBAY

Price Sixpence net

BRITISH FORESTRY
PAST AND FUTURE

BRITISH landowners have always taken much interest
in tree planting, but it has been the tree (arboriculture)
rather than the wood (silviculture) that has been the object
of their attention. Enthusiasm reached a high pitch in the
second quarter of last century, when it found expression in
the form of organized expeditions, chiefly to North America,
though partly also to China and Japan, for the purpose of
introducing species whose merits had attracted the atten-
tion of travellers. Almost continuously from 1823 to 1834
David Douglas was engaged in collecting seeds for the
Horticultural Society, to be followed, under the same
auspices, by Theodor Hertweg and Robert Fortune. The
latter worked in China, a country which has recently
received much attention from Wilson, Ward, and Farrer.
In 1850 an association dispatched John Jeffrey to collect
in the region west of the Rocky Mountains, and the minutes
of this body, preserved at the Royal Botanic Garden in
Edinburgh, are eloquent of the interest with which the
results of the expedition were awaited.

These definitely organized expeditions, supplemented by
the work of private collectors, resulted in the introduction
to this country of most of the exotic trees, chiefly conifers,
which now adorn our parks and woodlands. Many species
have no more than a botanical and aesthetic interest, but
some are of great commercial value, notably the Douglas
fir, which, although it has some limitations, is capable of
yielding results in this country much beyond those of any
other single species.

In the laying out of ornamental plantations, and in the
management of individual trees, British landlords and
foresters are unsurpassed. But it is not too much to say
that until the closing decade of last century they had only

: 2; BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE

the most elementary acquaintance with the methods of
rational systematic forestry, whose object is the production
from a given area of the maximum amount of timber of the
highest quality, due regard being had to a consistent rela-
tionship between the cost of production and the value of
the produce. The main defect of British management has
taken the form of having the woods too open, that is to say
the growing stock has been so low as to be incapable of
furnishing a normal return of timber, and therefore a full
soil rental. A full return can no more be looked for from
an under-stocked forest than from an under-stocked farm.
Various causes have been at work to produce this result.
The oak has played an important part in British forestry
in the past, and the timber that was wanted for the ribs
and knees of ships could best be furnished by trees that
had been allotted ample room to develop large outstretch-
ing limbs. In the west and north of England, and in Scot-
land, larch is the tree which has been the chief object of the
forester's attention. This species is intolerant of shade and
crowding, and fine clean stems are produced in compara-
tively open woods. The ash is another tree with precisely
similar requirements, and English ash timber has no equal
for many important purposes. It has been alleged, and
with the allegation I entirely agree, that, valuable as these
trees are, they have had a detrimental effect on British
silviculture. It is they — and especially oak and larch—
that have set the standard of the management of our wood-
lands. It has been argued that what has been good for
oak and larch cannot be bad for beech, spruce, silver fir, and
other species of inferior value, with the consequence that
a rule-of -thumb system of silviculture has prevailed which
has resulted in the production of good timber from light-
demanding species, and bad timber from the opposite group.
Other causes have been at work to keep our woods too
thin. With very few exceptions landlords in the past have
had their woods managed with an eye to s^ort. The situa-
tion of the plantation, the species of trees, the extent and

BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE 3

time of thinning and felling, have all been regulated more
or less in the interests of game. All kinds of wild animals
prefer an open type of woodland, where the trees have
low-reaching branches, and where sunny spots are frequent.
Moreover, they prefer a hundred acres in ten patches rather
than in one, and none knows better than the game-keeper
how this kind of subdivision helps to fill the bag, and there-
fore to please his master. But open woods are quite incom-
patible with the production of either quantity or quality
in timber. Moreover, game, and especially ground game,
does not need to be very abundant to make natural re-
generation impossible, and this method of renewal of a
woodland plays an important part in rational forest manage-
ment. Apart, however, from this aspect of the case, rabbits
and hares are most destructive to young trees, and will soon
upset the best-laid schemes, or, alternatively, render neces-
sary a heavy outlay on protective measures, and it is not to
be forgotten that £2 per acre spent on netting means, at
4 per cent., a charge against the woods at the end of eighty
years of £46.

British silviculture has also suffered in the past from a
desire to add interest and variety to woodlands by mixing
together a large number of species. Within limits, but
these limits are very narrow, it is often desirable to plant
two or more species on a given area, but whenever one gets
beyond two, or at most three species, one adds greatly
to the difficulties and cost of management. In any case,
to be successful a mixture must be composed on definite
principles — one species, deep-rooted, to protect the other
against gales, or one, a shade-bearer, to conserve the factors
of fertility for the benefit of its light-crowned associate —
but the only principle that can be traced in the mixtures of
last century is the principle of variety.

Other factors tending to make British forestry unpro-
fitable in the past were the smallness and irregularity of the
supplies of timber, which tmis drove even local builders
to imported material, till home-grown wood ceased to count

4 BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE

even for the commonest kind of country structures. Timber
has been felled, and the market supplied, as much at the
whim or from the financial necessities of the owner, as from
considerations of sound forestry, with the result that much
timber has been left standing till it was decayed, and long
past the time when the increment of the woodlands could
furnish a reasonable return on the capital represented by the
growing stock.

The market for home-grown timber has also suffered from
the absence of any considerable areas of State forests in this
country. Where they exist abroad they are found to have
a steadying effect on markets, as their supplies of timber
can be depended on to come forward with regularity. More-
over the State is in a superior position, as compared with
the individual, to feed the market with heavy timber, a
class of material essential to certain industries, but one
which is less profitable than smaller dimensions.

Lastly, there falls to be mentioned a factor which, in its
broad aspects, has had more to do with retarding British
forestry than any, namely lack of facilities for education.
The Indian Forest School was started at Cooper's Hill in
1885, and in 1889 the University of Edinburgh inaugurated
the first Lectureship in Forestry which was primarily de-
signed to meet British conditions. More recently additional
centres of forestry instruction have been established, while
other forms of education, in its wider sense, have taken the
shape of the Quarterly Journal of Forestry, and of organized
excursions to Continental countries.

The neglect of sound silvicultural principles, brought
about by the causes enumerated, resulted in the production
of timber of inferior quality. The stems lacked height and
had too much taper, while the wood was open in the grain,
contained too much inferior spring wood, lacked durability,
and was full of knots. While there are exceptions to this
indictment — notably oak, ash, and larch, to a lesser extent
also Scots pine — there is no doubt that the low esteem in
which British timber has been held has been justified. But

BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE 5

the soil and climate have had nothing to do with this result,
which would have occurred in any country under similar
conditions of management.

In the last quarter of the nineteenth century it was recog-
nized that all was not well with British forestry, and in 1885
a Select Committee of the House of Commons was appointed
to ascertain ' Whether by the establishment of a Forest
School, or otherwise, our woodlands could be made more
remunerative.' This Committee, after being twice re-
appointed, reported in 1887, recommending (a) the estab-
lishment of forest schools in England, Scotland, and (pro-
bably) Ireland, (b) the creation of a Board to organize
instruction, (c) the holding of examinations, and (d) the
publication of an official syllabus and text book. No imme-
diate action was taken on the Report, though more recently
effect has been given to the first two recommendations.

In 1902 a Board of Agriculture Departmental Committee
was set up ' To inquire into and report as to the present
position and future prospects of forestry, and the planting
and management of woodlands in Great Britain, and to
consider whether any measures might with advantage be
taken, either by the provision of further educational
facilities, or otherwise, for their promotion and encourage-
ment.' This Committee reported in the same year and
recommended the establishment of demonstration areas
in England and Scotland, Forestry Lectureships in Oxford
and Cambridge, example plots near these centres and
Edinburgh, provision of instruction in forestry at agri-
cultural colleges, short courses and local lectures for
foresters, technical advice for woodland owners, modifica-
tion of the estate duty on timber, repetition by the
Board of Agriculture of their inquiry as to the area and
character of woodlands, and the planting of municipal
water-catchment areas. Most of these recommendations
have been given effect to.

In 1907 a Committee was appointed by the Vice-
President of the Department of Agriculture and Tech-

6 BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE

nical Instruction for Ireland to report on the condition of
forestry, the preservation and extension of existing wood-
lands, and the financial and other provisions necessary
to secure a comprehensive scheme of afforestation in
Ireland. The Report recommended the afforestation of
700,000 acres, and a start has been made, but the rate
of progress is very slow — little more than 1,000 acres of
fresh land having been planted in the past ten years,
which is much less than the area deforested during the
period.

In 1908 the problem of unemployment was pressing,
and the Government decided to enlarge the terms of
reference to the Royal Commission on Coast Erosion,
charging them to report c Whether in connection with
reclaimed lands or otherwise, it is desirable to make an
experiment in afforestation as a means of increasing employ-
ment during periods of depression in the labour market,
and if so by what authority and under what conditions
such experiment should be conducted.' The Commission
reported in January 1909, and recommended the affores-
tation of 150,000 acres annually up to an aggregate of
9,000,000 acres. The recommendations have not been
given effect to.

In 1911 the Secretary for Scotland nominated a Depart-
mental Committee ' to report on the selection of a suitable
location for a Demonstration Forest Area in Scotland . . .
and on any further steps . . . which . . . should be taken
with a view to promoting silviculture in Scotland.' The
Committee reported in the same year, recommending (1)
a demonstration forest of at least 4,000 acres situated in
a district suitable for afforestation, (2) one university
centre providing the highest form of forestry education,
with local instruction for working foresters, (3) a limited
number of trial State forests, (4) a survey to determine
the extent of aff ores table land, (5) the appointment of
advising forest officers, (6) State loans to private land-
owners, the interest to accumulate until the crop is realized,

[BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE 7

(7) amendment of the law affecting the taxation of wood-
lands to estate and succession duties. Some action has
been taken only in respect of Nos. 2, 5, and 7.

In 1912 the President of the Board of Agriculture and
Fisheries appointed an Advisory Committee in regard to
(1) a forest survey, (2) experiments in silviculture and
forestal demonstration areas, and (3) the instruction of
woodmen. The Committee reported in the autumn of the
same year, recommending a survey of seven selected dis-
tricts of England, the creation of experimental forests of
not less than 5,000 acres each in these seven districts, the
creation of a demonstration forest, the inauguration of
laboratory research and forestry experiments, and pro-
vision for the training of skilled woodmen. As a result
the demonstration forest (Forest of Dean) has been
started, laboratory research has been set a-going at certain
centres, and a beginning has been made with the limited
survey.

These many official inquiries, the outcome of outside
pressure, show unmistakably that there exists in this
country a strong body of public opinion in favour of the
improvement of existing woodlands, and the extension of
afforestation. Those who have been in close touch with
the subject during the past twenty-five years gladly admit
that in certain quarters a considerable improvement has
been effected in the management of private woodlands.
Certain owners of extensive woodlands have fully realized
the unsatisfactory conditions that have hitherto prevailed
and have set themselves with intelligent enthusiasm to
reform their systems of management. Foresters have
learned much from the authoritative manuals that have
appeared of recent years, from lectures and meetings, from
articles in technical transactions and periodicals, and, per-
haps not least, from organized excursions to the Continent.

But there has been practically no afforestation of fresh
land, and what little has taken place has been more than
cancelled by the curtailment of the area of previously

8 BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE

existing woodlands, a curtailment which, as the accom-
panying table shows, has been general in the three main
divisions of the kingdom between 1905 and 1913 (1914
for Scotland).

England and Wales
Scotland
Ireland

Wooded Area
(acres).

Decrease.

Percentage of
Woodland.

1905.

1913.

15,766
16,289
5,124

1913.

1,899,834
868,409
302,933

1,884,068
852,120
297,809

5-07
4-46
1-46

Total .

3,071,176

3,033,997

37,179

3-96

The proportion of woodland in the United Kingdom,
under 4 per cent., is lower than that of any European
country. Denmark and Holland come nearest with 7 to
8 per cent., then follow Belgium, France, and Spain with
17 to 18 per cent., Germany and Hungary with 25 to
27 per cent., Austria with 32 per cent., and Russia and
Sweden with 40 to 45 per cent.

