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by British labour, but also to a large extent by the Canadian Forestry Corps and other units. Canadian sawmilling plants were erected in many parts of the country, and the production of sawn timber went on to the extent of depleting many well-wooded districts, the reforestation of which will present an urgent prob- lem for some time to come.

During the war the British army played an important part in the exploitation of the French forests, and here again the Cana- dian Forestry Corps, which at the close of hostilities numbered some 17,000 men, did signal service in providing the requisite supplies of timber for military purposes.

The eastern theatres of the war were supplied largely from India. Figures available refer only to the period from April 1917 to Oct. 1918, during which timber supplies were in the hands of the Indian Munitions Board. The total quantity of timber shipped during this period to overseas destinations, namely, to Mesopotamia, Egypt, Salonika, Aden, East Africa, the Persian Gulf and elsewhere, amounted to 198,000 tons, while in addition 30,000 tons were utilized for war purposes in India, making a total of 228,000 tons, or an average of 12,600 tons a month. In addition railway sleepers were supplied for over 1,800 m. of track. The bulk of the work connected with the exploitation of the forests for the supply of this timber was done by the Indian Forest Department.

all events, must be regarded as largely abnormal. The balance is -)- or according as the total exports are greater or less than the total imports.

It will be seen that the chief importing country of the British Empire is the United Kingdom and the chief exporting country is Canada. During the period 1909-13, however, the United Kingdom drew 88 % by volume and 83 % by value of her imports from without the Empire, the chief sources being Russia, Scandinavia, S.W. Europe (for pit wood) and the United States. Of the Indian exports teak represents about 85%, while imports consist mainly of jarrah timber and railway sleepers from Australia and deal and pine timber. Of a total of 7,133,800 loads exported by Canada, 1,058,000 loads valued at 3,525,000 were imported by the United Kingdom. S. Africa imported 10,452,000 cub. ft. of unmanufactured timber from Scandinavia, 2,632,200 cub. ft. from the United States, 440,500 cub. ft. from Australia, and 92,900 cub. ft. (teak) from India; imports of manufactured timber were chiefly from Scandinavia. As regards the Australian states, about half of the W. Australia imports were from the United States and rather more than one-sixth were from Scan- dinavia, while of the exports, about one-third went to the Eastern states and the remainder to India, the United Kingdom, New Zea- land and S. Africa in the order named; imports into Victoria consisted mainly of soft-woods from Scandinavia, the United States, Canada and New Zealand: Queensland imports were principally from over- seas and exports were to other States of the Commonwealth: New South Wales exports were chiefly to New Zealand, the Pacific Is. and the East. (R. S. T.*)

(2) UNITED STATES. At the beginning of 1921 the United States was facing the certainty of a future shortage of timber.

TABLE I. Area of British Empire Forests. Square miles (rounded off to nearest ten).

Acncul-

Forest

T. |

Country

tural Land

Merchant- able

Unprofit- able or In- accessible

Total

Other Land

lotal Land Area

jnited Kingdom

97,080

3,860

1,320

5,180

17,210

119,470

British India (State forest only) ....

43L900

126,310

125,160

251,470

407,430

i ,090,800

Canada (as a whole)

689,060

390,630

541,790

932,420

2,108,190

3,729,670

British Columbia

15,700

149,300*

188,000

353,ooo

40,000

201 /loo

712 I 3O

c I e 62O*

T 1C. 2/1O

690,860

Australia


 * u oi4y w

O I -*, 1 O U

O 0,^*"

i oO -; 4 u

15,000

IO OOO

SO OOO

60 ooo

CQC COO

67O C.OO

New South Wales ...

17^190

17^190

oVOO""

292,270

\j f v/, jw

309,460

Victoria

43,750

4,690

7,810

12,500

31-630

87,880

S. Australia

250

6,000

380,070

W. Australia ....

71,830

4,770

21,000

25,770

878,320

975,920

Tasmania

94

17,200

26,210

New Zealand (State forest only).

27,520

2,140

14,23

16,370

59,690

103,580

S. Africa, Union of ....

20,930

2,360

449,810

473,100

Newfoundland ....

10,000

42,000

Kenya Colony

47,170

3,600

1,500

5,100

192,790

245,060

S. Rhodesia

2,210

18,300

73,200

91,500

58,790

152,500

Myasaland

3,000

43,6io

Swaziland

Practically nil

6,500

Uganda

.

1,200

-

92,740

Sold Coast

10,890

14,000

24,110

38,110

31,000

80,000

Migeria

100,800

50,400

168,000

218,400

16,800

336,000

Sierra Leone .....

I, OOO

31,000

Malay States .....

8,300

21,170

14,100

35,270

8,930

52,500

Trinidad

760

800

380

1,180

50

1,990

Bahamas

430

4,400

Jamaica

50

I, OOO

1,050

4,200

Cyprus

1,890

630

50

680

I,OIO

3,580

British Honduras ....

40

2,400

3,600

6,000

1,960

8,000

British Guiana ....

900

13,000

64,780

77,78o

IO,8OO

89,480

Ceylon

4,870

4,820

15,540

20,360

250

25,480

Total

1,857,520

9,185,700


 * Omitted in total.

Imperial Statistics. A complete survey of the forest resources of the British Empire was in 1921 still far from being an accomplished fact, and in many cases area statements must for the present be accepted as only roughly approximate. Subject to this limitation the accompanying tables, compiled from information furnished by the different Governments concerned to the British Empire Forestry Conference in 1920, give the latest statistics available. Of the two area statements, Table I. gives the estimated area of forest, agri- cultural land and other land in each country, and Table II. gives a classification of the forest area according to ownership. Certain parts of the Empire, for which statistics are not available, have been omitted.

Table III. shows the quantities and values of exports and imports. As the figures refer partly to pre-war periods and partly to the period of the war they are not fairly comparable, and in the latter case, at

Yet a continuous supply is absolutely indispensable for the pros- perity of the nation. The dangerous condition of forest de- pletion has already been reached. The U.S. Forest Service, in a report on Timber Depletion, Lumber Prices, Lumber Exports, and Concentration of Timber Ownership, submitted to the Senate June i 1920, sets forth that of the original 822,000,000 ac. of virgin forest only 463,000,000 ac., little more than half, are left. Of this but 137,000,000 ac. are virgin timber. There is some second growth of saw-timber size on 112,000,000 ac.; 133,000,000 ac. have second growth under saw-timber size; and 81,000,000 ac. (as much as the combined forest areas of Germany, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal)