Empire Forestry, volume 1 by Roger Mills

Empire Forestry Journal of The Empire Forestry Association Imperial Institute

London

MARCH 1922

l\fACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED

ST. MARTIN'S S1'1~EET, LONDON THE l\iACMILLAN CO~IPANY

NEW YORK:

VOL. I.

Price: 45. net I Dollar

EMPIRE FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. Patron: H.M. THE KING. President: H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES. Chairl1zan: The Rt. Hon. VISCOUNT NOVAR, P.C., G.C.M.G.

Vice- Chairl1tan : Lieut.-Colonel G. L. COURTHOPE, M.P. Gove1"nin~ Council: The DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE, K.G. The EARL OF PLYMOUTH, G.B.E., C.B. EARL BUXTON, G.C.M.G. VISCOUNT MILNJ拢R, K.G., G.C.B. The Rt. Hon. VISCOUNT NOVAR, P.C., G.C.M.G. Sir JOHN STIRLING MAXWELL, Bart. LORD ISLINGTON, G.C.M.G. Sir CLAUDE IIILL, K.C.S.I. Sir FREDERICK HODGSON, K.C.M.G. Sir GEORGE HART, I{.B.E., C.I.E. The Hon. Sir GEORG,E PERLEV, K.C.M.G. Lieut.-Colonel R. M. BECKETT. Lieut.-Colonel G. L. COURTHOPE, M.P. Mr. ROBSON BLACK. Mr. M. C. DUCH}4~SNE, F.S.!. Mr. H. R. l\1ACKAY. 11r. W. S. MILLARD. Mr. H. MORRISON, M.P. Mr. A. H. ASHBOLT. Mr. F. B. Sl\UTH, e.M.G.

Secretary.'

Editor 01 Jour1tal.路

Mr. ]. S. CORBETT.

Mr. S. M. EnwARDEs, C.S.I., C.V.O.

Hon. Treasurer: Sir JOHN STIRLING MAXWELL, Bart.

CONTENTS PAGE I.

REPORT OF THE

INAUGURAL MEETING

THE

FORESTRY ·IN THE EMPIRE, BY

WESTERN AUSTRALIA AS A PRODUCER OF FINE

EMPIRE FORESTRY ASSOCIATION •••

R. L.

ROBINSON

•••

TIMBER, BY C. E. LANE POOLE

FOREST FIRES IN CANADA, BY ELLWOOD \iVILSON

TIMBER TESTING IN INDIA, BY L.

R. S. 6:

PEARSON

SYLVICULTURAL TREATMENT

EUCALYPTS,

THE AUSTRALIAN FOREST LEAGUE, BY GRIMWADE

8. 9.

RUSSELL

•••

THE DOUGLAS FIR FLAGSTAFF AT KEW, BY F.

SEAMAN AND

G. E. BROCKWAY

I I

R. 69

BALFOUR...

THE FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMISSION, BY

DR.

BORTHWICK

10.

TREE-WORSHIP IN INDIA, BY

11.

EDITORIAL NOTES AND MISCELLANEA

M. EDWARDES

12.

REVIEW

13.

LIST OF FORESTRY PUBLICA.TIONS FOR

14.

TRADE RETURNS, 1920 AND 1921 .••

1921

•••

72 78 87 110

1920 AND

116 12 5

THE BRITISH EMPIRE FORESTRY CONFErmNCE, 1920. (From Le/t to Rig-ht.)' STANDING.-A. Henry, A. D. Hopkin~on (For. COJll11l.), L. Palfreman (Sierra Leone), H. R. Mackay (Victoria), H. M. Thompson (Ni/(eria), D. ]. Davies (Newfiundland), V. F. Leese (For. C011l11l.), Wm. Dawson (Ca1JZbrid~e), Sir Claude Hill (India), W. F. Perree (India), R. L. Robinson (For. C011lm.), E. Battiscombe (East Africa), Sir lames ConnoUy OVest Australia), A.]. Gibson (India), A. N. Glover. ]. D. Sargent (Ceylon), The Lord Clinton, (Por. Com1lZ.), The Lord Lovat (For. COlllJll.), W. H. Lovegrove (For. C011l11l.), Clyde Leavitt (Canada), A. Bedard (Quebec), Ellwood Wilson (Canada),]. D Crozier (For. Comm.), W H. KiILy(Canada), R. F. C. Osmaston, N. C McLeod (Gold Coast), ]. M. Purves (Nyassaland), Lord Bleddisloe, Col. B. W. Petre, R. R. Grundy (IJ.'Ielbourne), H. ]. Elwes, Robson Black (Canada), M.C. Duchesne, P. Groom, Sir Peter McBride (Victoria), K H. Finlayson (Canada). SITTING.-C. S. Rogers (T,inidad), B. W. Adkin, D. K. S. Grant (Tanganyika), C. E. Legat (S. A/rica), Hon. F. D. AcIand (For. Comm.), L. S. Osmaston" (For. Comm.), Hugh Murray (Por. Comtl1.). C. E. Cubitt (P. M.S.), M. A. Grainger (British Columbia), P. H. Clutterbuck(India), R. S. Troup (India and Ox/ord), C. O. Hanson (For. Com11l.), O. ]. Sangar (Secy.), R. Fyffe (Uganda). [Frontispiece.

EMPIRE

FORESTR Y.

REPORT OF THE

INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE EMPIRE FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, GUILDHALL, CITY OF LONDON.

On Wednesday, Novelnber 16, 1921, at 3

p.1n. 1

Chairman, Alderman and Sheriff H. J. de Courey rvloore, opened the proceedings by welcoming the Inernbers of the Empire Forestry Association on behalf of the Lord Mayor and the Corporation of the City of London and congratulated them upon the grant of (,l Royal Charter. After referring to the interest which the corporation has always taken in forestry matters and to his own personal connection with a large body of Cal)adian Foresters during the late war, the chairman assured the melnbers of the Empire Forestry Association of the whole.. hearted support of the City of London to their policy of developing the timber-trad~ of the Empire. He then invited Lord Novar to address the meeting. Viscount NOVAR, P.C., G.e.M.G.: The Association, which we are inaugurating to-day, owes its origin to a Resolution moved by Mr. Lane Poole, the distinguishe4 Forestry Officer of Western Australia, at the Forestry Conference presided over by Lord Lovat last year. Its object is to federate in one central organization voluntary associations, individuals, and corporate bodies engaged or interested in the growth, marketing and utilization of timber throughout His Majesty's Dominions. The promoters of the Empire Forestry Association are naturally imbued with the sense of the practical need fOf THE

EMPIRE FORESTRY

such an association, and of its significance as a new and very effective link of empire. They are no less alive to the fact that the extent of the undertaking and of the co-operation needed to ensure adequate success requires no ordinary measure of public support. We have first to record our deep sense of gratitude to H.M. the King for graciously granting his royal patronage, and also to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales for the honour he has conferred on the Association by accepting its presidency (applause). To the Lord Mayor \ve are much indebted for kind hospitality, and to you, sir, for taking the chair. We would further acknowledge the ready and sympathetic aid given by departments of State throughout the Empire, by the ~"'\orestry ComInission, the Colonial and India Offices, and the High Commissioners and Agents-General to H.M. Overseas Governments. Some may be sceptical of the value and usefulness of voluntary effort, but at any rate all have consented to co-operate. It is not necessary perhaps to dilate in the City of London on what can be achieved by the initiative and effort of private individuals and voluntary bodies, more especially in these days when we have learnt by experience that Government-run business suffers from the lack of personal initiative and from inability to take quick decisions or to secure economical administration. At the same tilDe we must freely admit that in no industry can governments more hopefully participate than in forestry; in fact, forestry is in a peculiar degree an industry in which Government, voluntary organizations and individuals can most usefully co-operate. The Empire Forestry Association should prove a useful intermediary between all these agencies, and should be instrumental in levelling up the knowledge and methods of conservation and afforestation in all the different centres of the Empire. Government departments cannot interfere with one another. None \vould brook being told by another, however tactfully, that its methods were unscientific or out of date. But within one great voluntary organization such as the Empire Forestry Association, every society and department can pool its knowledge, make known its methods, and make use of the information and experiences of its fellow-members without even

INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE FORESTRY ASSOCIATION acknowledgin~

any obligation. There are knotty points to be solved, and I say with conviction that a quickening of interest in forestry and a general advance in knowledge will be best secured through the co-operation of those who have an intilnate experience of local policy and conditions in all British lands, and it is such persons who will form the membership of the E. 14'. A. Sylviculture, with all its subsidiary manufacturing processes, is the most perennial wealth-producing and employment-giving industry. It can be carried on in all parts of the world, and involves no destruction of capital as does mineral exploitation. Yet it is the Cinderella amongst industries. Although arboriculture be~an in the Garden of Eden, and timber was in demand at the building of the Ark, less is known about it, less science and less money have been applied to its development than to any of the more modern processes of manufacture, such as the growing of cotton and sugar-cane, or the production of rubber and wool. The forest record of the British race is a poor one. Backward at hOlne, we have destroyed the timber of every continent into which we have penetrated, and the virgin forests in the possession of our race go as rapidly to decay as the stately parks of England. In this country pioneers in forestry have had, from lack of all sources of information, to learn by costly experiment and failure, and the planting career of most of ns can be traced from tnany an ill-assorted mixed plantation to the gradually evolved plots on the hill-sides. The English and Scottish arboricultural societies have through their work and publications spread much enlightenment, and tije planting owners of to-day need make none of the' egregious errors of the pioneer. But these societies are local. They cannot extend their influence to other countries; and though elsewhere there are excellent institutions doing similar scientific work-such as the 'Technological Museum of Sydney, New South Wales, which has made most interesting researches into the properties and uses of the oils and timber of the eucalyptus-yet that work is scarcely known throughout Australia, and is probably unheard of in South Africa or in any other part of the Empire. . In the same way, the accumulated experience of the

EMPIRE FORESTRY.

Forest Service of India and the fine work it has done, is up in their own sphere of operation, and not oneaf the societies has been hitherto a lamp to the feet of the pioneer sylviculturist. The losses already incurred are incalculable. The war has accelerated the destruction of our reserves and those of Europe, while the neglect of natural regeneration and unscientific planting have aggravated the situation. Now that the whole world is awakening to the importance of making good the sins of the past and of developing tilnber resources, now that there is a prospect of much public and other money being expended here and everywhere on forestry, it is imperative that all available knowledge and the result of all scientific research and experitnent should be made accessible to the world. (Applause.) It is in order to pool experience, to gather up knowledge and render it easily accessible, to stimulate inquiry, research and experiment, that the Empire F'orestry Association has been created. Its business will be that of culling information from all parts of the world, from all experts everywhere, and giving it out again to the associated private owners; to institutions and societies, and to central government departments. A good deal of spade work has been already done. Affiliation with national and local societies is far advanced. Melnbers have been enrolled under the terms agreed upon, and now that we have our Charter, the first number of the ]out'nal of the Association, which is to become the mediuln of the exchange of information, will shortly be issued. The Committee appointed by the Timber Trades Federation is actively co-operating with the Empire Forestry Association, in making known its requirements for the development of research, of testing and classifying commercial timbers. It will also help us to ascertain the quantities of timbers available, cost, freight, and so forth. This Committee has inspected the Teddington Laboratory, the Imperial Institute, and anticipates valuable assistance from Professor Faber's new department at the Imperial College of Science and Technology. The cost of the central society, including the journal, salaries and expenses, works out at ÂŁ1,500 a year, not an extravagant charge, but of course we enjoy, as always shu~

INAUGURIAL MEETING OF THE FORESTRY ASSOCIATION

happens in voluntary work, the free use of the experience and knowledge of men having qualifications which money cannot always buy. Thanks to Sir Claude Hill, Colonel Courthope, !\tIr. Ashbolt, and other overseas and horne representatives, the scaffolding of the new organization is complete and its foundations ,vell and truly laid. Our confident anticipation is that this Inaugural Meeting will, with the help of the n1embers, attract attention and support from all tree growers and those who deal in timber or manufacture it, as ,veIl as from those who desire to promote and develop a great source of wealth and employment in every part of His Majesty's Dominions. The Hon. E. F. L. WOOD, ~I.P. (Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies), congratulated the Association on having secured the distinguished patronage of H.M. the King, and the support of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, and emphasized the great value to the Association of the wide personal experience of forestry matters possessed by the Chairlnan of the Association, Lord Novar. He attributed the backwardness of England and the Empire generally in developing their natural forest resources to the very immensity of the forest and timber areas under their control, and also in some measure to the occasional lack of skiHed advice and the absence of econolnic outlets for their timber. On behalf of the Colonial Office he wished God-speed to the Empire Forestry Association, \vith the objects of \vhich the Secretary of State for the Colonies was in full sympathy. Major-General Lord LOVAT, T{.T., K.C.M.G. (ChairInan of H.M. Forestry Commission) briefly described the genesis of the Empire Forestry Association and men tioned the directions in which it is open to such a body to supplelnent the normal activities; of official departments and bureaux. It is, for example, only by aggressive propaganda throughout the Empire that the importance ?f forestry to the \velfare of the citizens can be adequately Impressed upon the public mind. The Association can do ~uc.h publ~ci.ty w?rk, ~hich lies outside the sphere of official administration; It can collate and publish in clear terms the results of experiments and researches carried out by various local forestry organizations; it

EMPIRE FORESTRY

can circulate information of the efforts of private individuals; and by linking up all forestry and arboricultural associations throughout the Empire, it can render the work of these bodies, not merely of local interest, but of general interest wherever the English language is spoken. Then in regard to the transport, logging and merchanting of timber, and all commercial transactions, which are at present almost entirely in private hands, the Imperial Forestry Bureau will act as a clearing-house for information of the tests and results performed and obtained by forestry authorities, while the Empire Forestry Association will concern itself with the direct transference of such information to the trader and timber-merchant, enabling the latter to obtain in the simplest and most direct form all that is known in .regard to wood technology and volume of supply. After referring to the comparatively small sum requisite to maintain the Association in active existence and the need fpr financial support in its initial stages, Lord Lovat moved the following resolution :"That in the opinion of this Meeting a determined effort is needed to secure the early extension in all countries of the British Empire of a constructive forest policy, whereby the natural sylvan resources of the Empire may be scientifically conserved and prudently exploited for the mutual benefit of the British Commonwealth of Nations; and further that this Meeting recommends as eminently deserving of public interest and support the newly inaugurated Empire Forestry Association, which is pledged to supplement the normal activities of official departments and bureaux by constant education of public opinion in the matter of forest problems and policy, by steady endeavour to stimulate the wider utilization of the many valuable commercial timbers of the Dominions, Colonies and Protectorates, and by the promo路 tion of mutual friendship and co-operation between forest experts in all parts of the British Empire."

Sir GEORGE PERLEY (High Commissioner for Canada) seconded the resolution and laid stress upon the great need of educating public opinion on the subject of forestry, and of the growth, preservation and proper utilization of ti111 ber. He instanced the slow but steady work performed by the Canadian Forestry Association, which' is gradually disabusing the public mind in Canada

INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE FORESTRY ASSOCIATION

of the belief that wholesale felling of forests is a matter of little or no importance to the public weal. If the Empire Forestry Association does no more than teach the general public the principles and objects of forest organization and management, it will have achieved a lasting and notable success. Mr. E. J. TURNER, C.B.E. (India Office), in supporting the resolution, remarked that the central control of forestry in India has now been largely delegated to the various Provincial Governments, and that possibly the direct financial interest in their forests now possessed by the latter may generate an awakening of Indian opinion and the formation in the future of forestry associations suitable for affiliation to the Empire Forestry Association. Meanwhile there is little doubt that the broad outlines of the Resolution moved by Lord Lovat 'would command the approval of the Indian Government. Mr. A. H. ASI-IBOLT (Agent-General for Tasmania) briefly described the forlnation of a scheme for a museum of the commercial timbers of the Empire, that is to say of timbers which can be supplied in commercial quantities at a price to meet foreign competition. It is proposed to group in one room of the Imperial Institute salnples of such Elnpire commercial timbers, with their stresses and strains and their various uses carefully tabulated, so that any official department or architect or builder, desirous of substituting British Empire timber for foreign timber, will be able, on visiting the room, to see at a glance the classes of timber available and obtain at the same tilue such complete data of speciHc gravity, weights, stress and strain as will justify his replacing foreign timbers with Empire produce. This is one of the practical directions in which the Empire Forestry Association proposes to commence its \vork; and as the requisite testing plant is already in existence at the Imperia~ Institute and t.he National Physical Laboratory 3:t Teddlngton, only a lIttle arrangement and co-ordination are necessary to place the scheine on a working basis. He added that the Agent-General for Western Australia had informed hiln that he would urge his ~o~ernment to give ~11 possible support to the AssocIatIon and \vould himself become a subscriber and member.

EMPIRE FORESTRY

A short discussion followed, in which Lord Novar promised that in the proposed exhibition, referred to in Mr., Ashbolt's speech, timbers from all' parts of the Empire would be given equality of treatment. ''::'? The Chairman then put the Resolution, which was carried unanimously, and the proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the Chair, proposed by Lieut.路 Colonel G. L. Courthope, M.P.

FORESTRY IN- THE EMPIRE. By R. L.

ROBINSON,

O.B.E.

IT fell by chance to me to summarize in the Proceedings1 of the British Empire Forestry Conference the Statements which were presented to that gathering. This is, I fear, my chief justification in acceding to the request to write this note. Those who have read the Proceedings will recollect that some thirty-three Statements in all, covering upwards of five hundred printed foolscap pages, were received, while a Statement for Ceylon was furnished subsequently. The individual Statements had been built up \vith considerable fidelity on an outline drawn up by the United .Kingdom Forestry Commi~sion and issued to all parts of the Empire in advance of the Conference. A word on the outline itself may not be. out of place. The first five sections dealt with the forests-their character, area and products; the next five broadly \vith the relation of the inhabitants to the forests-including ownership, State, municipal and p~ivate activities, forestry societies and education and research; the next three \vith the rate of growth of the forests, the annual cut, forest industries and imports and exports. The last section, entitled "Sum. mary and Outlook," brought together the main facts and . detailed the steps which should be taken "to protect and develop the forest resources of the country.11 There were also appendices detailing forest literature of an official character. It will be convenient to deal with the subject under these main groups, but it is necessary to state, at the outset, that although the Conference undoubtedly brought together in one place a greater volun1e of information than had. ever before been asselnbled, there are still great gaps remaining to be filled. This was unavoidable in a first inquiry and the Conference explicitly recorded the 1 Proceedings of the British Empire Forestry Conference, London, 1920 , Published by ILM. Stationery Office, London.

E~IPIRE

FORESTRY

fact in Resolution No. 2 (Survey of Resources) and described (Annexure A to the Resolutions) the type of survey required. TABLE I.-AREA OF FOREST. (Square miles.) Forest

Agricultural land

Country

Other land

Unprofit. Merchant- able or inable accessible

Total land area

Total

--- ---- ---- - - - ----- ----- ----...

17,210 119,470 5,180 3,860 1,320 United Kingdom 97,080 British India 43 1,900 126,.110 125,160 25 1,47° 4°7,43° /,°9°,800 Canada (as a whole) 689,060 390 ,630 54 1 ,790 93 2,4 20 2,108,190 3,7 29,67 0 British Columbia 15,700 149,300 188,000 353,000 Quebec.•. 4°,000 2°3,490 3 12 ,130 5 1 5,620 135,240 690,860 Australia60,000 595,500 67°,5 00 Queensland 15,000 10,000 50,000 17,190 29 2 ,270 3°9,460 New SouthWales 17,190 87,880 12,500 7,810 3 1,630 4,690 Victoria 43,75 0 6,000 Australia South 3 80 ,°70 25° 25,77 0 87 8,3 20 975,9 20 West Australia 7/,830 4,77 0 21,000 262/0 I7,200 Tasmania 94° 16,370 59,690 1°3,5 80 2,140 New Zealand 14,23° 27,5 20 473,JOO 2,360 449,8.10 South Africa 20,930 (Union of) 10,000 42,000 Newfoundland 245,060 5,100 19 2 ,790 3,600 1,5°0 British East Africa 47,17 0 2,5 00 1 0 0 8 15 00 73,200 9 ,5 0 2,210 18,3 5 ,79 Southern Rhodesia 3,000 43. 610 Nyasaland 6,500 Pra ctically nil Swaziland 1,200 9 2 ,740 Uganda 80,000 38,110 31,000 24, IJO ... 10,890 1~,000 Gold Coast 16,800 336 J ooo 100,800 5°,4°0 168 000 218,400 Nigeria I, 000 3 I ,ooo ... Sierra leone 8,930 35,27 0 5 2 ,5 00 Malay States 8,300 21,170 14,100 1,180 1,990 800 380 Trinidad ... 760 5° 4,400 Bahamas ... 43° 4,200 I, 000 1,°5 0 50 Jamaica ... r,OIO 680 3,5 80 50 630 Cyprus I, 890 6 ~,ooo 6,000 1,9 0 3,600 2,400 British HOhduras 40 10,800 80 80 89,4 77,7'~0 64,7 13,000 British Guiana 900 20,360 25,480 4,820 15,540 25° Ceylon 4,870

... ... ...

... ...

...

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

...

... ...

----1,857,5 20

---9, 185,700

THE FORESTS.

Area.-The total area of forest, excluding British North Borneo and the African and other colonies brought under the Empire since the ~ar, is approximately 1,857,5°0

FORESTRY IN THE EMPIRE

square miles or 20 per cerlt. of the land area. The proportion of agricultl1ralland is about 17 per cent. As a criterion of forest resources area alone tells us little. Merchantability of the timber and accessibility are what count and on this basis it would appear that rather less than 40 per cent. of the area or say 700,000 square miles can be counted as U effective forest," the remaining area of well over one million square miles being at present " unprofitable or inaccessible." The picture, of course, is not fixed; the "unprofitable and inaccessible" of to-day may be "tnerchantable" to-morro,v. On the other hand, some of the present" merchantable" forest has rightly to make way for agriculture; some of it, as in the past, will merely be converted into "unprofitable." No doubt the area of effective forest must continue to shrink, but there can he little disagreement on the essential fact that provided the peoples have the will there is ample area to grow the timber supplies that they are likely to require. 'fhe distribution of forest area is very uneven. Canada has about 50 per cent. of the total, India 14 per cent., Nigeria and the Gold Coast together 14 per cent., Australia and New Z~aland about 8 per cent. The United Kingdom, which is the greatest \\'ood consumer of all, has less than one-third of I per cent Forest Types.-It must be left to the practised forest ecologist to co-ordinate the infinitely varied conditions under which the forests grow and the manifold types of forest. In this respect the Empire has been magnificently endo\ved, not only as regards variety of forests but also \vith types-such as the Douglas fir and Sitka spruce forests of British Columbia, the eucalyptus forests ot Australia and the l(auri forests of Ne\v Zealand, to say nothing of the tropical forests-which for sheer magnificence are quite unmatched in the Old World. Meanwhile the main types, so far as they could be constructed without reference to an expert, are stated on pp. 14-20. If two main categories of forest be distinguished, viz., coniferous and broad-leaved, it would appear that about half the total area of forest belongs to each. Most of the former is in Canada, while the bulk of the latter is tropical in character. As important exceptions to this generalization there are the coniferous forests of

,...,. ~

FOREST TYPES. Main t}'pes

General growth conditions

General distribution of types

Composition by species

U~ITED KINGDOM.

Oak, Querctls Robur; Beech, Fagus sJ'lvatiea Oak, Quereus Robur; Chestnut, Castanea vesea; Ash (F. cxedsior) (3) Mixed Conifer, broad- Oak, Quercus Robur; Scots pine, P. sylvesleaved tris; Larch~ L. curo/tEa .â&#x20AC;˘. ... Scots pine ... ... .... ... (4) Conifers ... Larch, Spruce (P. exre!sa) and various exotics

(1) Broadleaved high forest

(2) Coppice ...

S. and.S.W. of England. Chil- Heavy soils; Chalk. tern Hills S. and S. W. counties ... â&#x20AC;˘.. Heavy soils, old oak forests. l\1idlands and S. and

'V.

...

Old woodland areas.

General. Ir.adigenous in Scotland Sandy soils, S. and E. coast. General... ". ... ". Replacing old hardwoods.

BRITISH INDIA.

(I) Evergreens

(2) Deciduous (3) Dry

(4) Hill

Numerous spp., e.g., Calophyllum E~gellia, W. Coast, Assam, Burma, Anda- Tropical. Even high temperature, High rainfall and relative humidity. Flcus, Garci1zia, ~fangij,ra, J.lessua man Islands, E. Bengal Numeruul;spp., e,g., Ttak, Teetonagrandt's; Common type in remainder of Rainfall, 40-70 in. Mean temperature approximately Soo F. Sal, Shorea roburta; Clz/oroxylon PttroPeninl;ula, Burma, Sub- Himaca,tu.) layan district and Gangetic plain Bombax, Bulca, Acacia and others ... Punjab, W. Rajputana and Silld Rainfall, IS in. Temperature, 25 0 1250 Fe. Pt",:US loltgifolz'a,. Plnus excelsa; Deodar, Himalaya, &c. ... Rainfall generally exceeds 40 in. High relative humidity. Cedrus deodara; Abz"es Webbia1za; Que'reus

spp, (5) Tidal

(6) Riparian

Mangrove, e.g., Rhizopnol'a, Bruguiera, Sundarbans, Andamans, Burma Between high and low water. Coast Heri#cra tomes, &c. Aeada arabiea; Dalbergia Sissot'; Lager- R. Indus and tributaries Ganges, Ahundant ground moisture by perstroemt'a Flos Reginae; Tamarz'x &c. colation.

CANADA.

I. Padfie FIJrests ...

Predominantly coniferous Mainly West of Rocky Mountains Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga Douglasii), 28 per Vancouver Island, Queen Char-\ Moderate temperature and heavy cent. ; Red ce::lar (Tkuya plicata), 28 per lotte Islands and opposite coast rainfall. cent.; hemlock (Tsuga heterophyl/a), 2S of mainland per cent.; Sitka spruce and others (2) Interior Dry Belt Western yellow pine (P.ponderosa), Douglas Plateau and minor mountain Dry well-drained soils, 1,500fir; Western larch (L. ocoidmtalis) ranges East of the Coast moun2,500 ft. elevation. 14-25 in. tains rainfall. (3) Interior Wet Belt Western cedar, hemlock and Engelmann Rocky Mountain system Rainfall, 20-60 in. spruce (P. Engelmanni). To the South Note. -The spruce-fir-IodgeEngelmann and White spruce (P. Cana~ pole pine sub-type of the N. densis) and Lodgepole pine (P. con/or/a) extends across the Rockies and others. To N., Engelmann spruce into the foothills of Alberta and Alpine fir (A. laszaearpa) Chiefly coniferous but with certain regions Roughly from the Eastern Northern climate, heavily glaciated 11. At/antic Forests of broadleaved species Rockies to the Atlantic coast country with numerous lakes and and NewfoundJand swamps. Climatic conditions severe, improvWhite spruce, the most important species Northern Prairie Provinces, (I) The Northern Forests ing from the Arctic limit of tree with Black spruce (P. mariana) , Jack pine northward to a line joining the (P. Banksiana) , balsam fir (A. balsamea), mouths of the Mackenzie and growth southwards. Aspen (P. tremuloides) and Poplar (P. Churchill Rivers, the Hudson balsamifera) and tamarack (L. laricina) , Bay and the Labrador Peninsula as associates accordinJ:{ to local conditions excepting the N. E. corner . (2) The Eastern Forests "To the South and East as conditions improve the other components of the (Northern Forest) type improve in growth, and in a mixture of White spruce and Balsam fir form the great pulp-wood resources of Eastern Canada, (several types not extending along the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Newfoundland. very clearly differSouth of the height of land this type changes as it enters the St. Lawrence basin with the inclusion of White pine entiated) (P. Strobus), Red pine (P. ,.,sinosa) and cedar (Tkuya occidelttalis), and the more valuable hardwoods such as Yellow birch (B. lutea), Maple (Ace,. spp.). • • • In the Maritime Provinces and Quebec the Red spruce (p. rubra) is found as a component of the coniferous forests of this type. This is the most important timberproducing region of Eastern Canada." The older part of Ontario, where the soil and climatic conditions are unusually favourable, was originally an almost pure bard wood forest: Tulip (Liriodend,.on tulipifera), Oak (Quel'cus spp.), Hickory (Carya spp.), &c. These forests have largely disappeared to make way for agriculture. (I) Coast type

t.)

FOREST TYPES.-Continued. General distribution of types

Composition by species

Main types

General growth conditions

NEWFOUNDLAND.

Coniferous

... IWhite spruce, Balsam fir (Abies balsamea) '

I Valleys of large rivers and banks I I

of lakes

AUSTRALIA.

(I) Softwood Forests(a) Araucaria type

(0) Jungle or Brush (c) Cypress pine

(2) Hardwood Forests (3) Scrub

Hoop and Bunyapines (Araucaria cun-I Queensland and Northern New I High rainfall (30 to 100 in.) ninghamii and Bldwilli), associated with South Wales fringing the coast. Flindersia spp. and others Numerous spp., e.g., Flindersia, Agathis, Queensland and Northern New Generally similar but moister conCryptocarya South Wales ditions than (I) (a). Calitris spp. ... W. of coastal ranges, Queensland: Rainfall 15 to 30 in. New South Wales Predominantly Eucalyptus. Very numerous Chiefly coastal ranges of E. Rainfall appears to be limiting Australia, S. Australia and factor. spp. adaptable to wide ranges of conditions S.W. of West Australia Various Eucalyptus (Mallee) and Acacias Chiefly away from coastal ranges Scanty rainfall.

(Mu/ga)

SOUTH AFRICA.

(I) Forest

(2) Scrub (3) Bushveld ... (4) Palm Belt

(Plantations omitted). Podocarpus spp. and various hardwoods, Flanks of mountains facing the I Sufficiency of moisture. e.g., Sneezewood (Plaeroxylon utile) Ocean South-western coast region of A region of winter rains and hot Proteaceae, Ericaceae and others the Cape dry summers. Acacia spp. and others (a) S. W. African Protectorate (6) Basin of the Limpopo and its tributaries PhQ?nz"x r6clitla/a: Hyplzaene (rinita and Littoral melt from East London others northwards

NIGERIA.

(I) Littoral Forests(a) Fringing Forests ..• 'Similar to (2) ••• (b) Freshwater Swamp Lophira jJrotera, Mit1'agyne

mac1'opnylla and others Forests (c) Mangrove Forests Rhizophora spp., Avicennia ... (2) Tropical Evergreen Mahoganies (Khayas, Entandrophragmas) Chlorophora excelsa and many others Forests (3) Mixed Deciduous Forests Species very numerouS, e.g., Afrormosla laxijlora, Terminalia superba Numerous species, e.g., Khaya senegalensis t (4) Savannah Forest Pseudocedrella Kotscny; Acacias, e.g., A. verek, A. seyal (5) Thorn Forest :.

Vicinity of streams .. . ... Moist situation. Near the coast and along large Permanently wet soil. rivers Along coast generally ... Between:high and Jow water mark. Belt 50 to 100 miles wide from High rainfall and tropical concoast ditions. Generally inland from (2) Well-marked dry season. Inland Northern part of country

Hot, dry winds alternately with swampy conditions. Dry.

GOLD COAST.

(Generally similar to Nigeria.)

BRITISH EAST AFRICA.

(a) Mangrove Swamps (6) Coast Forests

(6) Cedar Forests

Rkiflophora, Bruguiera, &c•.. Afzelt'a Cuanzensis and others.

Creeks and inlets of the coast Coastal belt

Between high and low water mark. Under influence of the moistureladen winds from sea. Thorn bush, Acada spp. and others Vast areas between coast and Waterless arid country. highlands Brachy/ana Hutdu'nsU, Croton Elliotlanus Below the main mountain forests Limited to laterite soil. and others at 5,000 to 6500 ft.

Numerous (M~iti) species, Oc~tea Usambarensis lunipe1'us jJrocera, Podocarpus spp.... ...

{I Su~~ect

(a) He,,:vy rainfall: . of Aberdare Mountains 'conditions. &c. (b) to periodic dry weather

Mts.KenyaandElgon. Slopes

FOREST TYPES.-C"ntintlta. Main types

General distribution or types

Composition by species

General growth conditions

UGANDA.

No classification by types "" PodocarjJus spp. Juniperus jwocera... Entandrophragma spp. Khaya spp.

... \ Rewenzori and Mt. Elgon ,.. Vicinity of Lake Victoria

Forests have not yet been thoroughly

I explored.

NVASALAND.

( I) Coniferous

Widdringtonz'a Why!ei

(2) Broadleaved

KlzaYQ senega/ensis

(3) Scrub

Mlanje

7,000 ft.

.,.

mountain,

4,000- I Gullies and ravines. 85 in.

Rainfall, 50-

Vicinity of streams, 1,0004,000 ft. elevation Uapaca Kirkiana, Brachystegi6 spp., Acada J General throughout the country spp. and others I SWAZILAND.

No classification. Reference I List of useful trees includes Sideroxylon made to High veld (practiinerme, Curtisia faginea and others cally without forest). Low veld (chiefly wooded bush)

SOUTHERN RHODESIA.

(I) High Forest

(2) Savannah

Two sub.typesNarrow mountain range (a) With Khaya nyasz'ca Eastern border (6) With Cusson;a umbellifera and Eugen,:a spp. Very numerous species, e.g., Baill;lEa pluri-I Greater part of the country juga, Copaifera mopani, Bra&hystegia spp.

on Annual rainfall, 50-80 in.

MALAY PENINSULA.

(I) Littoral-

(a) Mangrove Swamp ... 1 Rh':zopnora spp., Bruguiera spp.... } Between high and low water mark. (6) Dry... ... ", Casuarina equlsetifolia, Hibt."scus, ~D01Z- I Along the sea coast gamia and others Above high water mark. (2) Inland (a) Freshwater Swamps I PandatlUs spp., Zalacca spp. and others "'1 Water-logged soil, 4-5 ft. of peat (0) Lowland ... 50 per cent. Dipte1"ocarps, Complex flola -.. Up to 2,000 ft. elevation ... Warm equable moist climate. (c) Hill .. . Agalnis spp., Dacryditlm, Podocarpus ... Hilly country

CYPRUS.

(I) Coniferous

"'1 Pinus kaiepensis, Cedrus ieoani

(2) Broadleaved

... Pia/anus, Quercus sPI.

Pi,IUS nigra var. iaricio, •.•

...

Mountainous country generally

... Fairly wide distribution

...

BRITISH GUIANA.

A. Easily accessibleType varies with nature (salt or (I) Swamp Forest. severall RlI.izoplzora, Avlcennia, Crabwood, Carapa Low-lying country fresh water) of inundation. sub-types ruianenst."s~· 'Vallaba, Eperua spp.~· Mora exceisa; and numerous other species (2) Hill country. Several Greenheart, Nectandra Rodiet."; Wallaba, Chief commercial forests of the I Soil the most important factor in sub-types. Forests Eperua spp. " Balata, Mimusops spp. and easily accessible area determining type. known by name of others ruling species, e.g., Greenheart, Wallaba and Balata Forests B. Not easily accessibleTwo sub-types. classifica- Mora; Greenheart; Cedreia Mora/a, and Hinterland or mountainous countion not complete others try lying W. and S. of the easily accessible area

FOREST TYPES.-CtmtinUld. Main types

General distribution of types

Composition by species

General growth conditions

CltYLON.

(I) Montane Zone(a) Forest

Callopkyllum Walkeri; Gordonia seylanica I South Central tableland

Above 4,000 it. elevation, rainfall 75-200 in. per annum.

and others; in course of replacement with exotics (Cupressus, Eucalyptus, Pinu! and Atalia spp.) Grass lands forming forests but destroyed by shifting cultivalion and fire; suitable for afforestation with soft woods

(b) Patana

(2) Wet ZIme(a) Endemic

Very numerous spp. dipterocarps predomin-I South West and all the foothills Rainfall 100-200 in. and over j atinf:t; Dipterocarpus zelanicus, Doona up to 4.000 ft. fine soil, heavy rainfall and tropiztylanica; DiospJlros fJuaesita cal warmth. Few characteristic species, MIlia dubia ... Narrow strip surrounding wet Rainfall 75-100 in. zone Two-thirds of the Island and Rainfall 20-50 in. Scrub, low jungle and semi-desert nine-tenths of the Forest area. Two strips on N. W. and S. E. coasts Very varible in consequence of shifting culti- Largest zone of vegetation in the Rainfall so-So in. vation ; Hemic)'clia Sepiaria, Terminalia Island glabra, Satinwood (Ckloroxylon swieten-ia), Ebony (DiospyYOS ebenum) and many others Formerly forests now valueless; Terminalia Eastern Province and U va round the foothills cnebula and others ~fangrove Swamps (Rhizophora, &c.) Heri-

(b) Intermediate

(3) Dry Zone(a) Arid â&#x20AC;˘..

(0) Dry Zone proper

(4) Lit/oral ... I

tiera littoralis

No classification by types was made, and it is impossible to construct them from the evidence in the statements in the cases of New Zealand, British Honduras, Jamaica, Bahamas, Bermuda, Hong Kong and Weibaiwei.

FOREST TYPES.-Ct'ntinu,d. Main types

General distribution of types

Composition by species

General growth conditions

CRYLON.

(1) Montane ZoneCa) Forest

(b) Patana

(2) Wet Zone(a) Endemic

Callophyllum Walkeri; Gordo1Zia seylanica I South Central tableland and others; in course of replacement with exotics (Cupressus, Eucalyptus, Pinus and Acacia spp.) Grass lands forming forests but destroyed by shifting cultivation and fire; suitable for afforestation with soft woods

Very numerous spp. dipterocarps predomin-I South West and all the foothills atin~; Dipterocarpus zelanicus. Doona up to 4.000 ft. z6ylan'ica; .Dios/Jyros quaesita (b) Intermediate Few characteristic species, Melia dubia ... Narrow strip surrounding wet zone (3) Dry ZoneTwo-thirds of the Island and (a) Arid ... Scrub. Iow jungle and semi-desert nine-tenths of the Forest :trea. Two strips on N.W. and S.E. coasts Largest zone of vegetation in the of shifting cultiVery varible in consequence (b) Dry Zone proper ". Island vation ; Hemicyclia Sepiaria, Terminalt'a glabra, Satinwood (Ckloroxylon swietenia), Ebony (Dlospyros ebenum) and many others Formerly forests now valueless; Termt'nalz'a Eastern Province and U va round (c) Park Country the foothills chebula and others (4) Littoral .,. .M:angrove Swamps (Rhizophora. &c.) HeriI tiera lit/oralis

Above 4,000 It. elevation, rainfall 75-200 in. per annum.

Rainfall 100-200 in. and over; fine soil, heavy rainfall and tropical warmth. Rainfall 75-100 in. Rainfall

20-50

in.

I Rainfall 50-80 in.

TABLE 11.-- CLASSIFICATION OF FOREST AREA BY OWNERSHIP.

(Square miles.)

State Country

Dedicated to timber production

-------

United Kingdom . British India . Canada (as a whole) British Columbia Quebec ... Au!\traliaQueensland ... New South Wales Victoria ... South Australia West Australia . Tasmania . New Zealand . South Africa (Union of) Newfoundland ... British East Africa Southern Rhodesia Uganda... ... Gold Coast ... Nigeria ... ... Malay States . Trinidad . Bahamas . Jamaica... ... Cyprus ... ... British Honduras.. British Guiana ... Ceylon ... ...

'0'

14° 25 1 ,470

234,340 14,700 192 ,080

635,580 115,000

~69,920 1 29,700

312,140

5°4,220

6,25 0 7,880 6,500

46,880 4,620 5,500

53,130 12,500 12,000

4,600

2,200

."'1 ..

50 8.000

4,990 77,0001J

2,030

16,370 880

515,620

4,690 3 1o

62,500 17,190 12,500

9,370

310

2,800 36,600

,I I

3,14° 3,200 33°

28,570 830

630

4,220

77,7 80 11,300

I I I I

I I

1,440

4°

100

36,600

18,300

1,200 3-:;4 0 3 1 ,770 1,160

1,402

}

Native Communities 1,000 20

5,100 9 1,500 38,110 { 218,400 35,270

.,ISo

43°

1,°5°

4,680

160

,S;;-

This area is included in "Other Lands" in Table I. J In process of clearing for settlement purposes, which may explain differences for total area of forest in Tables I and 11. • Mercbantable forest only. I

16,370 2,360

1,200

38,110 21 5,260 2,500

430 1,050 680 6,000 77,780 15,5 20

6,000 4,9 20 3 I7,200

IO,QO()

5,000 36,600

149,000

15,400 9,370

'------.------' 2 19°

5,180 336,470

93 2 ,420

62,500 3,900

94°

Total

25° 4,610

2.50

Private Individuals

30 125,160

110

126,310

Corporate Bodies

Total

Other forest

680 6,000 77,780 20,360 1,920,170

FORESTRY IN THE EMPIRE

for the whole Empire. India leads with 50 per cent., Canada is near the average, Australia varies from 63 per cent. in New South Wales to one-fifth of I per cent. in Western Australia. The proportion generally is low in the Crown Colonies. The area belonging to Corporate bodies is greatly swollen by the inclusion of over a quarter of a million square tniles in the possession of native communities in Nigeria and the Gold Coast. .. . Legislation.-The sum total of legIslatton relatIng to the forests of the Empire is very considerable, hut it seems possible to divide it roughly into two classes: the first of the familiar Crown Lands Act type regulating the user of the forests, and the second tnaking provision for a more or less definite forest policy. Gradually the second class must supersede the first, but although the present day policy of India dates hack in its essentials to 1878 it must be confessed that in the rest of the Empire constructive forest legislation is of quite recent origin and as yet for the most part tentative in character. Perhaps I may be allowed to digress at this stage and pay a small tribute to the share which India has taken in shaping the course of Empire Forestry. The beginnings of Indian Forestry were perhaps incidental to the assumption of the white man's burden, the forests were there and had to be administered in the interests of a teeming and apathetic people. The growing success of the work over nearly half a century is a concrete reminder that forestry is not merely the fad of a few enthusiasts. But more than this the workadministrative, executive and literary - of men like Schlich, Brandis and a number of lesser known foresters has introduced and expanded before the people of the Empire totally new conceptions of the true role of forests in national economics. To revert to constructive forest legislation: From 1906 onwards when the Canadian Forest Reserves and Parks Act 路was passed by the Dominion Government, there was more or less activity in nearly all the ParliaInents. Then catne the war and very soon a keener public appreciation of the value of forests. Almost for the first time the half-told tale of the forester fell onsympathetic ears, and a number of Acts were passed em-

EMPIRE FORESTRY

bodying new legislative principles such as financial provision over a term of years (United Kingdom); the reservation of a given area of State forest within a definite period of time (New South Wales); and the drawing up of working plans (Western Australia). We are now entering the period of reaction, and there are not lacking signs that VOVlS made in the hour of danger are already losing something of their poignancy. The Forest Depa1tments and their Work.- There are almost as many kinds of forestry departments in the Empire as there are States, ranging from the highly organized Imperial and Provincial Forest Services of India, through the compact South African Department, the somewhat loosely connected Dominion and Provincial Services of Canada, the 1110re newly established Commissions, Directorates or Conservatorships of the United Kingdom,. Australia and Ne\v Zealand and the Crown Colonies, down to the lov."ly forest officer preparing the way for a department in some backward country. Nevertheless it is possible to trace some common factors in their activities. 'fhe first is the large proportion of time expended in adU1inistrative as against technical executive work. The areas are so large and the number of trained forest officers so small, that this is unavoidable. Next, U10st departments are striving to get effective control of the forest areas, for \vithout it continuity 6f policy, which is the sine qUll non for efficient forestry, is impossible. Before effective control can be secured, Parliament has usually to be satisfied that the land is not required for agriculture and much time has consequently to be spent in land classification and forest demarcation. Fire protection is another activity in comtTIon, and in Canada ""and Australia at least, probably the essential and possibly the only effective large scale measure which is feasible under the present conditions of ,extensive working. Side by side with fire protection is the effort to secure regeneration of cut-over forests by natural lTIeans. Over and above all this, the average forest department has found time ,to do some planting and to encourage others to plant and to experiment with exotic trees (and especially with conifers where the demand for soft woods cannot be met from indigenous forests), but it is broadly true to say that in the great field of sylvicultural procedure the ground has hardly been touched.

FORESTRY IN THE EMPIRE

A few exceptions are to be noticed.. Extensive plantations to be reckoned in thousands of acres are now being made annually in South Africa, the United Kingdom and India. Experiment and resear.ch work on sylviculture has received a great impulse in India and the United Kingdom, and there is promise of greater activity with regard to the investigation of forest products in Canada, Australia, South Africa, India and the United Kingdom. Private and Corporate Farestry.-Beyond remarking that private forestry has played the most prominent part in British forestry and that corporate bodies of all kinds throughout the Empire are displaying more interest, it is not intended to deal with this subject. It would appear that the Association has in this direction a \vide field for its activities. Forestry Education. - Systelnatic forestry education within the Empire dates froin the establishtnent of the course at Coopers Hill by the India Office in 1885. There are now courses for training the higher or administrative forest officer at various British and Canadian Universities and courses for the subordinate officer at a number of places in the United Kingdom and in India, at Tokai (South Africa), Chisv.rick (Victoria) and elsewhere. Besides these there are courses of an intermediate character in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. The splendidly equipped Indian School at Dehra Dun is the centre where Indian provincial forest officers are trained. It is perhaps a healthy sign that the training of forest officers has given rise to a great deal of controversy. The issue in the United Kingdom under existing financial conditions is broadly bet\veen having one school of the highest excellence attainable and a number of mediocre schools. Since the Conference the question has been further considered by a Committee presided over by Lord Clifton.' As far as the practising forest officer is concerned there is at least unanitTIity of opinion. We want the best possible training that can be given. We lnay differ in detail as to what constitutes that best, but we are convinced that we have not yet got it. 1 "Report of the Interdepartmental Committee on Imperial Forestry Education." Cmd. 1166. Published by If.M. Stationery Office.

EMPIRE FORESTRY

The research position is on all fours with education and closely bound up with it. So little has the Empire been disposed to encourage investigation or to afford individuals opportunity to become efficient in specialized lines that it has become the rule rather than the exception to look for non-British subjects to fill specialized posts. THE TIMBER SUPPLY.

I now come to questions which are most difficult to answer convincingly, viz., U How do the EmpIre as a whole and individual members of it stand with reference to their present and prospective timber supplies? " The current position can be gauged by considering the factors home production, import and export. Into the prospective supply come a number of factors, some of which are assessable, others a matter of conjecture. Among the factors which, on paper at least, are assessable are the rate at which the forests are being cut, the rate at which they are growing, and the quantities of standing timber of different ages. If these data are known for a given forest area, it is possible to say what the legitimate out-turn should be from period to period. Among the conjectural factors are the growth of population and industrialization and the kinds of timber likely to be in demand. Here we can only argue from the past. We have to assume a great expansion of population and increasing industrialization if our particular type of civilization is to endure. If the experience of Britain is a fair guide the consumption of timber per capita increases with the degree of industrialization-in 1913 it was three times as great as in 1853- The statesman who visualizes an industrial future for his country will in fact find in the recent experiences of the United Kingdom striking illustrations of the importance of safeguarding the future timber supply. As regards the kinds of timber we know that it is increasingly the coniferous forest on which the demand falls. . Now the Conference statements showed most clearly that a convincing assessment of rate of growth over vast forest areas is an extremely difficult task, and in a number of them it was preferred to make no estimates whatever. It is impossible therefore to make as yet a reliable forecast of the position as a whole and I will restrict myself to generalities and a few illustrations.

FORESTRY IN THE EMPIRE

I nlports and Exports.- It路is very desirable that figures of inter-empire and foreign trade should be tabulated year by year. The Conference figures did not all relate to the same period; in some cases they were pre-war in others war or partly one and partly the other. Details are given in Table Ill. As a hazard I would say that for the \vhole Empire the total imports of wood and timber probably exceeded the exports by IS0 million cubic feet per annum just before the war. That the Empire with its large forest area should even at this stage of development find its balance on the wrong side cannot be regarded as other than unsatisfactory. There are two main reasons for this state of affairs: the greatest importer (the United Kingdom) gets most of its timber from outside the Empire, while the greatest exporter (Canada) finds her largest and most convenient ll1arkets in the United States. Apart from Canada and the United Kingdom, we can, on the evidence of the Statements, classify India, Australia (as a whole, but omitting 'fasmania), South Africa, British East Africa (as regards values), Southern Rhodesia, Malay States, British Guiana, and various slnall countries as net importers and Newfoundland, British East Africa (as regards values), Gold Coast, Nigeria and British Honduras as net exporters. ' The United Kingdom drew (19掳9-1913) 88 per cent. by volume and 83 per cent. by value of her imports from without the Empire. Three main regions of supply may be differentiated, viz., Northern Europe (Russia and Scandinavia) furnishing 65 per cent. by volume of the total imports, South-west Europe 48 per cent. of the pitwood imports, and North America 18! per cent. by volume of the total imports. The imports not accounted for above came from a large number of countries and consisted chiefly of special woods, e.g., teak from India, Eucalyptus CJ arrah, &c.) from路 Australia, and African mahogany from the Gold Coast and Nigeria. The imports from Canada into the United Kingdom amounted to 1,058,000 loads valued at 拢3,525,000. On the other hand, the destination of all the Canadian exports is not stated. The whole of the pulp-WOOd (approximately 103 million cubic feet) goes to the United

TABLE IlL-AvERAGE

ANNUAL EXPORTS AND IMPORTS.

(Quantities and Values in thousands). Imports

Exports Country (1)

United Kingdom (19°9-13)Wood and timber .•. Wood manufactures '" Pulp of wood '" ". British India (1914-18)-Timber '" Canada (1914-18) (as a whole)Sawn lumber ." .,. .., Pulpwood .. , ." ." ... British Columbia·' (1919)-Overseas ,.. ". .., Quebec (1918) .. , Australia :~ Queensland--Timber ." .,. . New South Wales (19IO-I8)-Timber .. Victoria (I9I3-I7)-Timber ... ,., West Australia (I909-I9)-Timber ,.. South Africa (U"ion of) (1913)Unmanufactured .. , .., Manufactured .. , ... Newfoundland (1909-12)-Timber

! Value,(3)f.oob.

Quantity (2)

Izo'810ads

15'3 tons 1,647'9 cub. ft. 35 6 ,689'4 102,933'3 9,07Z'7

13 2 ,19 2 '3

" " " " "

2,000'0 1,633'7 " 74'9 " 181'3 loads

3,677'3 bd. ft.

£1, 01 5'5

£2, 2110 9 £12z'8 £395,9

Quantity

Value, c.iof.

(4)

(5)

10,204'3 loads

859'5 tons 4,373'2 cub. ft.

$3°,7 6 5'5

99,°7°'9 Nil " Not avaiJable Negligible $I4,877'4 $6,4[Z'5

£5°0'0 £201'1

£689'1 £3'3 £5'7 $71'1

Balance plus or minus

£27,561'4 £2,695'2 £4,°5 8 '5 £53 1 '9 $10, 603'6

Negli~ible

$746 '5

Quantity Col, 2-COI. 4

- 10,083'5 loads - 844'2 tons - 2,725'3 cub. ft.

+ 257,6[8'5 + 102,933 3 + 9,07 2 '7 0

13 2 ,19 2 '3

6'0 cub.ft 12,241 '5 [0,365'5 " " 18'2 loads

£1'5 £1,04 60 4 £97'8

1,994'0 " - 10,60 7'8 " -10,29°'6 " + 163'1 loads

15,618'0 cub, ft. 3,882'0 " 1,632'4 bd. fto

'£980 '8 £577'7 $53'9

+ Z;0~4'9 bd. ft.

Value Col. 3-Co1.S

- .£26,545'9 - £483'3 - .£"3,935'7 - 136 '0

+ $20,161'9

+ +

&6,4 1Z '5 Not a vai lable $I4,I30'9

+ £498 '5 - £84S'3

+ £59 1 '3 - £997'5 - £57 2 '0 + $17'2

British East Africa (1913-18) ... Southern Rhodesia (1913-19) Timber Nyasaland (1917-19) Uganda (1913) ... Gold Coast (I909- 18)-Timber Nigeria (1912-13)- Timber Malay States (1913-18)Firewood ... Planks Timber Trinidad (I906-18)-Timber Bahamas (1907- 1 3)-Lumber Bermuda (1919)Lumber ... ... Manufactured wood Jamacia (t9I4- 1S)-Lumber ... British Honduras (1914-19)-Timber British Guiana (1915-19)-Timber Cyprus (1910-14)-Timber.~. ... Ceylon (ten years average)-Timber Manufactured timber

327'4 cub. ft. 34'1 Nz"1

£11'9 £10'5

159'6 cub. ft. 258'1

1,383' 5 cub. ft. 1,3 88 '7

£159'7 £9 2 '3

346'2 cub, ft, 5 22 '8

152'0 cub. ft" 293"S

$1'7 $1,53 1 '3 3164'0 £17"8 £11'2

£16'7 £4 2 '5 £0'8 £3"2 £45"0 £64"2

+ 167"8 cub" ft"

+ 1,037"3 cub. ft. + 86 5'9

46'4

$383'2 $1, 183'6 £65"3 £5"2

+ 222"4

- £47'5

£5'5

- 46 '4

-.£5'5 - £18'8 - £5 0 'S + $697"4 - £26"9 - £21'7 - Rs. 540'0 - RS·347· 1

- 737'5 cub. ft.

.£18'8

8,305'9 bd" ft. 122"7 cub" ft" 43 6 "9

$739"0 £15"0 RS.254· 1 RS.2,085·5

8,90 5 '9 bd. ft" 1,447'9 " 337"7 cub. ft.

+ +

- 95 88 '8 $1,148 '1 - th,019'6

$59°'5

889' 5 cub. ft. 71"4

- £4'8 - £3 2 '0 - £0'8 - £3"2 £114'7 £28'1

- 224'0

£5 0 'S

$ 4 1 '6 £4 1 "9

;£21"7 541"3 cub" ft. Rs" 794"1 RS.2,43 2 •6

- 8,905'9 bd. ft.

+ 6,85 8'0

- 215"0 cub" ft, - 104"4 cub. ft"

+ £6'0

NoteS.-(I} The United Kingdom exports include 87,500 loads, which are re-exports valued at £795,200. (2) The Statements for the following countries give little or no information: South Australia, New Zealand, Swaziland, Wei-hai-Wei,

Seychelles, Leeward Islands, Windward Islands and Hong Kong" (3) The above quantities are those given in the respective statements. For rough comparative purposes the following figures may be used: I load = 50 cb. ft"; I ton = 30 to 50 cb. ft. according to species and degree of dryness; 1 broad foot = y\-th cubic foot; I cord = I~8 cb. ft" of piled wood and contains approximately 90 cb. ft. of solid wood.

3°

EMPIRE FORESTRY

States, and presumably the bulk of the sawn timber not taken by the United Kingdom. The British Columbia export of 9,073,000 cubic feet (1919) included approximately si million cubic feet to the United Kingdom and the Continent, and 1,432,000 cubic feet to China. It will be observed that while Canada is the chief timber exporter of the Empire, she is also the second importer. Rough lumber, oak, cherry, hickory, &c., and pitch pine are the chief ilnports. The Indian imports consist chiefly of railway sleepers and Jarrah timber (from Australia) and deal and pine timber. Teak represents about 85 per cent. of the exports. As regards Australia the Queensland exports are to other States of the COlnmonwealth, while the imports are overseas. The New South Wales exports are principally to New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and the East. The Victorian imports are chiefly soft woods from Scandinavia, the United States, Canada and New Zealand. Rather more than one-third of the vVestern Australian exports go to the Eastern States; India, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and South Africa in that order being the next best customers. The United States supplied approximately one-half of the imports and Scandinavia rather more than one-sixth. As regards the South African imports of unmanufactured timber, Scandinavia supplied 10,452,000 cubic feet, the United States 2,632,200 cubic feet, Australia 440,5°0 cubic feet, and India (teak) 92,900 cubic feet. The imports of manufactured timber, £1°3,592, came chiefly from Scandinavia. Actually the movements of tinlber are far more COlnplicated than it has been possible to indicate in the short sketch above. It is amazing how fastidious or conservative the consumer of timber can be. Thus the broad stream of soft woods which issues from the organized forest countries of Northern Europe not only supplies the nearer markets of the United Kingdom, but trickles away to corners of the Empire where growing timber is accounted of no value whatever. The Drain on the Forests.-In the preceding section I have attempted to show briefly from what sources other than home forests some of the individual countries were

FORESTRY IN THE EMPIRE

getting their timber supplies. \Ve have now to consider what is the effect on the forests themselves. In the United Kingdom, before the war, the annual cut probably did not appreciably exceed th~ .annual grow~h or increment. To that extent the posItIon was satisfactory although the relative quantity of middle-aged timber,' and the proportion of conifers were both far too low. The home supplies did not meet more than ten per cent. of the t?tal consumptio.n. The e~traordinary cuttings made during the war fell, In the first Instance, on the mature coniferous timber, which largely disappeared, and on the timber of pitwood size, and then on the better class hard woods, i.e., for the most part on the least abundant classes. On the other hand, large areas of inferior hard woods, which will never improve, were left untouched. However energetically an afforestation policy be pursued, it must, therefore, be many years before the pre-war supplies of growing timber can be replaced. India is now reaping the benefits of half a century of constructive forest policy, and it is stated that there should be no difficulty in meeting the probable timber requirelnents due to industrial development. The quantity of tilnber cut for lumber in Canada has decreased since 1912, and is still decreasing, while the annual felling of pulp-wood is increasing rapidly as supplies are exhausted in the United States. The outlook appears to be assured in British Colulnbia and Quebec with a reasonable system of fire protection. It is preferred to give no estimate of the duration of supplies for Canada as a whole. New Brunswick intends to limit the utilization to the amount of the increment so S0011 as the latter can be determined. As regards Australia, the Queensland forests are apparently being overcut to the extent of more than double the increment. The Hoop-pine resources of New South Wales will be exhausted in twelve years, the Cypress pine forests can apparently maintain approxi. Inately the present supply, while the hard wood forests (under management) could maintain their present out.. turn indefinitely. Victoria has still 2,000,000 acres of ~ard wood forests ~ntouched, and a large bal~nce of Increment over felltngs. It is safe to say for South 3

EMPIRE FORESTRY

Australia that the consumption far exceeds the incre.. ment, but it is anticipated that with the coniferous plantations already formed, or about to be formed, the State will ultimately meet its own requirements in soft woods. The Western Australian Statement makes the following comment: "Western Australia is going to leeward at the rate of 500,000 loads a year over the rate of growth of her Forests." It is estimated that fifteen years will see the shutting down of the large Jarrah mills. No information is given in the respective Statements as regards the position in New Zealand and Newfoundland. The accessible indigenous forests of ,South Africa will probably be more or less worked out in the next ten to fifteen years,after which the supply of virgin timber will be reduced by 50 per cent. unless forests at present inaccessible are opened up. In the meantime the plantations of exotic species will be developing and can be relied on to give a steadily increasing output. The Gold Coast and Nigeria, with ordinary care, should maintain their out-turn of African mahogany. In British East Africa the accessible forests are being overcut, and satisfactory regeneration is not being secured. The increment as a whole, however, exceeds the fellings, and it should be possible to keep the position right. Southern Rhodesia is drawing on its forest capital to the extent of nineteen million cubic feet per annum, and in view of possible developments, the position is considered serious. The Malay States are developing so rapidly, and so much forest land is being diverted to other purposes, that it is difficult to make a definite forecast. It is stated, however, that the outlook calls for the exercise of great care. The forests of Ceylon have been exploited during the last century" from an utterly utilitarian point of view." They can continue, with an efficient system of transport, to supply the island with fuel for an indefinite period, and with hard woods for possibly ten years. As regards the supply of soft woods, on which the tea and rubber trades depend, the total quantity of standing timber is equivalent to only 204 days' consumption. An even more depressing report is of Sierra Leone, where it is stated that lack of a forest policy is resulting

FORESTRY IN THE EMPIRE

not only in the rapid di~appearance ?f th~ forests, but also in such consequentIal changes In sot! and atmospheric humidity that agriculture is seriously affected. CONCLUSION.

This picture of Empire Forestry is on the whole gloomy. That is not to say that it is of uniform drabness, but when one considers the wonderful resources with which the Empire was originally endowed and the prodigality \vith which they have been or are in process of being dissipated without adequate replacement, it is difficult to paint in bright hues. Forestry will not flourish until it is accepted as a matter of course by the community, that is, until it is recognized that with forests, as with other things, there is a limit to the process of getting something for nothing. And the something which has to be given to the forest in return for a continuing supply of timber is cultivation. It is true that forest cultivation is of a different order from agricultural cultivation, and for that reason less easily comprehended by the lay mind; but just as modern agriculture has from very modest beginnings become a highly specialized industry, so in due course will forestry develop. The advent of intensive forest cultivation is, for most countries, merely a question of time. The student of German forest literature is well acquainted with the fact that in industrial countries, at least, it pays to cultivate forests. It IS interesting, therefore, to find within the Empire itself-in the State forests of India-proof that the same principles hold good with less intensive systems of sylviculture. The gross revenue of the Indian State forests for the five-year period, 18641869, was £249,000, the expenditure £159,000,and the surplus £90,000. Up to the five-year period, 19°4-19°9, from 55 per cent. to 64 per cent. the gross revenue was expended on the forests, while the surplus gradually expanded to £773,000 per annum. For the abnormal period, 1914-1919, the figures were: gross revenue, £2,47 6,000; expenditure, [1,408,000; surplus, £1,068,000. Personnel charges account in considerable measure for the incleased expenditure. The strength of the Imperial Forest Service has grown from about eighty in 1874-1879

EMPIRE FORESTRY

to 220 in 1913-1914, while the cost of the Forest Department establishment increased from £27,000 in 1864-1869 to £406,000 in 1904-1909, and £576,000 in 1914-1919. It may seem grotesque even to think of cultivating our vast forest areas at a tilne when the few hundreds of technical officers in the Empire are able to devote casual attention to a mere fraction only of the more important parts. But what is to happen to the remainder? It is not practical politics to ask that it shall be exempted from exploitation. The timber is often badly wanted while the forest itself represents so much inert capital, the annual growth just about balancing decay. Neither may it be practical to ask for the expenditure of sufficient money on technical staff and labour to secure adequate cultivation concurrently with exploitation. There remains, therefore, only the alternative of exploiting the forest in such a way that its potentialities as a forest are conservep. It may not be possible to utilize those potentialities immediately, but they should be there and ready to respond when called upon. If this principle is accepted a twofold obligation arises, first on the State to be content with something less than the full amount which could be extracted from the forest at the time of exploitation and, second, on the forester to devise and administer wise exploitation regulations. I believe that from the technical point of view the advance of Empire sylviculture will be by way of increasingly intensive cultivation of the more accessible forests and rational exploitation of the less accessible. Both call for an immense alTIOunt of experimental and research work. The Inost pleasing feature is that although the forestry movement in the Elnpire is still young, it is already gathering considerable momentum, which in due course should carry it over all ordinary obstacles.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA AS A PRODUCER Of' FINE TIMBER. By C. E.

LANE POOLE.

THE British Empire Forestry Conference of 1920 was" happily inspired when it suggested the formation of an Empire Forestry Association. Forestry experts all the world over clearly recognize that tpeir efforts must fail of the most fruitful results, if they are not supported by a sympathetic and enlightened public opinion on the great matter of forest conservation. The experts themselves can do a great deal, but from the nature of the position which they occupy they are debarred to a very large extent from making that close and continuous a,ppeal to the public which is essential for the full success of their efforts. The making of this appeal rightly belongs to such organizations as the Empire Forestry Association. Under the Southern Cross societies of a similar nature have done yeoman work on behalf of the forests. It is only within quite recent years that forestry in Australia and New Zealand has becolue a subject for public discussion. The immense forest wealth with which both the Commonwealth and the Dominion have been dowered, and the readiness with which timber of local growth could be obtained for every purpose, had the effect of engendering in the minds of a great section of the public the idea that the forest '\vealth of the country was inexhaustible, and this unfortunate and erroneous belief was fostered by the readiness with \vhich those in authority alienated vast tracts of heavily-timbered land for agricultural or pastoral purposes. Settlement in Australia and New Zealand, in short, has been accompanied by a tremendous wastage of forests. The object of the settlers in every case was to get rid of the timber in the quickest 'possible way, so that the land on which fine timber had grown might be available for crops. It can readily be understood, therefore, how there arose in the popular

EMPIRE FORESTRY

mind a belief that timber was of no value, and was indeed an excrescence on the face of nature and a hindrance to farnling. The Australian Forest League and kindred Associations have done a good deal in the way of correcting popular misapprehension on the subject of forestry; but the ingrained prejudice of generations is hard to eradicate, and in many quarters still-and in quarters too where one might reasonably look for enlightenment-there is a good deal of apathy on the subject, and efforts to improve forestry conditions are often looked upon with little favour. If the Empire Association assists in dispelling the cloud of prejudice and misunderstanding that still hangs over forestry affairs in Australia, it will have earned the gratitude of all lover~ of forests and of everyone who is able to recognize the serious nature of the economic questions involved. In no State of the Commonwealth do more valuable forests of the finest hard \voods exist than in Western Australia; in no State has exploitation proceeded at a more rapid rate, and in none until within very recent years has less been done to repair the damage. The part which the forests of Western Australia have played in the country's development is unique among the States of the Commonwealth. It may be justly asserted that early settlement was made possible only because of the existence of great forests of prime timhers. In 1829 when the pioneer settlers landed at the Swan River, they found themselves in a thick forest which grew close to the seashore and along the banks of the rivers. There were no open grass lands that called merely for the labour of ploughing and sowing. Every acre to be cultivated had to be won from the forests. The for:sts, too, provided timber for house building and for numerous other purposes. The early settlers were none of them wealthy, and the abundance of magnificent titnber at hand seems to have suggested the idea of export to the Mother Country. The earliest official record of the export of timber dates from 1836; but from other sources of information it is clear that specimens of the timbers found in their new home were sent to England by the pioneers \vithin a couple of years of their first landing. In those early days the word " jarrah" as applied to the State's principal timber was

HAULING A JARRAH LOG IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA BY MEANS OF A "WHIM" AND TEAM OF HORSES.

(The wheels of the" whim" are sometimes over I I feet in diameter, and the logs vary in weight froUl 5 to 25 tons.)

WESTERN AUSTRALIA A PRODUCER OF FINE TIMBER

unknown. The first settlers, struck by the similarity of the timber .they found in their new home to the product of the West I ndies, called it "mahogany." I t was almost a generation later before the native name for the tree, H jarrah," came to be applied. The export of timber was a ready means of obtaining money, while land "vas being cleared and cropped, and the business of exportation once begun was never abandoned. Jndeed, it has proceeded steadily ever since, and Western Australia rernains to-day, as it was three quarters of a century ago, the great timber-exporting State of the Commonwealth. Early estilnates of the extent of the forests of jarrah were remarkable for their liberality, and it is very evident that these estimates included the vast areas of sclerophyllotls \voodlands, which cannot rightly be termed H forest," and, as these estimates were 111ade at a time when exploration was singularly tentative and incomplete, their unreliability becomes all the more apparent. It was not until the closing decade of the nineteenth century that some effort was made to ascertain the extent of the forest areas. Mr. Ednie Browne, Conservator of Forests, discusses the matter in his report of 1896, and estimates the total area of forest country at 20,400,000 acres. These figures include a considerable area of country which cannot be designated as "merchantable forest." But in the quarter of a century that has passed since these figures were published, a thorough survey of our forest estate has been made, and this has shown that at the 010St we never possessed more than 3,000,000 acres of first-class milling timber. The timbers in regard to which conversion has been most systematically carried out are jarrah and karri. These have been milled regularly for a generation, and to-day there are eighty mills cutting them. The forest survey shows the areas covered by these two timbers as comprising, roughly, 2,500,000 acres for jarrah (lnd 250,000 for karri. The heavy conversion by saw millers has been allowed to continue with little or no restriction, with the result that the whole of the prime jarrah belt is now held under sawmilling tenure, and it can only be a matter of a decade or so before \ve see the last of the virgin jarrah forests.

EMPIRE FORESTRY

Besides jarrah and karri, the main export timbers, there are two other valuable woods which are used locally for the construction of railway rolling-stock and for wheelwright work. These are tuart and wandoo . Tuart, according to the early figures, covers 200,000 acres. This would certainly seem to be an over-statement, for tuart is rigidly confined to a narrow limestone belt running for some distance in from the coast, and at no time would there appear to have been so large an area occupied by this tree. At the present day prime tuart country under the control of the Crown measures slightly more than 5,000 acres, and part of this area consists of land that has been alienated but has been repurchased, in order that it may be reforested. The export of tuart grown on Crown lands is now prohibited. This prohibition, of course, does not apply to timber grown on alienated land. In regard to jarrah, karri and tuart, the forests department is vigorously pushing on schemes for regeneration and reforestation. Wandoo is found over a very large region, but with the exception of an area so small as to be negligible, it nowhere assumes the quality of a forest. It is a valuable timber and has not been exploited owing to the abundance hitherto of jarrah and karri. It is likely, however, that, with the gradual decrease of the existing supplies of the two last-named timbers, wandoo will receive more attention in the future than it has in the past, and will continue to receive that attention until the reforestation work in the main forests has borne fruit. Jarrah and karri are well known to timber experts in Great Britain, but the wide range of their usefulness has not yet received the appreciation which it deserves. It is unfortunate that in the past the principal uses found for these timbers in Great Britain have been as paving blocks, railway sleepers, and, to a lesser degree, the manufacture of railway rolling stock. Yet both these timbers are worthy of use for products of higher grade. The Empire Timber Exhibition of 1920 contained many examples of the highest class of furniture and decorative work in jarrah and karri, particularly the former. It is in these directions that British appreciation should mani.. fest itself. There is no finer furniture timber in existence than jarrah, and one has no difficulty in understanding

WESTERN AUSTRALIA A PRODUCER Olt" FINE TIMBER

why the early settlers called it "lnahogany." It possesses all the richness in colour of the Honduras product, it takes a very high polish, and its durability is equalled by few woods grown in or out of the Empire. Its main physical properties indicate beyond question its eminent suitability for building construction. These properties may be tabulated thus : Weight per cubic foot (green) ..â&#x20AC;˘ 68 lb. At 12 per cent. moisture 55 " Transverse strength 15,000 " per sq. inch Tensile strength... 15,5Â°0" " " It is not absolutely resistant to white ant when in the ground, but it possesses a higher degree of immunity than do most tilnbers. Indeed its remarkable durability has earned for it in South Africa, to which it is largely exported, the name of " everlasting" wood. ~arri has all the qualities of jarrah and is somewhat heavier, and it is capable of serving all the purposes for which jarrah may be used. But it is not durable in or on the ground. The physical properties of karri are as follows :Weight per cubic foot (green) ... 72 lb. At 12 per cent. moisture 58 " Transverse strength 17,300 " per sq. inch Tensile strength.. . 18,750" " " Both these trees-in particular karri-are capable from their size of producing lengths and sections of unusual dimensions, and in the country of their origin and elsewhere they compete with iron and steel in building construction. It is upon jarrah and karri that the reputation of Western Australia as a producer of the primest hard \voods depends, and it is the object of the operations of the Forests Department to uphold that reputation in permanency. The great forests of Western Australia lie in the southwestern portion of the State, between about 3 10 30' south latitude southward to the Southern Ocean and from the Indian Ocean eastward to about 1190 east longitude. It is from the region named that the whole of the timber exported has been dra\vn, as well as the vast bulk of that used locally. Outside these limits also

~MPIRE

FORESTRY

there is abundance of timber, but nowhere is it found in quantities deserving- of the name of "forest." Sandalwood, for instance, is a timber which at one time was abundant i.n the pt ime forest region, but it has long ago been cut out : and the export supplies, as well as those used locally for the manufacture of sandalwood oil, come from districts lying from 400 to 500 miles eastward of the capital and from that division in the north-\vest of the State known as Gascoyne. For the last ten years the average export of this valuable timber has exceeded 6,000 tons per annum, almost the whole of it being absorbed by the Chinese market. The'sandalwood oil industry has received recognition within this State by the reservation of an area of 75,000 square miles in the Gascoyne division, where the wood can only be cut for the manufacture of oil within the State. Western Australia is one of the great gold-producing countries of the world, and its status in this respect is very largely due. to the fact that in the auriferous regions there is abundance of timber for all mining purposes. Indeed it is this wealth of timber that has contributed more than anything else towards the development of the great gold industry. The timbers represented are eucalyptus, casuarinas and acacias, and the latter COlTIe under the vernacular name of "mulga." Noneof the trees reach the dimensions of their affinitie~ in the south-west portion of the State, although here and there \vandoo of fairly representative size is to be met. The great gold mines on the" Golden ~I Be" near Kalgoorlie, the chief centre of the Eastern Goldfields, at the time they were opened out, drew their supplies of timber from their own immediate neighbourhood, but such supplies have long been exhausted, and to-day tramways run into the" mulga" for 100 miles or so on each side of the centre, and from the end of these spur lines firewood is drawn to the mines. It is estimated that half-a-million tons of timber per annum are used as fuel and for other purposes on the gold mines of Western Australia. In that vast portion of the State north of the 32nd parallel路 of south latitude, there are to be found many varieties of fine timber, but nowhere apparently does it exist except in savannah form. No adequate forest survey of this part of the State has yet been made, nor has there

WESTERN AUSTRALIA A PRODUCER OF FINE TIMBER

4. 1

been any effort towards exploitation, except by settlers for their own requirements. Cypress pine, a wood with many fine qualities, exists in the north and north-west, but the extent of the area covered by it has yet to be determined. In so vast an area as that of Western Australia (975,000 square miles), with climatic conditions varying from the tropical to the temperate, and a rainfall ranging from a very fe\v inches to 40 inches or more, sharp contrasts, incongruities and apparent anachronisms in forest contents occasion no surprise. Within the borders of the State are to be found survivals from remote geological time, as well as the highly developed species of more recent ages as represented by the eucalyptus, the acacias and other families. Such curious growths of the south-west as the blackboy (Xanthorrhcea Preissii), the grass tree (/(ingia Australis) and the zamia palm (~lacro zal1tia Fraseri) speak of ages buried in the remote geological past; and in the forests of the State these evidences of the vast age of the country are found growing side by side with nlodern trees. From an imperial point of vie\v, the economics of the forests of the various Dominions have as intimate a relationship \vith the whole question of forest conservation as the varieties of timber grown. So far as the development of the State of Western Australia is concerned, it may be said with perfect justification that no item of the State's great heritage of natural assets has played a more important part in its onward march than its forests. The plain figures relating to the matter are illuminating. When the various items are gathered together, we find:The total value of timber, sandalwood and mallet bark exports amounts to ... £21,212,892 Total value of timber products used locally 9,200,000 ... £27,9°0 ,000 Mining timber, estimated at Total ... £58,312,892 It can be readily understood that the odd 21 millions representing the export of prime forest products had a determining effect in establishing credits for Western Aus~ralia in the markets abroad, particularly in those of IndIa, South Africa, and Great Britain. A continuance of the export trade, it follows, must have an equally

EMPIRE FORESTRY

important bearing on Western Australia's relations with outside countries, as it assists very materially in reducing the debit against her for imports. Economically, therefore, its forests have been a factor of the first importance in the State's commercial progress. This view of the question is fully recognized by the leaders of popular opinion in Western Australia, and the Forests Act of 1918 is a concrete endeavour to give expression to that opinion in a manner that will conserve the forests for the future as a valuable source of interchange. From the imperial standpoint, Western Australia's hard wood wealth-and for this matter the same may be said of other States of the Commonwealth-offers to the Motherland a source of supply of the very finest timbers, capable of fulfilling every purpose to which wood is put. In fact, the hard wood forests under the Southern Cross can provide almost everything in the way of hard wood that in the past has been imported from foreign countries. If recovery from the disastrous wastage of war is to be speedy, we are assured by leaders in the political and economic spheres that the Empire must in future be more self-dependent than it has been in the past. If this economic theory be not translated into practice, the default will be due largely to lack of knowledge rather than to lack of patriotism on the part of British buyers. Among all the agencies that are being, and will in the early future be, employed to disseminate precise information as to the capabilities of the various dominions, there is every reason to believe that the Empire Forestry Association will occupy a forelnost place. Its propaganda will enlighten the British public in regard to Elnpire timbers and with that enlightenment, it cannot be doubted, there will gradually grow up a preference for the tin1bers of the Empire.

FOREST FIRES IN CANADA. By

ELLWOOD WILSON,

Forester, Laurentide Co., Ltd. QUEBEC has experienced the driest spring and early sUffitner for many years. For over six weeks scarcely a drop of rain fell and the woods became so dry that on rocky slopes, where the soil was thin, the trees died entirely. The soil in the forests was like so much tinder, and any fires which started sprang up again and again, after they were extinguished, and even after heavy rains had fallen. The fire would get into rotten logs or duff, creep along under ground for unbelievable distances, and reappear again after everyone thought the danger was over. Owing to a large number of men being without regular employment, many persons were fishing in the woods, and to them the Inajority of the fires can be directly attributed. The railroads showed a very great improvement in the matter of setting fire to forest, notably the lines under the control of the Canadian National Railway, which has been the worst offender in the past. The number of fires caused by farmers was greater than ever owing to carelessness in enforcing the pertnit law and in the issuing of permits, but the damage was mostly confined to their own wood-lots. The employees of lumber and paper companies, working on drives and so forth, showed a marked improvement. Many fires were caused by people driving along country roads and throwing matches and lighted cigarettes into the bushes. When the character of the weather is taken into consideration, the total losses are surprisingly small, and this is due in great measure to the fire-fighting aChvities of the co-operative protective associations. The cost of fighting fires will run to a very large amount. There are two very striking lessons to be learned from the spring season. The first is that measures which are entirely adequate in ordinary seasons break down in

EMPIRE FORESTRY

exceptional ones. The second is that the old lnethod of patrol by men in canoes is practically useless. Travelling as they do in the river valleys, they cannot see smoke until a fire has assumed large proportions, and the only way forest fires can be controlled is by putting them out almost immediately. In spite of the cost, look-out towers connected by telephones must be installed, or better still, an aerial patrol must be established. It is absolutely impossible for the man in charge of fire protection over an area of say 15,000 square miles to handle it intelligently and properly by travelling round in a buggy and canoe. He should be at all times in personal touch with the situation, and should not be dependent on the reports of others. If it takes two or three days ot fatiguing travel to get from one part of hls district to another, when he might do the same journey in an hour and a half, he is obviously wasting time and energy. During a dangerous season reports are coming in all the time of new fires, and many of these are false or exaggerated. They worry and annoy a man exceedingly, and often lead him or his men on wild-goose chases. If he travelled by air he could at all times make the circuit of his district and see every fire in one day and get back to headquarters the next night. Being able to see just what was going on, he could layout and direct his work much more effectively and intelligently, a,nd save much worry and exertion. Having all his inspectors and rangers absolutely under his eye, they would be much more efficient, and also people would be more careful about setting fires. In a patrol carried out by the Laurentide Company this spring, a daily report was received of all the fires in a territory ([)f 10,000 square miles. The report covered fires previously burning, with sketches and photos showing the iareas burnt to date, new fires, giving locations exactly eveh to the number and range of the lot, and whether they were being attended to or not. With a plane, fires can be reported when the first wisp of smoke rises, and it is perfectly possible for a plane to land a man or men at a lake near a fire to put it out and then go back and report, and, if necessary, bring men and a gasoline pump to the fire. With wireless, the report would be even quicker. A report by plane would at the most mean only one-and-a-quarter hours' flying. It is unfortunate

FOREST FIRES IN CANADA

that the protective associations will not employ planes. The cost of fire-fighting alone this season would have installed many planes and the men necessary to operate them, and the timber lost would have paid for such services for many years. The fire situation in British Columbia and the Prairie Provinces seems not to have been bad this year, as few reports of fire have come in. In Ontario the fire-protection system instituted a few years ago seems to be working much better than last year. Some complaints have been luade, but the efficiency seems to be increasing. In Nova Scotia the season has been a very bad one. This province has been urged for a long time to appoint a forester and to organize a proper protective system, but nothing has been done, with the result that much damage has been caused this year. In New Brunswick there is an efficient fire-protection service, but this seems to have broken down on account of exceptional weather conditions and much damage has been caused both in the forest and by the burning of settlements and summer resorts. Much of the damage caused this year has been due to fishermen. Many of these seem to be men who were out 'of work and having nothing else to do went fishing. There seems to be only one answer to a problem of this kind and that is to compel every man who goes into the woods for any purpose to obtain first a permit from the local fire-ranger. 'fhis would cost no money and would work no hardship, and it would at the salne time make people more careful, as there \vould be absolute proof that they were in a certain locality. If a fire started there they would be charged with causing it. The Quebec Government was urged by the lunlbermen two years in succession to pass such a law, but they refused on the ground of the possible political consequences. The holders of licences to cut Crown timber were told that they had all the rights of tenants and could forbid anyone to enter on lands under lease or make the taking out of a permit a requisite. Of course the individuallumbermen and even the protective associations hesitate to take such a step, as disgruntled individuals might resort to incendiarism. If such were the law, no one would think anything of it and the associations could see that it was enforced. Strong pressure will be brought to bear on

EMPIRE FORESTRY

the Government during the coming session of the legislature to enact such a law; and it is hoped that it will be successful. Mr. G. C. Piche, Chief Forester of Quebec, and Mr. Edward Beck of the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association, have just returned from a trip to Scandinavia, France and England, where they have been looking over, forests and into forestry conditions. Mr. Beck has written a very interesting series of articles for the Canadian papers, which have been widely published and which have been read with great interest. There are rumours of a reorganization of the Forestry Department in Ontario. This is badly needed and it is to be hoped that men will be chosen who have not only technical but business ability and who will be free from political leading-strings. This Province has great natural wealth; but the conduct of its forest policy leaves much to be desired. What is needed is a Department of Forestry, free in all its branches from political patronage, with a continuous and consistent policy. It is imperative also to revise the method of tilnber sales and the collection of dues on timber cut on Cro\vn lands. A Commission is now investigating this subject; and much carelessness has come to light, which must have meant a large loss of revenue to the Province. Scaling regulations need to be changed and the scalers to be freed from dependence on the lumbermen. The fire-protective system needs to be much improved, and the excellent ideas of the Premier on reforestation should be put into operation without delay. Almost all the wood-using industries are overstocked with wood and there will be very little cutting of timber this winter. Many men who earn their living in the woods will be without work this winter and there will be a considerable decrease in the revenue of the Provincial Governments. August IS, 19 21 â&#x20AC;˘

TIMBER TESTING IN INDIA. By L. N.

SEAMAN,

M.A., B.Sc., A.M.E.I.C.

WITH A FORE\VORD

By R. S. PEAHSON, C.I.E., F. L.S., I. F.S., Forest Economist. Dehra Dun, 1lzdia. THOUGH the necessity of ascertaining the strength of timber was recognized in India as far back as 1825, it is only quite recently that much interest has been taken in the subject. Former tests were generally carried out spasmodically, as necessity arose, at centres of engineering, in machines and with devices suitable for testing iron, steel, concrete, &c., but not so for testing such a variable material as timber. Moreover, due to the harder and more uniform composition. of steel, iron and concrete as compared with \vood, the supporting devices, footpress and instruments for reading deflections, used for the former were not really suitable for carrying out tests on the latter. Then again, when testing timber, the moisture contents and head-speed of the machine are factors of great iluportance, a point not fully realized in India until quite recently. The tendency in the past has been to carry out tests on timbers not c01l1monly on the Inarket, in order to compare them with such well-known timbers as Teak (Teetona ~randis) and Sal (Shorea robusta), and this with the hope of creating a demand. On the other hand, from "vant of standard methods of testing such as are adopted in Europe, America and Canada, it has not been possible to cornpare the results obtained with those for foreign timbers, thus limiting the chance of creating a successful export trade. In India we have some 2,500 species of timber of which not 10 per cent. are on the market, \vhile in spite of the large demand in the country itself, provided we can certify amongst other factors the physical and mechanical

EMPIRE FORESTRY

properties of our timbers \ve sho~ld be able to establish a considerable export market. The position of affairs described above was realized ,some years ago by the Indian Forest Department, and was prominently brought to notice by the war, so that as soon as war ceased steps were taken to send an officer to study the .question in the English, Canadian and American laboratories, with the result that five testing machines were purchased for the Forest Research Institute at Dehra Dun, .and two similar machines procured for the Burlna forest officets, while the chief of the section of timber testing to the Canadian Dominion Government was engaged to start and develop the timber testing section at Dehra Dun. It is greatly to be hoped that this important question of testing timber will be seriously taken up by all British Colonies, and that a standard method of testing will be adopted throughout the Empire, not only to develop the splendid resources of our forests but also to put us in a position to draw strictly cOlnparable conclusions from our tests and so make the very best use of our timbers. R. S. PEARSON. THE practice of timber testing the world over has been of gradual growth, and in this respect India is no exception. It has grown out of necessity, and, as th.e world's store of useful timbers has been cut into, at first extravag~ntly and recklessly, Inore rec.ently under the threat of starcity and the sobering effect of higher prices, with some judgment and attempt at economy, the importance of reliable testing has become more and more evident to those concerned with the production and use of timber. It is known that timber testing was practised in India very early in the nineteenth century. In Gamble's "Manual of Indian Timbers," we find authentic records of tests made at Cossipore as early as 1825- True, these were somewhat crude tests, and for a long time the many factors affecting the apparent strength of timbers were not realized: nevertheless they were carefully made in the light or what was known of such work in those days, and the results have been, and till more reliable data are

TIMBER TESTING IN INDIA

available, will continue to be most useful. As a rule they err on the side of indicating too high a value, but may be taken as giving a rough comparison bet\veen the species tested in the same way, and, by the application of suitable safety factors, as an aid in design. As the work proceeded the investigators began more and more to appreciate the difficulties that surrounded any efforts to establish reliable strength data for timber, and to endeavour to overcome them. Many tests had to be made and the average taken; the moisture content of the wood had to be taken into account, conditions and location of growth, and treatment subsequent to felling proved to be important factors, as also did the rate of growth. The variations due to these and to other factors, if results are to be reliable, must either be removed or allowed for. Prior to the work done by Professor W. H. Everett, Professor of Engineering, Sibpur College, the results of which were published in 1906, little, if any, attention was paid to the moisture content of the wood tested, beyond a rough distinction between "green" and "seasoned" timber. Professor Everett's work covered a period of three or four years, during which time thirty-eight species were tested. A few moisture determinations were made, and the report states broadly that the material tested contained about 10 per cent. moisture. Each species was tested for shearing strength alon~ the grain, crushing strength along the grain, and transverse bending, the last-named test also including a determination of stiffness. The tests were carefully and accurately made, and the results as far as they go are very reliable, but the great weakness of this report lies in the small number of tests carried out-only one to four specimens of each species-and the fact that no account is taken of rate of strain to which the specimen was subjected. This latter factor, indeed, was not considered at all by any investigator in India till about 1918, and then only imperfectly by Mr. R. S. Pearson, in tests undertaken in connection with aircraft ti mbers. From 1911 to 1918 considerable testing was done by Mr. Pearson, first in co-operation with Sibpur College and assisted by Mr. Ballantine of that institution using the loo-ton universal testing-machine of the College, and

5째

EMPIRE FORESTRY

later at Dehra Dun with a small machine designed and built by the Sibpur Engineering College in India. This work marks a distinct advance in Indian timber testing, and more nearly approaches modern standardized testing methods than any other investigations carried out in this country up to the opening, early this year, of the thoroughly up-ta-date testing laboratory which now forms a part of the Forest Research Institute at Dehra Dun. In Mr. Pearson's work a large nunlber of species were tested, and the number of tests from .which the average for each species ,vas determined was, though still small, considerably larger than in Professor Everett's work. Of particular interest are two reports on the relative strength of natural-grown and plantation-grown teak, published in 1911 and 1913 as ~""\orest Bulletins No. 3 and No. 14. The same investigator in 1918 reported on forty-three different s,t)ecies of wood for aircraft purposes, and also suggested a number of species as possible substitutes for black walnut as rifle stocks. These species were made up into rifle stocks at the Government Rifle Factory at Ishapore and subjected to service tests at the School of Musketry, Pachmarhi, C.P. Professor W. H. James, Principal of Madras College of Engineering, is another investigator who has contributed largely to the present available data on the strength of Indian timbers. Under his direction eight separate lots of teak and twenty-four other species were tested and the results published in 1916. This, like other work of its kind done in India, lacks conformity to standard practice. The moisture determinations, while more complete than Professor Everett's, were still insufficient, and the effect of rate of strain was neglected. The number of tests made on each species was also small. In 1918 the Forest Economist was deputed to study the progress made, and methods employed, in timber testing in the United States, Canada and England. As the result of his work a new laboratory has now been opened at the Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun. Methods which have now been thoroughly standardized in the two former countries, which have the oldest and best timber testing laboratories in the world, have been exactly followed, and their machines, appliances and instruments duplicated. In addition to this, the machines

TIMBER TESTING IN INDIA

used at the Royal Aircraft Factory, Farnborough, have also been duplicated, and the writer, who was one of the original staff of the Forest Products Laboratories of Canada, at McGill University, Montreal, and till recently the chief of the division of timber testing in that Institution, has been engaged to inaugurate and take charge of the new laboratory. Thus equipped, India is now in a position to produce results strictly comparable wilh the published results of many thousands of tests conducted in Canada and the United States, and to make direct comparisons between these results and those obtained by the Royal Aircraft Factory. Already considerable work has be'en done of great value to the country, and the laboratory will pay for itself many times over in increased revenue from forest sources directly attributable to the data which it is daily making available to the timberusing industries. L. N. SEAMAN.

THE SYLVICULTURAL TREATMENT OF THE MORE IMPORTANT TIMBERPI<.ODUCING EUCALYPTS. l By G. E. BROCKWAY. INTRODUCTION.

IN dealing with this subject we have numerous difficulties with which to contend, arising in many cases through lack of reliable data. As in most other young countries, there was no sound forest policy framed, nor indeed was there any thought of conservation of timber in A ustralia. Before reliable data were obtained on the subject of our titnber wealth most of the people regarded our Eucalypt forests as of unlimited extent. They did not think it possible that in a little over a hundred years from the time when the first of these forests were opened up for cutting, our timber would be practically exhausted, and the various forest departments would be doing all in their power to restore these forests to a normal state again. Nevertheless such is the case. :Furthermore, up till quite recently the forests were regarded by a great many people as simply a mass of lumber which must be removed from the land as quickly as possible, in order to make room for crops that yield quicker returns. As a result of this idea very little pressure needed to be brought on the various State Governments to cause them to hand over their forest land to selectors. As a result, no\v that forest demarcation has been commenced, it has been found that most of the timber lands which can now be reserved without the incurring of great expense, are either on very poor soil, or are situated in localities where difficulty of transport prohibits any operations being undertaken at present. 1 This essay was awarded by the Council of the University of Adelaide tbe special prize given by the Right Hon. Viscount Novar. It is bere reprinted by kind permission of the authorities of the University.

TREATMENT OF TIMBER-PRODUCING EUCALYPTS

It was not, however, the land selectors alone who profited by the lack of foresight, but the timber millers also. They obtained land at a ridiculously low rental, and timber at a royalty which was equally low, while no thought was given to the insertion of clauses in the agreements which would ensure a good regeneration of timber. As a result of the various evil influences at work, the forests over the greater part of Australia are in a most abnormal condition. 路The forester has many difficulties to contend with in dealing with the regeneration of these forests, and perhaps the greatest obstacle of all in his path is the difficulty of winning public opinion to his side. As regards the abnormal conditions of the Eucalypt forests, the first, and probably the worst condition, is to be found on areas taken up by some settler who has ringbarked all the timber in the hope of obtaining food for his stock. The result in heavily-timbered country is disastrous both for the forester and the farmer. The ever-recurring bush fires pass through and sweep awa.y the crop of regrowth which almost invariably follows the ringbarking, and in a few years the forest yields place to dense scrub, while great clumps of unhealthy stool-shoots occupy the place of the original trees. As an example of this type of forest-condition we might cite the twenty thousand acres of jarrah country around the Mundaring Weir (W.A.) \vhich was ringbarked some eighteen years ago. Recently the folly of this act became apparent, and the Forest Department was called upon to restore the forest to a normal condition; but this can only be done at great expense, and after the lapse of a very great number of years. The second type of abnormal condition which now detnands attention is by far the most common. This occurs in places where the forest has been leased to sawmillers and hewers who have taken out all the good timber, leaving only small trees and over-mature or otherwise faulty trees. (This is not the place to deal with the evils of the minimum girth felling system, &c.) This state of affairs, although very bad, is preferable to that first cited, for at least two reasons. Firstly, because the standing timber left has suppressed most of the underscrub, and secondly, because it is possible to obtain natural regeneration.

~MPIRE

FORESTRY

Lastly, we must mention the virgin forest, comn10nly known as H maiden bush." The extent of this type of country is diminishing before the onslaught of the saw.. miller. It is satisfactory to note that what little of this country is left is being treated somewhat better than it would have been some years ago. Nevertheless the system leaves much to be desired, as many of the n1ilIers have a fairly free hand and work under conditions drawn up many years ago. Certainly the best way to treat this type of forest \vould be to work it under some for111 of group systelu or selection system, in \vhich the ~arking of trees rested \vith the forester and not with the saw-miller. In fact, the minimum girth systeln is nothing luore nor less than a faulty selection systeln, in which the selection is left largely to the tilTIber-getter. By this method many trees which are putting on good increment, although over the minimum girth at breast height, are cut, while many stunted trees which are belo\v this liluit, but which should be removed, are left standing. LOCALITY.

When we speak of locality we have to deal with quite a large number of subjects, the chief of which are soil, slope of the land, cliluate, rainfall and its distribution throughout the year,. winds and atmosphere. There appear, however, to be other factors besides the above which govern forest gro\vth, as it is not uncommon in many of our Eucalypt forests to find two patches of land ~djacent to one another bearing different species of Eucalypts, although the land appears to be the same in every respect. In assessing the quality of a locality for planting we have to deal with Inatters not included in the list given above. For n1any years to come the greater part of the sylvicultur~l work to be carried out in our forests \vill deal with trees indigenous to the locality in which the work is being carried out. There is not the same risk of failure incurred as when introducing exotics,as one is able to judge lar~ely from the original crop what class of crop should be expected. Here, again, we are partly held up by. lack of data, as very little of the land that has been cut lover was classified, so that it appears at first rather diffi-

TREATMENT OF TIMBER-PRODUCING EUCALYPTS

cult to judge what the original crop ,vas like. Fortunately the luore valuable Eucalypts are very durable, so that the stump and top lie for many years on the ground, often, of course, being considerably burnt about by bushfires. By taking into account these stumps and tops, the foresters, who do the classifying, are able to make an approximate calculation of the timber originally on the land. Another factor which is made use of to some extent is the association of trees with various types of scrub. It is a very noticeable fact that certain plants are found always on the saUle types of soil, and usually associated with one another. This should prove a fairly reliable guide, but as yet such data as are available are scanty and in many cases contradictory. With scientific forestry in its infancy in this country, we cannot afford to make many mistakes, because, firstly, with the present grants allowed to the departments, every penny lnust be put to good use, and secondly, any failure is liable to arouse public antagonism. The method at present employed for the restocking of large areas is to pick some area which is known to have carried a good crop of timber, and using that as a nucleus, to work away from it. Of course as the '''ork proceeds one is able to obtain much of the necessary data and so can pursue the work with an increasing amount of confidence. SOIL.