Under the Census of Production Act, 1906, a return was
called for of the production of timber in Great Britain, for
the 12 months ending June 1908. This showed sales, or
fellings for sale, of 14,845,000 cubic feet, of a value of
£598,000, to which is to be added other classes of wood
(pit props, small thinnings, cord wood, &c.) sold or used
at home, bringing the estimated total up to £800,000.
For the same period 904,667 trees weighing 261,855 tons,
were returned as being felled in Ireland. Taking 30 cubic
feet, quarter-girth measure, to the ton, it would appear
that the normal annual timber output of the United King-
dom is about a million tons, of a pre-war value of a million
sterling.

Since 1883, in decennial periods, our imports of c Wood
and Timber ' have been as follows :

BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE 9

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10 BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE

The value of our imports of timber in 1913 was nearly
£34,000,000, without reckoning wood pulp, bark and other
tanning material, rosin, willow rods, &c., of which wood
pulp alone had a declared value of over four and a half
millions. Of this huge total we are safe to say that at
least ten million loads is represented by wood from Euro-
pean countries and Canada for which our climate is equally
suited. It is evident therefore that we grow no more than
10 per cent, of what we consume of a product that might
potentially be produced at home. Thus, our position with
regard to timber is even less satisfactory than it is with
regard to wheat, of which our home production represents
about 18 per cent, of our requirements.

The war has emphasized many facts, and these, amongst
others, that timber is essential to military operations, that,
when it is most required, ships cannot be spared to import
it, that the maritime activities of the enemy make its
transport uncertain, that neutral countries may decide to
limit exports, and that the supplies even of allies like
Russia cannot be depended on to come to hand. The
movement for increased afforestation has undoubtedly
gained greatly in force since the outbreak of war, and
although the advocates of extension have experienced
little but disappointment in the past, it is difficult to
believe that the future will continue to show the same
inaction.

An extended scheme of afforestation is bound up with
many important considerations. One cannot put land
under trees without withdrawing it from some other pur-
pose, for there is but little land in this country that is
c waste ' in the strict sense of the term, and what little
does exist is often situated at such an altitude as to be out
of the question for silviculture. But there are wide areas
of pastoral land that figure in the returns for Great Britain
as ' Mountain and Heath Land used for Grazing ', and in
the Irish returns as c Mountain Land ', which is of low
productive capacity from the point of view of meat, but

BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE 11

much of which is well qualified to grow timber. There are
also the deer forests and land reserved for game, some of
which lies above the limits of tree growth, but much of
which is plantable. The following figures are extracted
from the returns of 1913, except as regards deer forests,
which are from two House of Commons returns of 1908 :

Acres.

England .... 2,467,000 4 Mountain and Heath

Land used for grazing '
Wales . 1,338,266

Scotland .... 9,117,906 „

Ireland .... 3,050,266 4 Mountain land '
Deer Forests and Land devoted

to sport in Scotland . . 3,519,678

Total .... 19,493,116

While trees grow successfully above 1,500 feet in some
parts of the country it is generally agreed that any land
above this limit may, for practical purposes, be ruled out
of a scheme of extended afforestation. Nor, indeed, is it
contended that trees can always grow at points below this
altitude. At the request of the Royal Commission on Coast
Erosion the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries prepared
an estimate of the area of land in Great Britain above the
1,500 feet contour line, with the following result :

In England .... 549,335 acres

In Wales 345,308 „

In Scotland .... 2,642,529 „

Total .... 3,537,172 „

No estimate was made for Ireland, but as this is a country
of low elevation we are certainly estimating liberally if we
assume a total of four million acres for the United Kingdom.
This therefore leaves us with about fifteen and a half million
acres of rough hill and mountain pasture below 1,500 feet.
At the initiation of a scheme of national afforestation it is
of comparatively little importance to attempt to estimate
what percentage of this area is adapted for the growth of
trees. The Royal Commission on Coast Erosion came to the

12 BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE

conclusion that nine million acres could, with advantage,
be afforested, while Sir John Stirling Maxwell thinks that
six million acres more fitly represents the case.1 Of this,
at least, there can be no doubt that our wooded area of
some three million acres could with advantage be doubled,
which would bring our percentage of forest land up to
8 per cent., and place us on a level with Denmark and
Holland, though still leaving us far behind other European
countries. With improved management an aggregate of
six million acres should give us an annual increment of
about six million tons of timber, which, although far short
of our requirements, is a great advance on the million tons
or so that we at present annually produce. When that
stage has been reached it will be time enough to consider
the question of further extension.

A question that at once occurs, in considering suggestions
for extended afforestation, is the effect it would have on
the food supply. While, in a sense, food is more vital than
timber, the experiences of the past two years have shown
that much is gained by limiting imports to concentrated
substances, such as meat, and producing bulky materials,
like timber, at home. The land which it is suggested should
be afforested contributes only meat to the food supplies of
the nation. It is grazed by mountain breeds of sheep, of
which the best pastoral farms never carry more than one to
the acre, and most of them much less. Much of it is
rented at 3d. and 4<d. per acre, and it is only in rare instances
that the rent exceeds %s. Many experiments have been
carried out in England and Scotland during the past twenty
years, which had for their object the determination of the
amount of meat that sheep, grazing poor pasture, can pro-
duce in the course of a year. It would appear from these
experiments that 15 Ib. per acre per annum of mutton may
be taken as a fair estimate for this class of land, to which has
to be added 3 or 4 Ib. of wool. Where the land is under deer
the meat produced is practically negligible. The afforesta-

1 The Times, June 20 and 26, 1910.

BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE 13

tion of three million acres would therefore displace, at most,
20,000 tons of meat, equal to less than one per cent, of our
annual consumption. Four ships of 5,000 tons each would
bring this meat to our shores in a single voyage, whereas
the conveyance of the equivalent in timber, namely three
million tons, would entail the requisitioning of one hundred
and fifty times as much freight.

It is one of the advantages of the afforestation of pastoral
land that it provides employment for an increased rural
population. Under sheep, one thousand acres may be
taken as the area which, on the average, provides employ-
ment for a shepherd, whereas under wood the same area
would require a permanent staff of ten persons. Therefore,
without taking account of wood- working industries, forestry
can offer remunerative employment to a population ten
times as great as finds occupation in pastoral farming.
Moreover, the operations of forestry are conducted, for the
most part, in winter, at a time, namely, when agricultural
operations are least pressing. Small agricultural and pas-
toral holdings are therefore almost a necessary comple-
ment of forestry, and it is on this combination that a com-
paratively dense rural population is maintained in many
districts of the Continent, and even in some parts of the
north-east of Scotland. Not only is this the case, but one
may go so far as to say that forestry is the only industry
that can with success be introduced into pastoral districts,
and on it alone will depend the success of any attempts to
restore population to our Highland glens.

If it be conceded that a large extension of afforestation is
desirable, the question next arises as to how such extension
may be secured. One naturally thinks, in the first instance,
of the afforestation of private lands, for at present privately
owned woodlands constitute 98 per cent, of our total. As
has already been pointed out, the tendency of late years
has been towards a rather pronounced shrinkage of the
private woodland area, and with the prospect of great
financial stringency it is inconceivable that the tendency

14 BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE

will be otherwise in the future. The returns from forestry,
as gauged by interest on capital, are never attractive as
compared with those secured in business or even in agri-
culture. Moreover, they accrue so slowly that the planter
rarely lives to reap his crop. Then again, it is to be remem-
bered that the extension of afforestation on a private estate
affects the owner in two ways. In the first place he sacrifices
the income that he has hitherto received for grazing ; and
in the second, he has to find capital, often greater than the
freehold value of the land, which will be locked up for at
least half a century.

