Page:EB1911 - Volume 10.djvu/671

 Europe, a great variety of trees are successfully cultivated. In England and Ireland oak and beech are on the whole the most plentiful trees in the low and fertile parts; in the south of Scotland the beech and ash are perhaps most common, while the Scotch fir and birch are characteristic of the arboreous vegetation in the Highlands. Although few extensive forests now exist, woods of small area, belts of planting, clumps of trees, coppice and hedgerows, are generally distributed over the country, constituting a mass of wood of considerable importance, giving a clothed appearance in many parts, and affording illustrations of skilled arboriculture not to be found in any other country.

The principal state forests in England are Windsor Park, 14,000 acres; the New Forest, &c., in Hampshire, 76,000 acres; and the Dean Forest in Gloucestershire, 22,500 acres. The total extent of crown forests is about 125,000 acres. A large proportion of the crown forests, having been formed with the object of supplying timber for the navy, consists of oak. The largest forests in Scotland are in Perthshire, Inverness-shire and Aberdeenshire. Of these the most notable are the earl of Mansfield’s near Scone (8000 acres), the duke of Atholl’s larch plantations near Dunkeld (10,000 acres), and in Strathspey a large extent of Scotch pine, partly native, partly planted, belonging to the earl of Seafield. In the forests of Mar and Invercauld, the native pine attains a great size, and there are also large tracts of indigenous birch in various districts. Ireland was at one time richly clothed with wood; this is proved by the abundant remains of fallen trees in the bogs which occupy a large surface of the island. In addition to the causes above alluded to as tending to disforest England, the long unsettled state of the country also conduced to the diminishing of the woodlands.

The forests of Great Britain and Ireland, in spite of the large imports of timber, have not been appreciably extended up to the present time because (1) the rate at which foreign timber has been laid down in Britain is very low, thus keeping down the price of home-grown timber; (2) foreign timber is preferred to home-grown material, because it is in many cases of superior quality, while the latter comes into the market in an irregular and intermittent manner; (3) nearly the whole of the waste lands is private property. As regards prices, it can be shown that the lowest point was reached about the year 1888, in consequence of the remarkable development of means of communication, that prices then remained fairly stationary for some years, and that about 1894 a slow but steady rise set in, showing during the years 1894–1904 an increase of about 20% all round. This was due to the gradual approach of the coming crisis in the supply of coniferous timber to the world. It can be shown that even with present prices the growing of timber can be made to pay, provided it is carried on in a rational and economic manner. Improved silvicultural methods must be applied, so as to produce a better class of timber, and the forests must be managed according to well-arranged working plans, which provide for a regular and sustained out-turn of timber year by year, so as to develop a healthy and steady market for locally-grown material. Unfortunately the private proprietors of the waste lands are in many cases not in a financial position to plant. Starting forests demands a certain outlay in cash, and the proprietor must forgo the income, however small, hitherto derived from the land until the plantations begin to yield a return. In these circumstances the state may well be expected to help in one or all of the following ways: (1) The equipment of forest schools, where economic forestry, as elaborated by research, is taught; (2) the management of the crown forests on economic principles, so as to serve as patterns to private proprietors; (3) advances should be made to landed proprietors who desire to plant land, but are short of funds, just as is done in the case of improvements of agricultural holdings; and (4) the state might acquire surplus lands in certain parts of the country, such as congested districts, and convert them into forests. Action in these directions would soon lead to substantial benefits. The income of landed proprietors would rise, a considerable sum of money now sent abroad would remain in the country, and forest industries would spring up, thus helping to counteract the ever-increasing flow of people from the country into the large towns, where only too many must join the army of the unemployed. Even within a radius of 50 m. of London 700,000 acres of land are unaccounted for in the official agricultural returns. In Ireland more than 3,000,000 acres are waiting to be utilized, and it is well worth the consideration of the Irish Land Commissioners whether the lands remaining on their hands, when buying and breaking up large estates, should not be converted into state forests. Such a measure might become a useful auxiliary in the peaceful settlement of the Irish land question. No doubt success depends upon the probable financial results. There are at present no British statistics to prove such success; hence, by way of illustration, it may be stated what the results have been in the kingdom of Saxony, which, from an industrial point of view, is comparable with England. That country has 432,085 acres of state forests, of which about one-eighth are stocked with broad-leaved species, and seven-eighths with conifers. Some of the forests are situated on low lands, but the bulk of the area is found in the hilly parts of the country up to an elevation of 3000 ft. above the sea. The average price realized of late years per cubic foot of wood amounts to 5d., and yet to such perfection has the management been brought by a well-trained staff, that the mean annual net revenue, after meeting all expenses, comes to 21s. an acre all round. There can be no doubt that, under the more favourable climate of Great Britain, even better results can be obtained, especially if it is remembered that foreign supplies of coniferous timber must fall off, or, at any rate, the price per cubic foot rise considerably.

These things have been recognized to some extent, and a movement has been set on foot to improve matters. The Commissioners of Woods and a number of private proprietors had rational working plans prepared for their forests, and instruction in forestry has been developed. There is now a well-equipped school of forestry connected with the university of Oxford, while Cambridge is following on similar lines; instruction in forestry is given at the university of Edinburgh, the Durham College of Science, at Bangor, Cirencester and other places. The Commissioners of Woods have purchased an estate of 12,500 acres in Scotland, which will be converted into a crown forest, so as to serve as an example. The experience thus gained will prove valuable should action ever be taken on the lines suggested by a Royal Commission on Coast Erosion, Reclamation of Tidal Lands and Afforestation, which reported on the last subject in 1909.

India.—The history of forest administration in India is exceedingly instructive to all who take an interest in the welfare of the British Empire, because it places before the reader an account of the gradual destruction of the greater part of the natural forests, a process through which most other British colonies are now passing, and then it shows how India emerged triumphantly from the self-inflicted calamity. As far as information goes, India was, in the early times, for the most part covered with forest. Subsequently settlers opened out the country along fertile valleys and streams, while nomadic tribes, moving from pasture to pasture, fired alike hills and plains. This process went on for centuries. With the advent of British rule forest destruction became more rapid than ever, owing to the increase of population, extension of cultivation, the multiplication of herds of cattle, and the universal firing of the forests to produce fresh crops of grass. Then railways came, and with their extension the forests suffered anew, partly on account of the increased demand for timber and firewood, and partly on account of the fresh impetus given to cultivation along their routes. Ultimately, when failure to meet the requirements of public works was brought to notice, it was recognized that a grievous mistake had been made in allowing the forests to be recklessly destroyed. Already in the early part of the 19th century sporadic efforts were made to protect the forests in various parts of the country, and these continued intermittently; but the first organized steps were taken about the year 1855, when Lord Dalhousie was governor-general. At that time conservators of forests existed in Bombay, Madras and Burma.