As there are about 220 species of Eucalypts known, and possibly eighty of these are producers of tilnber, it is not to be wondered at that we find one or more species attaining its finest development in each type of soil in the continent. In countries in which the rainfall is distributed over the greater part of the year, the surface soil is of greater importance than the subsoil, but the reverse is the case in Australia. The Eucalypts are xerophytic in their structure, and very few of them are found in marshy, undrained localities. There are, of course, exceptions to this, e.g., Euc. rostrata and Euc. robusta. Those Eucalypts \\-hich grow in the drier regions are noted for the great distance to \vhich their roots penetrate, but those which are found in the damper localities usually have their roots nearer the surface.

EMPIRE FORESTRY

Coming back to the questton of subsotl and moisture, we find that Eucalypts usually thrive most where the soil is retentive, and holds a good store of moisture. If the bedding in the subsoil is somewhat inclined it is better than if路 it is horizontal, as in the latter case the roots find great difficulty in penetrating it. If the soil above the subsoil is deep, and perm:ts the passage of water through it, so much the better, as less evaporation can take place through it; furthermore, the root-system of the tree penetrates farther, which means stability for the tree. It is a noticeable fact that trees which thrive on a shallow soil, where there is a plentiful rainfall, need a much deeper soil where the rainfall is not so heavy. Some interesting notes were recently published in the Forestry Journal, in which the authors revealed some rather interesting facts regarding the deep-rooting nature of the Eucalypts. Examples were given showing the great amount of importance that is attached to subsoil moisture. (1) It was pointed out that in Queensland, in districts with a 3S-in. rainfall, the forests of Hoop pine almost invariably flourished over a dense jungle undergrowth. The effect of this undergrowth was mainly to form a thick mulch on the ground, and so preserve the surface Inoisture. rrhe ironbark (Euc. paniculata) forests growing in the vicinity had very little besides grass growing close to the ground. It was noticed, however, that wherever the jungle spread in amongst the ironbark, the latter tree appeared to deteriorate. This is due to the jungle, which conserves the moisture in the surface layers of the ground, depleting the moisture in the subsoil, and so robbing the Eucalypt. (2) As a further example the Murray river red gum (Euc.rostrata) was cited. It appears that the surface soil is often washed away in flood time but the trees are not affected. In the hot weather the surface soil bakes hard and cracks, but the trees still remain healthy, showing that they must be depending on the subsoil for their mineral salts and moisture. However, with all its deep-rooting qualities the Eucalypt, we must admit, is not the ideal forest tree for dry areas. It appears as a general rule that the quality of the Eucalypt forests increases as we pass to regions of

TREATMENT OF TIMBER-PRODUCING EUCALYPTS

heavier rainfall. This does not necessarily mean that we must always approach the coast to see a good forest,as very often high altitudes, as in parts of New South Wales, cause a greater deposit of moisture at some parts of a district than at others. The sugar gum and the blue gum (E. globlllus) give the best results in the dry areas, but even these leave much to be desired, as the following data compiled at Bundaleer (20-in. rainfall) show : Species

Age

Vol. of timber per acre

26 years 6,000 cubic feet 30 " 3,000" . 30 " 2,4째0 " The pines were healthy and appeared to be putting on good growth. The blue gums had become "stagheaded," while the sugar gums which seemed past their prilne had a crop of grass three feet high growing under them. Sugar gums when planted fairly densely on dry areas often put on phenomenal growth for a few years and then suddenly show signs of dying off. This is due to their extracting the water \vhich has been stored up in the subsoil, and when that water has been used up they have to exist solely on the annud.l rainfall. As a tree for a damp climate the Eucalypt presents a much more pleasing picture. On Fraser Island (Old) which has a rainfall of about 60 in., but a very poor soil consisting mainly of drift sand, Euc. pilularis (blackbutt) has reached a height of 60 ft. and tallowwood (Euc. microcorys) 50 ft. in six years. During a period of five years the most successful conifer reached a height of 22 ft. The Eucalypts are not a genus which improves the soil to any extent. Their o\vn leaves make very poor humus and where the rainfall is scanty they prevent any underwood from gro\ving and forming a mulch. In the damper localities, e.g., Gippsland, Tasmania, S. W. of Western Australia, there are a great many shrubs forming an underwood, which supplies the ground with a mulch. In these forests the deep-rooting nature of the genus becomes rnuch less apparent, and it is not unusual to see uprooted trees, whose roots have not penetrated more than about 2 it. into the ground. Pinus insignis Euc. globulus Euc. corYllo-calyx

EMl'IRE FORESTRY

Furthermore the Eucalypts, except during their early life, offer very little shade. Their tops are naturally .sparse, especially if they are planted closely, and the sun has almost free play on the surface of the ground. With regard to the effect of wind on Eucalypt forests, as yet very little research has been carried out. However, one is quite safe in saying that the general principles involved are the salne for Eucalypts as for any other genus. Some Eucalypts thrive in the most exposed situations on high poor land, while others are found only in wellprotected gullies. Only by a study of each individual species is one able to arrive at the amount of exposure which it is able to stand. With regard to the atmosphere, we again have great variation. A microscopic examination reveals the fact that the Eucalypt leaf is typically xerophytic in its structure. The stomates are very well protected. The manner in which the leaves of a species are suspended often act as a fairly reliable guide to the average humidity of the air, in the district in which it is found. Those which grow in very hot dry areas offer as little leaf surface as possible to the sun, and hence you find the edges of the leaves usually facing the direction from which the sun strikes them with the greatest intensity. Impurities both gaseous and solid in the air, which one almost invariably finds in big cities, have a very serious effect on Eucalypts. As a result those trees which are found near towns are very often unhealthy. Another factor governing the quality of a locality is the slope of the land. Most Eucalypts prefer sloping ground, because it is well drained, but those trees grown low down on the slopes are usually in better soil, and grow more rapidly than those higher up the slope. Some authorities state that the trees prefer the southern and western slopes, which are cooler, but this must vary with the district, as the prevailing winds would play a great part in modifying such conditions. COl.LECTION OF SEED.

Whenever a species ot Eucalypt or In tact any plant is to be taken to another locality at some great distance away, the usual method is to take the seed. The question now arises, how is this seed to be obtained?

TREATMENT OF TIMBER-PRODUCING EUCALYPTS

The procedure is as follows: The seed capsules are collected before they have c0111menced to dehisce. They are then piled on a piece of tarpaulin or some form of cloth which is not so coarse that the seed can pass through it. After a fe\v hot days the capsules open and the seeds fall on to the cloth. It is said that there is a larger percentage of fertile seeds towards the top of the capsules than at the bottom, so that the seed first collected should be the best. The great drawback to this method lies in the fact that it is usually tpe short and bushy trees which have the greatest amount of seed capsules, and even if the good timber trees bear seeds they are very difficult to obtain. From this it follows that if some species of tree be tried without very much success in a locality, one may be led to believe that the locality may be at fault, \vhereas the \vhole trouble may be due to some hereditary defect in the trees themselves. The only remedy is to obtain seed capsules from timber trees which have been felled. If felling operations are not being carried out, it is possible to spread out a piece of canvas under the tree and catch the capsules as they fall. This method, however, could not be used for collecting seed on a large scale, as the capsules do nut all fall at once, and only a s111all percentage which do fall can be collected in the canvas. Furtherlllore, some of the capsules dehisce while still on the trees, and so the seed is blovvn away and the capsules are left useless. Owing to the lninute seeds possessed by many species of Eucalypt one lnust take care that they are not blown away by wind. As a rule, the larger the tree, the smaller are its seeds, so that there are about 10,000 seeds in an ounce of cleaned Euc. globulus seeds. RAISING SEEDLINGS IN A NURSERY.

Nursery work is not of very great importance with Eucalypts, as they do not lend themselves very kindly to transplanting. This is due to the quiescent stage of trees in this climate being uncertain, both in season and ~uration, and also to the dry nature of the air, making It dangerous to expose the tender roots, except during the wet weather.

EMPIRE FORESTRY

I have not heard of Eucalypts being raIsed successfully on a large scale in open nursery beds. This is due not only to the reasons above stated, but also to the fact that they form long tap-roots, which are usually broken when the plants are lifted. It might of course be possible to remedy this to some extent, as is done sometimes with conifers, firstly, by not planting in deep loose soil, and, secondly, by cutting the ends off the roots by means of a spade some time before the transplanting is to take place. Another difficulty would be met when it came to the question of bedding back trees left over after the year's planting operations had ceased. By the next season the trees would probably be too big to do anything with at all. We are now left with two methods of raising Eucalypt seedlings in a nursery :(I) Raising in vessels such as flower pots. (2) Raising in bamboo tubes. These methods, especially the former, are very expensive, and are of more interest to growers of ornamental trees than to foresters. The second method is the less expensive, but trees raised in this way show poor root development. In fact, trees grown in this way may remain stunted all their life as a result. (I)

RAISING SEEDLINGS IN FLOWER POTS OR IN SHALLOW PANS.

These should be about 3 in. in depth, with a layer of some porous material, e.g., charcoal, at the bottom. The soil is pressed down firnlly and seed is sprinkled on it. If small, this seed should be pressed in, but with larger seed a covering of earth about three times the thickness of the seed itself is required.] One of the advantages of this method of planting is that watering can be carried out by standing the pots in water, thus preventing the surface being broken. Secondly, if the plant is removed carefully, it suffers no set-back when transplanted. As we mentioned before, the reason why this method is not in more general use is that it is very expensive. I No/e.-Only one plant should be left in a flower pot. If there are more than one the roots become tangled and break when trees are separated.

TREATMENT OF TIMBER-PRODUCING EUCALYPTS

(2) RAISING SEEDLINGS IN BAMBOO TUBES.. This method originated in India, but was introduced into the State about forty years ago. The great difficulty in the early days was to obtain supplies of bamboo. This difficulty was overcome by using the stems of a certain reed which had been introduced from Southern Europe. The reeds were cut into lengths of about 3 in., and were left for at least a year to rot partly, before seeds \vere planted in them. In arranging the tubes the following method is used. A shallow box is made not more than 4 ft. in width, with sides about 5 in. or 6 in. in height. This may be any length required. The bottom may be either of board or of concrete. About 2 in. of loaln is no\v placed in the box, and the tubes, standing on end, are packed tightly on top of this. They are all beaten down until all their tops are level. Soil is then sprinkled through a sieve into these tubes, and this is forced in tight by beating it with the back of a spade. Several seeds are then placed in each tube and covered over. Some form of covering is placed over the beds at a height of a few feet. This should be made of calico, or similar material; it prevents the direct rays of the sun beating down on the bed. In very rainy weather dri ps are liable to fall from the covering on to the tubes, and splash the seeds out, so that it becomes necessary to cover the beds temporarily with a piece of tarpaulin or such material as is used for tent-making. The sowing should be so timed that the seedlings are about half an inch in height by the middle of March. They can then be thinned out, leaving one healthy one in each tube. If any roots protrude through the bottom of the tube, they should be broken off. As the plants grow older, they should be exposed for longer periods each day, and so become hardened. By July or August they should be ready to plant out. TRANSPLANTING FROM NURSERY TO OPEN GROUND.

Those plants which have been gro\vn in pots should be removed without breaking the earth about their roots. If it is noticed that the root has become too long, and

EMPIRE FORESTRY

has coiled around the bottom of the vessel, it should be straightened out, or if it is far gone, the coiled end should be cut off. If carefully transplanted the trees should suffer no setback. Plants grown in bamboo tubes must be H hardened off before transplanting. The whole tube is put into the ground with its top just above level with the surface. After a time the tube rots and splits and the trees are freed. Any time during the wet weather will suffice for planting operations, unless frosts, &c., prevent them. Of far greater importance than the methods just dealt with is the raising of the seedlings in the places where they are to grow into forest trees. The amount of seed required per acre varies \\Tith the species (it is usually about 2 lb.). The method of obtaining natural regeneration will be touched on when we deal with the various sylvicultural systems employed. When the seed is sown broadcast, it must be mixed with dry sand, on account of its Ininute size. It may then be so\vn by hand, through a drill, or by means of an atitomatic broadcaster. When seed is planted in this \vay, it is often advisable to plough the land first. This should not be done if it is considered too expensive, nor where the ground is light and snuffy. Dibbling may also be resorted to. This consists of loosening up small patches of soil, and sowing a few seeds in each. This sowing should never be too deep. Very often it has been found advisable to broadcast wattle seed throughout the area. The young wattles grow at an enorn10US rate, and act as nurses, i.e., they protect the young Eucalypts from frosts, winds, &c. The sowing of these must not be so dense as to suppress the more important trees. At the end of about six years the wattles may be stripped, and so provide a small return from the forest. Sowings of these acacias nlay be made throughout the rotation. In lnost of our forests a light underwood of wattles is all that the Eucalypts will stand. Most shadebearing species appear to do more harm than good in the Eucalypt forests, except in those situated in regions of very high rainfall. Observations made in the extra-tropical forests of Australia point to the fact that, in most cases, the forest It

TREATMENT OF TIMBER-PRODUCING EUCALYPTS

must be purely of one species of Eucalypt, or a mixture 'Of two or more species of the same genus. Owing to the limited· supply of water available, surface-rooting trees are usually out of the question. Occasionally one finds ·a sparse underwood of Banksia or Casuarina, but these :are of no importance. It is only in the very wettest parts that dense scrub is found, such as one encounters in the karri forests of Western Australia. It may be mentioned that the late Sir David Hutchins advised the planting of Pinus pinaster amongst the jarrah forests. As the experiment has not yet been tried, we are unable to give any further information on the subject. Possibly the capacity of the soil for storing water would influence such a forest to a great extent. EFFECT OF FOREST CONDITIONS ON THE EUCALYPTS.

There are some genera which when planted very sparsely retain their great height-growth, while other genera show a marked tendency to form a large spreading crown. In the first type we find the Araucarias, and in the second we find the Australian cedars (Cedrellas). The Eucalypts form an intermediate class. Some species, especially those found in dry areas, show a slight resemblance to the first class. Very few show a 'marked resemblance to the second type, but the species Euc. rostrata may be regarded as something of an exception. If grown in the open, this tree develops a big crown and a short bole, and although in such a state it is rather ornamental, it is of little use froIn a commercial point of view. By carefully regulating the density of a crop of trees, the forester is enabled to produce trees of the type he desires. He has to avoid overstocking, as this entails weak trees and consequently a poor increment. On the -other hand, he must avoid understocking, as most Eucalypts, when grown in the open, produce short boles. SYLVICULTURAL SYSTEMS•

.Before dealing with the actual work of thinning, we wIll mention the various systems under which timber trees are grown. 5

EMPIRE I"ORESTRY

These are as follows :-A.-High Forest. (I) Worked under the clear cutting system, with (a) natural regeneration; (b) artificial regeneration. (2) Regeneration (natural or artificial) under a shelter-wood (i) Compartment system. (ii) Group system. (iii) Selection system. B.-Coppice. Worked under a clear cutting system. C.-Coppice with standards. This may be regarded as part way between A and B. There are innumerable possible -modifications for any of the above systems, depending, of course, on local conditions. Possibly the most important of such systems is the It two storied high forest." In this there are two species at least, and the mixture must include a fastgrowing light-demander and a slower growing shadebearer. Then again we may have U high forest with standards." The above systems will now be dealt with separately. At the sanle time we must bear in mind that they are little nlore than, names in this country. A.-HIGH FOREST.

Clear Cutting System.

This system has been carried out in various parts of Australia where the forests have been reduced to such a condition that they contain practically no marketable trees or no young trees which are likely to produce such.. When a seed year arrives the timber on the area is felled, and as much of it as is of any.use is removed. The tops are stacked, and usually a fire is sent through. This burns off much of the litter and undergrowth, thus, making a good seed bed. It also opens up the seed capsules, and the seed is allowed to escape. Trees grown under this system are practically all of the same age. Although this system appears the simplest, and requires less skilled supervision than others, we must remember that it is not without its drawbacks. There is very little " protection from extremes of climate, winds, &c.

TREATMENT OF TIMBER-PRODUCING EUCALYPTS

For forests worked under this system fresh areas must be planted up every year or every few years. With the Eucalypts, unless one is going to the expense of artificial planting, which is unlikely, regeneration can only be carried out when there is a seed year. Thus, suppose there is a seed year about once every five years, then that period separates the ages of the different stands. Every stand must represent an area equivalent to five years' cutting. It is, of course, possible to clear fell an area and sow on it seed which has been previously collected. In this case we run numerous risks. It is obviously not possible to put as much seed in as would be deposited in a good seed year, and so by the time the ants and other insects have taken what they require, there may be very little left to germinate. Then there is the chance that the seed is inferior on account of age. We also pointed out previously that much seed which is collected is from inferior stunted trees which hand many of their faults on to their offspring. In the introduction of seed from other localities we run the risk of its not being true to name, as was the case with most of the Euc. rostrata seed (really Euc. viminalis) which was introduced into California. Lastly, we mllst not forget the extra cost incurred in the collection and sowing of the seed. (To bt Continued.)

THE AUSTRALIAN FOREST LEAGUE. By W.

RUsSELL GRIMWADE.

(President of the League.)

IN 1912 a small body of enthusiasts banded themselves together in Melbourne under the title of " The Australian Forest League," and entered upon a deliberate pro.gramme of forest education for the benefit of their country, and in the eleven years that have passed since then sufficient has been achieved to justify most fully the labour and thought that has been expended upon the movement. The Australian Forest League was conceived and exists .as a federation of separate corporate leagues existing in each of the six States of the Common\vealth. Naturally some of the branches are more active than others, but each is the nucleus of a body which exercises a most beneficent influence on the home policies of the State Governments. Those who are interested in the formation of this body saw clearly at the outset that, if the great question of forestry was to secure proper attention in parliamentary debate, it was necessary to embark on a -campaign of education and propaganda. This has been the guiding policy of the various branches for the past few years and during that period a very ready and quite satisfactory response has been made by the general -community. It is natural that in the settlement of a new country little attention is as a rule paid to the conservation of the natural resources that abound on all sides. In the early years of Australian history her forests were regarded, like her mines, as property to be explored, exploited and marketed with all expedition, without any thought for the future. The total forest area of Australia is only about 6 per cent. of its total area, but however low this proportion is, compared to that of other lands, the absolute area of forest is considerable, and is composed of

THE AUSTRALIAN FOREST LEAGUE

6'7

trees that yield timbers for all purposes, but especially hard woods and cabinef-making timbers of magnificent quality and unlimited adaptability. So much public attention in the last few years has been devoted to the question of Australian woods that the average Australian has begun to ask himself whether the quantity of this material is unlimited, and to learn that it is not. Consequently the idea is becoming prevalent that Australia in the past has been living most unwisely on her capital in forest products and so "outrunning the constable." This fact is responsible for the prevalence of a desire to live on our interest. To do this we must assess our capital and know our rate of interest. In other words, we must have authoritative surveys, we must know the areas which are unalienably appropriated by the State Governments, .we must know the annual growth per acre of these woods, and generally路 we must regard our forests exactly as we regard our wheat fields, as a crop. That an annual rotation in the one case becomes a rotation of two generations in the other is merely a matter of degree. The main fact is that the Australian communities are developing a proper forest con~cience, which demands in the first case that the nation's forests shall be controlled by experts in perpetuity for the COlnmon benefit. To assist the progress of this ideal has been the object of the Australian Forest League; and it is gratifying to record that in the last decade happy relations have existed between the League and the different Parliaments that control the Forest Officers. Bv the dissemination of various facts and figures, Australians are beginning to realize that as a compensatIon for the small area of wooded lands they have " whole" forests consisting at most of two or three species of one genus. Threequarters of the vegetation in Australia is of the genus, Eucalyptus; and natural forests extend in places for hundreds of miles, composed entirely of two or three species of this genus. There are over 200 species of the genus that are well defined and characteristic in their timber and growth. The various species yield woodsall hard woods-of character and appearance varying from that of mahogany to that of English oak, and the worst that may be said of many of these intrinsically

EMPIRE FORESTRY

lovely woods is that they make fine sleepers and paving blocks. The policy of the League is to strive to focus attention, and secure deliberation, upon forest matters in Parliament, believing that the national aspect of the subject demands this, and to secure a control of forest areas that shall be continuous and unbroken by the hazards and chances of parliamentary elections. In some of the States this has been most happily achieved by the formation of Forest COlnmissions, in which are vested the control of the State's forests, which are free of party politics, and which derive their revenue from the forests themselves and are responsible for their own expenditure. Such of the States as have established their own Forest Commissions have reason to feel that they are on the right road towards the conservation of the forest, and towards the proper utilization of the country's great natural asset

THE DOUGLAS FIR FLAGSTAFF AT KEW. By F. R. S.

BALFOUR.

IN the spring of 1911 the writer was in British Columbia, and while in Victoria he had an opportunity of meeting the Premier of the Province, the Hon. Sir Richard lVlcBride. He then made the suggestion to him that it would be a graceful act on the part of British Columbia to present a ne\v flagstaff of Douglas Fir to Kew, to take the place of the' old one erected in 1861. The Premier \Jvelcomed the idea, but no definite steps were taken in the Inatter till the spring of 1914, \vhen Mr. J. H. Turner, the Agent-General of British Columbia in London, wrote to Sir Richard M cBride with the definite suggestion that a fine spar be sent to Kew by the Government of British Columbia, as the old one had been taken down in the previous year owing to decay. The provincial authorities took the matter up with alacrity, and after carefully " cruising" the woods for a suitable tree, one was eventually selected growing some 30 miles North of Burrard Inlet on the mainland. The intervention of the war prevented the shipment of the tree till November, 1915. On the ~th of that month the s.s. "Merionethshire" sailed from British Columbia with an immense spar stowed on deck. It had been loaded by crane and slid on to the deck from the vessel's stern. The original tree was probably over four,hundred years old and must have measured 300 ft. to the tip of its leader, but after th~ spar had been prepared by axe, saw .and adze the dimensions were 220 ft. long and 33 in. in diameter at the base; it was squared for the first 15 ft. ~n.d then made octagonal up to 157 ft., from which point It. IS round to the top with a taper from 19 in. to 12 in. in dIameter. The weight of the spar when discharged from the" Merionethshire" into the Thames on December 29, 19 1 5, was 18 tons, the largest individual piece of timber ever brought to Europe. The tree \vhen felled had a

EMPIRE FORESTRY

girth of 18 ft. at the base, and when it had been shaped and all sapwood removed, the original centre of the annual rings of growth was s! in. from one side of the butt end. Of the rings as shown on the prepared butt it was found that the tree had grown one路 hundred years to make 171 in. of lateral growth on the one side; the next one hundred years added 7-1 in.; and the next one hundred years only 3! in. Mr. J. S. Gatnble judged from these measurements H that the tree was a dominant one for about one hundred years putting on diameter increment; then the surrounding crop caught it up and passed it, so that it increased in length to compete with them at the expense of its thickness. It clearly kept its place with them to the end and must have been closely surrounded, but having had the advantage of light when young was sturdier and stronger, and so. was probably selected as the finest of the crop." To anvone familiar with the wonderful close stands. of Douglas Fir, "White Pine" (Pin us nlonticola), Western Hemlock (Tsuga A lbertiana) , "'fideland Spruce" (Picea sitchensis), H Red Cedar" (Thuya gi~al1tea), and the several great Silver Firs of the forests of the North Pacific Coast, the dimensions of the tree selected for the Kew Flagstaff will cause no astonishment. These immense stems growing on very deep humus, the accumulation of vegetable matter through the ages, seem to have a normal life of from three hundred and fifty to over five hundred years. They are far surpassed in girth and age, though not in height, by Sequoia gigantea of the Californian Sierra Nevada mountains. The first botanist to see them was Archibald Menzies who accompanied Vancouver in his exploration of those regions in 1793. Thirty years later another Perthshire man, David Douglas, the intrepId botanical explorer sent out by the Royal Horticultural Society, made his headquarters on the Columbia River in 1825-1827, and sent home seeds of all these conifers. It \vas from Douglas' seeds we owe the many older specimens of Douglas Fir and other Pacific Coast trees throughout the kingdom. It would perhaps be \vell to mention here, however, that the Wellingtonia (Sequoia gigantea) was. not discovered till 1841, and seed of it was first sent to England in 1853, by Willtam Lobb, Messrs Veitch's collector.

Reproduced from the Ke'w Bulletin, No.

1919,

with permission of the Controller, H.M. Stationery Office. RAISING THE FLAGSTAFF AT KEW.

Photo, Copyright by C. P. Raffi 11 , Kew.

THE DOUGLAS FIR FLAGSTAFF AT KEW ON ARMISTICE DAY, NOVI£MBER 1 I, 1921.

THE DOUGLAS FIR FLAGSTAFF AT KEW

From the docks the Kew spar was towed by a tug up the river and made secure to the south bank opposite the end of the Sion Vista in the Gardens. During a providential high tide it was hauled to the-towing path and eventually brought on rollers by a devious route to the north side of tbe artificial mound in the Gardens,where it was destined to be reared and where its predecessor had stood. For nearly four years it lay there raised on blocks and admired by countless visitors to Kew, who compared its immense proportions with the seemingly insignificant older flagstaff which lay alongside, the length of which was a mere 159 ft. with a weight of 4! tons. By the erection of a derrick, over 100 ft. high, the spar was raised successfully and on October 18, 1919, the work was complete. It rests on a block of steel fitted into a notch at the base and above a substructure of cement. Engineers of the Canadian Forestry Corps had set in the ground four itnmense blocks of concrete some distance from the base, and in these the steel hawser stays were made fast. The flagstaff is stayed from two points, and these stays are entirely responsible for its security as the \vhole spar is above ground. The contractors路 who did the work were Messrs. Coubro and Scrutton, professional mast riggers, who are greatly to be congratulated on the complete success of their calculations. The accompanying photographs, for the use of which the writer is indebted to H.M. Stationery Office, vvill clearly show the method adopted of raising and staying this the greatest flagstaff in Europe. Before erection it was carefully treated with antiseptics. The hot summer of 1921 caused some longitudinal surface cracks to appear, but these are not thought to be serious and have closed up since the break in the drought. On Armistice Day, 1921, a huge Union Jack was hoisted, and spectators found it hard to believe that this great flag measured 36 ft. by 12ft.; it is the same size as the largest flag flown on the Victoria Tower at Westminster. The flagstaff towers far above the surrounding trees of the gardens and is the most conspicuous object in the vvhole landscape.

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMIVIISSION FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM. 1 By Dr. A. W.

BORTHWICK.

THE First Annual Report of the Forestry CommIssion for the year ending September 30, 1920, was ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on June J, 19 21 â&#x20AC;˘ The Commission entered on their duties on November 20, 1919. The forest year ending September 30 was adopted for the period of annual report as the financial year terminates on March 3 1 when planting is still in active operation, which makes it difficult at that date to get final statements of costs. This being their first Annual Report the Commission thought it desirable to give a brief statement of the various phases through which forestry has passed in the British Isles, and anyone who desires to study the history of this important industry in its historical and national aspects will find an excellent resume and guide in the first twelve pages of the report under the headings: (I) Period of Destruction; (2) Period of Private Enterprise; (3) Period of Inquiry; (4) Period of State Action. It was deemed necessary to give such a resume of the causes which have combined to make a national forest policy inevitable, in the best interests of the country, as no more convincing proof can be given of the necessIty for a national forest policy than a clear statement of the facts. This shows clearly and convincingly the financial burden which the whole country has had to sustain and the handicap to many important industries which the absence of an adequate supply of home grown timber has caused. Owing to the time which elapsed between the coming into operation of the Forestry Act on September I, 19 1 9, and the appointment of the Commission on Novem1 To be purchased through any bookseJler or direct from H.M. Stationery Office, Imperial House, Kingsway, London, W.C.2. Price 9d. net.

REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMISSION

ber 29, 1919, they were unable to start work until the planting season 1919-20 was well advanced, but thanks to the preliminary arrangements which had been made by the Interim Forest Authority under the chairmanship of Mr. F. D. Acland, preparations had already been made to ensure that the necessary supplies of seed, plants and nursery ground would be available when required. The Interim Forest Authority had no powers to hold land; nevertheless they did valuable work in locating, by Uleans of preliminary surveys, extensive areas where forestry schen1es could be developed later. The Commission were, owing to these arrangements, able to start planting without loss of time, and at the date of the issue of the Report the Commission were in possession of 103,100 acres of land and had planted approximately 8,000 acres. This must be regarded as a notable achievement. With no precedents and previous experiences, no forest officer personnel, no body of foresters and foreInen with State forest experience and customs and no forestry code, the Commission had to start work when housing, labour, fencing material, tools and all other necessary things were scarce and difficult to obtain. A good beginning has nevertheless been made and the stock of plants in the nurseries has been increased to meet the approved planting programme, which is a sure indication that efforts are not being relaxed. The national forest policy as defined by the Acland Comlnittee, approved by the Cabinet and accepted by Parliament, falls under two heads : (a) The UltiJnate Objective, which is the creation in Great Britain and Ireland of reserves of standing timber sufficient to meet the essential requirements of the nation over a limited period of three years in time of war or national emergency. (b) The Immediate Objective, which is a ten-year scheme based on a block grant. To carry out this policy it will be necessary for the State to afforest 1,770,000 acres of land previously unplanted (1,180,000 being dealt with in forty years and the whole in eighty years), and the COlnmission are further charged to encourage and to secure the continuance under timber with increased yield from the 3,000,000 acres of private forests which existed in 19 1 4.

EMPIRE FORESTRY

In support of the many reasons that exist for the' adoption 'of the above policy, three cogent arguments. are given in its favour which are applicable in time of peace as in time of war. (I) The timber consumed in Great Britain and by the British Army in France bet\veen the years 1915-1920, cost the country at least £190,000,000 more than a similar amount of wood would have cost at 19°9-1913 prices. In the year 1920 the nation imported approximately one-tenth less wood and pulp than in 1914, and paid over £80,000,000 more for their purchase. There is no reason to suppose that the average annual demands for timber for home construction, delayed repairs, and industrial developments will be less in the next decade than they were during the five years immediately preceding the war. If this is the case, and the' price of timber does not fall much below a figure mid. way between the 1913 and 1920 prices, we shall have to pay for the whole of the period 19 1 5-] 930 anythingbetween £400,000,000 and £600,000,000 more for our timber than we should have had to pay for a similar amount at 1909-1913 prices. It is not argued that if the planting plogramme now adopted had been completed before the war, the priceof timber \vould not have risen. It can, ho\vever, be definitely stated that had these additional woods been in existence, they would have competed with Scandinavia and Finland, and tended to keep prices of soft .woods at a lower level. 1 (2) Labour for planting, maintenance and conversion, accounts for some 80 to 90 per cent. of the cost of forestry operations. It is argued that, even with the present high cost of establishing plantations, State forestry is one of the soundest, if not the soundest method of giving rural employment, lowering adverse trade balances, and ensuring that the best use shall be made of shipping facilities in time of war and national emergency. (3) Within reasonable and easily ascertainable limits 1 In 19~O, fot im;tance, home-grown railway sleepers cost 38. each less than imported sleepers. This item alone (whIch during State control of rairways falls directly on the Treasury) represents a possible annual sa\'ing of

£500,000.

REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMISSION

timber stores itself in the woods and, unlike other commodities, increases in quantity during the period of storage. The foregoing outlines the ultimate objective of the ~ational F'orest Policy and its main justifications. As regards the imlnediate objective the Forestry Commission are charged with the following duties for a ten-year period:-(I) The afforestation of 150,000 acres of ne\v land by the direct action of the State. . (2) Assistance to Local Authorities an cl private owners for the afforestation or reafforestation of 110,000 acres. (3) rrhe purchase and reconstruction of hard wood 路areas. (4) Education of forest officers, landowners and land agents, working foresters and foremen. (5) Research and experiment. (6) Encouragelnent of forest industries. The financial policy of the Commission has had to be adjusted with the greatest care in order to ensure that the tnaximum amount of the funds at their disposal might be used in the actual planting of trees. The total grant set aside for the work of the Commission was based on pre-war figures, as no other information was available when the :Forestry Sub-Colnmittee presented their report. 'The Commission have had no easy task in carrying out the prescribed programme. A considerable amount of saving was made in the acquisition of land. Thanks to the untiring work of the Assistant Commissioners, and in no small degree to the patriotism of landowners, some of the best planting land in the kingdom has been acquired at rates well below the original estimates. The drain on the fund has also been reduced by increasing the proportion of leased or feued to purchased land. Leases of long duration up to 990 years have been secured in England, and in Scotland land has been acquired by feu in perpetuity of payment of an annual feu duty. ' The policy of the Commission is to' plant as much land as possible in the earlier years of the first decade in order to relieve the heavy undertakings and burdens towards the end of that time. The Report clearly indicates that the Commission appreciate to the full extent

EMPIRE FORESTRY

the value and necessity of private co-operation, and they are assisting to the limit of their statutory powers (subject to the, it may be hoped, temporary exigencies of the Treasury) this patriotic work on the part of individuals and corporations, by the offer of grants and proceedssharing schemes. They have also taken an active part in the promotion of higher education and research, and Woodman's schools have been established \vhich provide a sound training in practical forestry. Bulletins and leaflets have been issued on subjects of interest to planters. l J The following publications of the Forestry Commission are already available : U Forestry in the United Kingdom." Price 3s., post free 38. 2d. A statement prepar~d by the Forestry Commission for the British Empire Forestry Conference, 1920. " British Empire Forestry Conference, 1920." Price 7s. 6d., post free 7S•.·o!d. A report of the proceedings, together with the resolutions and summary of statements. cc Bulletin No. I: Collection of Data as to the Rate of Growth of Timber." Price 4d., post free 5d. An explanation of the methods employed in measuring timber for statistical purposes. cc Bulletin No. 2; Survey of Forest Insect Conditions." Price IS. 6d.,. post free IS. ,.id. The chief insect pests are described and illustrated and suggestions are made for their control. "Bulletin No. 3: Rate of Growth of Conifers in the British Isles." Price 35., post free 3s. 2d. An investigatie-n into the factors affecting the growth of conifers in this country. TabJes are given showing the yield obtainable from various species. cc Fllst Annual Report of the Forestry Commissioners, Year ending Sep~ tember 30, 1920. H.C. 128." Price 9d., post free Io~d. cc British Yield Tables." Price IS., post free Is. Id. Rtproduced for field use from Bulletin No. 3. Copies of the above publications may be purchased through any bookseller,. or directly from H.M. Stationery Office, Imperial House, Kingsway, London, W.C.2. " Leaflet No. I : Pine Weevils." A description of the life histories and habits of the. pine weevilg, and of the methods..employed in combating these enemies or young plantations. cc Leaflet No.· 2: Cherme.r Cooleyi." An account of a CIt,.rmes which has recently appeared in Grt'at Britain, attacking Douglas fir. cc Leaflet No. 3 : The Pine Shoot Beetle/' A common pest in pine woods. cc Leaflet No. 4: The Black Pine Beetle." ,One of the most destructive bark beetles. "Leaflet .No. 5: Conifer Heart Rot." A common cause of decay in larch and spruce. "Leaflet No. 6: The Honey Fungus." A destructive pest in conifer plantations. fC Leaflet No. 7: Clzermes attacking Spruce and other Conifers." cc Leaflet No. 8; Douglas Fir Seed Fly." Copies of the leafltts may be obtained free of char~e on application to the Secretary, Forestry Commission, 22, Grosvenor Gardens, London, S.W. I.

REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMISSION

The Forestry Commission have not only to aid in the extension and improvement of forestry within the British Islands, but it also falls within their sphere of action u to aid or aid in making such inquiries as they think necessary for the purpose of securing an adequate supply of timber in the United Kingdom and promoting the production of timber in His ~Iajesty's dominions." Important progress \vas made in this direction at the British Forestry Conference which assembled in July, 1920, on the invitation of the Commission. Under the provisions of the Forestry Act, consultative committees have been appointed for England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland; their duties are to assist the Commissioners with respect to the exercise and performance of their powers and duties under the Act. The constitution and activities of the Consultative Committee are set out at the end of the Report. The following are the names of the Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners and their respective headquarter3 :Commissioners: The Rt. Hon. Lord l . ovat, K.C.M.G. K.C.V.O. (Chairman). The Rt. Hon. If'. D. Acland, C.B.E., M.P. The Rt. Hon. Lord Clinton, D.L., J.P.. Mr. L. Forestier-Walker, M.P. Mr. T. B. Ponsonby, D.L. Mr. R. L. Robinson, O.B.E., B.A.,. B.Sc. Col. W. Steuart-Fothringham. Sir J. Stirling-Maxwell, Bart. Headquarters: 22, Grosvenor Gardens, London, S.W.I., Mr. A. G. Herbert (Acting Secretary). Assistant Commissioner for England and Wales: Mr. Hugh ~Iurray, C.I.E., C.B.E. Headquarters: I, Whitehall, S.W.I. Assistant Commissioner for Scotland: Mr. John Do. Sutherland, C.B.E., F.S.I. I-Ieadquarters: 25, Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh.. Assistant Commissioner for Ireland: Mr. A. C. Forbes, t

a.B.E.

Headquarters: 9, Upper MountStreet, Dublin. It is believed that any of them will at any time be very' pleased to receive news or inquiries from overseas.

TREE-WORSHIP IN INDIA. By S. M.

EDWARDES,

C.S.I., C.V.O.

THE worship of trees is one of the most \videspread forms of popular religion in India; and examples of the reverence paid to them by Hindus of all classes occur in every village, town and city, from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin. According to Sir James Frazer this cult, of which instances or survivals can be found in many countries, arises in the first place from the widespread primitive belief that trees have souls of their own like men, that they feel injuries done to them, that the souls of the dead sometimes animate them, and that the tree is the h0111e of a tree spirit, which gives rain and sunshine, causes crops to grow, makes herds multiply, and blesses WOlnen with offspring. Thus, all over India one comes across groves and clumps of trees which are firmly believed to be the abode of spirits, and which no villager will therefore injure or cut down. Sometimes these spirits are regarded as benignant, as, for example, at Rajkot in Kathiawar, where the spirits of a certain group of trees cure children suffering from bronchitis, and are in other ways beneficial to the community. Sometimes they are regarded as the very reverse of benign, like those \vhich inhabit the Odiner Wodier trees planted in the backyard of houses occupied by the Kallans (a caste of thieves) of the Tanjore district of the Madras Presidency. The more malignant of these devils have to be propitiated at least once a year by rites conducted under the trees themsel ves. The fear inspired by certain trees was brought prominently to my notice in 1903, when I was touring in the Poona district of the Bombay Presidency. On arriving one morning at a new camping ground, I found that my tents had been pitched under a straggling clump of trees which offered comparatively poor shade, while about four hundred yards away was a splendid pipal (Fieus religiosa) which would have amply protected

TREE-WORSHIP IN INDIA

them from the mid-day sun. On inquiring of the servants \vhy they had not chosen the pipal, their spokesman informed me that it \vas inhabited by a ntu1'lja (i.e., the ghost of a Brahman boy who had died before being invested \vith the sacred triple thread), of such fiendish malignancy, that none of them dare venture near the tree. To set up tents and carry out one's daily work underneath it was, in their view, simply asking for trouble; and though, they added, their sole object in life \vas to carry out the Sahib's orders, they could not be parties to an act \vhich any self-respecting tree-spirit might reasonably regard as an act of trespass. So my tents remained where they were, and the \vhole native retinue rejoiced at their escape 拢ronl unknown cal~mity. Another belief that the tree embodies or represents a fertilizing spirit is responsible, as Crooke points out in his " Folk-lore of Northern India," for the respect paid in India to memorial trees, round which the people of the village assemble, and which frequently serve as the village-shrine or as the centre of the \vorship of the village-gods. Fr0111 prehistoric times the village pipal (Ficus religiosa) has been the hub of Indian village life; and in some cases groups of village trees represent the ultimate survivals of a primitive forest, H in which the dispossessed spirits of the jungle find their last and their only resting-place." The Indian peasant ascribes the weird sounds of the forest by night to supernatural agency and the tnysterious waving of leaves and branches to the mystic powers of the trees. The tree, too, is an emblem of life, for it reproduces itself in some strange fashion with each recurring spring, and if it be an ever路 green, it is clearly the possessor of eternal life. Hence comes it, doubtless, that tribes like the Khasis of eastern Bengal lay the bodies of their dead in the hollow trunks of trees, or like the Nagas of Assam, hang them in coffins to the branches. Trees often develop into curious and unusual forms, which compel fear or adoration; and Crooke quotes from one of the ancient Sanskrit works on lIindu ritual, \vhich expressly declares that trees ~hich have been struck by lightning, or uprooted by Inundation, or which grow on a burning-ground or consecrated site, or which have withered tops, or contain many birds' nests, are to be considered totally unfit for 6

EMPIRE FORESTRY

the manufacture of bedsteads, as they are inauspicious and certain to bring disease and death. Such being the general attitude of the people to\vard trees, it is not surprising that Hindus regard the planting of a grove as a work of great religious merit, and that they perform various strange arboreal rites, such as the formal marriage of trees to one another or to the well from which they are watered. General Sir WillialTI Sleeman, in his U Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official," published in 1844, mentions that the mangogroves which he visited near Jubbulpore in the Central Provinces had all been married. "Among the Hindus," he writes, "neither the man ,vho plants a grove nor his wife can taste of the fruit till he has 11tarried one of the mango-trees to some other tree (usually a tamarind tree) that grows near it in the same grove"; and he gives an instance of an old villager and his wife \vho sold all their gold and silver ornaments in order to defray the marriageexpenses of a grove which he had planted a few years previously. It is, perhaps, needless to add that the bulk of the money was spent in providing a feast and presents for the Brahman priests who officiated at the ceretnony. Trees of a particular species figure in variou~ primitive ceremonies and festivals, such as the highly indecent pantomime held in honour of Bhudevi Panduga, the earth-goddess, by the Koyis of the Godavari district, \vhich centres round a Terntinalia t01nentosa tree, or the rites for the pacification of the cholera or small-pox goddess, in which the ceremonial booth is invariably erected under a nim (Melia azadirachta) tree. The wide prevalence in India of Totemism, which has only been brought to notice during recent years, largely through the researches of certain members of the Indian Civil Service, is another powerful underlying cause of the reverence paid to trees. Everywhere can be found tribes, classes, septs or other social g~oups, who believe firmly that they are sprung from some object, animal, or tree of a particular species, and who ascribe a sacred character to that animal or tree as their totem. One of the best examples of this form of totemism is the devak or family guardian god of the peasantry of Bombay and Berar. Among the Marathas of the Deccan and allied tribes and castes, this family devak is often the jambul (Euge1'lia

TREE-WORSHIP IN INDIA

jal1tbulana), the ber (Zizyphus juiuba), the mango (Mangifera indica) and the banian (Ficus Be11,gale11,sis), while of specially common occurrence are the Kadamba (Nauclea cadamba), the rui (Calotropis gigantea) , and the sha1ni (Prosopis spicigera). :B""'urther south in the thickly-forested Kanara district the same ancient system survives. Divisions of castes or tribes, known as balis, are found, which take their name from the pipal (Ficus religiosa), the screw-pine (Pandanus odoratissil1tUS), the plantain (Musa sapientunt) and the nagcha1npa (Mesua ferrea). These eponymous trees the people worship on all solemn occasions, such as marriage or the occupation of a new 'house; they rigidly refrain from cutting or injuring them in any way; and finally they forbid the intermarriage of persons having the same tree as their totem. Members of the nagchantpa (~1esua ftrrea) group will not even wear the flower of that tree in their hair. Occasionally one comes across families whose devak or eponymous guardian deity is the sunflower or the tamarind (Ta1narindus indica),. and while there is no objection to a sunflower man marrying a tamarind girl, the very strictest embargo is placed upon the union of a couple who both worship one or the other of these plants. The Halepaiks of Kanara, who \vere once freebooters, but are now peaceful tappers of toddy-trees, are divided into two groups, one dwelling on the coast and taking its name (Tengina) from the coco-nut tree, and the other living in the hills and calling itself Bainu, after the sago-palm. Certain sections of the well-known Komati trading caste of Madras have as totems the tamarind, the tulsi (Ocymum sanctul1'l) and the betel-vine. ~Ioving northwards, we find the wild Bhil tribes of the Satpura hills, the primitive Gonds, and the Korkus of the Central Provinces, worshipping all sorts of trees as their toten1S. The tribal tree of the Kharwars of Mirzapur is the Karama, and nothing will induce them to cut it : the Oraons of Bengal will not eat the leaves of the vad (Ficus indica); the Rajputs pay special reverence to the nim tree (Melia azadirachta), one路 of .their clans, the Raikwars, being forbidden to use its t'Y1gS as tooth路 cleaning sticks; while the Bansetti Binjhlyas, who take their name from the bamboo, refuse to t~uc~ it even at a wedding. Among some castes the most binding oath they kno\v is that sworn on the leaves of

EMPIRE If'ORESTRY

the bel (Aegle marntelos): it was this oath which Sumar Singh, the murderer of the Peshwa Narayan Rao, was made to take by Anandibai, the jealous aunt of that unfortunate prince. Examples of this ancient system of tree-tptemism can be multiplied froIn all parts of India; and it is no exaggeration to say that not only are the forests of India very closely interwoven with the traditions and superstitions of its three hundred million inhabitants, but that between the members of certain \vell-defined social groups and particular species of trees there also exists an intimate and altogether special relation, \vhich in the religious sphere operates to place them in n1ystic union with their particular guardian tree, and in the social sphere directs the relations in which men and women shall stand to one another. Thus the lives of man and of the forest are indissolubly bound together. The tree is an ancestor, meet to be worshi pped like other more anthropolnorphic deities: to the tree the devout Hindu turns on the important occasions of birth and marriage; and when life has passed, it is the tree which feeds his funeral-pyre. Perhaps the most curious custom which prevails throughout India is the marriage of ll1en and women to trees. The practice is largely followed in the case of girls who are to be dedicated to a life of prostitution, but is frequently resorted to in other circumstances, to which no shadow of disrepute attaches. In the Punjab, for example, a Hindu cannot be legally married a third time. So, if he \vishes to take a third wife, he is solemnly Inarried first to a babul (Acacia A rabica) or to the akh plant (Asclepia gigantea), so that the wife he subsequently marries is counted as his fourth, and the evil consequences of marrying a third time are thus avoided. The same practice is followed by Brahmans in Madras, who believe that a third marriage is very inauspicious, and that the bride will become a widow. Among various classes of Uriyas in Ganjam a bachelor who wishes to marry a widow, or a widower wishing to remarry, is obliged first to go through the ceremony of marrying a sahada tree (Streblus asper), which is afterwards cut down. In the Bombay Presidency it is a common custom for a man who has lost two wives to marry a rui (Calotropis gigatltea) before he tempts fortune with a third helplnate;

TREE..WORSHIP IN INDIA

or again, a man whose poverty prevents his marrying a bride in the usual \vay, is similarly married to a rui and then to a widow; and as the re-marriage of a widow is, according to orthodox Hindu ideas, one of the most calamitous and undesirable transactions, the \vedding of the pauper bridegroon1 has to be performed at dead of night under an old Inango tree. Very often, too, a Hindu bride is discovered by the priests to have been born under inauspicious planets, which may prove harluful to her spouse; and this danger is averted by marrying her first to a tree and afterwards to the bridegroom. Similarly in Oudh, if the ruling stars of the youth form a lTIore powerful combination than those of his affianced bride, the difficulty is surmounted by solemnizing a marriage between the girl and a pipal tree (Ficus religiosa). In Bengal, according to Dr. Buchanan, It premature Inarriage is considered so necessary to Hindu ideas of prosperity that even~ the unfortunate children who are brought up for prostitution are married with all due ceremony to a plantain tree, before the age when they would be defiled by remaining single." The r~autiyas, a large caste in that province, invariably go through the form of marriage to a Inango- tree, before the regular wedding; while among the Kurmis and one branch of the Kols, both aboriginal tribes, the bride and bridegroom are wedded, not to each other, but the bride to a mahua (Bassia latijolia), and the groom to a mango. According to Crooke, from whose authoritative work several of the above instances have been taken, every girl of the Newar community, who are agriculturists by profession, is married during childhood to the fruit of the bel (Aegle marmelos), which, after the CerenlGny, is thrown into some sacred river. When she arrives at puberty a husband is selected for her; but should the marriage prove unpleasant, she can divorce herself by the simple process of placing a betel-nut under her husband's pillow, and walking off. A Newar woman can never become a widow, as the bel fruit, to which she was first married, is assumed to be always in existence. Among the special castes and classes whose traditional occupation is prostitution, as also among certain other castes hke the Billavas or toddy-tappers ot South Kanara, who habitually permit prenuptial infidelity, the tree often

EMPIRE FORESTRY

plays an important part in the girl's initiation. Readers of this article may remelnber Rudyard Kipling's story, H On the City Wall," which opens with a description of the courtesan Lalun. H Lalun's real husband, for even ladies of Lalun's profession in the East must have husbands, was a big jujube-tree. Her mamma, who had married a fig tree, spent ten thousand rupees on Lalun's wedding, which was blessed by forty路seven clergymen of mamma's church, and distributed five thousand rupees in charity to the poor." That description, with slight alterations, might apply to many women in India \vho follow the hereditary profession of thecourtesan. In western and southern India, where these ancient customs still flourish, it is not always a tree that is chosen as the mock husband: it is very often a dagger, a sword, or even the idol in some popular shrine. But in many cases a pipal, a palas (Butea frondosa), a shanzi (Prosopis spicigera) or some other well known tree figures as the pseudo-bridegroom, marriage with which signifies the girl's permanent inclusion in the ranks of the oldest profession upon earth. What are the precise principles underlying the pseudomarriage with trees and shrubs, it is not easy to determine. "The popular explanation is that it is intended to avert the curse of widowhood, the tree-husband being always alive; the woman, even if her husband die, can never be a widow, nor can the parents be liable to the contempt which, according to popular Hindu belief, awaits those who keep a girl who has reached maturity unmarried." Some of the cases, however, which have been quoted seem to suggest that the marriage may be intended to divert to the tree some evil influence \vhich would otherwise attach to the wedded couple. The tree, in fact, acts the part of the scapegoat of the Old Testament, and gathers unto itself the evil influences which threaten the life and happiness of the superstitious Hindu. In conclusion one may enumerate a few of the trees to which special reverence IS paid, and which occupy a very prominent place in the folk-lore of India. The pipal (Ficus religiosa) has already been mentioned. It is associated with the three great gods of Hinduisnl, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva: it is worshipped on every Saturday of the Hindu month Shravan (July-August) ;

TREE-WORSHIP IN INDIA

its marriage with the tulsi (OCYl11,U11~ sanct~t1n) is strongly recommended; and its dry twigs must be used to feed the sacred fire. Sir Monier WiJliams tells a story of certain Banias (Hindus of the trading class) who objected to pipal trees being planted in their bazaar, as they could not carry on their roguery under the shade of so holy a tree. But the story is now regarded as an invention for the special delectation of the confiding European or American globe-trotter. The banyan tree (Fictts indica) represents longevity; it is believed to be haunted by Vetal, the chief of the ghosts and goblins: women in particular lllust worship it in the month Jesht (May-June), for it grants long life to husbands and the fulfilment of all wishes; the celebration of its marriage with durva grass (Oynodon dactylon) ensures good fortune and a plentiful progeny. l'he sal (Shorea robusta) is a very holy tree, lnuch reverenced by the jungle tribes who consider it the abode 'of spirits. The Bagdi and Bauri tribes of Bengal are married In an arbour made of the branches of the sal, after they have first been luarried to a 1nahua (Bassia latifolia). 路Patches of this tree, according to Crooke, are often reserved as fragments of the primitive jungle, of which it must have constituted an iluportant part. The shan1,i (Prosopis spicigera), known in the Punjab as the jand, is very widely reverenced and in western India is regularly worshipped at the Dasara festival. It is commonly chosen to mark the abode or shelter the shrine of some deity; rags are dedicated to it as offerings; and it is employed in the marriage ceremonies of many tribes and castes. Brahmans and others perforn1 rites to it, especially at festivals connected with domestic occurrences, and offerings are made to it by the relatives of persons suffering from snlall-pox. The nzahua (Bassia latifolia) is one of the main sources \vhence the Indian jungle-tribes derive their food and intoxicants, and is held in the highest respect by the people of the central Indian highlands. It is the marriage tree of the Kurmis, Lohars, Mahilis, Mundas and Santals of Bengal; and some of the Gonds of Bengal follow the custom of tying the corpses of adult males by a cord to this tree, previous to burial. The aonla (Emblica ojficinalis) is another sacred tree, worshipped in the Inonth Kartik (December) and again in Phalgun (Feb-

EMPIRE FORESTRY

ruary), when prayers are offered to it for the fertility of women, animals and crops. Mention has already been made of the ni111 (J.lf elia azadirachta), in which the godlings of disease are supposed to reside and which, like the Norse tree Yggdrasil, is closely connected \vith the worship of snakes. So great is the power of the ni11't over spirits and spirit disease that in Bombay, when a woman gives birth to a child, nil1l leaves are placed at the entrance of the lying-in-rooln, to ward off evil spirits. The Jogis, a critninal tribe of Madras, reverence it and brand their dogs with a representation of it. The Banjaras or wandering carriers use it as a test of their wives' fidelity. Many other trees of great sanctity might be mentioned, such as the sa11nali (Bo111bax heptaphyllum), the naral or coconut (Cocos nucijera) , the Khair or mimosa (Acacia catechu), the apta (Bauhinea t01nentosa), the palas or dhak (Butea frondosa) and the ashok (Jonesia asoka), which is supposed to bloom vigorously if kicked by a goodlooking young woman. But enough perhaps has been said in illustration of the statenlent that tree-worship plays an important part in the popular ritual and folklore of India. The masses of India have little or no sympathy with the forest policy of the Government or with the plans of expert forest officers for the conservation and regeneration of the country's forests; and they are disposed to resent the regulations and the prohibitions which necessarily form a feature of enlightened forest administration. Yet towards special groups of trees, toward trees of certain distinct and widely-distributed species, they cherish an attitude of deep veneration, with which is blended a belief that between the living tree and themselves there is an immemorial bond of mutual protection, to be jealously guarded and constantly confirmed by the performance of appropriate ceremonies. Among educated and civilized people of Western lands such sentiments and superstitions now find no echo, save perhaps in the old fairy-tales and legends which they tell to their children.

EDI'[ORIAL NOTES AND MISCELLANEA. As will be apparent froln the report of the inaugural meeting in the opening pages of the Journal, the AssoThe Empire ciation commences its career with the Forestry benedictions of the British and Dominion Association. Governments: and if the goodwill of official departments, kindred associations, and individuals in various parts of the Empire \vere the sole requisite for success, its future would already be assured. To enable it, however, to carry out its m'ain objects and sustain, in particular, that" aggressive propaganda" which is widely regarded as essential for the co-ordination and development of forestry and the imperial timber trade, a large and increasing membership must be secured. It is hoped that all those who may receive copies of this first number of the quarterly Journal of the Association, and who have at heart the preservation and economic utilization of the Empire's sylvan resources, will not only enrol their o\vn names in the list of members, but will persuade others also to join the Association. It is satisfactory to record that the problem of office accommodation for the staff and records, hitherto housed in decidedly cramped quarters in Westminster, is likely to be solved by the provision of suitable rooms in the Imperial Institute, South !{ensington. In the latter buildIng will also be located the complete exhibition of Empire commercial tilubers, to which Mr. Ashbolt, Agent-General for Tasmania, referred in his speech at the inaugural meeting. This project has arisen out of the deliberations of a special Timber Trades and Technical Sub-Committee of the Association, which visited the existing exhibition ?f Empire timbers and the testing machinery installed In the Imperial Institute, and also inspected the tiulbertesting machinery at the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington. The Committee are of opinion that the Imperial Institute has sufficient machinery and a staff competent

EMPIRE FORESTRY

to carry Qut all tests required for ordinary comtnercial purposes: but that the timbers now exhibited there include a considerable number \vhich could not be supplied in commercial quantities. The first step, therefore, is to concentrate in one department only such timbers as can be supplied in commercial quantity, and exhibit them in .the log, flitch and plank, with their botanical and trade names attached to them. The second step is the preparation by the technical staff of a record of the strains and stresses of each individual wood, and of a small pamphlet grouping together similar timbers, giving the identification mark of each exhibit, and tabulating the results of the various tests, the weight, measurement, and, if possible, the average f.o.b. price of such timbers. The scheme would involve an agreement on the part of the Dominions and Colonies to pick out the commercial timbers fro in the existing exhibits, or alternatively to supply a separate exhibit for the purpose indicated; but if this assistance is forthcolning, as no doubt it will be, and the required information is prepared in succinct and suitable form, the trader and timber-user, who desires to substitute Empire timber for foreign products, will no longer be able to declare himself handicapped by the complete absence of the requisite information in an accessible form. In the case of highly specialized reports or tests, which lie outside the capacity of the Imperial Institute, arrangements can be made with the National Physical Laboratory, \vhere a highly-trained staff is prepared to undertake the highest technical tests and prepare reports upon them for a nominal fee. One of the first tasks of the Association will be the COln pletion of this collection of exhibits and the preparation of the technical data, to enable traders and timber-users to estimate the advantages of a wider use of the woods produced within the Empire. The great ilnportance of this scheme will be understood more clearly, if we bear in mind that at this moment there is no single collection of Empire commercial tin1bers available for the information of the trade. As regards the Journal, it has been decided for the present to publish it three times during the year and to convert it into a quarterly as soon as financial considerations and the supply of literary contributions from all

EDITORIAL NOTES AND MISCELLANEA

parts of the Empire justify the latter course. It is hoped that volunteers may be forthcoming to act as regular correspondents of the Journal and to assist the Editor by sending information about the affairs and proceedings of forestry societies, about promotions, transfers, resignanations, &c., in forestry staffs, and by forwarding articles, notes and queries of all kinds relating to forestry. The Association looks with confidence both to forestry experts and others interested in, or connected with, forests and their products, to supply articles and notes for reproduction in its pages. These need not necessarily all be of a technical character; for the Journal is intended to appeal not only to the expert, but also to the路 general public, whose " forestry conscience" needs arousing. Notes on the longevity of trees in various parts of the Empire, on the lasting properties of woods, on plantations of exotics of local ilnportance, on fire-prevention, on the character and habits of the classes dependent upon the preparation and marketing of various forest-products, in brief, on any subject connected with the Empire's woods and forests, \vill be welcomed by the Editor. In regard to some parts of the Empire, much interesting information might be supplied regarding forest folk-lore and superstitions. This is particularly the case in India, where from time immemorial the forests have played an important part in the life of the people, and have a direct association with strange customs and animistic'beliefs. Photographs of all kinds will be greatly appreciated, as they operate to popularize the Journal; and it will be an advantage if those, who forward such photographs, will state whether they have been previously published and if so, where. The Association trusts that all parts of the Empire will collaborate by furnishing a regular supply of articles, notes and illustrations bearing upon their forest-possessions and the work which is being done in them. A question was asked at the inaugural meeting regarding t~e possibility of organizing a social side of the AssociatIon's activities. The project of a dining club for the forest-officers of the Empire has already been cursorily discussed, and it is hoped to develop this idea, as the As~ociation becomes more firmly established. MeanwhIle the Association is anxious that all forest officers, no matter in what part of the Empire they may be

EMPIRE }4"ORESTRY

serving, should realize that it desires to extend to them the hand of friendship and support, and, so far as may be feasible and consonant with constitutional practice, to hear their "iews, to become acquainted with their difficulties, and to offer them practical assistance. The Council of the Association looks forward to the day when the Empire Forestry Association will serve as a centre of reunion for all those who spend their official lives in the forests of the Empire. MAJOR L. A. ANDREWS, District Forester, Vancouver, has sent us a copy of an address which he delivered on this subject, and which appeared in the Forest Work by Canadian Forestr'Y Afagazine for October Aeroplane. . ' 192 I. The maln value of the aeroplane lies in its ability to cover large areas of country rapidly and at low cost. In the case of timber-land, information as to percentage of species, density of stand, size of timber, suitability of a tract for logging, &c., can be determined froin an aerial photograph. Where the stands are fairly uniforn1, as in the cedar type round Drury Inlet, Vancouver, species stand out very clearly and the percentage at cedar is easily deterluined. In one instance the aeroplane detected an additional area of 390 acres of Crown land, which had escaped observation on the ground. This was subsequently checked if" situ and was found to contain about nine million feet b.m. of timber. Patrol trips by aeroplane were also organized in 1921 for detection of fires, and special emergency trips for firefighting. In past years, thousands of dollars have been expended in cutting trails and providing access to forest fires, which the use of a single aeroplane would have saved. On one Sunday only the aeroplane discovered three fires on Vancouver Island and \vas instrun1ental in getting fire-fighting crews to the spot on the same day, with the result that the fires were reported safe on the following day: at Menzies Bay and Half Moon Bay, the aeroplane similarly discovered fires which had escaped , the notice of the ground patrol, and thus enabled them without delay to be brought under control; while in other cases the aeroplane visited fires already reported by the usual agency, in order to ascertain the progress made

EDITORIAL NOTES AND MISCELLANEA

in fighting the outbreaks, and assisted the officers in charge of the fire-operations by taking them up to exatTIine from above the contour and lie of the ground. As regards reconnaissance of large tracts, one of the chief achievements of the aeroplane in 1921 was a survey of the damage caused to timber by the great storm of January 29. Thirty hours' flying was performed, and practically the whole area affected, measuring five million acres, was covered. A subsequent partial check by ground agency proved the aeroplane report to be approximately accurate. Such a survey, carried out by ordinary methods, would have lasted for months and cost thousands of dollars. Similar work was carried out in the OlytTIpic peninsula, where the flights covered 2,200 square miles, and 354 aerial photographs were taken, from which a fairly accurate estimate was deduced of the total dan1age caused by the storm. Altogether sixty-four flights were undertaken in 1921 in the interests of forest administration, the total time spent in the air being 95! hours. Of these flights twenty-eight were devoted to forest protection, fourteen to inspection and su pervision of forest parties in areas lacking communications, and fourteen to research work, such as the estimation of the acreage and rate of growth, &c., of new crops of timber on denuded lands. By Ineans of the five patrol trips twenty-one new fires were located. This record is interesting and app'ears to justify Major Andrews' contention that for rapid transport, inspection and supervision, in the case of large areas lacking a developed system of communications, the aeroplane has proved itself a very cheap and efficient auxiliary of forest administration. FOLLOWING the appointment of the Conservator of Forests last year, the Tasmanian Government has dediTasmania. cated 12,000 acres of more or less waste country on the West Coast for the purpose of conifer afforestation. The Minister of Lands (Hon. Alex. Hean, C.M.G.) has stated that he believes the area of 12,000 acres might be increased to some 30,000. This land, while of a sandy nature, enjoys the beneficent and heavy rainfall characteristic of the West Coast, from 70 to 120 inches per annum; and this is particularly

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suitable for the cultivation of soft woods. The Minister estimates that had this block of 12,000 acres been planted 25 years ago, its worth to-day would be not less than £250,000,000, while the revenue to the State would have been about £100,000 per annum. Even in the dry areas of Australia considerable progress has been made in the growing of soft woods. In South Australia 25 years ago,. a State forest was commenced at Wirrabarra in the far north. The trees planted were mostly Pinus insignis, and for several years the forest has been worked to provide wood for fruit cases. THE Report of the Forests Department, Western Australia, for the year ending June 30, 1921, gives the area ef State Forests reserved for timberWestern " Australia. growing, as a I"1ttIe more t han 45,000 acres,. which is small by comparison with the acreage of reserved forest in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. The gross revenue of the forests amounted to £75,469, and the expenditure to £19,159, leaving a net revenue of £56,310, of which twofifths is absorbed by the Treasury and three-fifths is allocated to the Forest Department. rfhe description of the jarrah forests is decidedly pessimistic. Seventy-five years of practically uncontrolled cutting and wholly uncontrolled burning have greatly reduced their area, while over the area thus denuded the percentage per acre of sound young trees is practically nil. Unless immediate steps are taken to increase the number of young trees and protect them from fire, future generations will have no jarrah timber at all. There are indications, however,. that the public is beginning to realize the gravity of the situation, as, for example, at Collie, where the residents have spontaneously formed a forest fire protection society. The condition of the karri forests is very much more satisfactory, owing chiefly to the comparative infrequency of fires. But even in this case much damage is done to the young trees during the operations of felling mature timber, and results in indirect financial loss to the State. Another problem is that of the cutting of sandal wood for the China market, which absorbs practically the whole Australian supply. On the one hand the suitability of the young sandal tree as a fodder plant militates

POWELLISING PLANT AT PEMBERTON, WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

(Nearly all the sleepers on the Trans-Australian railway from Port Augusta to KaJgoorJie

(1,000

miles) were treated by this plant.)

EDITORIAL NOTES AND MISCELLANEA

against natural regrowth and is responsible for the paucity of young plantations, while on the other hand the desire for quick pecuniary returns has resulted in the over.. cutting of the mature trees and the consequent glutting of the China market. To obviate these shortcomings the forest authorities recommend some form of State Inonopoly and control, whereby sandalwood workers may obtain continuity of employment at fair rates, the State may obtain the maximum benefit from a valuable forest product, and the cutting of trees on Crown lands may be so regulated as to render the present supply adequate for the China demand until future plantations are ready for working. The recent establishment by the Council of Science and Industry of the Federal Forest Products Laboratory in Perth has paved the way for scientific forest research, though up to the present, owing to lack of equipment and of trained officers, work has necessarily been limited to investigating the paper-making qualities of hard woods, to tannin experiments, and to the problems of kiln-drying and the preservation of timber. The results so far obtained are of great interest, particularly in regard to tanning, and jl1stify expectations of important commercial developments. As Western Australia is commercially interested in what is known as the Powell process of impregnating wood, much attention has been paid to its effect upon eucalypt timber. Its success has been demonstrated by exhibits of U po\vellized" and" unpowellized jarrah and karri, which had been placed in a coal mine, \vhere the attacks of fungi were so severe that the un.. treated wood was reduced to punk in three years. The " powellized" wood \vas as sound as on the day it was placed in the mine. The Report concludes with a note of warning regarding. the future forest policy of Western Australia. " The forest policy which governs the use by the present generation of this vast national wealth must be based on a sound legislative enactment, \vhich removes the forest authority as far as practicable from political control. It takes many long years for a tree to grow, and to borrow pr. Addison's phrase, 'However much we may allow for Justifiable expediency, the policy cannot safely rest on a shifting opportunism to the neglect of conviction.' " 'I'

EMPIRE FORESTRY

Canadian Gazette (export section) of July 28,1921, drew attention to the great part played by Canadian timber in the maritilue traffic between the S;ht~~~~~ Dominions and the United Kingdom. Prior to the outbreak of the war, the long voyage round Cape Horn prevented any appreciable quantity of Pacific Coast timber being shipped to the United Kingdom, though heavy consignments were, and still are, sent to Australia and China. But with the opening of the Panama Canal a new era dawned for the lumber trade of British Columbia, the first mercantile vessel to tra verse it being the Santa Clara with three million feet b.m." of Douglas fir for the war zone. The Canal has brought British Columbia many weeks nearer to England, and will prove an important factor in developing the trade in timber and shipping between British Columbia and the mother country. As is the case with other parts of the Empire, uncomfortable forebodings have l~tterly been circulated about the probable failure of the timber supply. There are indeed some who declare that the lumber-trade will have ceased to exist in twenty years' time. These doleful prognostications are, however, refuted by the l\tlinister of Lands, who stated publicly in April last that the Government is making special efforts through its forest-protection service to place the timber industry on a really permanent basis. He does not deny that some of the huge trees, from 250 to 300 years old, which are now being felled cannot be replaced, and that lumbermen of the next generation will have to be satisfied with timber obtained from trees of 75 years of age and upwards. Admitting this, however, there is no reason why the present policy of the Government, if strenuously followed, should not result in a large supply being available for all future needs. British Columbia is reported to be developing a new industry, nalnely the supply of cascara bark. The world demand in pre-war days was met by Germany, Japan and the United States; and when the German supply ceased on the outbreak of hostilities, the demand for American supplies was so heavy that the shrub was almost exterminated in areas possessing facilities for transport. A large supply of the bark is now fOl,lod in British Columbia, where the shrub flourishes in the warm, damp climate of THE

EDITORIAL NOTES AND MISCELLANEA

the central valleys; and a company has been formed to cultivate the shrub on pre-empted land and to supply the raw drug to the wholesale drug-dealers. THE charge laid against the Briton of squandering the forest resources of the lands into which he has penetrated, is ill ustrated by the history of the kauri pine The Kauri in New Zealand. According to Maurice Pine. H urst, who contributed an article on its destruction to the World's Work a few months ago, the kauri pine covers an extensive area in the northern portion of Auckland, and is one of the largest timber-yielding trees in the world, being estimated to give twice as much timber per tree as oak, teak, mahogany and red cedar. When organized settlement commenced in Auckland and neighbouring lands, about a hundred years ago, reckless clearing of the forests took place, and continued so strenuously for years that, according to a recent report, the present rate of destruction, if persisted in, will finish New Zealand's forests completely in thirty years. Fortunately there is a brighter side to this picture of reckless and ignorant destruction. A report of the situation was drawn up a year or two ago by Sir David Hutchins, who 'Succeeded in arousing public opinion and alarm. This was followed by the formation of a Forestry League, and in 1920 by the creation of a separate forestry department under expert control. Legislation was introduced and empo\vered the Government to allocate 7,000,000 acres as permanent State forest, which will be increased by a further 5,000,000 acres during the next few years. This' large reserved area will be scientifically managed for the production of continuous timber crops.

to the Report of the Union Forestry Department for 1919-20, a rapid dilTIlnution of the area of unworked forest in the Midland ConserSouth Africa. vancy is causing anxiety to the experts, who foresee a sudden stoppage of the supply of virgin timber, unless steps are now taken, by curtailing the yields and other measures, to guard against an inevitable cessation of output in the near future. It is clearly the duty of the Government to take precautionary measures 'without delay.

ACCORDING

EMPIRE FORESTRY

In reference to official action and encouragement of afforestation, attention may be invited to a speech made by H.R.H. Prince Arthur of Connaught, at Harrismith, Orange Free State, on October 12, 1921 : U I am interested to learn," said His Royal Highness, cl that on a portion of the Town lands granted by the Municipality for the purpose, the Government has established during the course of the past fifteen years a flourishing plantation nearly 1,000 acres in extent. In a country so poorly endowed by Nature with trees such a plantation is of the greatest value, not only because of the direct results it produces in the shape of timber and fuel, but because it serves as a very practical object lesson to the people of the district as to the best kinds of trees to plant, the method of planting them, and the success that may be expected to be achieved even in the some.. "vhat unfavourable conditions of the Free State. H The Government has given a good lead in this matter, and it would be well if each farmer and lando\vner would endeavour to follow it and contribute to the general improvement of the country by establtshing even a few groves of trees on his property. It In other countries, Great Britain, Australia, Canada and America there exist Forestry Associations, whose object is to foster the care of forests and the planting of trees. In the Union I am told no such Associations exist, although the need of trees and afforestation are of pressing importance owing to the natural lack of timber and the almost complete dependence of the country on imported supplies. It seems to me such unofficial Asso~ ciations might serve a very useful purpose in stimulating interest in the subject, by arranging meetings for discussion of its various branches, by the dissemination of literature of a popular character, and by organizing excursions at intervals to some of the forests and plantations of the country. "Perhaps in the course of time, as the Associations grow in strength and standing, they might exert a \vhole.. some influence on the national forest policy and by linking themselves with kindred Associations in other Dominions they would make sure of keeping abreast of the latest developments in the science and practice of forestry.

EDITORIAL NOTES AND MISCELLANEA

"I should therefore rejoice if any movement in this direction were initiated in South Africa. "Although my time table does not permit of me visiting a plantation on this occasion, I look forward to doing so when I nextvisit the locality." Among mercantile enterprises dependent upon forest products may be mentioned the Wood Chemicals Company, which has installed a plant at Seven Oaks, Natal, for extracting Stockholm tar, wood naphtha, and charcoal from wattle timber. The plant is capable of dealing daily with about twenty-five tons of wood, which is estimated to yield one ton of tar, five tons of charcoal, and an appreciable quantity of wood naphtha. Should the venture prove successful, it is hoped to commence later the manufacture of acetic acid and chloroform. Rhodesia is at present handicapped by the want of a definite policy in regard to the growing of valuable soft \voods required for her own domestic needs. In March, 192 I, the forest authority pointed out that Southern Rhodesia does not possess sufficient supplies of tirnber and forest products to meet the public demand, and that the utilization of forest products and the destruction of timber are taking place at a rate vv"hich not only endangers future supply, but also must exercise an adverse influence upon the climatic conditions which govern pastoral and agricultural prosperity. Besides this, industries of great importance to the country cannot be established owing to tl~e lack of suitable timbers. Apparently there are no natural obstacles to the creation of a domestic timbersupply, for experimental plantings of a large variety of exotic trees, undertaken in various parts of Rhodesia,. have shown that the soil, climate, and general conditions are suitable to the growth of lllany useful timbers. THE Queen Charlotte Islands are reported to be eagerly awaiting the visit of a fairy prince in the person of the capitalist, to enable them to utilize their' Queen Charlotte d orman t wea Ith路In t路lm b Id Islands er, coa an copper. . Circumnavigated more than a hundred and fifty years ago, the islands have not yet been fully pros.. pected, though of late years immigration has taken place, urban sites have been plotted out, and a certain amount of road-making has been completed. It was the

EMPIRE FORESTRY

'\Tar which directed attention to these little-known islands, for they rejoice in the possession of a silver spruce (Picea sitchensis), which is admirably suited for the manufacture of aeroplanes. Hundreds of timber claims are now held under licence, and the quality of the Queen Charlotte silver spruce has deservedly earned a high reputation. Capital, however, is greatly needed to convert the island's forests to cOlnmercial uses. The establishment of sawmills and pulp-factories \vould provide employment for many who now find difficulty in obtaining regular employment. Several small ,filills already exist, the largest of them being the property of the Massett Timber Company at Buckley Bay; but there is ample room and need for more, and also for two or three good pulp industries at the northern and southern ends of Graham Island. Logging can be cheaply carried out, as most of the timber-bearing area lies \vithin a mile of the water's edge. IN spite of the achievements of the Indian Forestry Service during the last fifty years, the value of Indian timbers is little known to traders and comIndia. mercial users. The country, of which about 23 per cent. of the total area is forest land, produces 2,500 indigenous species; yet, if we except teak, the export trade is almost negligible. Bengal, Assam, Burma and the Andaman Islands possess great industrial potentialities, which must lie dormant until some closer connection is established between the Indian Government and commercial enterprise. The commercial prospects of Indian timbers formed the subject of an article in the Asiatic Review for April, 1921, which recorded inter alia the tentative employment by a few building contractors in England of Indian laurel, silver greywood, padouk and gurjun for the interiors of buildings recently erected in London and Birminghaln. But wider publicity and much greater efforts are necessary if India is to reap full commercial benefit from her valuable forests. According to a report of the Indian Committee of the Imperial Institute, Indian bamboos and savannah grasses are both capable of commercial development for paper manufacture. It is estimated that Bengal, Burma, and South-Western India could produce 10,000,000 tons of

EDITORIAL NOTES AND MISCELLANEA

pulp annually from bamboo, while Assam could give 3,000,000 tons from savannah grasses. The total cost per ton of bamboo pulp on board steamerin Burma ports. would probably not exceed £12, which in the case of wood-pulp is approximately the cost ,of the raw material alone; and allowing for freight charges, bamboo unbleached pulp could be delivered in England at a cost not exceeding £16 or £18 per ton. The use of bamboo pulp in England would, however, necessitate the scrapping of much of their machinery by manufacturers, and this prospect they are hardly likely to contemplate with favour until more exhaustive and reliable data are available. For the present bamboo pulp will find a better market in India itself, and possibly also in Australia,. China, or South Africa. The general question of the' commercial development of India's forest resources depends upon the attitudeadopted towards the forest administration by Indian ministers and legislative councils. It is a well-known fact that the masses of the people have never regarded the forest department with favour; for they cannot understand why they should be prevented from destroy,. ing and burning the forests as their forefathers were accustomed to do. The prohibitions against grazing cattle on a large scale in reserved forest, against the reckless denudation of hill-sides to allow of temporary and wasteful forms of agriculture, anq against the wholesale destruction of trees for domestic requirements, strike the average peasant as an objectionable form of official tyranny; and in these circumstances it is greatly to the credit of the Indian Forest Service that it has been able to carry out its policy and secure observance of the laws. with so little real friction. The attitude of the educated Indian and politician has, so far, not been "vholly reas-· suring. It is open to question whether they really comprehend the vital principles underlying forest protection and conservation, while on several occasions in the past twenty-five years the alleged oppressive character of theforest regulations has be~n adopted as a platform grievance. At the present mOlllent the future of the administration is rendered specially dubious by the' violence of an anti-European political movement" organized by extremist agitators, whose avowed object is to drive the British out of India. This racial antagonism

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has been directly responsible for the wholesale destruc路 tion by fire of 250,000 acres of forest in Kumaon, United Provinces, resulting in a loss to the Government of thousands of rupees and in throwing out of employment hundreds of penurious hill-folk who depended upon the forest for their livelihood. It \vas likewise responsible for the refusal of the Madras Legislative Council to sanction funds for the erection of an up-ta-date saw-mill in the Ganjam District, on the grounds that the management of the mill and the m~rketing of the produce had been entrusted to a European firm. Hopes are expressed that this racial hostility may gradually die down, as the working .of the new constitutional reforms becolnes more settled and the Indian members of the various executive and legislative councils appreciate more fully their responsibihties. But assuming that these hopes are fulfilled, the continuance of the admirable work performed by the Indian Forest Service and the profitable comtnercial exploitation of the country's forest resources will still depend upon the adoption by Indians theo1selves of a wider and n10re statesmanlike grasp of forest economics and forest 路problems than is at present in evidence. A CORRESPONDENT of the leading English newspaper in

lVIadras describes a strange ceremony which takes place A Curious in Coorg, when one of the native forest Forest rangers shoots a panther. The Government Ceremony. gives a ranger a small pecuniary reward for every panther shot, and a portion of this reward is devoted to the expenses of the ceremony, which consists in 路formally marrying the ranger to the dead beast. A rude shed is erected close to the village where the ranger lives, containing a roughly made throne, flanked by brass lamps from the village temple. The spectators 'Collect in a body round the shed, while from some distance away a procession advances with hoots, yells .and howls towards them. It is headed by two villagers in gala dress, carrying the skin of the dead panther, which has been clulnsily stuffed with straw and sewn up in rude Jashion. Behind the panther, which represents the bride at this mock wedding, walks the bridegroom in the .person of the ranger who killed it. After him come the best man, who holds aloft an umbrella, and the whole village-men, women and children-all very excited and

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noisy, all dressed in their best clothes. The rangerbridegroom takes his seat on the throne in the shed, while the stuffed panther is propped up outside in a perpendicular position with sticks and ropes. One by one the villagers approach the throne and, taking off their shoes, pOUf milk down the bridegroom's throat and sprinkle rice over his head. The 路younger men make obeisance to hiln; and then, after a general distribution of money, the headmen of the village lead the bridegroom out of the shed towards the panther. A knife -is put in his hand, with \Yhich he cuts the ropes holding the panther upright. Thus the ceremony ends, (lnd is followed later by general feasting and jollification in the village. Occasionally a ranger may be lucky enough to kill two panthers; but this makes no difference to the ceremony. Both panthers are stuffed with straw, head the lprocession, and are propped up outside the shed, and both alike fall ignominiously to the ground at the conclusion of the marriage rites. The underlying superstition seems to be that the ranger, by his pretended marriage to the panther, will unite himself permanently to strength and courage. rrhere is also a belief that the spirit or ghost of the dead animal may harass and do harm to the ranger, unless its 路malignity is effectively counteracted. Surely there can be no better method of securing immunity than by relegating the panther to the position of unquestioning obedience which the average Hindu bride occupies towards her husband. As an example of well-directed forestry propaganda the following extracts from the Illustrated Canadian Forestry P .. Magazine for October, 1921, are worth ui~h~~~a':aork quoting: It Almost fifty thousand persons . have visited the Tree Planting Car of the Canadian Forestry Association during this season's tour 'Of the prairie provinces, and路 at least fifty thousand -citizens of the West have learned why it pays to plant trees on the bleak, wind-swept prairies. Through the energy of the Association's western lecturer, hundreds of farlners and settlers have been visited at their own farms 'O~ homesteads, and their tree-planting problems dealt 'wIth on the spot. Scores of municipalities which have approached the lecturer concerning the lay-out of pros-

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pective parks or boulevards have been ~upplied with working plans, with detailed advice as to species of trees. to plant, and complete instructions for planting and maintenance, absolutely free of cost. . U .Many of the visitors to the car came sceptical and unbelieving, feeling it was unprofitable and even impossible to grow trees successfully under their peculiar local conditions, and that nature never had intended the prairies to be anything but a bleak, barren expanse devoid of the comforts and beauty ~afforded by the presence of trees. :Few, if any, of these "doubting Thomases" ever went away doubting. H The interest shown everywhere by school children is remarkable. In addition to the daily lectures there are,. of course, 'movies,' real tree-planting pictures, showing areas before and after planting, how to plant, &c. This, proves in many instances a unique attraction for the children. And after all it is the children we most want to get. Their young minds are plastic, and it is not necessary to knock out old and hard-set conceptions first to make room for more rational ideas. U Fortune smiled on the Association this season through the courtesy of the Saskatchewan Government in attaching the Tree Planting Car to the 'Better' Farming Train,' which that Government sent out. During the period that the car was attached to this train an attendance of 32,774 was recorded. U The tree planting policy adopted by the Canadian Forestry Association is intended to bring practical assistance and inspiration to the prairie farmer and stimulate a love of trees in the youthful element 'of Western Canada. The Association has now more than four thousand members in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, and plans are afoot to secure a much larger' membership."

MR. E. E. PESCOTT, F.L.S., has contributed SOlne路 remarkable facts about the Blackwood to the Gum Tree, The Blackwood which are quoted in the Australian Forestry (Acacia Journal for September, 1921. He states Melanoxy/on). that Professor Ewart has successfully germinated Blackwood seed which was 51 years old, while Mr. R. H. Gambage, of Sydney, germinated seed which

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103

had been immersed in sea-water for 1,192 days, or Mr. Pescott himself has seen a young Blackwood in a lVlelbourne garden grown from a seed that \vas taken trom the crop of a migratory bird, which had just arrived for the summer season; and he has grown a young Blackw~od to the height of 10 ft. in two years from the seedlIng stage. Others record the growth of trees to the height of 20 ft. in three years.

3t years!

RECENT Australian and Indian forest literature supplies concrete examples of the evil consequences of reckless The Evils of destruction of timber. The Mildura district Fores~ in Australia once possessed many miles of DestructIOn. pine woods: to-day, it has practically none. Mildura will probably be a l~rge exporter of dried and canned fruits and will require tilnber to make boxes. At the InOinent this timber has to be ilnported, sent to Mildura, and thence back again to the seaboard ,for export. Had forestry regulations been introduced thirty years ago, not only would these boxes be made froill timber grown in the district, but the cost of building houses would have been much less, as much of the timber used in building Mildura was imported 16,000 miles, \vhen it should have been grown on the spot. (V. B. Trapp, quoted in the Australian Forestry Journal.) " Trowscoed" \vrites with something of the passion of old Hebre\v prophets in the Indian }"'orester of August, 1921 : "The forests where the Emperor Babar hunted the rhinocerous have disappeared, and in their place is found a waterless tangle of ravines, a nightmare land, accursed to God and man. The beautiful country along the foothills, a land of streams and cornfields and pleasant luango groves, is washed away or buried under sand and gravel like the ruined cities of Turkestan. The outer hills are hideous and naked, scored with ravines, intersected \vith cliffs, devoid of shade or perennial water; and all so that man may graze his abo111inable goats and destroy the forests at his own sweet \vill. The watercourses of !{umaon are dry and choked with debris; a pleasant country of well-wooded hills is turned into a ~terile waste by a race sunk in the abysmal depths of 19norance. With fire and axe they devastate their own

1째4

EMPIRE FORESTRY :

land, worse than any foreign foe. What care they for the ,morrow 1 'Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.' Within the memory of man hills once clothed with forest 'are now bare and desolate, perennial streams are dried up. Heat, dust and cholera pervade the lands. In spite of the evidence of their own eyes, their selfstyled leaders, voicing the parrot cry of the mob, protest against forest-management and fire-protection, and give their support to those whose one object appears to be the destruction of their own land with the utmost possible speed, so that their children lnay have neither water to drink nor wood to burn, nor fields to cultivate. The voice of wisdom is as the voice of one crying in the wilderness which none heedeth; the ClalTIOUr of fools fills the air; and day by day the country passes along the road leading to the abomination of desolation spoken of by Isaiah the prophet." It Arbores magnae diu crescunt, una hora extirpantur." curious diversity of status assigned to Forest Authorities in various parts of the Empire, coupled with Forestry and the varying ~ondit!ons undel: which they Democratic carry out theIr duties and objects, has enGovernment. gendered doubts whether Forestry can ever attain its rightful position in the economic life of a nation under a democratic form of government. The success of Forestry in all its branches depends primarily upon the preparation and adoption of a definite policy, in which common-sense and imagination are happily blended, and in the second place, upon the inviolable continuity of that policy, despite the constant changes affecting the Governments which control forest adminis,tration. These points received emphasis in an excellent paper on Cl The Forest Authority," read by the Right Hon. F. D. Acland, M.P~, before the Empire Forestry Conference of 1920; and brief consideration of the suggestions which he submitted to the general body of delegates cannot fail, in our opinion, to interest those who may not have had the opportunity of attending the Conference, or of reading the published report of its proceedings. As regards the preparation of a policy, few Governments have ever evolved a really comprehensive and THE

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' 105

careful scheme for the benefit of posterity,: except under ,pressure of circumsta~ces clearly indicating th: prospective'bankruptcy of theIr sylvan resources. ThIs was the 'Case in India, where the benevolent autocracy of the East India Company suddenly became alarmed at the wholesale destruction of forests, which had taken place during the first half of the nineteenth century, and appointed a trained forest expert to frame a definite policy of conservation and advise on the establishment 'Of a regular service of professional experts. The measures taken during Lord Dalhousie's viceroyalty marked the ,dawn of scientific forestry in India, and the policy then promulgated has been faithfully followed to the present day by Governments, which, though increasingly sensitive to the pressure of Indian opinion, could not by any stretch of imagination be descri bed as democratic. It will be interesting to note what is the ultimate effect upon Indian forest policy and administration of the more -democratic constitution imposed upon India in 1919. If Indian politicians lay themselves open to the charge levelled against statesmen of other countries of seldom possessing practical good sense or iluagination, and very -seldom both, then the last state of India's forests will be \vorse than the first. Whether these strictures on the 'capabilities of democratic statesluen are justified cannot be discussed here; but we may remark that the history 'of forestry in England during the last three or four centuries to some extent supports them. Between the 'sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, as Mr. E. P. Stebbing writes in his Comn~ercial Forestry, the old forestry science 'of England originated and reached the zenith of its utility to the nation; and then for various economic -reasons it declined until, by the beginning of the nineteenth century, it ceased to be a factor in the life of the people. In the latter quarter of the nineteenth century 路a few enthusiastic landowners tried to enlist the sym'pathy of the Government of the day in replanting schemes and in the introduction of Continental systems 'of scientific forestry education; and in' response to this 'pressure the Government followed its invariable practice, when faced with uncomfortable problenls that it does n~t wish to decide, of appointing committe'es and commIssions, which produced no real progress in afforesta-

J:06

EMPIRE FORESTRY

tion, and, for all the practical good they effected, luight just as well have never been appointed. As regards continuity of forest policy, few Governments. of the democratic type realize the truth of the statement that an afforestation policy must be uniform for generations, and that to make it dependent upon extraneous Considerations, such as the need of providing for unemployment, or upon the changing aspect of domestic politics, is tantamount to rendering it wholly sterile. H Foresters,''' writes Mr. Acland, "are the only class of the lay com-, munity who, on week-days as well as Sundays, are concerned not with the here, but with the hereafter. They sow that others may reap. They must think not only in terms of time but almost in terms of eternity. But he is a long-sighted politician who thinks beyond the next General Election. The moral is surely obvious." If there be any truth in the observation of an English \vriter that in highly-developed democratic States the' really big men, possessed of imaginative and creative tninds, show an increasing tendency to choose ~ommerce as the field of their activities, and to relinquish pohtics and ministerial careers luore and more to the professional politician, the man of the loud voice and the one idea, \vho can talk glibly from the platform, then possi bly we ,have the reason why a subject like Forestry, \vhich lneans the gradual and laborious accumulation of a bankbalance for generations yet unborn, rouses so little interest and enthusiasrn in Governlnents of the modern type. Even where a forest policy has been decided upon, there is always a danger that pressure may be applied by vested or other interests to the minister, whose duty for the time being it is to safeguard that policy, and that the principles which ought to be supreme in all cases of difficulty and conflict may have to yield to the doctrine of expediency.路 Examples of this practice are not unknown in connection with the administration of the Empire's forests; and their occurrence, occasional though it may be, disheartens the trained forester who has devoted his whole energy to sowing that others may reap, and causes dismay to the few men who regard the future welfare of the Empire as more important than the ephemeral successes of politicians and their party-programme. A forest policy, once it has been laid down"

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107

should be kept wholly outside the pale of politics, and should be administered continuously by men who really appreciate its meaning and realize its objects. Connected with this matter is the question of finance. Continuity of forest policy is seriously jeopardized, if the funds required to carry it out have to be asked in the form of budget grants every year, "\vithout any certainty that the requisite amounts will be forthcoming from the State exchequer. No business man would think of initiating a large enterprise, spread over a long term of years, without first having some assurance that funds to finance it would be forthcoming at successive stages of its development. Another important business principle, which Governments are prone to forget, is that, where pro-fits accrue, a considerable _portion of those profits should be regularly returned to the business, to admit of extensions and expansions of the concern. Even in India, where the Provincial Governments have pursued for fifty years an enlightened forest policy, complaints have occasionally been tnade in the Press and elsewhere of the neglect of this principle. The Forest Department of a certain province shows a net profit, let us suppose, of Rs. 50,000 in the year. The Government, which declines to regard the forest adlninistration in the light of a separate business, may sweep the ,vhole profit into the treasury, and when preparing the expenditure side of its budget, may allocate perhaps Rs. 20,000 only to the Forest Department, and devote the balance of Rs. 30,000 to building new police- barracks or to opening primary schools, or to some other quite laudable project totally unconnected with Forestry. The main considerations to be impressed upon democratic Governments which are constantly requiring more money for the support of proposals designed to attract votes and capture the popular ilnagination, is that Forestry, if it is to fulfil its real aim, must be assured of the regular receipt for a term of years of funds proportionate to the schemes and plans which it is pledged to carry out; and that if its activities result in an increase of revenue over expenditure, a recognized portion of the profit thus made should be devoted to increasing its scope and efficiency. Lastly, in democratic countries possessed of a forest policy and forest ordinances and regulations, it may

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happen that the ignorance of the general public on the subject 'offorestry and its relation to national economy is an even more effective bar to steady progress in conservation and economic exploitation than the nonchalance or caprice of Governments. Mr. Acland quotes the case of a Crown Colony which has a "beautiful forest policy laid down in the preamble of the Forestry Ordinance; but towards the putting into force of this policy the Government are apathetic, the people antagonistic, and the lumbering industries positively hostile." In-England the disinclination of the Government during the first decade of .the twentieth century to act upon the recommendations of the committees and commissions, which they themselves had appointed, must be ascribed largely to the entire lack of interest in the subject displayed by the British public. I t is true that the Government, even in the face of this ignorance, might have fully justified official action on the lines recommended by thecomInittees, in consideration of the financial stake involved in timber conservation and development. But perhaps this is too prescient a course to expect of politicians whose horizon is bounded by' "the next路 General Election." The remedy is the steady education of the public in the aims and objects of Forestry up to the point at which the wishes of the people, the policy of the Government, and the plans of the ~"'orest authority shall completely coincide. Then and then only will the Empire witness the determined effort needed to ensure that our heritage is handed down unimpaired to a grateful posterity. The task is not easy; the difficulties are great; the distractions are many. But if those who realize the meaning of this Imperial problem will face manfully the work which confronts them, and strive without remission to arouse the interest of the general public, their endeavour must ultimately achieve success. The most prominent" cha.. racteristic of the present day is, perhaps, the art of advertisement in most branches of human life. Reasons why this should be so, do not here concern us, and possibly it is only an unpleasant temporary phase which will pass away to be ridiculed in history. But while the phase persists, it is necessary for our purpose to accept 路and practise it. Forestry must be advertised as boldly

EDITORIAL NOTES AND MISCELLANEA

IO<}

and unblushingly as any system of physical or mental culture which is daily brought to the notice of the public.. And the advertising agents must be the various Forestry Associations in different parts of the Empire. In the路 sphere of publicity, Planting, in fact, must occupy the place ot Peln1anism, Mycology, the place of Muller's. exercises. Thus only will it be possible to combat, the tendency of Governments to regard Forestry as the hobby of a few well-meaning enthusiasts. As matters now' stand, the past record of various democratic Govern.ments in relation to Forestry may best be described in' the words applied by a \veIl-known Provincial Governor to the history of an eastern industrial school, as ",a record: of inconstant purpose with breaks of unconcern." Association has received a copy of U Sylva," the: annual publication of the Edinburgh University Forestry "S 1 " Society, and is glad of this opportunity, to y va. offet its congratulations to the editor, l\1r. R. Maclagan Gorrie, on the attractive paper which he路 has produced. The pages of the maga'line are devoted to subjects both grave and gay, and those of its sub-路 scribers who find articles on Increment by Du Vachat's JrJethod, or The Place of lVlycology in Forestry a somewhat excessive mental strain, can turn to "Sports notes" and lighter matters. One pleasant feature is the page devoted~ to the movements of members of the Edinburgh Society and to notes on the present whereabouts and activities of old members. Edinburgh apparently distributes her forestry-pupils far and \vide, for their presence is reported in almost every clime, from Ardgowan to Kualalumpur. U Sylva" must constitute a pleasant link with old times, and old friends for those whose life-work lies in the distant forests or the sparse research laboratories of theEmpire.

THE

110

REVIEW.l THE SILVICULTURE OF INDIAN TREES. By R..S. TROUP, M.A., C.I.E. (3 Vols., large 8vo. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1921. Price ÂŁ5 Ss.) THE publication, under the auspices of the Govern.. ment of India, of this book by a very competent authority, making full use of the combined knowledge of many of the best officers of the service, marks a new epoch in Indian forestry; and will be of more value to the service, as well as to all tropical foresters, than any ,vork on the subject hitherto available. Without a fairly wide personal knowledge of the forests of India, and the infinite variety of their trees, soils, and climates, no one can realize what difficult and complicated problems had to be dealt ,vith by the foresters in charge of them, often with little or no local experience; and usually imperfectly acquainted with the languages of the people who inhabit them. In the introduction, Prof. Troup tells us that his work is the outcome of several years of research into siIvicultural problems at the ~""'orest Research Institute at Dehra Dun and at outlying experimental stations, combined with observations recorded in many parts of India and Burma for a period extending over more than twenty years. Though the work deals primarily with forest trees of the Indo-Burmese region, a certain number of exotics have also been included, such as Eucalypti, which are already grown to some extent' in plantations or are otherwise of interest to Indian foresters. He gives a very careful and valuable account of the climatic conditions of the various provinces and a sketch of the forest vegetation of the region, divided as follows :1 Reprinted from the Quarterly Journal t1f Forestr)', October, the kind permission of the Editor and Mr. H. ]. Elwes.