These considerations are so self-evident that they have
been universally recognized, and various proposals have
been put forward to bridge the difficulties. A system of
loans has been suggested, and, in fact, has long existed in
this country in connexion with the Improvement of Land
Acts, but so unattractive have they proved that in the
sixty- eight years ending with 1914 the aggregate of the
sums borrowed in Great Britain for planting only amounted
to £109,475, and in the last three years no more than £928
was so borrowed.1 In Ireland between 1866 and 1907 loans
from the Board of Works for the same purpose totalled
£33,600. 2 Most of this money was expended on planting
for shelter, the rate of interest being about 3J per cent.,
with an additional 1£ per cent, or thereby for repayment of
the capital in thirty-five years. The effects of these loans
on afforestation have been practically negligible. The ex-
perience of other countries has been precisely similar. Pro-
fessor Schwappach reviewed the whole subject in a report
to the Departmental Committee of 1902,3 where it is pointed
out that State loans, associated as they necessarily are
with official supervision, are rarely taken advantage of.

Loans in the past, in this and other countries, have
always carried interest and an annual contribution to a

1 Board of Agriculture Report (Cd. 7851), 1915, p. 217.

2 Irish Forestry Committee Report, Appendix 11.

3 Appendix XXV.

BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE 15

sinking fund from the time that they are contracted. The
Development Commissioners have now offered to lend a
moderate amount of money to local authorities for the
purpose of afforestation — chiefly of catchment areas of
water supplies — the rate of interest to be 3 per cent., but
this, with repayment of capital, to be chargeable only when
the woods have reached a productive stage. Some work is
proceeding under this scheme in the upper reaches of the
Tweed and Clyde, and in North Wales, but as the arrange-
ment is not available for private landowners the results
cannot be great.

As regards private owners, the Commissioners propose
that a Government Department should lease land on a
proceeds-sharing basis, no rent to be paid till the woods are
productive, when the proceeds would be divided ' according
to the proportion which the rental- value of the land bears
to the sum provided by the Government for afforestation
and maintenance '. In their Report for 1915 the Scottish
Board of Agriculture state that ' the response was been
small, and the trend of negotiations already undertaken
discloses some reluctance on the part of proprietors to
co-operate with the Board on the terms prescribed '.

As an inducement to private afforestation some countries
exempt new woods from rating and taxation for a period of
twenty or thirty years. This aspect of the subject was con-
sidered by the British Committee of 1902,1 by the Irish
Committee of 1908,2 and by the Scottish Committee of
1911,3 and vetoed by all.

In certain Continental countries considerable stimulus is
given to the extension of private afforestation by the supply
free of charge, or at a low price, of young trees. Schwappach
reported in 1902 4 that Prussia was then distributing an-
nually about a hundred million trees for new plantations.
The Departments of Agriculture in Ireland and Canada
supply trees and shrubs free of charge for planting for

1 p. 7. 2 p. 46. 3 p. 16.

4 Report of British Committee, p. 211.

16 BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE

shelter. Last year the former l distributed about a million
and a quarter, the latter 2 about three and three-quarter
million plants for this purpose. In Prussia and France the
State may contribute up to two-thirds of the initial cost of
private and communal afforestation if such work is con-
sidered to be specially desirable in the national interests.
In other countries (Russia and Hungary) premiums are
awarded for new plantations, a custom that was not un-
known in this country in the eighteenth and early nine-
teenth centuries. In all cases the success of financial or
material State assistance is greatly promoted by the pro-
vision of expert advice.

While it is desirable to stimulate the extension of private
afforestation by all reasonable means, it would appear
probable that, at the best, the results will be quite insigni-
ficant as compared with the national necessities. A matter
of more pressing immediate urgency is the maintenance of
existing woodlands. These are at present being felled at an
unprecedented rate, and it is quite certain that, unless
legislative action intervenes, many denuded areas will never
be replanted. Timber speculators have in some cases bought
whole estates for the sake of the timber they carry, and, the
woods having been stripped, the land will be re-sold for
what it will fetch. Our wooded area is far too small for the
State to tolerate any shrinkage, and a statutory enactment
is called for to compel replanting except under quite ex-
ceptional circumstances. Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, Bruns-
wick, Baden, Austria, Russia, and Switzerland already
possess such a law, and no landowner can complain if he is
called on to expend on replanting 5 to 10 per cent, of the
sum he receives from a sale of timber.