1921,

with

REVIEW

III

(I) The Western Himalayan sub-region, which is in its temperate and alpine zones mainly composed of pines, spruces, oaks, poplars, birches, walnuts, and other trees known in Europe. (2) The Eastern Himalaya, also divided into three zones of altitude, and containing probably as many distinct species as all the rest of the sub-regions. (3) The trans-Indus sub-region, including Baluchistan, where juniper is the principal coniferous tree. (4) The North Western dry region, where, owing to the very low rainfall (in most parts under 20 in.), there is little or no true forest, except on the banks of rivers or on land subject to periodical inundation. (5) The Gangetic Plain, of which the most important forests, where they exist, are' the Sal forests of Oudh, which, to my mirtd, are hardly distinguishable from the sub-Himalayan or Terai forests; and as the littoral forests of the Gangetic delta might more! properly be included in another division it is a question whether this division is a natural one. (6) The West Coast region, which includes (a) the tropical ever-green rain-forests of Kanara and Malabar; (b) the mixed deciduous forest which merges into the Central Indian region, and might, perhaps, be included in it; and (c) the sUb-tropical ever-green forests which clothe the plateau and hill ranges of the peninsula above about ~,ooo ft. (7) The Central Jndian region, which for the most part is dry, and whose most valuable forest trees are teak and sal, though many other hard woods, little known except locally, occur in many places. (1) The Deccan and Carnatic, which does not seem to be easy to separate froIn the Central Indian sub-region. It is mostly subject, like the latter, to. a very hot, dry season, which on shallow and poor soils is not favourable to forests. (9) Assam, which from the biological point of view, is hardly distinguishable from the Eastern Himalayas, and for the most part is subject to a very heavy rainfall, which in the Khasia Hills average 460 in., and may much exceed this in some seasons. l4'orty inches -have been recorded in twenty-four hours at Cherra Pungi, and Sir J.D. Hooker states that IS0 in. were recorded 8

112

EMPIRE FORESTRY

in five days, this being the heaviest rainfall accurately measured at any place in the world, so far as my knowledge extends. Though in the north-east of this region, elevations of 10,000 ft. and upwards are found, there is no alpine zone as in the Himalayas, and bamboo forests are in some places of most important economic value, as they are also in (10) Chittagong and A.rakan, with which I think the Sunderbunds might be united. (11) Burma is, on account of the abundance of the teak tree, the most valuable and important province, and the only one which has hitherto provided a large quantity of timber for export. Kurz, in his intruduction to H The Forest Flora of British Burlnah," has divided the forests into eight main types, and Prof. Troup describes their constituents most carefully. (12) The Andaman Islands, which are almost entirely covered by dense forest, resembling in their general features the forests of Burma, though they have many species peculiar to the Islands. On pp. xxxii-xlii we have a most careful review of the recological factors and SQil conditions, which, in conjunction with climatic factors, determine the presence or absence of forest; and the remainder of the introduction is occupied by remarks which are as interesting to all foresters as they are useful to those whose work lies in India. The problems which affect the gregarious habits of species, which as a rule is much less usual in tropical forests, and under conditions more favourable for vegetation than it is in the coniferous forests or the north, are discussed more thoroughly than I remember in any work on forestry in the English language. The author then takes the Indian trees in the . sequence of their natural orders, and describes their life-history in detail under the heads of distribution and habitat-leaf-shedding, flowering and fruiting, germination, silvicultural characters, natural and artificial reproduction, and rate of growth. He gives coloured illustrations of the fruit, seed, germination, and early development of the seedlings, and a selection frorn the vast collection of forest photographs which have been accumulated at Dehra Dun; and as he has been able to .utilize, the observations, notes and reports of numerous foresters in India to supplement and confirm his own

REVIEW

113

observations, we may well believe that the Forest Flora of India has now for the first ti me been worthily described. I n the case of Cedrela Toona, a tree which. I knew well in former days in Sikkim, where it was the only timber used for tea-boxes, I can say that if the foresters of thirty to forty years ago had known and practised what Prof. Troup now tells us, that most valuable timber tree would not have been allowed to become rare and nearly extinct in many places where it used to be abundant. Its growth in suitable localities is very rapid, a mean girth-increment of I in. to 2 in. being recorded, and trees containing 400 to 500 cubic ft. in the butt were not rare forty years ago. Interesting to the tree-lover, ,as well as to the forester, are the numerous records of height, girth, and volume of the timber trees of India. Teak trees of 22 ft. girth with boles of 80 to 90 ft. to the first branch, containing nearly 1,000 ft. of timber, are recorded in Travancore. In Burma Dr. Brandis measured one 16 it. in girth at 6 ft. and 114 ft. to the first branch, but if they exist in India I can find no record of trees so large as some oaks, elms and beech trees have attained in Great Britain. When \ve come to conifers, however, it is otherwise. The tallest tree I can find recorded in India was a deodar in the Sutlej valley, 240 it. high, on Dr. Schlich's authority, and Brandis records trees of 30 to 30 fL in girth in Kunawar. The taJlest silver fir recorded is Abies pindrow, 206 ft., and the tallest spruce 215 ft.; but I have myself measured in 1914 the fallen tree of Picea spinulosa = P. morindoides, which was referred to in "The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland," VI, p. 1393, and quoted by Prof. Trol1p on p. 1154, and can confirm Mr. Claude White's original statement that when standing it must have been well over 220 ft. As regards the dimensions which the common yew attains in the Hinlalayaswhere one ,vould suppose that the very rich soil and heavy rainfall of the forests where it grows would allow it to attain much greater dimensions than it does in England -I find no evidence to confirm this expectation. In Hazara, where large trees are common, Prof. Troup records them up to 14 ft. girth and 60 ft. high, and states that large trees are almost always hollow. In the Close Walks at Midhurst, in Sussex, there are much taller trees than this, and many of greater girth than either Gamble

EMPIRE FORESTRY

or路 I have seen in Sikkim are known in England. With regard to poplars, I note with Interest the first account I have read of the very slow growth of seedlings, which, in the case of natural seedlings, attained only about an inch or so in the first year, and in five years only 16 in. This supports the few personal experiments I have been able to make in raising poplars from seed, and confirms my impression that it is far better to propagate poplars from cuttings than from seed. And in this connection I may say that the description of the methods of propagating trees eithet by artificial or natural means is one of the features of this work which inspires the reader with the utmost confidence in the personal observations and wide experience of the author. Prof. Troup tells us nothing of the conditions which induce the formation of the beautifully figured walnut burts, which have lately been exported from Kashmir and Hazara, and which have been saId at higher prices than any other wood in modern days. That such burrs do occur in Europe is proved by the tree which I recorded at Nuneham Park, in "The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland," but Western Asia has hitherto been the only source from which they were tegularly imported. An interesting account is given of the Indian caoutchouc or rubber tree, Ficus elastica, which, until the introduction of the Hevea or Para rubber路 tree, seemed likely to be a valuable source of revenue in the Assam plantations, but experiments proved that even moderate tapping, if carried out annually, results in the death of the trees, and in the unprotected forests of Bhutan and Sikkim most of the wild trees have been tapped to death by native collectors. "Of the Oriental plane we learn that it is cultivated in Afghanistan and Baluchistan and in the Western Himalaya, where it is ftost.. hardy up to about 8,000 ft.; but in Baluchistan the variety acerifolia suffered from late frosts in March, 1<)16. It can be propagated by lar~e cuttings taken off with some of the old wood and planted several inches deep. Though bamboos are not usually considered as trees, yet in 'many parts of India they are even more important than timber, both to the inhabitants and to the forester. "The number of species is very great, and their life-history is still imperfectly known. There is much to learn as to

REVIEW

115

the periodicity of their flowering, the causes which influence it, and the rate of growth of the seedling; and I venture to suggest that the reprinting of the article on bamboos would be of the highest economic importance to colonists in Africa, Australia, and America, as well as to India. There is little doubt that the introduction of the best and hardiest species of bamboo into all countries where the climate allows them to grow vigorously, '~lould materially help to make up for scarcity of timber for house-building, fencing, &c., and that the utilization of bamboo for many domestic purposes which has been developed so cleverly by the Chinese and Japanese might be learned with advantage in other countries. I do not remember to have read in any other book so good an account of the best means of raising and transplanting the walnut, one ot the few hard woods which, if properly treated in the South and East of England, would probably pay better than any other. An illustration (fig. 330) shows that in favourable localities this tree can be grown close enough to fornl such straight, clean trunks as we seldom or never see in England. The. reproduction by colour-photography of the numerous plates of seedlings is successful, though it remains to be proved whether, on the highly-glazed paper which is used, the colours will be permanen~; and having regard to the necessarily high cost of the work, which is too heavy to be carried about in camp, where it would be most useful, it may be possible to publish a condensed portable edition without these costly illustrations, which run up to 490 in number. H. J. ELWES.

116

LIST OF BOOKS, REPORTS AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS ON FORESTRY AND TIMBERS -ISSUED IN 1920 AND 1921. (With a few of earlier date.) I.

5. 6. 7.

.8. g. 10.

A Manual of the Timbers of the World, their Characteristics and Uses, by Alexander L. Howard, with an account by S. Fitzgerald of the artificial seasoning of timber. Illustrated. Macmillan and Co. West African Forests and Forestry, by A. Harold Unwin, late Senior Conservator of Forests, Nigeria. T. Fisher Unwin Practical Forestry and its bearing on the improvement of Estates, by Charles E. Curtis, late Professor of Forestry, &c., at College of Agriculture, Downton. 4th edition. Crosby Lockwood and Son A Guide to the Identification of our more useful Timber, being a manual for the use of forestry students, by Herbert Stone. Cambridge University Press Conifers and their Characteristics, by Charles Coltman-Rogers. John Murray ... ... London 1"'rees, being an account of the Trees that succeed in London, &c., illustrated, by' A. D. Webster. Swarthmore Press ... Studies in French Forestry, by Theodore S. Woolsey, jun., with two chapters by W. B . . Greeley, Forester, D.S. Forest Service. Chapman and Hall Elementary Notes on Conifers, by Arthur H. Church. H. Milford (Oxford Botanical Memoirs) Form-factors in Coniferae, by Arthur H. Church. H. Milford (Oxford Botanical Memoirs) ... A Handbook of Forestry, or all about Trees and their Timber, by A. D. Webster. W. Rider and Son

1920

1920 1920

1920

1920 1920 1920

1920

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS· J I.

12.

13. 14.

15. 16.

117

The Kiln Drying of Lumber, a practical and theoretical treatise, by Harry D. Tiemann, V.S. Forest Service. 3rd edition. Illustrated. J. B. Lippincott Co. .., ... ... .. , ..• 1920 The Timber Merchant's Handbook, by Frank TifJany, F.R.S.A. (Timber Trade Journal Offices, 8, Paternoster Row). W. Rider and Son .•• 1920 The United States Forest Policy, by John bee,·TS(I Ph.D., LL.B., Yale University Press, New Haven. H. Milford, Oxford University Press 1920 Traite pratique de Sylviculture, by Lucien Chancerel. Gauthier-VilIars et Cie., Paris 1920 Flore forestiere generale du Globe, by Lucien Chanceral. Gauthier-Villars et Cte., Paris ..• 1920 La Fon~t Sainte de Haguenan en Alsace, Notice historique et descriptive. Berger-Levrault, Nancy-Paris-Strasbourg 1920

A Short Manual of Forest Management, by Henry Jackson. Cambridge University Press 18. Wayside Trees and how to know them, by F. Robson. Thornton Butterworth 19. A Text-book of Wood, with 41 plates, by Herbert Stone. W. Rider and Son 20. The Practice of Silviculture, by Ralph C. Hawley, Yale University; Jol)n WHey and Sons, inc. Chapman and Hall ... ... ... The Silviculture of Indian Trees, by R. S. Troup, 21. M.A., C.I.E. 3 vols. Illustrated. Clarendon' Press, Oxford 22. Forestry for Woodmen, by C. O. Hanson, M.B.E. 2nd edition. Clarendon Press, Oxford... Timbers for Woodwork, by William Bullock. Evans Brothers Timber Technicalities, be~ng definition of terms used in the Home and Foreign Timber, Mahogany and Hardwood Industrtes, &c. (with short bibliography and glossary of tree-names in five languages), cOlnpiled and edited by Edwin Haynes, Editor Timber Trade Journal. W. Rider and Son Pamphlet. Labour and Afforestation, by A. H. Unwin. The Labour Party, 33,. Eccleston Square, S.W. ... . .. 26. Archives of the Cambridge Forestry Association 19 1 9

and

19 21 192 I 1921

19 21

19 20 1920

118

EMPIRE FORESTRY MEI-RCANTILE.

27.

28.

The Timber Trade lournal List of Shipping marks on sawn and planed wood exported from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia and Germany. W. Rider and Son Taylar's Running Feet Tables, for readilyascertaining the number of running feet of sawn timber in varying lengths. Wyndharn's, Acton

1920

1921

OVERSEAS PUBLICATIONS.

3. 4.

(a) Standard Works on Australian Timber. Timbers of Western Australia (Strains, Tests, &c.), issued by Hon. Newton J. Moore, M.L.A. A Research on the Pines of Australia, by Richard T. Baker and Henry G. Smith ... Cabinet Timber of Australia, by Richard T. Baker, published by the Government of New South Wales The Hardwoods of Australia and their Economics, by Richard T. Baker

1906 1910

1913 1919

(b) Official Publications. I.

.3, 4.

5. 6.

Official Year Book of the Corumonwealth of Australia, No. 13, Section X (published separately), Forests, Forestry, and Forestal products 1920 Forest Act, 1918, Timber Regulations, amendments approved by H.E. the Governor in 1920 Executive Council... South Australia, Annual Progress Report upon State Forest Administration, for 1920-21, by Waiter Gill. Adelaide ... 1921 vVestern Australia: some notes about the Forest Resources of the State, issued by the Minister No date for Forests. Illustrated... First 15 pages separately published with catalogue of exhibits at Forestry Exhibition, Sydney, 1919, issued by the Minister for Forests 1919 Victoria: First annual report of Forests Com1921 mission, Melbourne New South Wales; Report of Fore3try Commission for year ended June 30 ... 19 20

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

Tasmania: Interstate Conference on Forestry, Report of resolutions, proceedings and debates (60 pages).! Hobart ... ... ... ..â&#x20AC;˘ 8. Trinidad and Tobago, Forest Resources of, by C. S. Rogers. Council Paper No. 25 9. The New Zealand Official Year Book, Section XVII, Forestry, Wellington. Eyre and Spottiswoode ... ... ... .. 10. Canada. Annual Report of the Director of Forestry for year ended March 31, 1919, pub. lished in Annual Report of the Department of the Interior, Ottawa 11. Ontario, Handbook of, prepared by direction of the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry Section. 9 pages. Ontario .. ;. 12. Ontario, Report of the Minister of Lands, Forests and Mines, for year. ending October 31,1919, Forestry Section, Toronto 13. Ne,v Brunswick. Annual Report of the Crown Land Department for year ended October 31, 1920, by Hon. C. W. Robinson. Fredericton 14. Western Australia. Report of the Forests Depart. ment for year ended June 30, 1921, by C. E. Lane Poole... 15. Queensland. Annual Report of the Director of Forests for year ended June 30, 1921. Brisbane

119

1920 1920

1920

1921

1921 1921

Bulletin No. 59. "Canadian woods for Structural Timbers," prepared under the direction of Superintendent, Forest Products Laboratories of Canada, by H. N. Lee, in charge of Timber Physics, Ottawa ... 1917 Bulletin No. 60. "Canadian Douglas Fir, its mechanical and physical properties, photos and tables, with bibliography," prepared under same direction as above, by R. W. Sterne, Chief of division of Timber Tests 1917

1 The papers include: "Professional Forestry Education," by C. E. Lane Poole; "The Federal Forest Products Laboratory," by I. H. Boas; " Possibilities of Aerial photography surveys for Forest purposes," by Owen Jones; "Notes on the Timber Industry in Tasmania and elsewhere," by E. A. Counsel; "Silviculture in Victoria in relation to Tasmanian Forests," by H. R. Mackay.

120 2.

3· 4.

EMPIRE FORESTRY

Report on the Timbers of British Columbia, by Whitford and Craig ... ..• ... ... Laws respecting Lands and Forests and Timber Regulations of Quebec, published by Department of Lands and Forests Forest Conditions of Nova Scotia, by B. G. Fernon, assisted by C. D. Howe and J. H. White, published by permission of the Department of Crown Lands, Ottawa

JOURNALS, TRANSACTIONS, 1.

3. 4.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

12.

1914

1916

1912

&c.

Royal English Arboricultural Society, quarterly journal of Forestry, (last number, J~nuary, 1922); Chief Editor, Prof. Somerville, M.A., School of Rural Economy, Upiversity of Oxford. Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society, Transactions, Vol. xxxv, Part I, September, 1921; Hon. Editor, A. W. Borthwick, D.Sc. Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, Transactions, Article on "Farm Forestry," by J. Milne Home, Vol. xxxiii, 1921. The Indian Forester, monthly journal of Forestry, Agriculture, Shikar and Travel; Editor, F. W. Perree, Dehra Dun, V.P., published by Pioneer Press, Allahabad. Australian Forestry Journal, issued monthly under the direction of the Forestry Commissioners of New South Wales; Editor, C. J. B. Watson, 25, O'Connell Street, Sydney. Illustrated Canadian Forestry Magazine, monthly, published at Ottawa. Canadian Forestry Journal, published by Canadian Forestry Association, Ottawa. . Pacific Coast Lumberman, monthly, 7°1-3, Pacific Building, Vancouver. Western Lumberman, monthly, 212, Winch Building, Vancouver. • Canada Lumberman, issued twice a month, 347, Adelaide Street, West, Toronto. The Gum Tree, quarterly, issued by the Victorian Branch of Australian Forest League, 89, Powlett Street, Melbourne. Jarrah, quarterly, issued by W. Australian Brancb, St. George's Terrace, Perth.

LIST 01'" PUBLICATIONS

121

Madras Forest College Magazine, published by Principal, Madras Forest College. Occasional papers on Forestry, Indian Science Congress, Asiatic Society of Bengal.

PARLIAMENTARY PUBLICATIONS. I.

House of Commons Reports and Papers, Session 1921 ; Woods, Forests and Land Revenues, Abstract Accounts for 1919-20. Report of the Departmental Committee on Imperial Forestry Education, 1921.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE FORESTRY COMMISSION. I.

Bulletin No. 1. Collection of Data as to the Rate of Growth of Timber 1919 Bulletin No. 2. Survey of Forest Insect Conditions in the British Isles 1920 Bulletin No. 3. Rate of Growth of Conifers in the British Isles ... 1920 First Annual Report of the Forestry Commissioners, year ending September 30, 1920 ••• 1921 Leaflet No. 1. Pine Weevils, a description of the lifehistories and habits of the pine weevils, and of the methods employed in combating these enemies of young plantations. Leaflet No. 2. Chermes Cooleyi, an account of a Ckermes which has recently appeared in Great Britain, attacking Douglas fir. Leaflet No. 3. The Pine Shoot Beetle, a common pest in pine woods. Leaflet No. 4. The Black Pine Beetle, one of the most . destructive bark beetles. \ Leaflet No. 5. Conifer Heart Rot, a common cause of decay in larch and spruce. Leaflet No. 6.. The Honey Fungus, a destructive pest in conifer plantations. Leaflet No. 7. Chermes attacking spruce and other conifers. Leaflet No. 8. Douglas Fir Seed Fly.

EMPIRE FORESTRY

(Published by the Ministry of Agriculture and issued by the Forestry Commission.) , , Leaflet No. 99. Relationship of Woods to Domestic Water Supplies. Leaflet No. 103. The Pine Sawfly. Leaflet No. 140. The Felted Beech Coccus. Leaflet No. 1~6. The Large Larch Sawfly. Leaflet No. 199. A Pine Disease (Diplodia pinea). [Copies of all the leaflets may be obtained free of charge on application to The Secretary, Forestry Commission, 22, Grosvenor Gardens. London, S.W.I.] :.l,

(Publications connected with the Empire Forestry Conference.) (i) British Empire Forestry Conference, 1920A report of the proceedings, with resolutions and sutnmary of statements. H.M. Stationery Office 1921 (ii) Forestry in the United Kingdom-A statement prepared by the Forestry Commission for the British Empire Forestry Conference 1920 (Hi) Statement of Forest Conditions in British India, pr epared under the orders of the Government of India 1920 (iv) Western Australia, Statement prepared for the British Empire Forestry Conference by C. E. Lane PooIe, issued under the authority of the Ministry of Forestry; numerous maps 1920 (v) Forestry in Queensland, Statement prep'lred by Queensland Forest Service 1920 (vi) Forestry in the State of New South Wales, prepared by the Forestry Commission, N.S.W., Sydney 1920 (vii) Forestry in Victoria, Statement prepared by the Forests Commission, Melbourne 1920 (viii) South Australia, Statement prepared by Conservator of Forests. H.M. Stationery Office ... 1920 (ix) New Zealand, Statement compiled from official sources by "vV. M. E, Martin, under the direction of the High Commissioner â&#x20AC;˘.. 1920

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

123

(x) The Forests of Canada, their extent, character, ownership, management, products and probable future, prepared in co-operation with the Dominion Bureau of Statistics ..• 1920 (xi) British Columbia, Forests and Forestry in, prepared by the Forest Department of 1920 B. Columbia ... (xii) Quebec, Forestry in the Province of, prepared by the Assistant Chief of the Forest Service t920 (xiii) Newfoundland, The Forest Resources and Industries of; extracts' from memoranda prepared in 1914 for the Royal Commission on the Natural Resources of certain portions of His Majesty's Dominions 1920 (xiv) Union of South Africa; Statement. Pretoria 1920 (xv) British East Africa, The Forests and Timber Resources of. Waterlowand Sons, London 1920 (xvi) Nyasaland, Forestry in ; Statement prepared by the Chief Forest Officer... ..• ..• 1920 (xvii) Nigeria; Statement prepared by the Forest 4.L\.uthority. Waterlow and Sons ..• ... 1920 (xviii) GQld Coast Colony; Statement by Conservator of Forests. Waterlow and Sons... 1920 (xix) Uganda, Forestry in; Statement by Chief Forest Officer... 1920 (xx) Swaziland, Forestry in; Memo. prepared by the Assistant Commissioner, Hlatikula District. H.M. Stationery Office ... 1920 (xxi) Southern Rhodesia, Forestry in, by J. S. Henkel, Forest Officer. H.M. Stationery 1920 Office •.. (xxii) Malay Peninsula, Forestry in. Federated Malay States Government Press •.• 1920 (xxiii) Ceylon, Forestry in, by J. R. Ainslie; under the authority of Conservator of Forests. Colombo 1920 (xxiv) British Guiana, Forestry in; prepared by the Forest Officer, Department of Lands and Mines, B. Guiana 1920 (xxv) British Honduras, Forestry in; Memo. forwarded by the Governor. H.M. Stat~onery Office ... I9~0 (xxvi) Trinidad and Tobago, Forestry in the Colony of; Statement prepared by the Conservator of Forests, Trinidad •.• 1920

124

EMPIRE FORESTRY

(xxvii) Bermuda, Forestry in; Memo. prepared by the Director of Agriculture (I page) (xxviii) The' Bahamas, Forestry in; report by the Surveyor-General. H.M. Stationery Office (xxix) Jamaica, Forestry in; Letter from the Acting Surveyor-General, forwarded to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. H.M. Stationery Office (xxx) St. Lucia, Windward Islands, Forestry in ; Statement by the Administrator (xxxi) Leeward Islands, Forestry in; from a report prepared by J. J ones, Curator, Leeward Islands (1919). (xxxii) Cyprus, Report on the Natural Resources and present development of the Forests of, by A. K. Bovill, Principal Forest Officer... (xxxiii) Hong Kong, Forestry in; Statement by the Acting Superintendent, Botanical and Forestry Department, Hong Kong... (xxxiv) Weihaiwei, Forestry in; Letter from the Commissioner, Weihaiwei, to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, April 8 ...

192Q 1920

1920 1920

1920-

1920

12 5

TRADE

RETURNS,

1920 AND 192 I.

Statement of the Trade of the United Kingwith foreign countries and British possessions, 1920, compared with the years 1913 and 1919; compiled in the Statistical Office of the Customs and Excise Department ...

ANNUAL

do~

1921

Wood and Timber.

Total value of Imports in 1920, £82,145,214 " 19 19, £7 2,3°6,469 " 19 13, £33,7 88 ,884. Total value of Exports (foreign and colonial merchandise) in 1920, £1,602,505 ,,19'19, £753,53 0 " 19 13, £833,002. Total value of Exports (produce and manufacture of the U.K.) in 1920, £1,011,366 " 19 1 9, £861,7 6 7 19 1 3, £34°,745 Total value of articles of foreign and colonial merchandise retained in the U. K. in 1920, £80,542,7°9 " 19 1 9, £7 1 ,55 2 ,939 " 19 13, £3 2,955,882_ Accounts relating to the Trade and Navigation of the United Kingdom for the year ended December 31, 1921 : Imports of Wood and Timber. Total Value ... ... £3°,°39,165. Exports of Wood and Timber (produce and manufacture of U.K.). Quantities •.• Loads 20,756. Total Value ... £367,0°3. Exports of \Vood and Timber (foreign and colonial merchandise). Total Value ••• c

HONORARY VICE-PRESIDENTS. H.R.H. PRINCE ARTHUR OF CONNAUGHT, K.G., Governor-General of the Union of South Africa. THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE, K.G., Governor-General of the Dominion of Canada. THE EARL OF RONALDSHAY, G.C.I.E., Governor of Bengal. FIELD-MARSHAL VISCOUNT ALLENBY, G.C.B. t High Commissioner of Egypt. ADMIRAL OF TIlE FLEET, VISCOUNT JELLICOE, G.C.B., GovernorGeneral of New Zealand. FIELD-MARSHAL LORD PLUMER, G.C.B., Governor of Malta. THE RIGHT HON. LORD FORSTER, G.C.M.G., Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. LORD WILLINGDON, G.C.I.E., Governor of Madras. GENERAL SIR路 HORACE L. SMITH-DORRIEN, G.C.B., Governor of Gibraltar. SIR SPENCER HARCOURT BUTLER, K.C.S.I., Governor of the United Provinces. SIR E. D. MACLAGAN, K.C.I.E., Governor of Punjab. SIR W. H. MANNING, K.C.M.G., Govern~r of Ceylon. SIR I. N. GUILLEMARD, K.C.B., Governor of the Straits Settlements. MAJOR-GENERAL SIR L. O. FITZM. STACK, K.B.E., GovernorGeneral of Sudan. SIR HUGH CLIFFORD, K.C.M.G., Governor-General of Nigeria. SIR G. F. ARCHER, K.C.M.G., Governor of the Somaliland Protectorate. MAJOR-GENERAL SIR EDWARD NORTI-IEY, K.C.M.G., Governor of . Kenya. MAJOR SIR J. R. CHANCELLOR, K.C.M.G., Governor of Trinidad and Tobago. SIR ROBERT T. CORYNDON, K.C.M.G., Governor of the Uganda Protectorate. SIR CHARLES ALEX. HARRIS, K.C.M.G., Governor of Newfoundland. SIR E. M. MEREWETHER, K.C.V.O., Governor CJf the Leeward Isles. SIR Wm. EDWARD DAVIDSON, K.C.M.G., Governor of New South Wales_ SIR F. A. NEWDIGATE NEWDEGATE, K.C.M.G., Governor of Western Australia. LIEUT.-COLONEL SIR ARCHIBALD WEIGALL, K.C.M.G., Governor of South Australia. LIEUT.-COLONEL THE RIGHT HON. SIR MATTHEW NATHAN, G.C.M.G., Governor of Queensland. MAJOR SIR HESKETH BELL, K.C.M.G., Governor of Mauritius. SIR R. E. STUBBS, K.C.M.G., Governor of Hong Kong_ MAJOR H. E. S. CORDEAUX, C.B., Governor of the Bahamas. BRIG.-GENERAL F. G. GUGGISBERG, C.M.G., Governor of the Gold Coast Colony. CAPTAIN CECIL H. ARMITAGE, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gambia. MR. EYRE HUTSON, C.M.G., Governor of British Honduras. MR. AYLMER CAVENDISH PEARSON, C.M.G., Governor of Borneo. Mr. RICHARD J. WILKINSON, G.M.G., Governor of Sierra Leone. John Bale,

S~ns

and Danielsson, Ltd., 83-91, Great Titchfield Street, London, W.

Empire Forestry Journal of The Empire Forestry Association Imperial Institute London

SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 1922

MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

VOL. I.

Price: 48. net I Dollar

·PLANTING SEASON, 1922-1923. SITKA SPRUCE. DOUGLAS FIR.

Millions ill stock 01 healthy hardy wellIIro_ll plants.

Samples a~d Special prices on demand.

LARCH, EUROPEAN. LA~CH, JAPANESE. SCOTS FI~. NORWAY SPRUCE. THUJA OIOANTEA,

Special Carriaie paid quotations.

&c., &c. SPECIAL

LIST

TREE

SEEDS AND

SEEDLINOS

publl.lIed IIJ JalJuary.

TRANSPLANTING BOA~DS &. SHELTERS SCULICH'S NOTCHING SPADES, SEMI. CI~CULA~ PLANTINO SPADES, &'c., &c. Per.ollal llls".ctloll IlJvlted.

Catalogues

Po.t

Free.

BENJAMIN REID & CO. SEEDSMEN and NURSERYMEN to the King. 8y Appointment.

T.legraphiclI~d~d~·~bel'deen:'

ABERDEEN.

THE "IDEAL"

FENCE

FOR FORESTRY

OR whatever purpose and in any part of F the world" Ideal" Fencing will be found to be the cheapest and best. "Ideal" is

8,000

MILES 01 "Ideal l l FeDciD' have bee D erected b¥ the two peat Canadian Railwa¥s

made in many styles from small mesh netting to keep out ground vermin to heavy strand fencing for protection against wild beasts. " Ideal" is the only fencing where the junction of every wire is gripped by the" Ideal" Lock, specially constructed for rigidity and strength. Write lor lully Illustrated Price List (0). Advice lellclll6 problems free alJd special quotatlolJ. lor large QualJtltle••

0.11

L. GOODMAN

IDEIL~FEICE WOVEN WIRE

B SON, : ~t'lli'iT~:::O:B:fol:

EMPIRE FORESTRY ASSOCIATION.

Patron: H.M. THE KING.

President: H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES.

Chat"rlnan: The Rt. Hon. VISCOUNT NOVAR, P.C., G.C.M.G.

Vice- Chairl1zan : Lieut.-Colonel G. L. COURTHOPE, M.P.

GoverninK Council: The DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE, K.G. The EARL OF PLYMOUTH, G.B.E., C.B. EARL BUXTON, G.C.M.G. VISCOUNT MILNER, K.G., G.C.B. The Rt. Hon. VISCOUNT NOVAR, P.C., G.C.M.G. Sir JOHN STIRLING MAXWELL, Bart. Sir JAMES ALLEN, K.C.B. Sir CLAUDE HILL, K.C.S.I. Sir FREDERICK HO:QGSON, K.C.M.G. Sir GEORGE HART, K.B.E., C.I.E. Lieut.-Colonel S. S. MALLINSON, D.S.O., l\I.C. Lieut.-Colonel R. M. BECKETT. Lieut.-Colonel G. L. COURTHOPE, M.P. Mr. ROBSON BLACK. Mr. M. C. DUCHESNE, F.S.I. Mr. H. R. MACKAY. Mr. W. S. MILLARD. Mr. H. MORRISON, M.P. Mr. A. H. ASHBOLT. Mr. F. B. SMITH, C.M.G. Mr. W. TURNBULL.

Secretary.' Mr. J. S. CORBETT.

Edz'tor 0/ Journal.' Mr. S. M. EDWARDES, C.S.I.,tl"C.V.O. Hon. Treasurer.'

Sir JOHN STIRLING MAXWELL, Bart.

CONTENTS. PAGE I.

EDITORIAL NOTES AND MISCELLANEA

127

WESTMJNSTER HALL, BY SIR FRANK BAINES

203

NOTE ON THE OAK USED IN WESTMINSTER HALL,

214

BY LT.-COLONEL G. L. COURTHOPE

TIMBER DEPLETION I~ THE UNITED STATES, BY

216

SIR JOHN STIRLING MAXWELL •••

SYLVICULTURAL TREATMENT

G. E. 6.

OF EUCALYPTS, BY

BROCKWAY •••

229

THE INDIAN FOREST RESEARCH

INSTITUTE,

247

SIR GEORGE HART

FEMELSCHLAGBETRIEB, BY

THE DURABILITY OF

R. M.

INDIAN

253

GORRIE

TEAK,

S. M.

EDWARDES •••

257

THE CHENCHUS OF THE MADRAS FORESTS

261

10.

REVIEW

267

11.

LIST OF RECENT FORESTRY PUBLICATIONS

273

12.

LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE EMPIRE FORESTRY ASSOCIATION...

277

DOUGl.AS FIR AND \VESTERN HEMLOCK, BRITISH COLUMBIA.

Frontispiece.]

EMPIRE

FORESTR Y.

EDITORIAL NOTES AND MISCELLANEA. THE Governing Council of the Empire Forestry Association regret to announce that the response to their appeal for membership and for funds to support the An Appeal. varied work of the Association has, so far, been most disappointing. The Council fully recognize that the times are most unpropitious for the collection of funds for public purposes, and that a subject like the promotion of Forestry appeals less strongly to the ilnagination of the average man than projects and propositions which offer an immediate return in money. Nevertheless, the whole question of our timber resources is of such vital import to the future welfare of the Empire that the Council feel constrained once again to solicit public support of the Association. Unless this is forthcoming the Council will be compelled, albeit most reluctantly, to suspend the publication of the Journal. Considering the warm welcome extended from all quarters to the first issue in March last, the Council entertain hopes that this appeal will not be in vain, and that sufficient funds will yet be forthcoming in the form of donations and subscriptions to justify not only the continued appearance of the EMPIRE FORESTRY JOURNAL, but also the existence of the Association itself, which, in view of the immense distances to be traversed, requires a period路 of at least two years to establish its influence in various parts of the Empire.

A' MEETING was recently held in London of represen~atives of the Forestry Commission and the Empire The Programme Forestry Association, with the object of of the laying down more precisely the character of Association. the duties to be undertaken by the latter

128

:EMPIRE FORESTRY

body and so obviating the possibility of duplication of work. It was agreed that the Empire Forestry Association should concentrate its activities on the following programme :(a) Forestry propaganda. (b) The issue of a Journal and other publications. (c) The promotion of Imperial commercial interests in the sphere of utilization and marketing of timber. (d) The preparation of timber exhibitions and of a permanent exhibit of Empire commercial timbers. (e) Representation on appropriate committees of the Forest Products Board. (f) Collaboration with Forestry Associations and with the work of the various Forest Services of the Empire. (g) The. preparation of suggestions or advice upon problelns formulated by the Forestry Commission and forwarded to the Empire Forestry Association for opinion. Other business transacted at the meeting. included a statement by Lord Lovat, Chairman of the Forestry Commission, that the question of establishing an Imperial Bureau, as recommended by the Imperial Forestry Conference of 1920, should preferably be held in abeyance until after the next Conference. A letter, which was read at the meeting, is accordingly being forwarded to the Colonial Office, requesting that a notification to the above effect may be sent to the governments of all the Dominions, Colonies and States of the Empire. Lord Lovat further announced that the Treasury were prepared to sanction the loan by the Forestry Commission to the Empire Forestry Association of the part-time services of Mr. Fraser Story, who would be responsible for editing the Journal and other publications of the Association, in addition to his official duty of preparing a report upon the world's soft wood resources and a survey of British \voodlands .and census of production. The accommodation and clerical staff required by Mr. Story will be provided by the Empire Forestry Association. THE following telegraphic message, dated March IS, 1922, was received by the Secretary of State for the Good News Colonies from. t~e President, Queensland from Forestry AssocIatIon :Queensland and H Please transmit following message to Kenya Colony. Lord Novar. 'Greetings from Queensland

EDITORIAL NOTES AND MISCELLANEA

129

Forestry Association formed last night. Their inaugural meeting March 30, coincides with Australian Forestry Conference in Brisbane.' H

NATHAN, (President)."

The folJowing reply was sent :" Reciprocate greetings. All success to the Queensland Forestry Association. "NOVAR, It

(Chairn~an, Entpire

Forestry Association)."

The Empire Forestry Association extends a hearty \velcome to its friends in Queensland, and trusts that these cable messages may be the harbinger of a firm alliance between the two bodies. We await with interest the receipt of further information of the Queensland Association's inauguration and activities, and hope to receive regular communications from its managing committee and menlbers on all matters appertaining to forestry in that country. Such support and co-operation as the Empire :Forestry Association can afford to Queensland's foresters and forest interests will be most willingly accorded. Equally encouraging is the fact, reported at a meeting .of the Governing Council, that all the officers of the forest service of Kenya Colony have joined our Association, and that a luovement is on foot to establish a forestry association which will, it is hoped, be affiliated \vith the Empire Forestry Association. .A propos of the appeal in the opening paragraph of these notes for increased financial support, it is gratifying to "THE EMPIRE be able to record the fact that the contents FORESTRY of the first number of the Empire Forestry JOURNAL." Association's Journal have met with general approval: and we take this opportunity of expressing our sincere acknowledgments to those who have contributed articles to that number from various parts of the Empire. Their example win, it is hoped, stimulate others to assist in like nlanner this branch of our Association's activities, and to furnish the Editor with articles, notes and correspondence for publication. It has been suggested that such a subject as H The Relationship of Forests to Climate might well be adopted as the theme of a series of papers, written by forest officers on the.basis of their own 11

130

EMPIRE FORESTRY

experience and observations in the various countries and climates in which they are working. Such a series would be of great interest and of permanent value. Equally acceptable would be notes and articles on insect pests and fungi, which, apart from their general utility, might on occasion serve as useful danger-signals to countries contemplating the introduction of new species of trees. We appeal, also, to our readers and others interested in forestry to send us not only original articles of a technical character, but also articles of a popular type, descriptive of the country, its inhabitants and social life, and its main products and industries. Notes on the affairs and progress of Forestry Societies in all parts of the Empire; notices or reviews of new books, pamphlets, journals, &c., especially those published in the Dominions, Crown Colonies and Protectorates; and personal notes recording changes, transfers and resignations in the Forestry cadres, will likewise be welcomed. There is, indeed, hardly any limit to the scope of the material which we hope to publish, and we appe.al earnestly to all experts, students and supporters of Forestry in its Inanifold aspects to assist us by constant written communications and contributions in making this Journal truly representative of the whole Empire. The ignorance of the ordinary Englishman on the subject of the life of his fello\v-Briton overseas, and of the problems which confront him in the development of those remote lands, is profound. In the donlain of Forestry, we may be able gradually. to dispel in some measure that ignorance, provided that those \vho are actually. dealing with those problems will utilize the pages of our Journal to ventilate their views and publish for the benefit of those in the mother country the great store of first-hand knowledge and experience which they possess. In July, 1921, the English Forestry Association applied to the Empire Forestry Association for advice as to The Testing ~hom they sho~ld send. certain sa~lples ~f of. Empire tImber for phySIcal testIng, and thIS apphTimbers. cation led the Empire Forestry Association to conduct an inquiry into the present position of timbertesting and technology throughout the Etnpire.

EDITORIAL NOTES AND AflSCELLANEA

I31

The information thus collected shows that India (at Dehra Dun) and Canada (at Wisconsin) possess institutions, fully equipped with laboratories, machinery and an expert staff, capable of undertaking any scientific investigation into timber and forest products, while Australia proposes to establish, if she has not already done so, a similar institution in Sydney. These three countries are thus in a position to perform an the expert inquiries and tests demanded by the economic side of their forest policy, and are far more favourably circumstanced than the Crown Colonies and other dependencies which do not possess institutes for forest-research. In some of the Crown Colonies, the absence of facilities for expert investigation has obliged the holders of large timber concessions to undertake such work themselves, and to increase their staff by the appointment of scientists and ,engineers. While there may be no great objection in many cases to permitting private enterprise to supplant official control, it is on general principles better that investigations of this nature should be carried out by those who produce, and not by those who exploit, the national timber supplies. Forest-research work in England is undertaken by so many different bOdies, that an engineer would have difficulty in deciding to which of them to apply for information, and the overlapping of functions and consequent waste of money are rendered inevitable. While testing machinery is installed only at the Imperial Institute and the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington, forestresearch is carried out at the Imperial Institute, at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, by the Board of Scientific and Industrial Research at Kew,and at the National Physical Laboratory. Of these various institutions, the Imperial Institute possesses a Timber Committee which has spent much time in preparing reports on several Colonial timbers, which are probably little known and rarely read by those who might derive most benefit from them; while the Board of Scientific and Industrial Research comprises a special Timber Products Research Board. In addition to these existing institutions, it is proposed, when funds permit, to establish an Imperial Forestry Bureau, which will also deal with the technology of timber and forest products.

13 2

EMPIRE FORESTRY

No evidence is available as to the scope of the work undertaken by the various bodies above-mentioned in the domain of forestry, nor as to the actual proportion of their annual cost which could be properly debited to the head of timber investigation. But it seems prima facie undeniable that this multiplication of authorities must engender confusion and waste, and that Great Britain and the rest of the Empire could not but benefit by the establishment of one central authority charged with the task of carrying out all tests on Empire timbers, which cannot be arranged for by the three institutes in India, Canada and Australia, of dealing with all matters of technology, and of advising as to the best means of standardizing the trade names of Empire timbers. The subject is one which has engaged the attention of the Empire Forestry Association since the middle of 1921; and every eftort is being made, in conjunction with the leading experts concerned, to evolve order out of present conditions, and to combine the spasmodic activities of the various bodies which undertake research work in one appeal-court of primary importance, to which all producers and users of Empire timbers can safely and with confidence apply for advice or information. Whatever may be the ultimate upshot of our Association's inquiry, the publicity which it is proposed to give to the subject in the pages of this journal cannot fail to be of advantage to the timber-using and timberpurchasing public, which is at present ignorant of the existing facilities for obtaining information regarding the suitability of timbers for particular purposes. activities - indeed the very existence - of the Forestry Commission have narro\vly escaped premature The Geddes extinction at the instanee of the Committee Report on on National Expenditure. In the course of Natio?al their report Sir Eric Geddes and his ExpendIture. colleagues wrote:"The amounts voted each year, as grants to the Forestry Fund, and the estimated amount required for 1922-23, are as follows :£ 99,000 19 1 9- 20 £379,000 19 20- 21 £200,000 19 21 - 22 1922-23 (provisional estilnate) £275,000

THE

EDITORIAL NOTES AND MISCELLANEA

133

H We are informed that the activities of the Forestry Commissioners are based upon the report of the recon~ struction committee, dated May, 1917. This report proposed the afforestation with conifers of 1,180,000 acres in forty years, of which 200,000 acres were allotted to the first decade, 75 per cent. to be planted by the State. In addition, 20,000 acres of land suitable for hard woods, were to be acquired; private owners were to be encouraged by means of grants to afforest and to re-plant felled areas, and education and research were to be subsidized. " It is obvious to us that the expenditure at present being incurred and forecast is merely the prelude to a gradually extending policy, and an organizationincluding provision for education and research-is being built up to cope with it on the largely extended scale. " We recognize the enthusiasm and public spirit of the Commissioners, but in the present condition of the country's finances we cannot recommend that this expenditure-which will always show a heavy loss and \vhich cannot reach full fruition for something like eighty years-should be continued. U We are of opinion : U (I) That the scheme of afforestation by the State should be discontinued. "(2) That the vote of £275,000 for 1922-23 should not be allowed, and that steps should be taken to cancel the power to spend the remaining £2,822,060 of the total of £3,5°0,000 authorized under the Forestry Act, 1919. "(3) That any unspent balance in the fund should be surrendered to the Exchequer after meeting any liabilities accruing in 1922-23 in respect of timber survey." These recommendations were stoutly opposed by those interested in forestry and timber. It was felt that the Committee had ignored the main argument for afforestation in Great Britain, namely, national security. 11 In time of War, England, without an adequate supply of timber within its own shores, is exposed to very great peril. During the Great War, the expenditure incurred on foreign timber was colossal, and the huge cargo space required for such a bulky import endangered the supply of food from overseas, and at one time brought the cO,untry to the brink of starvation. The insurance

134

EMPIRE FORESTRY

against such a calamnitY-ÂŁ350,ooo annually-is a trifle. No heed was given in the Report to the cheapness of the afforestation, which is carried out in 'many cases on leased land, no capital expenditure for land purchase being required. The Government in November, 1921, actually allotted to the Forestry Commission an extra ÂŁ250,000, out of the Unemployment Fund, which puts 5,000 idle men at work in replanting the woodland areas felled during the war. The Forestry Commission has acquired large areas of land; it has entered into many leases and contracts; it o\vns millions of seedlings ready for transplanting; it has established schools for woodmen and instituted research. It is evident that the" scrapping" of such an efficient service would result in an immediate and great loss of money, and be a waste rather than an economy." (Nature, February 16, 1922.) Among the corporate bodies, which most hotly condemned the proposals of the Geddes Committee, was the North of Scotland Home Timber Merchants' Association, which held a meeting at Aberdeen on February 17 and unanimously resolved to recommend the Government, through the Prime Minister, to reject the proposals. The resolution, as adopted by the meeting, called attention to the fact that the Forestry Commission was instituted primarily for the purpose of securing a minimum of three years' supply of timber against a further national emergency; and that, although the legislation introduced and the moneys appropriated were limited to the first ten years, it is obvious that if Great Britain is to produce a reasonable proportion of its own timber requirements, a much more rapid and comprehensive policy of afforestation must .be adopted. The two main dangers confronting the country are (a) her dependence on imported timber in times of war; (b) the precarious character of her timber-supply in times of peace. Moreover, in time of war the saving of shipping is a vital consideration. The Geddes Report disregarded the fundamental principles of scientific forestry-namely the planting in perpetuity of timber crops on approved working-plan methods, which have been found both suitable and essential in all other well - afforested countries. In the 'opinion of the British Timber Trade, the interests of the tax-payer would be better served by

EDITORIAL NOTES AND MISCELLANEA

135

the continuance of a forest policy on sound economic lines than by the abandonment of schemes which are at present in their initial stages. . }t"'ortunately these views, which found considerable support in the Press, were recognized by the Government as sound, and the fate which menaced the existence of the Forestry Commission has, at any rate for the present, been averted, though the full programme of the Commission has had to be in some measure curtailed. In a speech delivered in the House of Commons on l\1arch I, the Chancellor of the Exchequer stated that the Forestry Department had not been very long in existence and that, if it were now abolished, the sum of £1°7,000 already expended on forestry operations would be a dead loss to the country. Compensation would also have to be paid to the officers of the department, and expenditure would still be necessary in carrying Qut some of the :Forestry Department's functions through the agency of the Office of Woods and Forests and the Board of Agriculture. Taking all these facts into consideration, and remembering that the Forestry Department will cost the Exchequer next year only £40,000, because it has savings in hand which will make up the difference, the Government has dete.rmined in the meantime to continue the Department of Forestry. The Chancellor added that it would be a misfortune to arrive hurriedly at a decision \vhich Inight result in Great Britain being the only country in the world that possessed no department to deal with forestry. This decision of Government has naturally been welcomed by the Empire Forestry Association and all those who recognize the vital importance of afforestation to the national welfare; and it is to be hoped that no further attempts will be made to hamper or cancel the valuable work which the Forestry Commissioners are pledged to carry out. That the decision should have been taken at a period of acute financial stress, when the demand for rigid economy is paramount, is eminently satisfactory, as showing that the warnings of experts and of the small body of men who really study and comprehend the problem of the imperial timber supply have not failed of effect. Other countries of the Empire, in which political expediency may threaten to interrupt the pro-

EMPIRE FORESTRY

gramme and activities of their forest experts, may take a , lesson on this occasion from the British Government, which, despite the recommendations of a very powerful committee of able men of business and a loud popular demand for wholesale retrenchment of public expenditure, has shown that it has not forgotten the difficulties of .the lean years of international strife and that it is not wholly unmindful of its duty towards later generations. EARLY in March it was announced in the London Press that nominations for four Verderers of Epping Forest The Ancient would take place on the 18th of that month, Office of and that if a poll was demanded the elec,:, Verderer. tions would be held three or four days later. In reference to this announcement, the Observer of l\:Iarch sth, 1922, published a brief and interesting account of the office of Verderer which is one of the oldest in England. Fisher, in hi~ history of the Forest of Essex, states that the Verderers (Veridarii) are the successors of the Primarii, the four chief Inen, who were appointed by Canute's Forest Law to do justice in the Royal Forests. To~ether with the steward, foresters, regarders, agisters and woodwards, the Verderer was one of the indispensable forest officials, and in early times was chosen by the freeholders. From the fifteenth century there were four Verderers in Epping, then known as Waltham Forest; and at a court held in 1250 as many as eighteen are named. In those old days a Verderer had to swear a solemn oath, H truly to serve the King in the office of Verderer in the Forest of Waltham, to the uttermost of his power and knowledge to do for the profit of the King so far as it appertained him to do; to preserve and maintain the ancient rights and franchises of the Crown; not to conceal from His Majesty any rights or privileges, nor any offence either in vert or venison, nor any other thing; to deal indifferently with all the King's liege people; to execute the laws and assises of the forest, and do equal right and justice as well to the poor as to the rich in what appertained to his office, and not to oppress any person by colour thereof for any reward, favour, or malice." The Verderers had to be esquires or gentlemen of good

EDITORIAL NOTES AND MISCELLANEA

137

account, ability and living, wise and discreet men, and well learned in the laws of the forest. They were路 the judges of the Court of Attachments and presided at the Swainmote and had the custody of the Rolls of the Forest Courts. They were entitled to fee deer: but at times the fee, which consisted of two bucks and a doe, was not very regularly paid. Excepting their small jurisdiction in the matter of vert, the powers of the Verderers were practically limited to inquiries into matters presented at the Court of Attachments by the Forest Officers. If they exceeded their powers, they were liable to a heavy fine. Thus in 1670, each of the Verderers of the Forest was fined 拢20 at the justice seat for having discharged a man caught in the act of killing a stag and having distributed the fine at their pleasure. Their action on this occasion transgressed an ancient law which provided that a person arrested for killing a wild beast in the forest without warrant should not be . set free except by special order of the King or his justices. The abolition of the Justice Seat and the Swainmote left the officials of the Forest without power to prevent numerous encroachments and enclosures of the waste; and consequently, an Act was passed early in the nineteenth century by which the Verderers were empowered to inquire into cases of unlawful enclosure and to prosecute the offenders in the Court of Attachments. The Verderers of that date, however, appear to have been careless in the performance of this duty; and towards the middle of the century the task of enforcing the rights of the Crown was taken out of their hands and entrusted to the Commissioner of Woods and Forests. Twenty-five years later the Corporation of the City of London began to exercise jurisdiction 0ver the Forest. Various difficulties supervened in consequence; but a sett~ement was finally effected in 1878 by the passing of the Epping Forest Act, which disafforested the whole area and abolished the Crown rights of vert and venison, the Forest Courts and Offices, and the burdens and restrictions of the forest laws and customs. The Corporation of the City of London were appointed Conservators of the Forest, and the deer were transferred to them as objects of ornament. Their primary duty was 10

EMPIRE !.'ORESTRY

declared to be the keeping of the Forest free from all building and its protection and management as an open . space for the recreation and enjoyment of the public. The ancient office of Verderer still survives in altered form: for under the Act of 1878 four Verderers ha:ve to be elected periodically; and they, together with twelve members of the Court of Common Council, constitute the Epping Forest Committee, which has authority H to exercise the powers and discretion which the Conservators are empowered to do and exercise." The Verderers and the Committee hold several meetings every year concerning the management and preservation of the Forest, both in the Forest itself and at the Guildhall. THE Duke of Atholl presided at the annual meeting of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society in January, 1922, and in moving the adoption of the Scottish report, remarked that forestry, like everyForestry. thing else, had suffered somewhat severely from the prevailing economic depression. The coal strike had caused much loss, and the widespread industrial depression which followed it had rendered homegrown timber unsaleable. But even had there been a market, their trade was throttled at their own doors. Timber was still being imported from abroad at rates with which home-grown timber could successfully compete, were it not for railway rates. Speaking as a grower of timber, he did not complain of fair competition, but the deliberate paralysing of the market for home produce by the imposition of excessive freights, as against foreign produce, seemed to him bad for the country, bad for forestry, and indeed bad business from the standpoint of the railways. During the ,var a 10S. flat rate meant the sale of props, which meant planting, which iJ.1 turn meant employment, while the raising of rates meant no sales, no planting and no employment. It cost 28s. a ton to send timber from Aberdeen or Inverness to the areas where sales could be effected, which meant that out of every IS. 4d. which they obtained for Scotch fir, they had to pay IS. in freight. Yet, even in adversity there was sometimes good; and undei the Government unemployment scheme, the credit for which was due to the Forestry Commission, they had been able to do a路 good

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deal. In his own case, for example, he had been enabled to keep 100 men in employment, which but for the scheme would have been impossible. The grant, in fact, had resulted in about 15,000 acres being prepared and planted by the landowners themselves; and he expressed the opinion that a system of direct grants carefully watched and controlled by a Government department, "vas not only the cheapest means of carrying out their object that the Government could employ, but also provided a direct stimulus to the industry, and would thus be of direct benefit to the people of Scotland. Lord Lavat, Chairman of the Forestry Commission, gave an interesting resume of the work so far aCCOlnplished by the Forestry Commission. In their estate forestry programme they were well up to date both as regards the acquisition of land, and the area planted. But like several other departments, they \vere trembling under the axe of ithe Geddes Committee, and could not foresee what their position would be twelve months hence. By the application of a considerable portion of the unemployment grant to this season's planting operations, they would probably plant this year from 13,000 to 15,000 acres, which would be considerably in excess of their programme. The need of afforesting their land was one on which they could not insist too stronglyfor the woods of Great Britain were devastated to an extent which he \vas sure the people of this country did not realize. Of the 3,000,000. acres' of timber in Great Britain, a very large percentage was quite unsaleable, consisting, as it does, of oak coppice, birch scrub, and wood used for amenity and not for commercial purposes. It was hoped by 1924-1925 to get the first census of woodlands which had ever been obtained in this country. This census was now in progress, and would ultimately enable the Forestry Commission to inform persons interested, which woods are potentially productive, and which are non-productive. Including the 15,000 acres in Scotland which had either been planted or prepared, the total figure for Great Britain would probably be about 25,000 acres. The Forestry Commission, realizing that there must be a market for thinnings, is alive to the importance of the question of railway freight charges; for if the pro-

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prietors who plant 96 per cent. of the woods of Great Britain are unable to consign their thinnings to market, they will obviously be obliged to relinquish planting. It is manifestly inexpedient that railway rates should be maintained at a level which prohibits the despatch of pit-props to the coal mines and other consuming centres. "DID ancient Scotland possess large areas of forest? If so, what has happened to them? What forces have caused their disappearance? These quesScotch !o~ests tions are answered by Captain Robinson in of A n t l q u l t } ' . " . a paper read before the Inverness Fleld Club last January. The only records which remain to tell of the strange fluctuations of climate and vegetation in Scotland consist of the scant stores of insignificant debris lying at the bottom of ancient lakes, or in the depths of peat bogs. After keen scrutiny of these deposits, geologists declare with assurance that after the expiry of the Ice Age, and before man had penetrated into northern Britain, arctic plants spread from the hills to the sea level, but that barely had these glacial immigrants obtained a foothold in the \vestern and northern islands before a warmer and drier climate ushered in the lower forest of the peat. Birch, hazel and alder trees appeared in the valleys, and gradually climbing the hillsides, spread in a vast forest, extending to an altitude of nearly 2,000 feet. This forest even spread to the Hebrides and the Shetland Isles, where now no trees can grow. This warm and dry period was succeeded by a second period of cold; glaciers appeared in the Highland valleys; arctic plants once again crept down\vards into the lowland plains. In many places the forest of the preceding epoch, hampered and swamped by the formation of boggy pools and sphagnum moss about its roots, -decayed, fell, and was buried by great morasses and peat mosses. It was probably during these inhospitable ages that man arrived in Scotland. These conditions eventually yielded to a drier climate, which gave birth to the greatest forest that Scotland has ever known. This was the Upper }4"orest of the Peat, ,composed mainly of the Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) , which now for the first time invaded Britain. It differed 11

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geographically from the old forest of birch, hazel and alder; for it spread from the lowlands of Wigtownshire to the north of Sutherland, but did not apparently extend to the Hebri.des or Shetland Isles. On the mainland, however, it reached an altitude of 3,000 feet, i.e., 1,000 feet higher than the Scotch birch woods of to-day. A rough calculation indicates that this upper forest covered an area at least ten times as large as' that of Scotland's present woods: it spread over half the country, while the n10dern woods cover at the most only a twenty-fifth part of the land area. Man, though well-established in Scotland at the period of greatest forest growth, and in continuous occupation ever since that date, was not alone responsible for the reduction of the wooded area. The peat mosses reveal the fact that a period of wetter conditions supervened, during which the masses of le recent" peat were formed: physical conditions favoured the extension of peat and moorland areas at the expense of the forest. The humid acid of the peat-bog was destructive of tree life, and the fierce winds which swept across the country were inimical to all but low-growing moorland vegetation . Thus the destructive influence of man found an allv in the processes of Nature. At the present day the moist conditions of the epoch of the "recent ,,. peat formation have somewhat changed, for in many places the peat itself is decaying and being washed away. Were it not for man, the forest area would therefore now again, in all probability, be expanding. The gulf which lies between the record of the peatbogs and the dawn of history is shrouded in impenetrable gloom. We know not at what period of human development the great Upper Forest of the Peat began to decay; b~t it certainly had been replaced to some extent by swamp before the commencement of the Christian era. Roman historians unanimously describe Caledonia as a land of clouds and rain, of bogs and morasses. Other evidence, such as that deduced from the distribution of primitive iron-smelting furnaces, seems to indicate the existence of great tracts of forest during late prehistoric times, in areas where woodland has almost, if not wholly, disappeared. The earliest references to Scottish woodlands are of. comparatively

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late date, and show that in the I zth century it had . become necessary to impose laws and penalties in connection with the conservation of forests. The Leges Forestarum. usually ascribed to the reign of William the Lion (1165-1214) though by many held to be of later date, prohibit the taking of fire or domestic animals into the woods, and also the felling of oak trees. From that date onwards frequent references to forests will be found in Scots laws and charters, the "forests" being really areas given over to hunting and containing no arable land. Those forests bore some resemblance to the It deer forests" of our day, for besides containing woodland and covert for the shelter of their wild denizens, they comprised also open areas of pasture or, as it was termed, 4C vert." During the 14th and 15th centuries and later, the forests of Scotland underwent rapid destruction at the hands of man, despite the promulgation of successive laws designed for the preservation of old, and the planting of new, timber. The penalties provided for breaches of these statutes were increasingly severe. The attitude of the Scotch Parliaments was probably dictated not so tnuch by the actual disappearance of woods as by the great and increasing importance of timber to the national welfare, -and the difficulty in finding supplies adequate to the constant demand. But notwithstanding the destructive activity of the Scotch peasant, the country was by no means destitute of good forests in the 16th century; and the verdict of travellers like Fynes l\10ryson and Aeneas Sylvius, who regarded the country as bare of trees, has to be qualified by the records of the Scottish Parliament, sitting in Edinburgh in 1609, whose members ~ere overjoyed at It the discovery of woods in the Highlands, which, by reason of the savageness of the inhabitants, had been unknown, or at least unused/' Statutes of the latter half of the 17th century mention by name thirty or more different forests in Scotland, and Gilpin draws a delightful picture of Scottish forest scenery at the end of the 18th century. Captain Robinson enumerates the places which still contaiI). remains of the great natural woods of Scotland. In the south the Ettrick forest is represented by a few patches of birch and oak; in the midlands a few trees,

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scattered here and there throughout the country-in Glen Falloch near the head of .Loch Lomond, on the' mass of Ben Lui, in the Black Wood of Rannoch, in the Ballochbuie Forest at the foot of Lochnagar, in Lochiel Old Forest gn Loch Arkaig, in Glen Nevis, and in the neighbourhood of Loch Linne~are all that are left of the great" Wod of Cal~don." The fine Forest of Rothiemurchus, whose dark masses of pine woods cluster about the northern base of the Grampians, still affords in its local developmen t a grand idea of the wooded Scotland of prehistoric ages. The ancient woods of the northern Highlands survive on the shores of Loch Maree, in the Rhidorrech or Dark Forest north of Ullapool, in the Glens of Strathfarar, Affric and ~Ioris足 ton, and, in the extreme north, in a few trees on the Oykell above Rosehall. In those far-off days when man first settled in the land, probably half Scotland was covered with forest. To-day the wooded area is only 4 or 4 5 per cent. of the whole. Surely herein lies matter for meditation by those who are developing the younger countries of the En1pire. 0

rrHE Legislative Assembly of Western Australia decided towards the end of last year that a Select Committee Forestry and shou~d be appointed to inquire into the Politics in workIng of the Forestry Department. At Weste~n the instance of the Premier, the Committee Austrahao was enlarged to a Royal Commission. The scope of the inquiry will be very wide; for, according to an article in the ~Vest Australian of October 6, 1921, the Commission was to review (I) the general working of the Forest Act of 1918; (2) the financial clauses of the Act and their operation; and (3) the extensions of the Millars' Timber and Trading Company's leases and concessions and to make recommendations on this subject to the Assembly. It appears that these company leases and concessions were the immediate cause of tension between the Minister concerned and the Conservator, the latter adopting the view that extensions of the concessions should not be granted unless the Company accepted the same terms as apply to the concession of a new timber licence. The Ministry, on the other hand, were inclined to grant an extension of the concessions on the existing

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terms. It appears, however, from the terms of reference to. the Commission that the proposed inquiry was to include much more than the conflict of opinion on this point between the politicians and the forest expert. The whole forest policy of Western Australia was to be reviewed, including the question whether the West Australian Parliament, in passing the Forests Act of 1918, was right in affirming the principle that control of afforestation should be as free as possible from political pressure. The position is viewed with alarm by the Conservator of Forests, .who, in concluding his annual report, remarks that 44 The forest policy of Western Australia is to-day passing through a crisis, the outcome of which cannot be foreseen. Swept by the full force of vested timberexploiting interests and lacking support from the one quarter which could give support, it threatens to become a total wreck." In support of h,is attitude he quotes the pronouncement of the Commission which inquired into the forest problems of the United Kingdom, regarding the danger that politics hold for a policy which, if it is to succeed, must be continuous, not for years, but for generations. " The afforestation policy of the State, once embarked upon, should be as little as possible liable to be disturbed by political changes or moulded by political pressure. We cannot, and do not, claim that it should be indepenaent of Parliamentary control, but when Parliament has once adopted a policy of afforestation, the decisions that have to be taken as that policy develops should not be taken by politicians, and if grievances and difficulties arise, they should be adjusted in an atmosphere in which forest policy, and not political expediency, is the deciding factor." While not prepared to take as pessimistic a view of the position as the Conservator of Forests, one may reason路 ably hope that a scientific forest expert \vill have been appointed a member ot the Commission, which otherwise will presumably be composed entirely of politicians. Such an appointment is essential where, as in this case, the policy of an important d~partment and the soundness of its administration are under investigation. Moreover the value of the timber industry in Western Australia is in itself a good and. sufficient reason for not endangering

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the conclusions of the Commission by the omission to include ~ trained forester in its personnel. The total quantity of timber cut from the forests during the year ending June 30, 1921, was 11,469,000 cubic feet of sawn timber, of which 1,457,75Â° cubic feet were obtained from private property and the balance from Crown lands. The net value of timber exported was ÂŁ1,162,735, representing an output of 9,816,250 cubic feet. It would be disastrous to Western Australia if the vital importance of preserving this great source of \vealth were overlooked, or if a sound policy of forest-conservation were reversed in deference to the demands of a powerful sectional interest. The Commission, one may be sure, \vill deal adequately with the needs of the present; but in view of the position usually assigned to forestry in democratic states, to which we alluded in the editorial notes in the first issue of this Journal, one has not the same assurance that the requirements of future generations \vill be equally safeguarded. The result of the Commission's inquiry will be awaited with keen interest; for on its recommendations depends the whole future of forestry in Western Australia. While it is obvious that the expert forester cannot be permitted to encroach unduly upon the sphere of the politician's activities, it is, per contra, still more essential that purely political interference in the work of the forest authorities should be rendered itnpossible. One can only echo the hope of the Western Australian press that the work of the Commission will result in promoting a better understanding between the F'orestry and I.iands Departments and in co-ordinating the efforts which are necessary if the State is to reap the full benefit of its varied resources. Whatever vie\\Ts on the continuance of a definite forest policy may ultimately prevail in Australia, outside observers cherish no illusions on the subject. The latest champion of conservation and regeneration is Dr. Arnold Heim, a Swiss scientist and President of the Geological Society of Zurich, who recently paid a visit to Australia. Speaking to a press reporter at Melbourne, he said: "I have been deeply impressed to find your most wonderful timber ruined even far away from roads and railways. The most magnificent hardwood trees of the world, each one of which would be admired in Europe and looked

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on as a little fortune, are shamelessly ringbarked, killed and fired. This rough method might be justified for a new settlement on timbered country to prepare land for intense culture, but here it is continued in order to provide more grass for cattle and sheep." Dr. Heim added that the results of this policy, or lack of policy, were already apparent, particularly to the north of Murrurundi (N. S. Wales), where square miles of soil had commenced gliding towards the valleys even at an angle of seven degrees only; and he expressed his profound amazement that this practice of destroying the timber resources of the country should be allowed to continue and that even the Ministers appeared to be blind to the calamity of the future. It looks as if those who control the future of Australia's forests needed to imbibe something of the prescience and enthusiasm which inspire the Canadian Forestry Association. A CORRESPONDENT, writing to the Tin~es Trade Supplen'tent of February I I, 1922, gives startling and unpalatable The Forest information about the attitude of the Products Commonwealth Government towards the Laboratory at Forest Products Laboratory at Perth, Perth, W.A. Western Australia. A little more than eighteen months previously the State Government agreed to provide a site for the laboratory and to contribute ÂŁ5,000 towards the cost of erection and equipment, \vhile the Federal Government undertook to build and equip the laboratory, keep it in working order, and defray the charges of the required scientific staff. The State Government has fulfilled its obligations, and the laboratory staff, occupying temporary premises in the city, has carried out much investigation into the forest products of aJl the States, particularly Western Australia. It has proved conclusively that paper can be made from many of the hardwoods of Australia; and an expert leather chemist has commenced a tannin survey of Western Australia, which is rich in tannin-bearing materials. This branch of research has developed rapidly, and means have been found of eliminating the objectionable colour from the marri (red gum), which has hitherto proved a serious obstacle to its sale. The adaptability of many of the forest products for dyeing has also been

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investigated, and in many directions the laboratory has performed excellent service for Western Australia. A wide field of research, however, still remains unexplored, and considerable funds are required to develop research into the commercial possibilities of hundreds of timbers, shrubs, barks and leaves. The laboratory estimated that for the proper performance of its work it would require during the current year a minimum sum of £10,000. On applying for this amount to the Federal Government, the laboratory was granted a meagre sum of £1,4°0, which was augmented by a further £ 2,000, received from some of the other States and from the Australian Paper Company. This income of £ 3,400 is totally inadequate, even for the partial completion of the year's programme, and the advisory committee of the laboratory, composed of one scientific expert and two business men, faced with every discouragement and no appreciation of its gratuitous services, has finally resigned. The State Government has made urgent representations to the Federal authorities to place the laboratory on a sound basis and to provide for its maintenance, but up to the date of the letter of the Ti1nes correspondent nothing had been done. The laboratory has already proved its capacity for adding materially to the country's productive power, and the . work it has already undertaken is not yet complete. In these circumstances it will be little short of a disaster if the Federal Government either permits it to languish for want of financial support or acquiesces in its extinction. A letter from Melbourne to the Times Trade Supplement of April 8, confirms the arguments in favour of retaining the laboratory. The investigations into the possibilities of paper-production from Australian timbers have now reached a point at which the encouraging results of smallscale experiments are about to be confirmed by tests on a semi-commercial scale. Of two dozen classes of woods tested in the laboratory, five have been selected as being the most likely sources of supply of paper pulp. The five are karri (West Australia), blackbutt (New South Wales), mountain ash and woolybutt (Victoria), -and stringy bark (Tasmania). The further tests will consist in preparing quantities of a ton or more of pulp from each of these timbers and converting the pulp into various grades of

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paper, with a view to determining into which kinds of paper each class of pulp may be best converted. The tests, according to a Report issued by the Director of the Commonwealth Institute of Science and Industry, are to be carried out at the Geelong Mills, belonging to the Australian Pulp and Paper Company. REGARDING the plans for the great Empire Exhibition, which are now occupying the attention of the authorities, Australia and it is reported that Australia intends to play the Empire an important part in the scheme. The Exhibition. Council of Federal and State Ministers have decided to erect a building covering 150,000 square feet. Secondly they have sanctioned a SUIU of £200,000 for the cost of this building, and a further sum of £50,000 to meet the expense of collecting exhibits. The Common\vealth Government has definitely agreed to participate in the Imperial Sections of the Exhibition on tropical diseases, minerals, fisheries and timber. Let us hope that, so far as their financial resources permit, other parts of the Empire will follow the lead given by Australia. ALTHOUGH there is still some conflict of interests between the Lands (Forestry), and Mines and Agricultural Departments, on the subject of the best use to NWare~uth which certain lands can be put, late years · have witnessed an increasing tendency to recognize and support the need of timber conservation and afforestation. Public interest, according to the latest official report of the New South Wales Forestry Commission, is expanding, and engendering naturally a wider belief in the value of the forests as an economic factor in the welfare of the State. New South Wales still possesses about 11 million acres containing timber of commercial value, and of this area about 8 million acres are in Crown possession. But the State needs to plant as well as to conserve; and up to date the forest authorities have failed to secure sufficient areas of suitable land for the former purpose. The afforestation of certain areas in the Tingha district, for example, and on the Newnes Tableland, is still objected to by the Department of Mines, and until these inter-departmental struggles can be

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adjusted, the vital work of repairing the wastage of past years must be delayed. The forestry authorities, too, are short of money. During the year under review they afforested (with pines) 1,095 acres, and hope to plant 2,000 acres during the current year, whereas their minimum objective is 5,000 acres per annum. The total e:?{penditure on clearing and planting operations, including' purchase of land and permanent improvements, \vas approximately £18,000, of which only £5,000 were voted by Parliament, the balance of £13,000 being met from a special deposits account, provided for by the Forestry Act. "As the proper management of the natural forests" remark the Commissioners, "with the necessary restoration of those which have deteriorated during the past fifty years, will fully absorb the funds provided by this account, it is evident that much more liberal appropriations will be necessary if the future demand for softwood timber is to be met by planting." During 1921 considerable progress was made in forest organization and management. In 171 State forests the work of development and improvement was carried on, inc~uding surveying, systematic cutting, sylviculture, road-making, establishment of fire-breaks, erection of residences and other buildings, construction of dams and· tanks, fencing, the sinking of bores, and the laying down of 'grass paddocks. The total amount thus spent, including the cost of afforestation, was £95,759. In past years the establishment of cutting rotations and systematic exploitation, which form the basis of scientific forest nlanagement, have been frustrated by the custom of pernlitting numerous licensees to obtain timber at will for the satisfaction of emergent demands. To obviate this difficulty, the forest authorities of the State have been forced, in the case of forests under intensive management, to undertake the direct conversion of all classes of forest produce, thus ensuring that all saleable timber is removed from each cutting area to make room for the establishment of young growth. The .revenue collected by the authorities during the year was £19°,742, and the expenses of administration amounted to £57,835. The expenditure on forest works totalled £104,782; and it is interesting to read that the

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average cost of forest road-making was 6s. Id. per chain, of forest' fire-breaks, £1 8s. lId. per acre; the average cost of forest residences "vas £611 os. 7d. apiece, of dams, IS. gd. per cubic yard, of post and wire fencing, I9S. Id. per chain, of post, wire and netting fencing, £1 IS. Iod. per chain and of clearing grass paddocks, £1 3s. 9d. per acre. In the domain of sylviculture, the average cost of preparing land ,for planting, exclusive of fencing, was £2 8s,. Iod. per acre, and of planting £2 17s. 8d. per acre. These figures would have been lower, but for the heavy expenditure incurred in the upkeep of Tuncurry Prison Calnp. The average cost of treating natural forest for regeneration was 4s. I d. per acre, and of improving natural forest by ring-barking and thinning, IS. 6d. per acre. The quantity of timber branded by Government Agency for export or local use ,vas 16,300,220 superficial feet; the actual value of the timber exported during the year was £464,724 and of timber imported \vas £2,°73,°46. The imports were chiefly from New Zealand and the United States of America, and the exports were mainly to New Zealand. The imports included nearly 97 million superficial feet of rough, dressed and undressed timber, chiefly softwood. WE have been fortunate enough to receive from Tasmania a most interesting note on the position of Forestry in that State, prepared by Mr. Irby, ConForestry in servator of Forests. The note commences Tasmania. with the statement that Cl The history of Forestry in Tasmania from the earliest days of settlement to the present time has been substantially a replica of the history of forestry in all young countries during their early stages of colonization and development. Timber at the outset is so plenti ful as to be not only of little value, but also an actual obstruction to progress. Land settlement at all costs is the primary desideratum; and the difficulty of clearing heavily timbered land, in order that grazing grounds or saleable commodities in the form of crops can be substituted for products of no imlJ1ediate value, is so great that in the process of time an almost hereditary hatred of trees, as the natural enemy of the young farmer, becolnes one of the idiosyncrasies

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of the colonist reared in an atmosphere of continuous warfare against Nature's successive attempts to reproduce her o\\l路n chosen crop. During this stage of settlement, public opinion on the subject of forest-conservation is either antagonistic or apathetic, and the views of those who realize the true position of forestry in the economic life of the country consequently command no attention. "Thus in Tasmania, forestry, which until a recent date was ably controlled by a branch of the Lands and Surveys Department, was necessarily restricted to conserving as far as possible the best beds of timber which either lay remote from settlements or did not occupy first-class agricultural or grazing lands. As a result, more than a million acres have been set aside as timber reserves, while the operations of cutting and conversion of timber have been brought under control and regulalation. Nevertheless, in the absence of a constructive forest policy, deforestation naturally progressed far more rapidly than natural re-afforestation, and the moment arrived when a more vigorous forest policy was recognized as an imperative necessity, for the re-adjustment of the natural balance of profit and loss. The necessary machinery was accordingly established, a Conservator of Forests was appointed, and a Forestry Act, second to none in Australia, was placed on the Statute Book." The Tasmanian Forestry Act of 1920, whereby forest control is raised to the status of a separate department of the State, provides inter alia for the following subjects:(a) Complete control by the Department of all

matters relating to forest policy. (b) Power to convert, remove, and sell timber, &c., and to construct roads, railways and tramlines for the transport of timber. (c) The dedication of State forests and the reservation of timbered areas. (d) The dedication within seven years of not less than I t million acres of land as State forests. (e) Ample protection of forest working plans, which cannot be altered except by the Conservator of Forests with the previous approval of the Governor. (/) Forest permits and licences.

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(g) The expenditure upon administration, afforestation and re-afforestation, &c., of one half of the gross revenue from forestry. (h) Penalties, seizures, forfeiture, &c. (i) The making of regulations under the Act. Regulations have been drafted and will shortly be brought into force. H A determined effort has been made to reconcile conversion operations, i.e., the marketing of the present crop, with sylviculture, thereby elituinating as far as possible the perpetual strife which exists in many States between vested interests and forest control." It is satisfactory to learn that these efforts have so far achieved marked su~cess, and that the various saw-milling associations "have not only shown themselves actuated by a full sense of .their obligations, as patriotic citizens, to posterity, but have been actively helpful." Mr. Irby is quite confident that this feeling of esprit de corps will be maintained and strengthened in the future, and that eventually the timber-getters will be incorporated as an integral feature of the official forest working-plans. In pursuance of this policy, the forest authorities have very wisely afforded the various interested parties every opportunity of learning beforehand what course the State proposes to follow, and of discussing such proposals; and their action in this direction has been fully appreciated by the interests concerned. For the purpose of carrying out the official policy, the State has been divided into five forestry districts, each in charge of an experienced forester; the work of forest reconnaisance,. preliminary to the dedication of areas as State forests, is well forward; and it is hoped to initiate at an early date a system of fire-protection for existing forest areas, particularly for those containing valuable stands of young timber resulting from natural regeneration. Tasmania is not singular in regarding fire as the principal danger to her schemes of afforestation. Many fires are due unfortunately to negligence or incendiarism, and landholders experience much difficulty in preventing their coppice being fired during the summer by the ill-disposed. A high authority of the State is of opinion that if it were possible to elimlnate the menace of fire~ Tasmania would in twenty years possess an asset

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which would more than suffice to counterbalance her indebtedness. Tasmania, possessing as it does a huge tract of country pre-eminently adapted for the growth of exotic pines, offers a fine field for afforestation. On the west coast lies a large area of old sand dune formations, which need no clearing and are ideal for pine growth; an annual rainfall of more than 100 inches renders these treeless wastes specially ,suitable for plantation. The Sisters Hills also, which lie between Burnie and Stanley in the north-west of the State,contain fully 60,000 acres of clear land where pines should do well. In many parts of the country are vast plains, at various altitudes, covered with so-called button-grass (really a sedge), the soil of which consists largely of rich peat and gravelly loam. Such species as spruce and larch should flourish exceedingly in these areas. Extensive sand dune tracts also occupy the north-east and east coasts. Mr. Irby estimates that no less than one million acres of land suitable for exotic conifers are lying idle and \vaste to-day in Tasmania. The forest authorities have taken the first steps towards a comprehensive scheme of afforestation by selecting a site for a nursery about two miles from Strachan, between which and the Henty River lie about 30,000 acres of sand dune and button-grass plain, and by cOlumencing to raise a crop of seedlings for planting out this year (1922). Local interest has been aroused, and the residents of Strachan have offered to take up acres on plantation leases and plant them with Pinus insignis. LIKE other countries of the Empire, Tasmania has been urged to form a Forestry League or Association, which Tasmanian could be affiliated to the Empire Forestry Forestry Association. It appears that some years Association. ago a Forest League did exist; but it gradually collapsed through lack of interest and public support. As it was never officially wc>und up, however, a Ineeting of members was convened in November, 1920, to discuss the possibility of reviving the organization. At that moment the Bill to establish a Forestry Department was before the Tasmanian Parliament, and the -meeting decided to postpone the question of resuscitating the 11

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League until the new Forestry Department had been organized on a permanent basis. Information has now been received that Mr. Irby, Conservator of Forests, has succeeded in forming a Forestry Association with the following principal objects : (a) To promote in the manner hereafter shown the planting of the great waste areas of Tasmania with suitable conifers. (b) To promote a public consciousness towards the vital question of preventing the destruction of the vast heritage which lies in the forests, and the denudation of watersheds by bush fires. (c) To encourage research work info. the economic utilization of the waste products of the forests. (d) To co-operate with the Empire Forestry Associa. tion and kindred bodies in promoting public interest in forestry. In regard to (a) it is proposed to establish Forest Plantation HOlnes or Colleges, in which destitute boy waifs of the Empire may find their manhood and be worthy of their citizenship by planting the waste lands and so creating a goodly heritage for posterity. Tasmania possesses to-day one million acres of land suitable for pine plantation, and of this great area at least 200,000 acres are ready for afforestation. On these waste lands it is proposed to locate the Homes, each of which will accommodate about sixty boys of ages ranging from 10 to IS. The boys will receive a sound training in the principles of forestry and also general education on lines laid down by the Director of Education-and their main duty will be to reclaim and plant annually a definite area of country. So far as is known at present, the period of rotation for a crop of pine is about twenty-five years, and the revenue from an annual cutting of 100 acres is estimated at ÂŁ25,000 a year. It is therefore expected that each Home would become self-supporting at the expiry of a period of twenty-five years from the date of its establishment, and that thereafter it could repay with interest all money expended upon its upkeep and could also contribute a large sum annually to the State's exchequer. By con-

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fining operations to the 200,000 acres of waste land known to be ready for immediate afforestation and by restricting the area of operations of each Home to 25,000 acres,it becomes possible to provide for eighty 'Homes, each containing fifty boys. In other words, arrangements will be made for the perpetual employment of 4,000 boys, and with an average course of four years, 1,000 boys will be annually absorbed into the life of the State. Forestry in Tasmania is at present in its infancy. But there is every probability of expansion; and if the scheme now proposed by Mr. Irby reaches fruition, many of the b9Ys who pass through the Homes will be absorbed into the various industries connected with, and dependent upon, forestry. It is a fine scheme that the Tasmanian authorities propose, for it operates to solve at one and the same time the three great problems of immigration, the waste of child life, and the conservation of the country's timber resources. May all success attend it ! Allied to this subject is the question of the affiliation of saw-milling and kindred associations to the Empire Forestry Association. ,The subject was recently broached by the Conservator of Forests at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Sawmilling Association and met with a sympathetic reception; but pending the receipt of more detailed information regarding the scope, objects and working of the Empire Association, it was decided to postpone further consideration of the Conservator's suggestion. As regards participation in the official scheme of establishing at Oxford an Imperial Forest Bureau, Tasmania realizes that she is not yet in a position to avail herself of the facilities and privileges offered by such an institution, and is therefore not disposed at this stage to incur any liability for the support of the scheme. One may, however, predict with confidence that Tasmania, with her new and comprehensive forest law and regulations, and under the guidance of her trained officers, will make considerable strides in Forestry during the next few years, and will thus equip herself to play an active part in Imperial schemes and movements, which for the moment she is obliged by circumstances to approach with caution.

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THE Report of the Director of Forestry for the year ending March 31, 1921, addressed to the Commissioner â&#x20AC;˘ of State Forests, shows that New Zealand New Zealand. has now a live system of forest administration. The Parliament, the Press and the public have awakened to the meaning of timber conservation and national forestry, and have thus paved the. way for the establishment of a Forest Service. Under the control of the Director and his staff are seven forest conservation regions, each in charge of a Conservator, and each conservation region is subdivided into districts which are controlled by forest rangers. The State in New Zealand possesses large forest properties, the grand total of State and provisional State forests being 6,800,000 acres, or 10'3 per cent. of the superficial area of the Dominion. Not\yithstanding the Inagnitude of the area, the Government purchased another 20,000 acres last year. The land is by no means fully afforested, and the Forest Department has commenced the work of regeneration by planting more than 38,000 acres during the year under report. Trials have been made of broadcast seeding. The tree-seeds mixed with oats were distributed through a grain drill with disk coulters, and it is presumed that the oat crop will be cut over the top and the straw left to protect the plants. This is an inexpensive method o.f afforestation, the results of which will be watched with interest-for it might, if it proves successful, be adopted in other countries on light level soils. The Director of Forestry is ~1r. L. MacIntosh Ellis, a Canadian graduate, who, on the expiry of the war, was engaged by the Interim Forestry Committee, and did valuable work in Scotland for some months prior to his transfer to New Zealand. (Glasgow Herald, January 28, 1922). vital need of a wise forest policy, with its accompaniments of conservation and re-afforestation, formed A Warning the burden of an address recently delivered from North by Professor J. W. Tourney. at Yale. America. Originally the United States of America possessed 822 million acres of virgin forest, of which only 137 million acres now remain, and these mainly in almost inaccessible areas. The present annual growth in

THE

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forest regions is estimated at 6 billion cubic feet, and the ann ual removal by actual cutting, by fire and by other causes at more than 26 billion cubic feet. Obviously, therefore, if America is to escape a timber-famine in fifty years' time, she will have to raise the annual growth from 6 to 28 billion cubic feet. This state of affairs is not peculiar to America, but exists in greater or less intensity in other forest-regions of the world, particularly in the United Kingdom which has now to depend almost entirely upon imported tilnber. In old days the valleys of Wales were \veIl \vooded, and large tracts of land were forest clad; but with the discovery of iron these resources were sacrificed wholesale to provide timber for smelting purposes. Iron had ruined the forests before coal supplanted timber as the ordinary fuel of industry. Great Britain's reliance upon imported timber has directly militated against the prudent conservation of her forests; but the time is not far distant when the whole world will be competing for this supremely important raw material, and when that hour arrives, independence and economic supremacy will be the reward of those countries which have looked ahead and made prudent preparations for the future. The war to some extent roused England from her lethargy; exhortations to afforestation are heard more frequently; but the public are still indifferent to facts which, if treated with levity or negligence, must involve a serious menace to the country's prosperity. Professor TOtamey goes so far as to suggest that the decay of China and of ancient Greece were due to their improvident use of timber and the destruction of their forests, contrasting the fate of the Celestial Empire with the steady progress of Japan, which has followed an enlightened policy of forest-conservation. So far as ancient Greece is concerned, the Professor's theory is certainly suggestive; but one is not inclined to accept it There \vere other important without qualification. factors, besides imprudent squandering of timbersupplies, which contributed to the do\vnfall of Hellenic civilization. Among modern States, according to Professor Toumay, S\\1itzerland holds the first place for prudent conservation and exploitation of her forest-resources. Some of the Swiss forests, he remarks, were organized

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more than a thousand years ago, have been continuously under timber production ever since, and are now more intensively managed and more productive than ever before. This statement is not wholly in consonance with the account of the Swiss forests given by Wren Winn in his Timbers and their Uses, 1919. The author admits that in the neighbourhood of Zurich there has been efficient forest management for more than 500 years; but he states that throughout Switzerland generally forestry was only developed about the middle of the eighteenth century, and that it was temporarily impeded by the revolution in 1798 and the following years. The Swiss Forestry Association dates from 1843; and it was only in 1876 that the first general forest law was adopted. Even so, Switzerland offers a worthy example to other countries which, by squandering their timber resources, have given rise to a danger which it will take years of patient'effort to obviate. Professor Tourney's account of the imprudent use of America's forest resources is corroborated by the publication of certain figures compiled by the United States Department of Agriculture in illus.tration of the need for conservation. The figures possess a peculiar interest for the British Empire. They show that more than 80 million acres of forest have been almost completely denuded of 路timber of commercial value. Cutting has increased at a phenomenal rate of late years, and it is stated that more than half the world's supply of timber is now cut in the United States. All but 5 per cent. of this huge production is consumed within the States, among the annual requirements being 125 million wooden sleepers for the railways and 13 million large wooden cases for the transport of oranges and other fruits from Florida. Enormous quantities of small timber are used as wood-pulp for paper manufacture, the annual output of paper of all kinds being estimated at 125 lb. per head of population. Newspapers and magazines naturally contribute largely to this annual total.

MR. WILLIAM TURNBULL, Timber Commissioner for the Government of British Columbia, read an illull1inating The Timbers paper on the timbers of that country before of British the Dominions and Colonies section of the Columbia. Royal Society of Arts on February 7, 1922.

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British Columbia, which obtains an annual revenue of more than three million dollars from its timber, possesses a stand of commercial timber estimated at 366 billion feet, i.e., 200 million Petrograd standards approximately, or one-third of Canada's total stand; and of this total, about 350 billion feet is of saw-log size. About twothirds of this stand is located on, or close to, the sea coast, the remainder occupying interior parts of the province. The total area of forest land is estimated at 149,000 square miles,' of which 115,000 square miles are still in possession of the Crown, the balance being nearly equally divided between Crown granted lands and lands held under timber licence, lease or sale. The Crown still owns about a quarter of the commercial tinlber . stand, mentioned above; and such timber is now disposed of by tender only, an upset price being fixed by the Forest authorities. Mr. Turnbull included in the course of his paper an interesting description of the chief commercial timbers of the Province, showing the various uses to which they are put. The list commences naturally with Douglas fir, also known as Oregon pine and British Columbia pine, one of the finest specimens of which has provided the present flagstaff in Kew Gardens, described by Mr. Balfour in the first number of this Journal. The Province contains 76 billion feet of Douglas fir, representing nearly 22 per cent. of the total commercial stand. This timber, though of comparatively light weight, is very strong and durable, and is consequently in great demand for heavy structural work, bridge and ship timbers, house frames, planking for dredgers, and so forth. The. Great Western Railway Company in this country has proved its suitability for railway sleepers; for out of 616 sleepers tested after 17t years continuous use, only 23 were found decayed; while city engineers in Canada and the United States are now giving ~xactly the same working stresses for Douglas fir and pitch pine, after many years' experi ence of both woods, basing their calculation on hundreds of tests performed in the U.S. Rarest Products Laboratories. "fhe next most important tree is Sitka spruce, which grows to the best advantage in the north of Vancouver Island and in the Graham and Moresby Islands of the Queen Charlotte group. During the路路 war

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British Columbia shipped enough Sitka spruce to construct 20,000 aeroplanes, and Mr. Turnbull records with justifiable regret the fact that on the cessation of hostilities, many millions of feet of the finest spruce lay unwanted in the woods and the water, and were ultimately sold at salvage prices to be sawn into lumber and converted into pulp. One curious feature of Sitka spruce is its natural resonance, and this has led to its use for piano sounding-boards, gramophone horns, and in Great Britain for the manufacture of violins. Almost as valuable as Douglas fir for ordinary buildingpurposes is western hemlock, which represents 18 per cent. of the total commercial timber stand and gro\vs to great size. Though much of it goes into pulp, for which it is well suited, it is most useful for internal structural work. Mr. Turnbull speaks of hemlock flooring on the Pacific coast which was laid down fifty years ago and is now so hard that small nails can with difficulty be driven into it. Seven million feet of this timber have been used in the Toronto harbour works, and it is also being used in the construction of part of the big dry dock at EsquimauU, near Victoria. On the other hand it is equally useful for the making of packing-cases, and one firm on the coast ships 50,000 oil cases of hemlock every month to Singapore. Durability is the hall-mark of red cedar, which may be styled the "wood eternal." "Trees which fell in the damp woods of British Columbia centuries ago are found to-day perfectly sound and fit for shingles and lumber. It was from the red cedar that the Indian hollowed out his war canoes, split planks for his lodges, and carved his historic totem poles, and his judgment was, as usual, sound. The totem must have been the origin of the term 'family tree.'" Red cedar is pre-eminently a fence and pole material, for it needs no treatment or preservative, and the butt will remain sound for a very long period under the most adverse conditions. Another interesting wood is black cottonwood, which grows largely in the riverbottoms on Vancouver Island and is the only deciduous tree of commercial value in British Columbia. Ideal as a material for boxes, it is also in demand for carriage and automobile bodies, and seems likely to have a considerable future before it. The timb,ers of the interior, though of

TOPPING FOR HIGH-LEAD LOGGING OPERATIONS, BRITISH COLUMBIA.

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great value to British Columbia, are too far from the seaboard to be of mercantile value to England and other countries. }VIr. Turnbull points to the improvement in logging n1ethods as the clearest index of the growth of British Columbia's timber trade. Sixty years ago the motive power was supplied by teams of heavy oxen and the sulphurous language of the gentlemen who drove them; the oxen yielded place to horses and mules, the latter still requiring a considerable stock of highly explosive epithets to make them work into the collar; and they, in their turn, were ousted by the steam and motor tractor, which, presumably, do not need the san1e amount of picturesque abuse. In the old days logging was necessarily restricted to timber lying close to tide water, whereas now the logging railways run from ten' to thirty miles into the heart of the forest, and train-loads of logs are carried down, dumped into the sea, formed into booms, and towed to the various saw-mills. Though undoubtedly efficient, the present logging methods are very extravagant and lead to much waste in the forests, and it is to this matter that the Forest Service of British Columbia, which was inaugurated in 1912, is giving special attention. As Mr. Turnbull succinctly remarks, British Columbia has been it mining" instead of " cropping" her timber. British Columbia has more than 400 saw-mills at work, of \vhich more than half are located on the coast. The annual timber cut amounts to about two billion feet, or one million Petrograd standards, and much of this finds a market on the Canadian prairies, in Eastern Canada and the eastern states of America. But the quantity absorbed by overseas markets is steadily growing and is likely to enhance the revenues of the province appreciably in the near future. In 1916, for example, the total quantity of timber shipped overseas was 43 n1illion feet; in 1921 it had risen to 170 million feet, of \vhich Japan and China absorbed 93 million feet, Australia and Ne"vv Zealand 27 million, and the United Kingdom 9 million. The remainder found its way to India, Egypt, South Africa, and South America. The opening of the Panama Canal, which has brought British Columbia about 6,000 miles nearer to the British timber market, is expected to aid directly the more regular purchase by the LT nited Kingdom

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of British Columbia's softwoods, notwithstanding the handicap imposed upon British Columbian manufacturers by the long sea-route, as compared with the short journey across the North Sea from Sweden, and by their inability to supply timber regularly to specification. British Colufilbia is cutting down primeval forests of timber of immense size, while Sweden deals with a crop of uniform size and grade. Sweden can afford the tilDe to carry out every operation scientifically and can cut her timber to the exact lengths required by the British consumer, while British Columbia, faced with the high cost of milling and the long ocean haul, has to concentrate chiefly upon speed of production. Despite these obvious drawbacks, however, there is growing confidence in the possibility of increasing trade with the United Kingdom. Regarding the future of the pulp and paper industry, Mr. Turnbull expresses most optimistic views. Though only four pulp and two paper plants at present exist and the industry generally is in its infancy, the output increased from practically nil in 1912 to J.36,832 tons of newsprint, 9,792 tons of wrapping, 5,300 tons of sulphite and 9,000 tons of sulphate pulp in 1920. The country possesses abundant water-power, huge stands of timber of species suitable for pulp, and adequate harbour facilities. It is hardly a matter for surprise, therefore, that five new pulp companies are preparing to commence operations. Others are bound to follow, for the pulp stands in Eastern Canada and the Eastern States are being rapidly depleted, and the attention of both capitalist and manufacturer is turning westward towards the unworked resources of British Columbia. This view is corroborated by figures published in the Financier of January 10, 1922. After remarking that a series of destructive fires has rendered impossible any accurate estimate of Canada's total pulpwood resources, the writes states that British Columbia is estimated to contain 225 million cords of pulp\vood, as compared with 900 million cords for the whole of Canada. Though exploitation has only just commenced, British Columbia already ranks as third producer in the Canadian pulp and paper industry, and very extensive developments in the near future are assured.