All who have with an open mind approached the study
of national afforestation have arrived at the conclusion that
this is essentially a subj ect for direct State action. The first
necessity is the creation of a strong central authority with

1 15th Annual Report, pp. 74-75.

2 Report of the Director of Forestry, 1915, p. 34.

BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE 17

power to survey and schedule all land that is more suitable
for afforestation than for other purposes. An upper limit
of value of, say, 3s. per acre of rent, or £3 of capital value,
might, in the first instance, be taken as a general guide, and
this would certainly embrace several million acres. Expe-
rience in the past has unfortunately shown that the Govern-
ment is apt to seize on any excuse for delaying action, and
the country must see to it that directly the survey has re-
vealed a single area, afforestation shall proceed. While it
is not expected that private afforestation will do much to
relieve the situation, the owners of scheduled areas should
in all cases be given the opportunity of performing the work.
Where the land defined as afforestable forms only a small
proportion of an estate, and especially if it is completely
surrounded by and intermixed with the estate, the owner
will probably, in most instances, make an effort to comply
with the conditions of statutable afforestation, and thereby
retain possession of the land. In some cases he would find
the necessary capital, while in others the capital would be
provided by the Government in the form of a loan. In
other instances it may be necessary for the State to secure
the land on long lease, in which case the owner would have
no control of the woods or interest in the area, except that
of a rent-charger, unless, as has been suggested by some, a
proportion of the timber receipts were reserved to him.

While individual effort should everywhere receive en-
couragement it is not to be expected that private action
will do much to clothe with trees the wide stretches of poor
pastoral land that constitute the bulk of our afforestable
area. There, purchase outright by the State would appear
to be the only practicable procedure. As an alternative,
which is not materially different from purchase, the owner
might be given the option of granting a perpetual lease to
the Government, receiving an annuity in name of rent. In
this way he would enjoy a secure income, while the State
would be spared the necessity of finding a corresponding
amount of capital.

18 BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE

While most of the land would probably be obtainable by
mutual agreement, the State must be provided with com-
pulsory powers to be used where necessary. Such powers
have already been obtained in connexion with the purchase
of home-grown timber, hay, wool, and other material, and
people now recognize, as they have never recognized bef ore*
that private rights cannot be allowed to impede national
interests.

The war has shown that industries vital to national
security may be paralyzed if deprived of supplies of timber.
This applies particularly to coal mining, on which practi-
cally the whole of our industrial activities depend. It would
appear that at the end of the present war this country will
be practically cleared of trees that have reached usable
dimensions. We shall be more dependent than ever on im-
ported material, and it therefore behoves us — unless the
safety of the seas can be absolutely guaranteed, which is
impossible — to see to it that afforestation on a scale com-
mensurate with our requirements shall proceed directly
demobilization begins. This means important preliminary
preparations, on the consideration of which it is understood
that a Committee is at present engaged. Under normal
circumstances a planting scheme would be arranged to
provide a regularly graduated series of age-classes. For
instance, if 1,000 acres were to be afforested on a fifty
years' rotation, 20 acres would be planted annually, and
the whole completed in the fiftieth year. The fifty-first
year would yield a clear-felling on the first-planted 20 acres,
and, with immediate replanting of the felled area, the 1,000
acres would furnish 20 acres of timber annually, besides
thinnings, in perpetuity. But the national emergency
demands another method of procedure, for circumstances
are not normal, and considerations of time do not admit of
any such orderly sequence of age- classes. The policy, there-
fore, ought to be to afforest as rapidly as land can be found,
labour secured, and plants produced. It is unfortunate

BRITISH FORESTRY, PAST AND FUTURE 19

\

that the work must be performed at high pressure, and at
a time when a depleted Treasury will be able to make out
a strong case for delay. The situation supplies another
illustration of the result of lack of foresight on the part of
successive Governments.

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BY FBBDEBICK HALL
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oayiora ores.

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PAT. JAN. 21, 1908

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