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AMONG the most striking features of the Illustrated Canadian Forestry Magazine for February, 1922, is the resume Canada's of a speech on forests and forest policy Forests and delivered by the Hon. E. C. Drury, Prime Forest Minister of Ontario, at the annual meeting Propaganda. of the Canadian Forestry Association in Toronto in the second week of January. After describing what has already been accomplished to meet the growing scarcity of pine and other timber and advocating still greater effort and enthusiasm on the part both of the Government and the public, the Premier proceeded: H The most alarming thing is that we are getting within sight-within very unpleasant sight-of the end of our virgin pine forests. I find that we have during the past ten years an annual cut of pine of approximately 350 million feet; that that is 100 million feet more than is being reproduced by annual growth, and at that rate of consumption within twenty-five, thirty or thirty-five years, our virgin pine forests will, perhaps, be nearly exhausted. It is unthinkable that we can restrict the output of our forests. There is only one way to meet the situation, and that is by provision for the future in the line of production, in the line of propagation, and in the line of taking care of the wastage; and when we come to look at it along those lines, we find things are not quite so hopeless as they would appear to be, because the thing the man in the street loses sight of is the very simple fact that trees grow. The average citizen in this country does not realize that trees are things that grow; that crops of them can be grown just the same as a crop of wheat, and the intelligent ,vay to administer a forest area is not to set aside and hold out of the market great areas, but to provide such methods of reproduction as will take care of the needs of the country. Along that line something must be done." The Premier concluded his address by describing in detail the steps which are being taken by the Government to anticipate and obviate the danger to which he alluded. It is evident that the Government has a very active auxiliary in the Canadian Forestry Association. It appears from the annual report of the Association for the year 1921, that its income has risen from 5,279 dollars in 1915 to 47,836 dollars in the year under review, exclusive

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of an additional sum of 14,000 dollars representing donations of materials and services from various sources. During the same period of seven years the membership roll has risen from 3,400 to 13,000. These results may be said to have been secured by an active and unceasing propaganda, carried out in all parts of the Dominion. We cannot forbear to quote the following extracts fronl the annual report, as they offer an example in methods of publicity which might, 1nutatis 111utandis, be advantageously adopted in other countries. "The Eastern Forest Protection Car, equipped with graphic exhibits, and bringing to hundreds of communities its daily lectures and motion..picture warnings, has been especially effective. Where less picturesque methods \vould attract a few dozen inquiries the rail\vay car method dre\v thousands. In a season's travel of 8,630 miles this car attracted 135,000 people and was responsible for 185 public meetings on forest protection . . This is 1110re than double the mileage and three times the attendance which characterized a similar effort in 1920. From Halifax, Fort Frances, Ontario, this enterprise made its influence felt, as is well attested by local authorities. When in French - speaking districts of Quebec, as was the case for months, French speakers took charge, by courtesy of the Quebec Forest Service, and the language of the district becalne the standard of the car, its banners, explanatory signs and literature. In Nova Scotia, in almost all parts of New Brunswick, along the south shore of the S1. Lawrence, of Quebec, and over hundreds of miles south to the United States border, unvarying crowds amounting sometimes to 2,000 daily displayed a serious interest in the car and its forest protection message and thronged the meetings, frequently necessitating the holding of three and four lectures a day. In the Lake 81. John region, on the National Transcontinental in Central Quebec, and on et protracted course through Northern Ontario, the interest of the general public was immediate and sincere. Mr. Blyth, the Assistant Secretary, handled the car with efficiency and throughout the season from May to Deceinber employed a total of seven assistants. We have had several unique and instructive models built for the 1922 tours, \vhich cannot fail to drive home special

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phases of the forestry problem, so that even the youngest 'child will quickly understand and retain the lesson. 'fhe educational principle on which the Exhibit Car is based is scientifically sound and has proved of very great service in making a rapid and lasting impression of a definite point on the maximum number of people with the shortest expenditure of time and money. It is a good lnethod for reaching and impressing cro\vds." A new feature of the Association's publicity and educational campaign is the provision of "travelling lecture sets." A popularly written manuscript, covering the rudiments of the forestry cause, the commonsense argument for forest protection, the problem of land classification, &c., is supplemented by sixty handsome lantern slides packed in a break-proof travelling box. There are now nine of these units in constant action. Two deal with the general story of forestry and fire prevention, two are specially written on the topic of reforesting the deforested lands of Ontario, two treat of tree-planting on the prairies, two are devoted to Quebec Province and are in the French language, and one is adapted to British Columbia. These nine sets, going from town to town on the plan of a circulating library, reach approximately from two to three hundred people a day for six months of the year. The Canadian Forestry Association certainly deserves all the support that it receives, and \ve hope that its annual income will before long reach the figure of 100,000 dollars at \vhich it aims. The work which it is doing is well worth it. THE Pacific coast lumber trade, which together with mining and fisheries, forms the foundation of the whole . commercial fabric, has recently passed The Canadian through a period of great trial. A brief but Lumber Trade. . extraordInary boom was followed by a period of unexampled depression, which obliged several of the smaller mills and many logging camps to close down. The larger mills deprived of their usual home market were forced to seek overseas trade and discover new purchasers. Mr. Hanna, President of the Canadian National Railways, speaking at Toronto at the beginning of this year, remarked, for example, that the Canadian Merchant Marine nlade no money during 1921, but that

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it had found markets for Canadian products, including feet of timber sold to India and Egypt. This need for seeking fresh markets proved in the end very advantageous for the trade; for it resulted in the establishment of an export business which kept the larger concerns at work, and brought them orders from distant lands, which will occupy their attention for many months. Lumber production in Canada and on the North American Continent is steadily moving westward. A few years ago, according to a Vancouver correspondent of the Manchester Commercial Guardian, British Columbia supplied only a very small proportion of the Canadian consumption of lumber; but to-day the ratio has increased to the point at which 37 per cent. of the lumber used in the Dominion is supplied by that province. During the last fourteen years the British Columbian output of lumber has increased 100 per cent.; and this development has synchronized with the growth of the province's share in the saw-mill trade from 8 to 11 per cent. In 1920 the timber industry of British Columbia produced nearly 90 million dollars' worth of commercial Inaterial; the figures for 1921, when published, will show a rise to over 100 million dollars. For during 1921, 1,4°0 logging camps, 340 saw-mills and more than 100 shingle mills were at work, while six pulp and paper mills were engaged in the continuous shipment of their products. 'Though prices at the end of last year were still too low to admit of large profits, the volume of trade is sound and shows remarkable signs of revival. This is particularly the case with the export business, one item of which, "British Colulnbia boxes," is attracting the ~otice of new markets, such as the Straits Settlements, which have commenced to use these boxes for packing rubber. This market is bound in due course to expand. The figures above quoted appear to justify Mr. Turnbull's sanguine hopes for the future of British Columbian trade in timber and forest products. 83,000,000

THE heavy decline in England's timber imports in 1921 naturally affected Canada in a marked degree. AccordCanadian ing to a correspondent of the Times, Canada's Timber Imports sawn soft-wood imports to the United to England Kingdom during the last shipping season in 1921 • were only 190,600 loads against 81 3,7°0

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loads in the previous season, and in sawn hard woods cubic feet against 2,882,000 cubic feet in 1920. Canada's chief import material is spruce; and last year not only were large stocks of this timber already in the British market, but the demand for it was also checked by the competition of Finnish white wood and other European woods. It The coming season" adds the writer, "threatens to be keenly competitive for overseas shippers who cater for this market, and if Canada is to retain her position as a large supplier of spruce to the United Kingdom, particularly on the north-west coast, where she has hosts of friends, she will have to keep a very close eye on what shippers are doing during the next few months in Finland and Sweden, and possibly Russia." The year 1921, as far as regards the timber trade of the United Kingdom, was in many respects abnormal; and one can only express a hope that, if the market reverts to its normal activity during the current year, Canada will again resume her rightful position among the countries which supply England's timber requirements.

914,000

Mr. W. H. KILBY, Fire Inspector, Canadian National Railways, Winnipeg, has kindly replied to a request for Fire-Prevention a contribution to the Journal by forwarding on <?anadian a note on a system of fire-prevention, which Railways. he originally prepared for the Secretary of the Forestry Commission. The belief prevails, and is to some extent supported by statistics, that 75 per cent. of the fires which occur in the neighbourhood of railroads are caused by railway agency, and that 60 per cent. are directly attributable to the locomotive. Until a recent date, it appears~ the railways of Canada were able to procure anthracite coal for their locomotives, a coal which has good coking qualities and does not throw sparks; but since supplies of this fuel have been difficult to obtain, Canadian railways have been obliged to depend upon the products of their own coalfields, none of which can be properly described as a hard coal. This 'has resulted in an obligation to furnish locomotives with far more elaborate fire-protective appliances than are necessary where hard coal or coal of good coking quality is eluployed. Despite continuous efforts, the problem of

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'Constructing completely effective fire-protective devices has not yet been solved, though much has been done by altering the internal construction of engiries and by the provision of cinder-tight ashpans, &c., to n1inimize the risks. The use of oil as fuel, instead of coal, would probably prove n10re effective than any mechanical device; but the high price and limited supply of this commodity render its general use impracticable. For many years the railways, which accept responsibility for a considerable percentage of forest fires, have maintained a regular service of patrolmen, whose duty it is to discover and extinguish fires. 'fhese men work on a beat-system and cover their allotted area either by means of hand-propelled machines, styled velocipedes, or in gasoline (petrol) cars. In the former case the beats vary in extent from eight to twenty miles, in the latter from twenty to sixty miles; and in both cases the beats have to be covered twice a day, and even more frequently if the train-service demands it. One can hardly be surprised at Mr. Kilby's statement that the results of this 'system have not been wholly encouraging, and that the railways are considering a revision of the arrangements, with a view to decreasing the length of the beats and 'ensuring the more speedy transport of fire-extinguishing .appliances to the scene of reported conflagrations. For the reporting of fires special telegraphic and detailed forms are used, and another set of special ÂŁorn1s are in use for recording the activities of the men employed as patrols, who are supposed to fill them up daily and drop them into a locked box, with a slotted lid, which is placed -at the extreme point of each beat. The appliances in use for fighting fires in forest areas appear to be of a some\vhat primitive type, cOlnprising chiefly shovels, canvas pails and buckets, and wet sacks; but improvements are being introduced, as for example on the western end of the Canadian National Railway lines where small suction pumps with hoses attached, capable of being worked by two men, are in use. The railways have also introduced tank-cars of 8,000 gallons capacity, hauled by locomotives which provide the power required for pumping water from the tanks on to the fire. In the case of the prairies the usual system .of protection 'Consists in ploughing strips varying from 4 to 16 ft.

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in width, at a distance of 200 ft. to ~oo ft. from the centre of the track. The actual width of the strips depends upon the character of the land from the standpoint of fire-hazard. In lands, where settlement is light, further protection is secured by burning the whole strip between the fire-guard and the railway track; while in lands used for grazing the burning is confined to the railway right-of-way. This burning is carried out yearly in the spring and helps to remove debris which would otherwise constitute a considerable fire-hazard. With the object of discriminating between the various degrees of liability to fire, the lands through which the railway passes are studied in much the same way as an insurance company classes various types of building There are several degrees of fire-hazard; and the greater the degree, the more intensive is the form of protection applied. On the other hand there are certain lands \vhich are not liable to fire, and these are placed on an exemption list, subject to the previous sanction of the Board of Railway Commissioners. Fire . . protection propaganda is apparently restricted to the posting of notices in all railway premises and to exhortations printed in the working time-tables, and in the menus used in the dining-cars of the chief trains; but a U Fireprotection Day" is annually observed about the beginning of October, when all employes of the railway are given special instructions on the subject, and are expected to lend a hand towards clearing up inflammable rubbish and generally reducing the chances of fire, both in the neighbourhood of railway buildings and along the line. That these arrangements have not been fruitless is proved by the statement of Mr. Ellwood Wilson in the first number of this Journal, that "the railroads showed (1921) a very great improvement in the matter of setting fire to forest, notably the lines under the control of the Canadian National Railway, which has been the worst offender in the past." l

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REFERENCE was made in the first number of this Journal to the lack of timber supplies in Rhodesia, and to the The Future suitability of its soil, climate and other conTimber-supply ditions for the growth of many useful of Rhode51a. woods. Mr. J. S. Henkel, who was appointed 12

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to advise the Rhodesian Government on forestry matters two years ago and has accomplished much in that short period, is satisfied as a result of extensive tours throughout the territory, that Rhodesia can be made to produce every foot of wood required for home consumption. The Rhodesian Government, which is apparently alive to the importance of this subject and places full reliance upon Mr. Henkel's advice, has recently allotted 拢5,000 for the purpose of afforestation. Arrangements are now being made to establish nurseries and plantations at appropriate centres, from which both seeds and transplants of suitable timber will be supplied to the farming community. The interest of the farmers is reported to have been thoroughly aroused by a series of lectures which 路Mr. Henkel has given on the aims and objects of his scheme. In sub-tropical climates, like that of Rhodesia, there is no proper winter season, during which trees have to lie dormant. They grow continuously throughout the year, and the yield per acre is consequently nearly double that of northern lands. Experiments conducted under Mr. Henkel's direction have proved also that Rhodesia is in every way adapted to the cultivation of both eucalypts and soft woods, such as pine, cypress and poplars. Eucalypts would prove excessively valuable to the railways of Rhodesia, which are at present laid over metal sleepers; for the latter are of comparatively short length and consequently prevent the attainment of anything approaching a high speed. The railway authorities are naturally anxious to substitute wooden for iron sleepers, and may therefore be expected to give the fullest support to the project of planting eucalypts, which, as Australia has proved, are capable of producing a sound sleeper with an average life of twenty to thirty years. The manufacture of furniture, railway trucks and road waggons is responsible for a keen and regular demand for this variety of timber; and those who share Mr. Henkel's opinions and hopes look forward with confidence to the day when furniture and rolling stock throughout Rhodesia will be constructed by Rhodesian labour from Rhodesian grown timber-an event which must necessarily connote a marked increase in the general prosperity of the territory.

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The softer woods could likewise be grown and utilized for the general benefit. They would always be in demand by the building trade, and are of prime importance to the citrus, tobacco, dairying and mining industries. It is estimated, for example, that in ten years' time the Rhodesian citrus industry will require 1,000,000 boxes, costing £60,000 per annUln, the material for everyone of which could be grown within the territory: and an equivalent demand might reasonably be expected from the South African tobacco industry, which is reported to spend £67,000 annually on the purchase of boxes. The dairy industry of Rhodesia is at present only partly developed, but it is expected to attain considerable proportions during the next ten or fifteen years. Assuming that this forecast proves correct, the industry will require a huge wood supply, the magnitude of which may be roughly estimated from the fact that the Gwelo Creamery alone spends annually £7,000 on wood for packing. Thus there are many facts and considerations which serve to support the policy recommended by Mr. Henkel to the Rhodesian Government; and the apparent readiness of the latter to give his experiments full scope is a sure augury of future success.

IN his Report on Forest Administration in Nigeria from January 1st, 1920, to March 31st, 1921, the Director of Forests, commenting upon the discovery of Nigeria. fine specimens of mahogany and iroko between Kiban and Jemaa, states that the best forests he has so far seen in Northern Nigeria lie along the base of the precipitous escarpment which forms the south-western edge of the Bauchi plateau. He suggests the formation of communal forest reserves, to be administered under special ordinances in the interests of the people who own them, with the object of ensuring a continuous supply of forest products. According to the Report, the protection of forest growth was well maintained within the existing reserves, but outside such areas the protection of the oil palms and of useful forest trees presents difficulties. The problem is complicated in the case of oil palms by the practice of felling for extraction of liquor. Apparently in some parts the method of climbing the tree and tapping it is

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unknown; then again the felling of the tree is an easy means of obtaining a large quantity of sap in a short time, and the liquor thus obtained is considered to be stronger and of better quality; and thirdly there is a certain amount of danger involved in climbing such trees, several persons having been killed at Ikom by falling from palms while tapping them for liquor. Here, apparently, the Nigerian native might well learn a lesson from those Hindu castes in Western India, whose hereditary occupation is the tapping of the palmyra, the date-palm and the coca-palm. The Bandharis of Bombay and the western coast are extraordinarily adept at the work, and armed only with a leather strap and a tapping knife will mount the highest palm tree without risk of accident. During the fifteen months, to which the Report relates, the value of the mahogany exported from Nigeria was ÂŁ167,331, against ÂŁ116,820 in the year 1919. The forestry revenue continues steadily to increase in both the northern and southern provinces. THE latest administration report of the Conservator of Forests of the Madras Presidency contains a significant reference to the extent to which purely India. political propaganda is affecting the attitude of Indians towards forest officials and their policy. Aroused by the general unrest prevailing in that country and by the constant preaching of reVOlutionaries, the peasantry in some parts of Madras are showing increasing hostility to the Forest Department and aggravating the difficulties with which the policy of conservancy has always had to contend. Their complaints are no longer confined to allegations about the high-handedness of the forest officials and subordinates, but are directed against the very existence of forest reserves. They demand wholesale disafforestation and surrender of control of the forests to the villagers themselves, and these demands are to some extent supported by educated Indians who ought to know better. The Chief Conservator appeals for public effort to help educated Indian opinion} and through it the villagers, to understand that the policy of the Department is not one of senseless opposition to the interests of the people, but on the contrary is one of

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sympathy tempered by the knowledge that the time has not yet come to relax supervision and control altogether. "The ideal to be aimed at," writes the Conservator, H is the surrender of all forests, on which the villager depends for his daily wants, to the management of the village itself, but such a surrender must be accompanied by some guarantee that forests are not destroyed by the selfishness of the present generation." Unfortunately, there is ample evidence to justify the forest authority's forecast of what would take place if control were relinquished in the manner suggested, such, for example, as the total destruction within the last twenty years of forest on waste lands and the rapid degradation of private forests. The enormous potentialities of the forests of the Madras Presidency were described by Mr. Martin, Consulting Forest Engineer to the Government of India, in the course of a lecture which he delivered in Madras in December, 1921, after a three months' tour in the chief forest areas. Evidently impressed by the wealth which they contain, he asserted confidently that their proper exploitation according to modern methods would not only ensure a very large increase of provincial revenue, but would also offer congenial employment to many young Indians who are now struggling to maintain themselves in the overstocked clerical profession. He reminded his audience that India contained at least 700,000 acres qf fine forest, which it had been impossible to exploit in the past, and that at the present moment only 10 per cent. of the forest resources were being realized. The distance of the forests from railways and the absence of adequate and speedy means of transport were responsible for thousands of valuable trees lying rotting on the ground and for the wholesale importation from Canada of railway sleepers which India could produce far more cheaply. The possibilities of establishing subsidiary industries were very great. The manufacture of furniture, boxes, handles, paper, casks, spools, utensils, bowls, interior woodwork, railway wagons, &c., could with a little effort be made a permanent feature of the country's economic activities, provided that the Government gave its support and the Legislative Councils took an intelligent interest in the subject.

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The crux of the position lies, as we pointed out last month, in the attitude of educated Indians towards the policy and activities of the forest authorities. Though their constant cry is for the industrial advancement of India, they are apt to show unreasoning prejudice against sound schemes devised for this end by European experts, and are prone to assume that the introduction of European capital for the initiation and support of such schemes is in some way subversive of their country's prosperity. It appears that Mr. Martin, on the strength of his study of the Madras forests, has submitted definite recommendations for their exploitation to the Government of Madras, but has openly expressed his apprehension that the Legislative Council of the Province, before which his proposals must ultirnately be placed, will either neglect or reject them. It is to be hoped that these fears will not be justified, and that the politicians who presumably desire to secure a steady advance of their country's prosperity, will examine the recommendations with impartial mind and relinquish unreasonable prejudices which are calculated to mar the quality of their services to the country. Though the attitude of elected politicians in the Madras Legislature may give cause for apprehension, it is satisfactory to be able to record a more statesmanlike grasp of forestry problems in the Legislative Assembly of the Government of India. During the strenuous debate on the Budget, Mr. Rangachariar, the spokesman of a newly-forn1ed democratic party, announced that that party had decided not to wield the economy axe in regard to forest grants. " It is," he said, "because we want the forests to develop as quickly as possible, so that from the development of commercial departments like railways, forests, and irrigation works, people may be relieved of taxation in this country. That being the object in vie\v, we trust that speedy progress will be made in the development of the forests of this country, and the country will not be reluctant to grant expenditure under that head, provided due regard is had to Indian interests." It is to be hoped that the view expressed in this extract from Mr. , Rangachariar's路 speech will find support in the various Provincial Legislative Councils, particularly in that of the well-forested Central Provinces, where the budget grant

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for the Forest Department has been reduced, apparently without much reason, by 38,000 rupees. During the last forty years, as an Anglo-Indian journal remarks, the monetary surplus from forests in India has risen from IS lakhs to 220 lakhs of rupees, figures which are suggestive, of what may be accomplished in the future by generous financial treatment of the department responsible for the contr?l and exploitation of the forests. THE, present conditions and future prospects of forestry in the Panjab were discussed by Mr. A. J. Gibson, Con. servator of Forests, in a paper read before TWo~~~~ab the Panjab Forests Conference in February 路 last. In the past the Panjab Forestry Department has suffered a good deal from lack of men and money, which resulted in a handful of trained experts, headed by an overworked Conservator, attempting to work and develop a property containing at least two million acres of merchantable forest. I n countries pract~ tising intensive forestry this acreage would represent at least 150 forest divisions. The Panjab had to struggle on for years with only ten forest divisions. The outlook at present is much brighter, for the Government has sanctioned a reorganization scheme which will give the department the additional men that it needs, and is revising the system of financing the department's operations. In regard to the latter point, it appears from the speech delivered by Mr. J. W. A. Grieve, Chief Conservator of Forests, at the same Conference, that the authorities have decided to raise loans to provide for forest capital expenditure, thus superseding the old practice of paying it out of surplus revenue. This course will at once render possible more rapid development and at the same time show far more correctly than has hitherto been possible the true annual income derived from the forest estates. It has also been decided to promote the financing and development of forest schemes through the agency of "co-partners," who will provide, \vholly or in part, the required capital. This scheme is a novel one, and has already been applied to a resin concern and a saw mill,' the future of which will naturally be \vatched with great interest. The advocates of the scheme contend that it frees the businesses concerned from the complicated-

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system of control inseparable from the operations of any Government machinery, and therefore that it will secure greater speed, efficiency and economy. So certain are the authorities of ultimate success that they intend to apply the same system of a co-partnership" to a project for the equipment of the Jhelum and Changa Manga depots with machinery, tramways, &c., and to a scheme for constructing a Simla-Narkanda ropeway. Mr. Gibson points out that the north-western corner of the Himalayas, from Afghanistan to Nepal, has a belt of coniferous forest varying in elevation from 2,000 to 11,000 ft., which probably constitutes the largest reserv~ of soft wood in the Eastern Hemisphere, excluding Siberia and Manchuria. The Panjab Forest Department's share of this forest amounts to about 1,500 square miles only (1,000,000 acres), while the greater part-some 5,000 square miles of workable forest-lies in the Native States of the Panjab and in Kashmir, and the balance of 8,000 square miles belongs to the United Provinces. At present the whole tract yields about 13~ million cubic feet (260,000 tons) of timber per annum, which is capable of early expansion to 23t million cubic feet. With intensive scientific management the annual yield might easily reach 60 million cubic feet. The Panjab at present obtains from its small share of this great coniferous belt only 6 million cubic feet a year; but under new conditions the forest authorities look with confidence to securing an output of 30 million cubic feet, worth not less than 7slakhs of rupees nearly (ÂŁ500,000) per annum. It is also realized that, if maximum values are to be obtained, timber must be extracted in the log. This necessitates much specialized engineering work both in the forest and in the rivers, and also the establishment of modern saw-mills in the plains. A commencement has been made at Talwara on the river Beas (the Hyphasis of the Greek historians), where a saw mill with a capacity of I million cubic feet a year (20,000 tons) is being rapidly erected. Other saw mills will be required on all the big river$ of the Panjab, for owing to scarcity of labour, small output and consequent high cost, hand-sawing is no longer feasible.. The marketing of large quantitIes of soft wood will require much organization. But India's demand for

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railway sleepers alone amounts to 9 million cubic feet or more per annum, with a current railway mileage of only 36,000 miles-a ridiculously inadequate figure considering the size of the country. The North Western Railway has seriously applied itself to the creosoting of sleepers by erecting a pressure plant on the Beas, capable of dealing annually with a quarter of a million sleepers. It is probable that the increased use of inferior soft woods, suitably treated, as railway sleepers will result indirectly in restoring the deodar to its rightful place as one of India's premier structural'timbers. Used, or misused, for railway sleepers, the deodarmay be said to have lost both caste and value. Among the various forest products of the Panjab, Mr. Gibson mentions logs of mulberry, which, even in slnall sizes, command a ready market in the furniture and H sporting goods" trades. The firms of racquet and hockey-stick makers, &c., in Sialkot are always in active competition for mulberry logs, and on more than one occasion have raised the sale price to a phenomenal height. The continued expansion of this H sporting goods industry will ensure a steady market for this particular forest product in the Panjab. The bamboo also forms an increasingly important source of revenue, despite the fact that the United Provinces has contrived to secure an appreciable share of the Punjab bamboo trade. A definite attempt to create and develop a larger market has recently been made by sending a forest officer to canvas for orders in the large towns of the Panjab and North-West Frontier Provinces; and his efforts have met. with no little success. Other interesting items in 路a long list of forest products in the H Land of the Five Rivers 11 are the introduction of lac and the cultivation of various medicinal and valuable plants, such as belladonna and" costus " or kuth. There are great possibilities also in the use of bhabbar or sabai grass for paper-pulp. This grass is already being exported from the J{alesar reserved forest on the Jamna ,and from the neighbouring forests of the Khalsia State, in an unbaled condition, to Calcutta to be made into pulp and paper, despite the fact that it has to be transported thirty miles to the nearest railhead and thence 1,000 miles to the mill. It is estimated that the forests 11

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between the Tamna and the Ambala-Kalka Rail\vay could produce sufficient bhabbar grass to feed a 6,ooo-ton a year pulp mill; and this project, if it materializes, corn.. bined with several wood-pulp mills for the consumption of the small coniferous timber of the high level forests, would go far towards rendering the Panjab independent of paper supplies from outside. As in other parts of India, the most pressing problem that confronts the forest authorities is the education of public opinion on the subject of forest problems and the economic use of forests products. THE difficulties which hamper economic forest development in the Bombay Presidency are disclosed in the annual Bombay Forest Administration Forestry in Report for 19 20- 21 , which has recently Bombay. been issued. The first and foremost disability is the paucity of the expert staff. Only two officers have been recruited for the Imperial Forest Service since 1912, and these have not yet learnt their work and passed their qualifying test in the vernacular lan.guages. In consequence, the revision of obsolete forest working-plans, which demands a full cadre of expert officers, has become impossible. The great efforts. made by the Government to obtain recruits for the Imperial Forest Service have 'so far proved fruitless. They have offered special facilities and inducements to Indian youths to enter the service, and they have filled four vacancies by promoting to the Imperial cadre specially deserving members of the Provincial service. Yet they cannot fill the vacancies. So far as Indians are concerned, the disinclination to adopt a forester's career is possibly due to the fact that the life of the jungle is not spent sufficiently in the limelight and is frequently too strenuous to please the middle-class Indian youth, who prefers an easy road to competence and authority. The decline in English recruits is perhaps a legacy of war conditions, but is more probably to be ascribed tQ the sense of distrust and insecurity which has pervaded the whole public service of India since the introduction of the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms. The Services have lost their belief in the determination and ability of the Indian Government to protect and support them,.

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while they are confronted almost daily with evidence the intention of Indians and Indian legislative councils to divest the administration as early as possible of its European personnel. In these circumstances the paucity of recruits is scarcely a matter of surprise. The second obstacle to forest development is lack of communications. The want of an adequate engineering staff hampers the development of transport lines; and considerable capital expenditure on railways, rbads and mechanical transport is imperative, if the forests are to be worked to anything approaching their full capacity. In the rich forests of Kanara the present transport system, which is of a crude and obsolete character, appears to have completely broken down; while the lack of timber waggons on the Tapti Valley Railway resulted in the valuable material provided to the sale depots from the North Dangs area remaining unsold. The Bombay Government, faced with serious financial difficulties, cannot do much to mend matters. At the last session of the Legislative Council they managed to secure a grant of 1,100,000 rupees for roads, bridges and buildings, chiefly in the Kanara district. But nothing less than a system of ample grants, provided throughout a series of years, will serve to obviate the present waste of valuable timber and to secure increasing profit from the forests of the province. The third difficulty which confronts the Forest Administration arises from the negligence or hostility of the people in respect of valuable forest areas. Forest fires during the year under review were very serious, and in the southern division of the province alone, 625 square miles of forest were thus destroyed. These fires, like the huge conflagrations in the Kumaon district of the United. Provinces, are shown to have been due mainly to the incitements of political agitators, who persuaded the illiterate villagers not only to set fire to the forests, but also to withhold their assistance in extinguishing accidental fires. A more determined attitude on the part of the Indian Government at the outset of the violent racial agitation of the last three or four years would have indirectly checked forest incendiarism as well as other uncomfortable symptoms of the decay of law and order. As the facts stand, however, it is no matter for surprise

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that during the year 1920-21 the percentage of surplus to gross revenue from the Bombay Forests declined from 23. 6 to 0路7. THE doctrine of political expediency has triumphed in the matter of the future control of the forests of Burma, which cover 227,000 square miles or more Bau:;~~~~~:ts than 64 per cent. of the total area of that 路 country. As is well known, the original proposals for Indian Constitutional Reform, embodied in the Montagu-Chelmsford Report, \vere not applicable to Burma; but since the passing of the Act of 1919, the India Office has been subjected to considerable political pressure, and in response thereto has conceded to the Province of Burma a form of constitution which it declared, as recently as 1918, to be totally unsuited to that country. A committee, under the chairmanship of Sir A. F. Whyte, was accordingly appointed to investigate the application of the Indian diarchy to Burma and to make recommendations regarding the transfer of subjects and departments to Burman ministers. One of the crucial questions for that committee's decision was whether the forests should be transferred to the control of indigenous ministers or should remain in charge of executive councillors. In India, under the same constitutional scheme, the forests have been placed on the transferred list in one province only, viz., Bombay, where they represent only la per cent. of the total area, as compared with 19 per cent. in the Central Provinces, the most widely forested area, and 64 per cent. in Burma. The forests of Burma, moreover, contribute more than two-sevenths of the gross revenue of the province. Naturally, the Burman witnesses, who appeared before the committee, \vere practically unanimous in demanding the transfer of the forests to the control of Burman politicians, while the local government which spends an unusually large proportion of its time and attention on forest administration, adhered, as it has always done, to the opinion that on the actual merits of the case the forests ought to remain in charge of the Executive Council of the province. Despite various objections, the comlnittee has decided in favour of the Burman view, on the ground that there

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is at present little or no public opinion in favour of conservation, and that to make it a transferred subject is the best way to create such public opinion and to educate the people up to the standard of full responsibility. This strikes one as an exceedingly doubtful proposition. The mere fact of handing the forests over to Burman ministers is not likely to produce any greater volume of enlightened public opinion than exists under present conditions, and there is the added danger that ministers may be incapable of appreciating the need of a sound forest policy, or, if capable of doing so, may adopt the line of least resistance in <;lealing with the popular demand, which is all for careless and improvident exploitation. Regarding the future of the forests, the committee pins its faith to another dubious proposition, namely, the continued existence of a strong, capable and highly organized Forest Department. The break-up of the Public Services in India, as a result of the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, is a matter of common knowledge: the men no\v serving in India find their position intolerable and wish to leave the country: the Secretary of State cannot find new recruits in England in sufficient numbers to discount the annual wastage. What guarantee is there that these conditions will not be reproduced in Burma, and that under the regime of Burman Ministers the European element in the Burma Forest Service will not in a few years have ceased to exist? None whatever. Yet in the absence of that highly trained and efficient European element, the very important work hitherto carried out in the Burma forests might speedily fall into ruin. The verdict of the Whyte Committee really represents the sacrifice of administrative and commercial efficiency to purely political considerations. A MOST interesting paper on "The Timbers of India and Burma was read before the Indian section of the Royal . Society of Arts on January 27 last by Mr. . The Tlm~ers Alexander L. Howard, head of the firm of IndIa. h路 h was appolnte . d ab out two years ago W lC timber agents of the Government of India for the United Kingdom and Europe. Mr. Howard, who recently made a protracted tour through the chief timber-producing areas of India, Burma, and the Andaman Islands, emphasized 11

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the point, which he based on his own experience in the timber trade, that in many countries, particularly in the Tropics, the timbers which are most esteemed by the local inhabItants often prove to be the least valuable for export. On the other hand, timbers which are of little use in the country of their origin are often of great importance in parts of the world with different climatic conditions. Thus the deodar and sal, which are the principal timbers of Northern and Central India, would probably cOlnmand little success in British and European markets, while such woods as Indian white mahogany, laurel wood, garjun, white bombwe, silver greywood, and white chuglam, all of which are likely to prove of high value.in Western markets, are in small demand in India. In consequence, most of the timbers likely to be appreciated by consumers in Europe, are, in the absence of any large local demand, obtainable at a price far below their intrinsic value, and therefore the f.o.b. price for these timbers, at any rate during the currency of the present low freights, is very advantageous to the buyer. There seems little prospect of enhancement of the cost of freight for some time to come. During his visit to India, Mr. Howard laid the foundations of a scheme for direct shipment of timber to England from Indian and Burmese ports and from the Andaman Islands. During the last few months five or six ships have been employed in this manner, the first of them being the ss. I~hodesia, which arrived at the West India Docks in August, 1921, with a full cargo from the Government of Burma of fine teak logs of large size, whereas hitherto the imports have always been in the form of sa\vn squares. Mr. Howard is convinced by his long experience of the trade that the import of round logs will prove of benefit to both producer and consumer. He holds optimistic views also regarding the sufficiency of timber supplies, pointing out that, whereas the total area of the United Kingdom is 88,000 square miles, the actual forest area of Jndia and Burma amounts to 251,000 square miles. Huge as these figures are, Mr. Howard would probably agree that an abandonment of the enlightened policy of conservation and re-afforestation pursued by the Indian Government during the last fifty years would very quickly lead to an appreciable reduction

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of the forest area, and ultilnately to economic disaster. The Indian forests have no greater enemy than the Indian villager. As regards the commercial exploitation of India's forest resources, Mr. Howard justly imposes upon the Indian authorities the obligation to acquaint themselves thoroughly with commercial conditions in Europe, so that they may be in a position to produce their timber for the market in the manner and in the quantities required by consumers. This study of trade conditions is of paramount importance, for without it India cannot hope to reap any appreciable financial advantage from her great natural endowment. Up to the present the Indian Government has confined its activities to encouraging private firms to exploit the less well-known timbers, but the complications and hazards inseparable from such an enterprise have prevented these firms from achieving any marked success, and Mr. Howard strongly advocates the financial assistance and co-operation of the Government of India, particularly in view of the fact that, as the forests are the property of the Government which is pledged to maintain and improve them for the benefit of succeeding generations, the scope and freedom of action of private enterprise are far more limited than in other countries. On the other hand, as remarked by Sir George Hart, late Inspector-General of Forests, where rights of exploitation have been conceded to private enterprise by the Indian Government, the terms of such concessions have often been unduly favourable, and have not sufficiently recognized the interests ot the taxpayer. Mr. Howard rightly deprecated the prevailing English habit of belittling the value both of home and Empire grown timber, which has resulted in the exploitation of foreign woods to the detriment of our own. Not only is this attitude unpatriotic, but it is also economically unsound, for it has tended to force the price of timber to a point in excess of its natural value. Mr. Howard therefore strongly commended the action of the Bank of England in deciding, in the face of considerable opposition from various quarters, to have the whole of the decorative woodwork in its new buildings in Finsbury Circus made of Indian timbers. He gave a list of several firms and institutions which are following this example, including Barclay's Bank, the Clan Line steamships, the London

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County Council, the Great Eastern Railway Company (for Pullman car fittings and the flooring of its showrooms), Messrs. Burroughes and Watts (for billiard tables in padauk), Messrs. Cramer and Co. (for pianofortes in white mahogany), and Messrs. Spink and Co. (for showroom and warehouse flooring in garjun). The address concluded with a valuable descriptive summary of several Indian woods, which those interested in the timber trade would do well to study. Considering their variety and excellence, it is hardly credible that they should be so little known and used in this country. In 1913, for example, of the total value of titnber imports into the United Kingdom, viz., ÂŁ33,788,884, India contributed only ÂŁ739,515, and 94 per cent. of this sum represented inlports of teak. In 1921 Indian timber imports showed a considerable increase, but much remains to be done by way of publicity and encouragement of the trade, if India is to' assume her rightful position as one of the most important sources of the Empire's timber supplies. THE issue of the Indian Fot'ester for March, 1922, reports that the Utilization Conference recently held at Dehra Trade Names Dun appointed a sub-committee to draw up for Indian a list of standard trade names for all Indian Timbers. timbers likely to find a market outside. This list occupies nearly five pages of the journal mentioned. To avoid confusion with existing trade names, the sub-committee decided in all cases to adopt either the most easily pronounced vernacular name or an English name not already in use for other species. The resulting list, which received the general approval of the Conference, is now to be circulated, for criticism and suggestions, to Indian forest officers; and when their replies have been received, another committee of officers of the Forest Research Institute will consider the various recommendations and prepare a final list, which will be adopted as the official catalogue of names of Indian timbers. India is not the only country which stands in need of a properly compiled list of this nature; and we may hope that the example set by the conference of forest experts at Dehra Dun will be followed in other parts of Âˇthe , Empire. It is presumed that the final list of Indian

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timber nanles will eventually be published in the Indian Forester, for it will he of interest and value to timber-users in the United Kingdom. IN its issue of January 12, 192.2, the Statesman of Calcutta drew pointed attention to the extraordinary claims put The Claims forward by the Titaghur Paper Mills Comof Indian pany and the Bengal Paper Mills Company Paper Mills. in their evidence before the Fiscal Commission in India. They endeavoured to prove that it is impossible to maintain a paper-making industry in India, unless Indian mills are granted substantial subsidies and a heavy protective duty. "At the present time India enjoys the incalculable benefit of cheap supplies of wellmade paper, the cheapness being due mainly to the fact that the paper imported from Northern Europe is manufactured near the sources of wood-pulp, by means of efficient machinery served by competent labour. It is now proposed partly to exclude this foreign paper, and to raise the price of the remainder, so that paper may be manufactured in India at a greater profit." The Titaghur Paper Mills urged the levy of a 20 per cent. duty on all paper imported into India, and the fixity of this tariff for a period of ten years. Besides this, they demanded preferential railway rates for all paper produced in India as well as for the raw materials of the industry. Special rolling-stock should be provided at those seasons of the year when grass has to be carried to the mills. While demanding a heavy tariff on imported paper, these mills asked that their machinery and raw materials should all be adtnitted free of duty. Finally, the Indian Government is asked to guarantee a minimum purchase of 10,000 tons, presumably at a price higher than they would pay if they placed their orders elsewhere. All these concessions are to come from the pocket of the tax-payer; and it is suggested that the mills, if screened from competition for a period of years, would be able H to bring their plant and Inachinery up to date and place themselves in a fighting position." It seems reasonable to assume that this combative 路attitude would be directed not so much against other trade-rivals as against the consumer, who路 would be heavily mulcted in 13

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order that the mills might make huge profits. It is pointed out that during the War, when there was absence of competition and the imports of paper declined, these Indian mills made enormous profits. The profits of the Titaghur Company in 1916 were 10 lakhs 1 of rupees, in 1917, 21 lakhs, and in the two years 1918 and 19 1 9, 54 lakhs. Dividends of 50 per cent. per annum were paid, large sums were written off for depreciation, while between June, 1918, and May, 1921 , no less than 30 lakhs were placed to reserve. It is highly doubtful whether, with a protective tariff enabling the paper industry to reap similar profits, the manufacturers would evince any great eagerness to spend money upon improvements which are apparently superfluous. It is upon costly and perhaps unremunerative experiments in the use of new materials like bamboo that the further development of the Indian paper-industry depends. Yet the demand for free import of raw materials can only mean that these manufacturers intend to rely as hitherto on imported WOOd-pulp, which can be more economically converted into paper in Europe. " Without imputing unworthy motives, one cannot but suspect that their ambition is not so much to establish a flourishing Indian industry, as to secure themselves in a pleasant and profitable enterprise, undisturbed by any fear of competition. Since, too, it can hardly be pretended that paper-making is an infant industry in India-the Titaghur Mills having been in existence for forty years, during which they have enjoyed all the advantages of a large market at their very doors-it is impossible not to admire the courage of an industry, which demands that its profits should be guaranteed at the public expense by means of an import duty long since described by high authority as an indefensible tax on knowledge." SOME time ago a Ceylon Industries Commission was appointed to investigate the possibilities of the industrial Forest and economic development of the Island. Products of The Commission published its report in the Ceylon. early part of the current year, and in the course of its recommendations deals specifically with ' lOne

lakh

= 100,000 rupees = ÂŁ6,666.

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the products of the Ceylonese forests. It commences by advising that one-third of the revenue accruing from the sale of forest produce should be allocated regularly to systematic afforestation, as is done in Australia; and then points out that there is great scope for developing the manufacture of tea and rubber chests, in view of the fact that Ceylon at present has to in1port annually about 3 million rupees' worth of m01ni and other boxes. There are also great possibilities in the distilling of acetic acid, which is largely used in the coagulation of rubber; in obtaining acetate of lime, charcoal, calcium carbide, wood-alcohol, tar, potash, &c., from the vast area of the Wanni jungles, which are of little or no value for ordinary forest purposes; and lastly in the manufacture of paper from illuk grass. These projects demand the early attention of the Government of Ceylon. Government of the Federated Malay States, recently engaged the services of a distinguished Forest Research The Forest Officer, Dr. F. W. Foxworthy, who has Resources of published a valuable book on the comMalaya. mercial woods of the Malay Peninsula. H is conclusions are briefly summarized as follows in Eastern EngineerinJ!. of January 26, 1922 : (a) The annual use of ,,"ood in the Peninsula amounts to more than si million tons, more than go per cent. of which is used for fuel. The demand for wood is rapidly increasing. (b) The productive forest area is 21,166 square miles, and the estimated volume of standing timber is 541,849,600 tons. The annual new ~rowth in the forests is very much less than the volume of wood consumed. The country cannot afford to develop any extensive export of timber, and it will take very careful handling to prevent a timber famine in the future. In all probability the country, before many years have passed, will have to undertake the planting of firewood crops upon an extensive scale. (c) The wood-working industries furnish employment to more than 30,000 persons who are mainly unskilled labourers. (d) Extraction and conversion of timber are done

THE

"'A

I88

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in a very wasteful fashion, and the resulting product is unsatisfactory and unduly expensive. There is not likely to be much improvement in conditions until better methods of work and suitable machinery are introduced. The quality of Malayan timber, according to a communication to the Financial Times from a correspondent in Kuala Lumpur, approximates to that of Bornean and Philippine woods. I'he most important of them have resin canals scattered through them, and they are of no great importance from a commercial standpoint. The rubber industry is responsible for the destruction of a large acreage of virgin forest; and had the price of rubber remained stationary, the productive forest area would have been reduced by at least one-third during 1921. Whether this wholesale destruction will be resumed when the rubber market revives, cannot be definitely stated. There is certainly a movement to oppose the ruthless denudation of the forest reserves; and the Government will probably be obliged at an early date to consider the advisability of not alienating any more forest land, in view of the enormous and annually increasing demand for wood and timber. At this moment a wood. famine prevails in some parts of the peninsula. The forests are exploited for both timber and firewood, the latter product being more important and more extensively used than the former. Firewood is practically the only fuel used in the tin-mining industry, and the firewood workings are to be seen mostly in forest areas bordering on the railway. Large stacks of firewood near the smaller railway-sidings are a falniJiar sight in Malaya. In 1919 the tin mines alone consumed 810,000 tons of firewood, which represents roughly a quarter of the total annual consumption in the Federated Malay States. Firewood is also used as fuel for railway engines (210,000 tons), rubber factories (219,774 tons), Government offices (76,5QO tons), smithies (57,600 tons), smelting (22,000 tons)" brick kilns (15,000 tons), lime kilns, launches and other steam-vessels. The consumption of firewood for domestic purposes amounted in the same year to 1,315,700 tons, representing a rate of about one ton per head of population per annum. House-building absorbs a large proportion of timber proper-for only one-twentieth of the Malay population

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lives in or near urban areas, and the remainder, occupying the villages, build their houses entirely of wood, and sometimes' of unhewn timber from the neighbouring forests. The mines, in addition to their consumption of firewood, also use much timber for building purposes. Furniture is manufactured on a considerable scale; but, excepting that made at certain workshops under European supervision, it is of indifferent quality. These European workshops make considerable use of teak, as the local forests provide no timber so durable and attractive. About a dozen varieties of timber are used in the building of small boats, canoes, masts and spars. One standard wood (Chengal) is at present generally used for railway sleepers. The variable conditions of climate subject sleepers to a severe test and render the choice of a really suitable wood a matter of some difficulty. Experinlents are now being made with two other species of wood, which are likely to become standard sleeper woods, if suitable methods of treating them can be devised. Except on the main lines, where metal posts are used, wooden telegraph and telephone poles are in general use. They are made principally of Chengal and Merban and last for about ten years. The same woods are used for railway passenger-coaches. The difficulty of obtaining an easily worked, comparatively soft and light wood in Malaya constitutes a serious obstacle to the manufacture of boxes, which ought otherwise to become a thriving industry. Consequently, for packing rubber, Malaya is forced to import Momi wood cases from Japan by the hundred thousand. Efforts have been made locally to turn out boxes of this kind, but have failed because the imported Japanese cases are cheaper than the local product. The establishment of really up-to-date box-making machinery might enable manufacturers to reduce the cost of production consider. ably; and such a venture ought to receive the utmost encouragement from the Government and the rubberÂˇ planting industry. A CONSERVATOR of Forests is to be appointed for British Honduras, with an adequate staff, the cost of which may .. have to be defrayed partially from Imperial HBr~ls~ s sources. It has been decided that the on u a â&#x20AC;˘ Belsize Estate and Produce Company, which

EMPIRE FORESTRY

owns large tracts of timber-land in the colony, shall employ the Conservatoc of Forests for three months every year. Apparently the results of trial shipments of Honduras mahogany and coconuts to Canada have been very discouraging from the standpoint of shippers, and business men in British Honduras incline to the opinion that the bulk of their domestic woods, coco..nuts and certain other co~modities must be exported to the United States until Canada evinces greater readiness to receive them. The logwood of British Honduras is said to be of the finest quality and superior to Jamaica logwood. The exports of logwood during the year 1920 amounted to 1,570 tons, all of which were shipped to the United Kingdom. This, as a matter of fact, represents roughly the bulk of the colony's accessible supply, and it is curious to reflect that, despite the fact that the logwood tree can be easily cultivated and matures sufficiently for cutting in ten years, and further that there are very large suitable areas lying idle, yet no cultivation on an appreciable scale is in progress. There are, it is true, large quantities of the tree in the colony still awaiting exploitation, but lack of roads and transport facilities render them for the present inaccessible. IN view of the increasing demand for paper and the high cost of its production in some European countries and Paper-making America, The Record, which is. the official Prospects in organ of the Board of CommerCial DevelopSiam. ment, Siam, drew attention a few months ago to the value of the bamboo as a pulp-material. Experiments have been made with two kinds of bamboo, while other closely allied species are found in almost unlimited quantities in the Siamese forests. The most promising areas for the supply of bamboos suitable for pulp manufacture are the forests on either bank of the Meklong and Kwaa Noi rivers. The chief difficulties attendant upon the establishment of a successful pulpfactory would be the problem of floating and the storage of bamboos and firewood, for the daily consumption of such material would be enormous, and owing to the difficulty and expense of storing, the floating down to the mills of bamboo and firewood woulrl have to proceed

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19 1

without interruption throughout the year. The two rivers mentioned above offer special facilities, although at places their floating capacity would probably have to be increased by blasting operations. rfhe paper draws attention also to the possibilities as a pulp-yielder of a curious tree, Broussonetia papyrifera, known in Siamese as Mai !(rasa. This is a softwood tree of small dimensions, found on boggy land and near the banks of streams, and grows wild in many parts of the country. The inner bark has been used from time imtnemorial for making the coarse paper that was in general use in Siam before the introduction of the European product. The tree grows very quickly, and "Then cut down renews itself from the old root at such a rate that it is again ready for cutting in about four years' time. In various parts of Siam there exist large areas of swampy, useless ground, on which the Mai Krasa could be grown in large quantities at little trouble and expense. The Siamese Ministry of Commerce has fouod that the content of cellulose in this tree is 57.6 per cent., which is roughly equivalent to that of European or American pinewood. Perhaps the most that can be said at present of these forest products is that they deserve the consideration of capitalists. The difficulties of transport, fuel-supply, &c., are admittedly not small, but they might be surmounted in tin1e, if considerable initial funds were available. AT a meeting of the Linnaean Society early in the current year, Dr. A. B. Rendle exhibited a piece of wood of Drites .. excelsa, one of the Australian silky oaks, AnAi~~~nlUm which had been sent to him by Mr. T. 路 Steel, of Sydney. The tree, which is found in northern New South Wales and Queensland, is very remarkable for deposits of aluminium succinate which occur in cavities of the wood. Aluminium is very rarely found in flowering plants and only in small traces, but Orites excelsa absorbs large quantities of alumina from the soil, as is proved by analysis of the ash. Occasionally the amount absorbed is excessive, and the excess is then deposited in cavities as a basic aluminium succinate. Orites belongs to the family Proteaceae and is related to Grevillea.-(The Field, February 4, 19 22 .)

EMPIRE FORESTRY

THE Indian Forester for February, 1922, contains an interesting letter on this subject from Mr. H. L. Wright, Forest Fires who writes as follows :caused " Many and ingenious are the explanations by Landslips. that have been put forward to account for the origin of forest fires, and the credulity of the Divisional Forest Officer is often strained to the utmost before he can accept them. Among those which I have always discarded as being rather too far-fetched was what the Rangers described as 'accidently caused by a landslip or falling stone,' and it was not until I had actually witnessed 路a fire so started that I believed it to be possible. "In June of this year (1921) I was touring with the Chief Conservator in the Parbatti Valley of Kulu, when one evening, shortly after dinner, we heard the roar of falling stones across the valley. We went out to see what was happening and almost immediately a fire broke out on the face of an inaccessible cliff. There being only a small patch of grass to burn, the fire quickly went out, but it could have been started in no other way than by a spark caused by a falling stone." It ,vould be interesting to know whether any evidence is available of fires caused in this manner in other parts of the Empire.

IN a monograph prepared by the United States Forest Service and quoted in the January number of the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, it is stated that H to . The Drymg air-dry Douglas fir wing beams requires of Woods. . h teen months. or路dOInarl'1 y f rom tweIve to eIg They may be kiln-dried in eighteen to twenty-four days. To air-dry hardwood propeller stock takes at least one, and preferably two years. The same material can be kiln-dried and brought to equally good condition in a month's time." Another statement of interest to woodusing countries is that exhaustive strength tests made recently by the Forest Products Laboratory of the U.8. Forest Service have proved beyond cavil that properly kiln-dried wood is just as strong and stiff as the best air-dried material. The report adds that kiln-drying for special purposes, such as the manufacture of airplanes, should pe regarded as a highly technical art.

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IT is reported that the Prince of Wales' Museum of Western India, the foundation stone of which was laid at A Forest BOdmbah~ b y His Majdesty t~e Kthin g in 190 5, Exhibition. an .w le h was t:tse d unng e war as a hospItal for IndIan troops, was formally opened by the Governor of Bombay in January of this year. The Museum includes a Forest Section, in which Mr. W. E. Copleston, Chief ConservatorÂˇ of Forests, Bombay, has arranged a fine display of the many beautiful and valuable timbers of the Bombay Presidency, showing their respective qualities and commercial possibilities. THE value of the aeroplane as an auxiliary of forest conservation was described in the first number of this Journal (vide Major Andrews' account of T~e Aeroplane its use in Vancouver) The Province of In Quebec. . . . Quebec has no\v deCIded to follow the lead of Vancouver and to improve its forest-protection systeln by means of aviation. The Government already possesses a hydroplane station at Roberval and proposes to open new stations in various districts. From these bases aviators will flyover the forests for a radius of 100 to ISO miles, with a view not only to the early discovery and extinguishing of fires, but also to the preparation of an inventory of that part of the forest area which has hitherto remained unknown. THE year 1921 was an unfortunate one for the timber trade. At the commencement the unsettled conditions The English of industry, financial stringency, and the Timber Market instability of international exchanges, toin 1921 â&#x20AC;˘ gether militated against the demand for timber; and as the year progressed the effects of these disturbing factors became more and more marked, and the demand steadily declined. About the end of September, however, there was a slight revival, and, fostered partly by distinctly lower prices, the market at the end of the year was showing greater activity. Considering these conditions, the deliveries of logs from the docks, which are usually regarded as a fair guide to consumption, were by no means unsatisfactory, viz., 18,991 logs against 21,116 logs in 1920. The

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inference to be drawn from these figures has, however, to be qualified by the fact that 48 per cent. of the deliveries took place during the last three months of the year, and that the figures include a notable quantity of Cuban 'Wood logs, which exceeded by 2,783 the number delivered in 1920. The total imports of mahogany logs were 23,602 tons -a figure well in excess of the supply of 1920, but still much below the average (32,000 tons) of the ten years ending in 1914. The stock in first hands at the beginning of the current year was a good deal heavier than that of a year ago; but a large proportion of it represented timber recently arrived and not yet offered for sale. The prospects for 1922 were regarded by experts as not wholly unfavourable. Imports probably will not be very large; and the prices ruling in January were generally accepted as satisfactory by buyers, who considered that the lowest point had been touched. Even if the current year's demand should be moderate and fitful, there ought to be sufficient trade to make the year stand out in welcome relief to the gloom of 1921.(Financial Times, January 7, 19 22.) WE have received a copy of the Annual Report of the Delegates for :Forestryat the University of Oxford for the Forestry at year 19 21 , which shows that seventy-six Oxford students were under instruction at the close University. of the year. I n the sphere of theoretical instruction, seventy-one lectures were delivered on sylviculture, general and tropical, forest mensuration, valuation and management. Lectures were also given on forest utilization, forest policy, forest botany (diseases) and entomology, and regular instruction was carried out in surveying and engineering. For practical instruction, the Professor of Forestry took a party of thirty second-year students for a tour through selected forests in France, while the first-year students were taught practical sylviculture and forest mensuration, and underwent a course of practical work in the Forest of Dean, I:Iigh Meadow Woods and Tintern Woods during the Easter vacation. During the summer vacation and the Michaelmas term they were engaged in

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路the preparation of a working-plan for Bagley Wood, near Oxford. The following papers by members of the staff appeared in scientific and professional journals :W. E. Hiley: "The Financial Rotation for Larch," Quart. Journ. of Forestry, xv, 122; "The Larch Needle-cast Fungus, Prferia Laricis, Vuill," ib., xv, 57; "Recent Investigations on the Germination and Culture of Forest Seeds," ib., xv, 160. N. Cunliffe: It Preliminary Observations on the Habits of Oscinella frit, Linn.," Annals of Applied Biology, viii, No. 2; "Some Observations on the Biology and Structure of Ornithodorus monbata, Murray," Parasitology, xiii, No. 4; It Some Observations on the Biology and Structure of Ornithodorus savignyi, Andouin," ib., xiv, No. I ; It The Douglas Fir Aphis," Quart. Journ. of Forestry, xv, 157; "Defoliation of Spruce by Aphis," ib., xv, 213. During the Michaelmas term the Professor of Forestry was absent on a special mission to East Africa, with the object of investigating forestry conditions in Kenya Colony and Uganda on behalf of the Colonial Office. Sir William Schlich carried out Professor Troup's duties during his absence. The Diploma in Forestry was awarded during the year to fifty-two students, of whom forty-five have obtained Government appointments. Post of April 7th, 1922, called attention to the fact that in the grounds of Claremont, a fine old estate in Surrey advertised for sale, are several Famous trees which claim pre-eminence as the finest Trees. specimens of their kinds in the British Isles. The Kentucky coffee-tree (Gymnocladus Canadensis) is represented, for example, by a specimen more than 60 it. high, with a trunk 7 ft. in girth, while a Sassafras officinale, with a trunk 7 ft. 3 in. in girth is the only satisfactory specimen of its kind in the kingdom. There is also a Magnolia macrophyUa, 45 ft. high, unrivalled in dimensions by any of the very few specimens which England contains, and lastly a Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) , more than 100 ft. in height, with a trunk over

THE !Iforning

EMPIRE }4'ORESTRY

13 ft. in girth, clothed from base to summit with branches that form a slender pyramid. SINCE 1914, according to a special correspondent of the Glasgow Herald, we have had little information about German forests, though many of our best Germa~y takes forestry students completed their training no RIsks. . . were free Iy quoted In . t h ere an d statIstIcs England for our edification. A well-known German forester recently declared that of all the resources which remain to Germany after a devastating war, the forests are those which have suffered least. This is not surprising when one remembers that the German Armies made the maximum use of the forests of the Allied Nations in all their field operations. They used their own timber only when it was near their armies. The German forester states definitely that his country would have lost the War in twelve months, if it had not been the possessor of forests which supplied wood for guns and trenches, food for cattle, fibre bandages, oil (beech-nut) in place of olive oil, turpentine, cellulose, rosin and many other substances of great importance required during the blockade. It appears that constructive forestry is once again in full operation in the Fatherland, and that neither changes of GovernInent, the fall of the mark, nor the alleged poverty of the nation have interfered with the re-adoption of the old and tried forest policy inaugurated during the imperial regime. May we hope that our statesmen will take notice of these facts and learn the obvious lesson which they present?

AN interesting survey of the various building timbers of

the Empire was given by Mr. H. D. Searles-Wood in Empire a lecture which he delivered in March, 1922, Timbers and the to the members of the Royal Institute of National Debt. British Architects. The information should be particularly valuable to the building and furniture trades, which are not yet fully acquainted with the properties and quality of the many fine woods obtainable from Canada, Australia, India, West Africa, British Guiana and British Honduras. In proposing a vote of thanks to the lecturer, Sir ]oseph Cook, High Commissioner for the Commonwealth of Australia, made

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a reference to the subject of war-debts, remarking that one of the most important men in the Australian Timber Trade once said to him: "If you want to get rid of the war debts of the Empire in a way that will not hurt anybody, carry out a scheme of scientific afforestation throughout its whole area." He believed, added the High Commissioner, that if this were done, the whole of the National Debt would be liquidated in thirty years. A SERIES of experiments carried out by Mr. H. A. Goddard, State Entomologist, Ohio, U.S.A., offers a The Aeroplane striking illustration of the value of the aeroand Insect plane in combating destructive plagues of Pests. insects. A correspondent of the Times, whose report appeared in that paper on April 21, 1922, describes a mass attack by caterpillars on a grove of catalpa trees, six acres in extent, at Tray, Ohio. An expert was sent up in an aeroplane with 200 lb. ot arsenate of lead, which, as the aeroplane flew low over the grove, was H dusted" down in the form of powder by special mechanism. Within three days of this le dusting," which occupied only fifty-four seconds, 99 per cent. of the destructive caterpillars were dead, millions of them strewn on the ground and the rest hanging lifeless from the branches. The experiment was so successful that an effort to protect large forest trees from insect pests is to be made with aeroplanes furnished \vith a special apparatus for spraying "poison clouds." The problem has been carefully studied in France, where it is proposed to use aeroplanes of the scout-type for locating swarms of grasshoppers and for scattering poisoned bait for their destruction. The result of these experiments should be of interest to India, where the wholesale destruction of trees and crops by the plague of locusts in 1904 is still vividly remembered by many of the peasants. THE Indian Government is apparently anxious to allow its forestry officers every reasonable chance of keeping Encouragement their knowledge of forestry up to date. In of the Study an important Resolution published in the of Forestry. Gazette of India last April, it is stated that selected officers of the Forest Department in India, while

EMPIRE FORESTRY

on leave, can undertake short tours on the Continent of Europe, at public expense, with the object of keeping their general professional knowledge up to date. A forest officer desirous of obtaining permission to study must forward an application to that effect through the local Government to the Government of India, not less than two months before his departure on leave, stating therein the purpose of the proposed tour and the localities which he proposes to visit. The maximum period of study will be three months at one time, and ordinarily, permission to avail himself of this privilege will not be granted on more than two occasions in the course of his service; and at the end of any period of study he ,vill be expected to submit to the Indian Office a diary indicating fully the nature of the operations studied. The cost of his journey, daily allowance, &c., will be paid by the Government of India. Journal of the. Institute of Brewing for May, J922, contains a report of an interesting discussion on the subject of timber for beer-casks, which took Timber for place at the Institute of Chemistry in the Casks. preceding January. The proceedings opened with the reading of a paper by Mr. Sweatman, who has considerable experience of the practical work of a cooper, in which, after detailing the various qualities expected of a brewer's cask, he stated that oak is of all woods the most suitable by reason of its durability, freedom from unpleasant flavour, and capacity for withstanding the constant compression of hoop-driving. Fifty or sixty years ago, when the brewing trade was rapidly developing, a dearth of oak staves led to experiments with various other timbers, such as beech, birch, ash and chestnut; but none of these were found to be comparable with oak. Experiments have not been confined to English timbers: for white cedar from the United States, jarrah and kauri pine from Australia, chuglam from India, stringy bark from Tasmania, camwood, carupa and crabwood from South America, and seriak from the Philippine Islands, have all been tested and found wantin~. Some of these woods provided excellent casks, but imparted a stringent taste to the beer, or gave it a colour which naturally destroyed its value to the consumer. THE

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Oak, therefore, and English oak particularly, still remains facile princeps as a material for beer-casks; but the quantity of English oak available is so small that one averaged-sized London brewery would exhaust it entirely. l\'Ioreover its use is declining, owing to the difficulty of mass production of cleft staves from it. The knotty character of English oak, which does not usually grow in close forests, renders the stave-making trade wholly unprofitable. Br~wers are therefore disposed to rely rather upon Russian or Baltic oak, or memel, as it is called, or upon American white oak. Regarding the latter, there seems to be considerable difference of opinion.. Some experts declare that it shows great variation of quality and can only be adapted with difficulty for use for all classes of beer. Others, however, assert that real American oak causes no harm to the beer, and that being tougher, and at the same time more pliable and elastic, than Baltic oak, the casks made of it require much less constant repairs. For the latter reason, Irish brewers are said to prefer American to Russian oak. The evidence for and against the use of American oak seems to be fairly equally balanced, and unless new timber, suitable for cask-making is discovered, the trade will probably depend largely, as heretofore, upon supplies of Baltic oak. The position disclosed by the discussion of Mr. Sweatman's paper offers food for reflection. Is the Empire,. with its vast and varied forest resources, incapable of supplying a timber which can be profitably converted into staves for beer-barrels? Must the brewers of England always be forced to import their cask-wood from Russia or America? One of the speakers announced that he \vas in hopes of receiving a sample of Indian oak from the United Provinces, with the object of testing its suitability for the manufacture of casks. Surely this individual effort ought not to represent the sum-total of imperial experiment. Cannot the research-laboratories in India, Canada and Australia assist in finding a timber within the Empire's forests, which will release one of the most important industries in Great Britain from complete dependence upon foreign timber supplies? We are confident that the Institute of Brewing would welcome any serious attempt to find a substitute for American and Baltic oak.

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A LIMITED company has been formed in Milan with a capital of 50 million Italian lire, to engage in the timber trade and to exploit the forest wealth Miscellanea. of l~oumania.-(Times Trade Supplement, April 8, 1922.) .MR. C. L. PACK, President of the American Forestry Association, is presenting the French Government with 700 lb. of Douglas fir seeds for the re-afforestation of the battle-fields. He is also sending a gift of 300 lb. of fir seed to England, to assist in replacing the forests felled during the war.-(Times Trade Supplement, April 8, 19 22 .)

A DOGA Timber and Tannin Extraction Company has been formed in Suva, Fiji, for the purpose of extracting tannic acid from the bark of the doga tree, which grows in the mangrove swamps on the foreshores all around the islands. The proposal is to extract the tannic acid and ship the crystals to England. The timber, some of which grows to a fair size, will be sawn and used locally. The company has all the doga rights of the Island of Vitilevu, the largest of the group. Machinery has been ilnported, and a beginning will soon be made. When the concessions were secured, tannic acid was bringing ÂŁ79 per ton in London; to-day the price is in the neighbourhood of ÂŁ19, and it has yet to be proved whether the enterprise will pay at the lower price.-(Times Trade Supplc1nent, April IS, 19 22.) IN an article on British Guiana, contributed to the Daily Telegraph of April 17, 1922, the Hon. W. Ormesby Gore calls attention to U greenheart" timber, the unique product of the forests of that colony. It is one of the hardest and heaviest woods, peculiarly valuable for dock and harbour work, as it resists erosion by sea-water, and is not penetrated by the teredo or sea-worm. It is, perhaps, better known to the general public as the wood that makes the best fishing-rods. The vast forests of Guiana contain timbers of every variety. Balata (the source of gutta-percha), 11tOra, crabwood (which resembles mahogany), purple heart, palms of every variety and notably the beautiful Eta palm, await commercial develop..

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ment. " The conquest of the Guiana forest is part of the great task that still lies before man in turning to human advantage the vast territory of tropical South America." LT.-COL. G. L. COURTHOPE, M.P., who was head of the Acquisition Branch of the Timber Supplies Department during the War and who is 110\\1 Chairman of the English Forestry Consultative Committee and ViceChairman of the Empire Forestry Association, has pointed out that the purchases of standing timber made by the Department and by the HOlne-grown Timber Comlnittee which preceded it, in England and Wales alone amounted up to December, 1918, to 100 million cubic feet. The purchase price was £4,75°,000. At the date of the Armistice the average purchases in England and Wales just exceeded 7 million cubic feet per month, and were effected practically without resource to compulsory powers and with very little dispute. In regard to this phenomenal consumption of timber in a country which \vas accustomed to fell very little, the question naturally arises, "What is left? It Colonel Courthope states that really accurate statistics of the timber remaining were not at first available; but in the spring of 1918 a flying census of timber was taken, which has proved to be substantially correct. This sho\\Ted that in the United Kingdom in April, 1918, there were left standing 33°,5°°,000 cubic feet of soft wood of convertible sizes, and 418,500,000 cubic feet of hard wood of convertible sizes. The hard wood was very largely in England. As to pit wood, there \vere 678,500,000 cubic feet of soft wood, and 244 million cubic feet of hard wood. The convertible timber thus amounted to 749 million cubic feet, equal to 4,500,000 standards, and the pitwood to 923,500,000 cubic feet, or approximately 25,000,000 tons. Since that date, however, 50 or 60 million cubic feet had been felled, and a certain amount of \vood had been planted. On the question of the country insuring itself against failure of pitwood to keep the mines working in the event of another war, Colonel Courthope added that entire independence of imports could only be secured by planting or replanting every year about 100,000 acres of conifers.-(Westerl1 Press, April 8, 1922.)

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Mr. F. D. BARNJUM, of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, is so deeply impressed by the rapid destruction of the forests of Canada and the small results so far achieved in the way of re-afforestation that he has offered prizes to the amount of 1,000 dollars for the best essays on practical forestry. The competition is to be confined to forest conditions in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec, but will be open to any citizen of Canada. The subject for the essays will be the regulation of the forest-fire menace, with suggestions for legislation to prevent this danger, and for any other Inethod calculated to protect the forests and preserve them for Canada's home industries. The judges are to be the two Provincial Foresters of Quebec and New Brunswick, the Dean of the Faculty of Forestry in Toronto University, and the Director of the Forestry Department of the Dominion. Mr. Barnjum has also offered a prize of 250 dollars for the best municipal forest plantation, a prize of 250 dollars to the chief fire ranger whose district shows the best results in each of the three provinces mentioned above, and lastly, a bonus of 2 dollars per acre to the farmers of Nova Scotia for every acre of spruce or pine seedlings planted by them on their farms in the spring of 1922.

2째3

WESTMINSTE6R HALL. By SIR FRANK BAINES,

C.B.E., M.V.O.

THE roof of Westminster Hall, built upon the old walls of the Hall constructed by William Rufus in 10971099 is, without question, the finest specimen of an open timber roof in the world. Indeed, it is unapproached for magnificence both of design and construction, and its safety and preservation are matters of concern not only throughout the British Empire, but throughout the civilized countries of the world. No other roofs of han1mer-bearll construction existing to-day can be COU1pared with it, although there is record of other timber roofs being constructed of greater span. These are, however, for the most part, purely utilitarian \vith none of the great qualities of design possessed by the West111inster Hall roof. The present roof was erected bet\veen 1393 and 1399 by Richard I I, and its design and execution appear to have been the work of I-Iugh Herland, the King's master carpenter. rrhe span of the roof varies in different parts of the hall, owing to the fact that the walls of the William Rufus Hall are not parallel, but the general average span of the roof is 68 ft. Other timber roofs have had a greater span than this. For example, the roof over the nave of the Basilica of St. Paul-without-the-Walls, Rome, has a span of 78 it. 6 in., but this roof involves no particularly daring scheme of construction, as it was designed \vith tie beams, which materially simplifies the problem. The Westminster Hall roof, however, is unquestionably not only the most beautiful, but probably the most scientifically constructed tilnber roof of great dimensions ever erected, and the fact that it is standing to-day is . evidence of the extraordinary skill in design, and the outstanding scientific quality of the theory underlying that design. Indeed, had the roof been protected in some way against the attacks of the wood-boring grub,

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EMPIRE FORESTRY

Xestobium tessellatu1n, there is no reason to consider that

any works of reparation and preservation need have been undertaken, as the distortion of the existing timbers, and the eccentric stresses existing in the trusses at the present time, can all be postulated as being entirely due to the partial collapse of certain members of the roof trusses due to the action and attack of. the X estobilt11t tessellatunt. After the erection of the roof at the end of the 14th century, no material repairs appear to have been undertaken for 260 years. The record of the repairs at this time would seenl to show that they were necessitated by the decayed condition of certain of the beams due to the attack of the wood-boring grub, which continued down to the present day. At this time certain of the collarbeams and hammer-beams were repaired with timber and iron ties and bolts, and three new purlins were inserted \vith iron bolts and iron stirrups securing them to the trusses. Defective rafters were firred up to provide a more even surface for the lead covering of the roof, which was removed in part, recast and replaced. In the first half of the 18th century the condition of the roof apparently gave grave cause "'for concern, for a record exists of telllporary shores being erected under the hammer-posts, while the principals were keyed up and patched \vith iron bars and plates. Part of this work had been completed in 1747, and some of the shores were then removed, and the whole of the work was completed by September, 1748, and the entire scaf. folding taken down. In 1749, ho\vever, a record exists of a statement made that the work in the two preceding years had further weakened the roof, and the lead covering was removed froIn the roof and slates substituted, the argument being that the load would be relieved by .this action. However, later on a recommendation was made that a return to a lead covering should be made, the object apparently being at that time to relieve the weight of the roof by the removal of the slates. As a matter of exact cOlnparison, ho\vever, the difference in weight between the type of slate which should be used for a roof of this great size and the cast lead which would be used as an alternative method of covering, is almost negligible. Coming down to more modern times, in 1821 repairs

WESTMINSTER HALL

2째5

were undertaken to the roof and the fleche by Mr. John Soane (afterwards Sir John Soane), and in 1834 Sir Robert Smirke reported that no further works of strengthening were required, acd there was no need for con... sidering a further scheme of preservation. In 1850, however, when Sir Charles BatTy was carrying out a scheme in the vicinity, he developed a proposal for strengthening this roof \vith iron ties, and in 1885 Mr. Charles Barry advised that a very careful examination of the roof should be undertaken, his argument being that its actual condition was not well-known, and that a roof of thIS age \\70uld inevitably require repair. A report was made as late as 1896 to the effect that the roof was in a fair condition, and although certain rninor repairs were executed between 1909 and 1911, it was not till 1913 that a thorough and exhaustive examination of the roof in detail revealed the serious condition of the great majority of the structural timbers, particularly at the points of juncture. The exatnination was undertaken by Sir Frank Baines, of His Majesty's Office of Works, as a result of a previous examination by him many years before, which had convinced him that the state of the timber at the points of juncture was far more serious than was generally supposed. The result of the 1913 examination was detailed and published in a blue book in 1914, and presented to both Houses of Parliament, and as a result of this examination the proposals for the repair and strengthening of the roof were undertaken, were slowly continued throughout the war, and will be completed by the end of this year. The opinion is confidently expressed that the stability of the roof will then be assured for some hundreds of years, provided nothing is done to prejudice the stability of the original \vaIls of the William Rufus Hall, upon which the roof trusses rest. The length of the roof is 240 ft., the average span 68 ft., the angle of pitch being 52"5째. The length is divided into 12 bays with 13 principals, aud there is approximately 50,000 cubic ft. of finest English pedunculate oak in the timbers of the roof exclusive of the roof boarding. The design is of the hammer-beam variety, although owing to its immense scale, the construction and features of this halnmer-beam roof are dissilnilar from those of

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any other known example. The trusses consist of an upper triangulated framed structure embodying the main collar-beam, upper principal rafters queen-posts, and a heavy crown-post centrally supporting the massive ridgepiece. This upper triangulated framed structure is supported on two cantilever structures, each consisting of a lower principal rafter, hamme~-post, hammer-beam, wall-post, curved strut between wall-post and hammerbeam, the whole truss being braced together by a great curved arch springing fronl the foot of the wall post at the corbel, passing the hammer-beam and hammer-post \vith its crown at the centre of the main collar-beam. This great curved brace or arch is of three members, the two outer mernbers being housed into the halnmerbeams and wall-posts as they pass, the centre tnember being discontinuous and double tenoned into thenl at the point of juncture. The safety of the roof undoubtedly has been attained by the introduction of this great arched melnber, as the failure of the tilnbers at the points of juncture has thrown a great proportion of their load on to this great curved brace, which, although unduly stressed as a result of this, has carried the load without definite failure. The theory of construction of hammer-beam roofs would require too long a dissertation for the space at our disposal, but generalJy it may be taken that the stability of a hanl1ner-beam roof is provided by the great thrust upon the wall ends of the hammer-beams made by the principal rafters of the truss. In the case of Westminster Hall, however, these wall ends of the hammer-beams have practically all decayed as the result of the attack of the Xestobiu11~ tessellatum and the stability of the hammerbeam was in part assured by bolts inserted from their undersides to the back of the lower principal rafter. This induced unjustifiable stresses in the principal rafters, but such temporary measures taken in conjunction with the assistance afforded by the great curved brace has undoubtedly retained the roof in position to the present time. Many of the structural tin1bers are of exceptional dimensions and the scheme of reinforcement and repair of the roof did not involve the removal of any of the primary timbers; indeed it would have been difficult to have found timbers of the dimensions required had such a scheme beep considered.

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As an example: the hammer-beams are out of 221- "in. by 2 [ in. timbers 18 ft. long; the hatnmer-posts are out of 38t in. by 25 in. timbers 21 ft. long; the collar-beams are comprised of two members each 19 in. by 12 in., 40 it. long; the lower principal rafters are out of 17 in. by 11 in. timbers, 27 ft. long; and the upper principals of similar dimensions 29 ft. long. The main purlin, consisting of four luembers, has one member 22 in. by 9 in., 19 ft. long, while the common rafters are out of 8 in. by 6 in. oak up to 32 ft. in length. It is clear that the dinlensions of many of these timbers would present a most serious difficulty if replacement \vere decided upon. Most of the timbers show little sign of sap wood and are of such excellent material as to lead us to expect that they were cut out of the" prime 10g,'1 as little evidence of branch-timbers shows in any of the main structural tuembers. The timber i5 of oak throughout, with the exception of the more modern roof boarding. At one tiule the opinion seems to have been widely held that the timber of which the roof was constructed \vas chestnut, the opinion being due to the fact that the colour of the timber of the roof, which is a warnl sienna brown, was so unusual \vith oak that the timber was presumed to be chestnut. Sections of the timber were taken and microscopic examinations made, and the typical structure of oak was clearly found; and there can be no question that, so far as our experience goes, no chestnut whatsoever was used in the construction of this roof. Micro-photographs were made from many of the titubers which clearly decided the matter, and when comparing these with micro-photographs from chestnut, the difference in structure of the two samples was clearly apparent and the disputed point was finally settled in favour of oak. It is interesting to make an inquiry as to the district from which the supply of such great timbers for the construction of the roof was obtained. An examination of the records at the Record Office was made and the original accounts and papers carefully investigated, from which we learn that on July 5,1393, Mr. John Gedeney, the Clerk of Works, was appointed" to take by land and sea all the King's tituber in the wood of Petlewode, Sussex, to the Port of London for the King's works within the

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Palace of Westminster." In part some of the timber was obtained from the King's Park of Odiham and from the Abbot of St. Alban's wood at Bernam, and also from a \vood by Kingston-on-Thames. These facts are given in the accounts ranging from Easter, 1395, to Michaelmas, 1397. 'fhe accounts of 1399 show that H one thousand wainscot boards" were used for boarding the roof of the hall, and the interest of these referellces in the accounts is in the fact that they determine very definitely the nature of the wood used. They would alone appear to prove that the wood was of oak, while the evidence of the micro-photographs taken shows that there should now be 110 doubt upon this point. The trees from which the oak was cut must have been of unusualsize and the quality would appear to show that the largest timbers were taken from oak grown upon the wet Sussex Weald as isolated specimens. It is, of course, irnpossible to determine accurately, if at all, once a tree is felled, as to whether the species of oak under exalnination is pedunculate oak or sessil oak. The pedunculate oak is generally recognized as being the best oak for carrying loads, while the sessil oak has characteristics \vhich make it peculiarly suitable for wainscoting and decorative work. The reason why the oak of which the hall roof is constructed is thought to be pedunculate is that this variety of oak is known to flourish on heavy and retentive soils, while the sessil oak flourishes, for example in the Forest of Dean, on light, rocky soils, and the pedunculate variety is growing to-day in magnificent specimens in the heavy soil of the Sussex Weald. It was the invariable practice in England in obtaining oak for use by the Admiralty during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to fell the timber in \vinter, and in 1770 the Adlniralty even offered an addition of 5 per cent. to the price for oak felled in the winter season so as to compensate the contractors for the loss of bark. The question as to whether the titnber in Westminster Hall had been seasoned before use is a very difficult one, and upon which it is doubtful whether any useful opinion can be given. From the records of the cutting of the oak it would appear to have been used green in the construction, and although certain of the tnassive timbers show signs of opening and shaking due to \vhat to-day

WESTMINSTER HALL

2째9

we should consider was seasonin~, very few signs exist of warping and distortion of the tilnber due to seasoning alone. In part this is probably due to the fact that the major distortion, fracture and opening of the existing original timbers of the roof of the Hall are prin1arily due to the eccentric and exceptional stresses set up in the members owing to the readjushnent of the timbers as a result of the decay. 1'\he seasoning of oak has always given rise to many varying opinions, and it is clear that a long period of seasoning could not have been allowed before the construction of the roof of Westminster Hall. The British oak \vas apparently cut and sent to the Hall forthwith, when it ,vas straighta\vay \vorked into scantlings, and could only therefore have been used in a comparatively green and unseasoned condition. Moreover, it was observed during the course of the work that even the several hundred years of seasoning '\vhich the oak under\vent in position in the roof of the Hall did not prevent sections of the oak from warping and twisting once it was cut and a ne\v face exposed to atmospheric influence. For example, planks sawn from original timbers from the roof which had been in position since 1399 warped and twisted in a comparatively short period after exposure to a ,\varm and rnoist atmosphere. As the result of inquiries the following conditions were laid down, as regards the oak to be obtained for the absolutely necessary repairs to the original timbers. It was decided that no oak should be used \vhich was not English, which was not of the pedunculate species, and which was not grown on heavy retentive soil. Further, that the oak should be taken not froln close gro\ving forest timber, but should be taken from isolated park specimens frolu open rolling country, or else from oak grown under an open system of " coppice and standard." No oak was accepted unless its history was known, and it will be interesting to record that the entire oak for the repairs of this great roof has been taken from trees of the pedunculate species grown on the heavy retentive soil of the Sussex Weald. It was decided that no attempt should be made to season the oak by special means. The oak was cut as far as the majority of it \vas concerned from the prime

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log of the tree felled in the autumn, was roughly cut into the scantlings thought to be required and "vas stacked in the Hall for as long a period as possible before being erected into position. Some of the new oak provided under these conditions has warped and twisted, but not to any extent which need cause anxiety or trouble in the construction. Of course, every possible attempt has been made to eliminate to the maximum the provision of new oak as every vestige of the original timber that could be preserved has been retained in position, and samples of the old oak taken to-day from the roof show as luuch strength and life as any of the new oak provided in the repairs. Indeed, after hundreds of years of excessive stress the original oak of the roof of Westminster Hall would appear to be to-day as strong as it was on the day when it was inserted. This should give some idea of the extraordinary stability and permanance of English pedunculate oak for structural purposes. The material appears to be iluperishable, and provided it can be guaranteed to be free from the attacks of "rood-boring insects and fronl the attacks of various species of dry rot, it appears unlikely that there is any Inore permanent material. :For the purposes of this paper it is not thought that much need be said about the schelne of reinforcement. 1'he scheme is devised, ho\vever, to provide a triangulated steel frame superimposed on the original timbers, so as to relieve the stress and assist in carrying the calculated load, but using the timber as part of the structural scheme as far as possible, and superitnposing the steel reinforcement in such a manner that it can in no way detract from the beauty and perfect design of the roof. Indeed it may well be stated in the future that the actual works of preservation cannot be seen, and bearing in mind that the deflection of every timber, the distortion of form and the adjustn1ent of men1bers to the eccentric stresses are preserved without any alteration whatever it can be said that the roof is retained without alteration, in its original but adjusted forln, after the passage of many centuries. rrhe decay of the roof has been solely due to the ravages of a wood-boring grub previously Inentioned,

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namely Xestobiu11't iessellatun1. The insect undergoes a complete metaluorphosis in approximately three years, progressing th rough a larval stage, a chrysalis stage and thereafter becoming a perfect beetle during which time it is away frorn the tilnber. It is believed that the larval stage in \vhich the white slightly curved grub is known as the wood boring grub, is the period of destructive activity of the insect. In this stage the grub lives entirely within the tiluber,. boring through the oak lvith its hard sharp jaws and forining tunnels of about 1 inch in diameter. The soft body of the grub is armed with minute horny pegs directed outwards and backwards to enable it to press UPO!l the sides of its tunnel, and to give effective purchase to the biting power of its jaws. At the end of the larval stage the larva takes up its position in a transverse bore hole behind the merest film at wood between it and the outer air. Here it goes through the chrysalis or pupal stage, and on emergence from the chrysalis' the thin film of wood is penetrated by the beetle which then takes its nuptial flight. It is in the beetle stage when the rhythluic tapping on the timber is indulged in, which is thought to be the sex call and from which it derives its popular name of the H death vvatch. The tapping is produced by the beetle rising upon its front legs and rapidly striking its head upon the tituber a succession of sharp blows of from eight to ten definite taps; and once the rhythm and time of the tap is noted it is possible by the tapping of a pencil upon wood to tuake the beetle answer the call, which can be heard in a room at 12 feet distance. The female beetle after impregnation lays its eggs on the oak in dark draughtless cracks or interstices of the wood, such as joints for example which have warped or opened as a result of stress, or fissures and shakes which have occurred in the wood through seasoning or through stress. As a result of this habit of the beetle the vast majority of the decay in the timbers of the roof of the Hall has occurred at the principal bearing joints of the trusses, which have been seriously damaged by the ravages of the grub and which are so great in certain instances that a man could insert his body to the hips in some of the cavities made路 by the grub in certain of th e ti m bers. H

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The habit of the grub of working continuously within the timber in longitudinal tunnels until it emerges as a beetle has lead to the preservation of apparently sound surfaces to the timbers seriously hollowed out by its ravages. Certain of the main collar-beams for example, were hollowed out in both members to within I inch and I! inch of the outer surface of the t\VO timbers respectively. The ends of other timbers had entirely fallen away owing to the hollowing out of the timber and the final crushing of the shell of what was left of the wood through the stresses in the roof. One of the first considerations of the schemes of preservation \vas to ascertain what method of eradicating the Xestobium could he devised which would preserve the timber from further depredations of the wood-boring grub. Certain limiting conditions have to be laid down; for example, the method used must provide a solution capable of penetratIng into the timber by external application; it should be a perfect insecticide, and should be a good preservative and should not be inflammable, should not be a volatile poison, and should not injure the distinctive golden-brown colour of the oak. After considerable experiment an insecticide was devised of tetrachlorethane with trichlorethalene used as a diluent with a small proportion of cedar wood oil, paraffin wax, and solvent soap. This method was utilized for a time, but it was found that the tetrachlorethane was a virulent liver poison, and had to be used under the most drastic restrictions; and although the solution devised was admirable for its purpose, it \vas considered essential to find another method of dealing with the Xestobiu1n which was non-poisonous. As a result of further inquiry, an active chemical insecticide was procured from Messrs. Heppel, comprising . 91 per cent. of ortho-para-dichlor-benzene, 7 per cent. white Castile soap, and 2 per cent. of cedar wood oil. The solution is applied after a thorough cleansing of the timbers from all dust and all excreta of the wood-boring grub. This cleansing is obtained by air blasts, and is of primary importance, since the penetration of the insecticide into the wood fibre is seriously prejudiced by a screen of dust upon the surface and \vithin the immediate surface tunnels in the timber.

WESMINSTER HALL

21 3

The insecticide is discharged froul a Is-gallon container of acid-proof metal mounted on a framework with a wheel base, so as to allow of its ready removal to the points of application. The apparatus is fitted with a hand-pump working up to an air pressure of 120 lb. to the square inch, with pressure gauge graduated to measure, and the solution is normally applied at a pressure of, roughly, 60 lb. per square inch. Every part of the timber, both old and new, is given at least two soakings from the solution, the spraying being continued until the wood has absorbed as much as possible, and until the liquid streams do\vn the surface and begins to drip. Special care has to be taken to spray every possible section of exposed timber, and it is thought that this solution will definitely break the cycle of the life history of the Xestobiul1t in the timbers of the hall, and will prevent it utilizing the timbers for a period of many years, when its depredations, although they may commence again, will take a very extended period to cause further trouble.

21 4

A NOTE ON THE OAK TIMBER US'ED IN THE ROOF OF WESTMINSTER HALL. By

LIEUT.-COLONEL

L. COURTHOPE,

M.P.

IT has been suggested that Sir Frank Baines' most interesting article on the Roof of Westminster Hall should be followed by a short note on the oak till1ber used in its restoration. Early in 1913, Sir Frank Baines, after making inquiries from the English Forestry Association, approached me with a view to my supplying the oak timber required for the restoration of the roof {roln nlY Estate at WhiJigh, which lies in the parishes of Ticehurst and Wadhurst, in the County of Sussex. At first, as a result of a consultation with the Speaker of the House of COlnmons, I refused to enter into negotiations, as the liability of a Member of Parliament who lnakes contracts \vith a Governlnent Departtnent is considerable. Later, ho\vever, after a lengthy but unsuccessful search for other sources ÂŁroll1 which suitable tirnber might be obtained, I \vas again approached, and, after special steps had been taken to provide for my inlmunity from penalty, I consented to supply all the oak timber required to a public company with whom the contract was placed by H.M. Office of Works. The first instalments of the timber \vere supplied from trees which had been felled two or three years previously, and for the past eight years a steady supply has been maintained, the last truck-load having been dispatched last month. I have personally selected and marked every tree which has been used for the purpose, while the whole of the felling and primary conversion has been carried out by my Estate Staff. l'he total quantity supplied has been approximately 16,000 cubic feet. The whole of the timber has been of the pedunculate variety, and has been grown either as park timber, or as standards in chestnut coppice. Winter felled timber only has been supplied. The Estate on which this timber

OAK TIMBER USED IN WESTMINSTER HALL

215

has been grown lies in the heart of the Weald, the Anderida of Roman times, and the Andredes-Weald of the Saxon. The elevation above sea level varies from ISO to 500 feet. The soil is heavy Wadhurst clay, overlying and interspersed with Tunbridge Wells sands, forming part of what is usually described as the Hastings beds. The immediate neighbourhood is retnarkable for the frequent pockets of spathic carbonate of iron, \vhich supplied the raw material for the ancient Wealden Iron Industry. The iron was melted with oak charcoal. This, and the fact that my forefathers, who have o\vned the property for many centuries, were iron-masters, probably accounts for the large quantity of fine oak tilnber \vhich the Estate possesses. 'fhe tradition on the Estate, which is borne out by the condition of the woodlands, is that no planting of oak has ever taken place, the whole crop being maintained by natural regeneration. I t is difficult路 to account for the extremely fine quality and great size of SOlne of the trees, as there are frequent specimens in isolated positions with perfectly clean straight stems for 30 or 40 feet, containing commonly 250 to 300 cubic feet on the quarter-girth measure, and occasionally a much larger volume. The trees which have been utilized for the restoration of Westtninster Hall, have varied greatly in age, the majority sho\ving by their rings an age of from 200 to 300 years. A few trees, however, have revealed a much greater age, and at least two \vere growing when RIchard I I built his roof at the end of the fourteenth century. It is much to be regretted that the \var and my own absence on active service have made it impossible to keep a complete record of the individual trees. In conclusion, I \vollld mention one item which I hope may be of interest to some who happen to read this note. Some two years ago, the examination of old records by the Board of Trade brought to light the strange fact that in 1394, \vhen Richard 11 \vas comlnencing the present building, some oak timber was purchased from an ancestor of my own from the Parish of Wadhurst, presumably to supplement the main supply mentioned by Sir Frank Baines. It is, therefore, probable that some of the older trees, which I have felled during the last few years for the restoration of Vv'r estminster Hall, were actually standing amongst those which were felled five-and-a-quarter centuries ago for a precisely similar purpose.

216

TIMBER DEPLETION IN THE UNITED STATES. A Review of a Report by the Jt"orest Service. By SIR JOHN STIRLING lVIAXWELL, BART.

THE American Government published in 1920 a document of extraordinary interest to the foresters of other countries, and especially to those of the British En1pire. The" Capper Report" (so called after the Senator on whose motion the inquiry was ordered) sums up the present timber position in the United States, traces the steps by which virgin forests, once considered inexhaustible, have been reduced in extent and quantity to their present level and forecasts the dates \vhen they will reach complete exhaustion unless a more conservative policy is adopted. It is a surprising story. It is a portentous warning-especially to the British race whose exploitation of its natural tilnber resources has been and still is so reckless. The Report is well arranged and. clearly written. In this review its argument and information will be given almost entirely in its own \vords, though the order will be in some measure changed to suit the foreign reader. The progress of forest depletion and its consequences have never been so well summed up as in the following paragraphs :"Each successive chapter in the history of the lumber industry in the United States has been a story of depletion and migration. In softwoods it is a history of regional industries, each developing in it~ turn, dominating the consuming markets of the country, and declining at last so far as to be unable to meet the local requirements of its region. Each has had the same essential features of beginning, rise and fall from light cutting operations to clean cutting of good timber and poor alike, and of the shifting of cut from the more to the less desirable species. The story of each region will be taken

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up In detail, but the main outlines should first be made clear. " In New England lumbering early became a leading industry supporting local needs, furnishing the basis for the early shipbuilding industry, and providing exports. The industry expanded very slowly, and owing to the shifting of the cut from one section to another, from one species to another, and finally from virgin stands to second growth, partly on deserted farm lands, production did not Ineet the maximum until as late as 190 7. Since then it has been falling rapidly. "New York followed New England as the centre of softwood lumber production and was the leading lumber State in the country in 1850, although the greatest volume production was reached from ten to twenty years earlier. Pennsylvania followed New York, and led all the States in 186o, but has now declined until one city district consumes more than the total lumber cut of the State. "White-pine (Pinus strobus) operations in the lake States began with a single sawmill in IM32; eastern shipments were being made three or four years later; and the culmination was reached in 1892 with a cut of nearly 9 billion feet. Dreary wastes, dismantled sawmills, deserted towns, and an insignificant pine output of a single billion feet in 1918 are depressing reminders of the day when Lake States lumber supplied the markets of the country from the Rockies to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Canadian boundary literally to the Gulf. It The great development of the southern industry began in the seventies and increased rapidly to what was probably the maximum, about 16 billion feet, in 1909. In its turn, southern pine (Pinus palustris and probably also Pinus~taeda) dominated the markets little if any less completely than white pine; but the South is following the course of other regions, and the remaining supplies of virgin pine are only about one-fifth of the original stand. Within a single decade southern pine production promises to exceed by lIttle, if any, the needs of the South. " A great start has been made in the last chapter of the history of virgin softwood stands. Since 1894 Pacific 'coast and Rocky Mountain timber has been forcing its way increasingly into the Middle Western and Ea~tern

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markets. Within the year it has dominated those of the Lake States and has even entered in appreciable quantities those of the South itself. To the West only, of all our heritage of magnificent softwood forests, can the country look to an increasing cut; but even here there are already local evidences of depletion, warnings that the conclusion of the story will be the same as that of other regions and in far less time than has been estimated. "Hardwood depletion and the migration of centres of production has followed along much the same line, although regional boundarie~ have been much less distinct. Cutting began early in New England and along the Atlantic coast, spread slowly to the westward through New York and Pennsylvania as local supplies were cut out, and became important in Ohio and the Middle Atlantic States after water and rail transportation was developed. From here it spread north into the Lake States and south into Kentucky and Tennessee and the southern Appalachian Mountains. The stands of these various regions have been successively depleted. In New England and New York, aside from second growth, largely in farm wood lots, there remain only the stands of hardwoods in the north. The commercial cut of the Middle Western States is almost a thing of the past. That of the Lake States has fallen off materially, as has also even that of the southern Appalachians. The end of the cut in the Appalachian States is pretty definitely in sight. The only reserve of importance is the southern Mississippi Valley, and even here it is doubtful if future production will for any length of time materially exceed the average output of the last few years." Chapters dealing in detail with each of the timber regions mentioned above teem with valuable historical information from which a few quotations may be made. Of New England:H With the exception of a few small areas, New England in 1620 was a virgin forest, comprising some 39 million acres. In 1920 not more than 5 per cent. of this virgin forest remains. The present forest area is nearly 25 million acres. Of this about 8 per cent. or 2 million acres, is virgin forest, chiefly in Maine, with scattered areas in Ne\v Hampshire and Vermont. The

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last remnant of virgin forest in Connecticut \vas cut within the past decade. Of the 24,7째째,째00 acres now classed as forest land 44 per cent. or 10,760,000, is in saw timber or pulp wood, while 34 per cent. or8,370,ooo acres, contains nothing but fuel wood, and 22 per cent. or 5,570,000 acres, is non productive. With nearly threefourths of the saw timber and pulp-wood area in Maine, the poor condition of the remaining New England forests is apparent. "The annual drain upon the saw timber of about 2 billion board feet is nearly three and one-half times the annual growth of 610 million board feet. The annual drain upon the fuel wood of 235 million cubic feet is less by 106 million cubic feet than the growth of 341 million cubic feet a year. It is apparent, therefore, that the growth of low-grade material is somewhat in excess of the actual demands. In' regard to lumber, pulp, and other high-grade material, however, the situation is anything but encouraging. "Up to thirty or forty years ago New England was not only self-supporting in timber but exported large quantities. Within the past thirty years it has become an importing region, and it is estimated that fully 30 per cent. of all the lumber used now comes from outside the region. This is an addition to the importations of large quantities of pulp wood." Of New York:"Practically the entire State of New York ,vas originally covered with a magnificent forest of white pine, (Pinus strobus), spruce (Picea alba, Picea rubra, and Picea nigra), hemlock (Truga canadensis), and hardwoods. The lumber industry was one of the first to be developed. It reached its highest volume between 1830 and 1840 and was already declining at the time of the Civil War. In 1850 New York ranked first among the States in amount of lumber cut and' contributed 20 per cent. of the total cut of the entire country. Since then it has been steadily declining in relative importance until to-day it stands in twenty-fifth place and contributes only I per cent. of the total cut. Jts actual cut has decreased froul over 1,300 million feet prior to 1850 to less than 350 million."

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Of the Lake States :H The history of lumbering in the Lake States during the greater part of the past century is substantially the history of white-pine exploitation. Lumbering began in Michigan and Wisconsin about 1835. Pine in enormous quantities drew lunlbermen from the east, and before 1870 these States captured the lead in lumber production. They held it until superseded by the southern pine region, between 1900 and 1910. The peak of production was passed in 1892, when the reported output was a little more than 8,900,000,000 board feet-largely white pine. This was an increase of 123 per cent. over the cut of 1873. In 1899 Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota, in the order named, were still the leading three States, with a total production of 8,700,000,000 feet, two-thirds pine; but in 1918 they had fallen to eighth, thirteenth and eleventh, respectively, and their total output had fallen to 3,220,000,000 board feet, of which only 35 per cent. was white pine-mostly from Minnesota. Wisconsin now produces less than the second-growth cut of either Maine or New Hampshire, and Michigan, from leading the country from 1870 to 1895, now actually cuts less than half as much as Massach usetts. "As the Lake States forests dwindled, white-pine lumber ,vent down, both in quantity and quality, and Norway (Pinus resinosa) and jack pines (Pinus Banksiana) and even tamarack (Larix americana) were admitted as lower grades of 'northern pine lumber.' The fine quality timber which gave white pine its reputation is now nearly all gone. In Minnesota two-thirds or more of the cut is box lumber. Only small, scattered remnants of the old-growth white-pine forests remain in Wisconsin and upper Michigan and in lower Michigan the most widely known tract covers about 100 acres. " Figures indicate that the total rate of cutting is more than three times the total rate of growth, and that the stand suitable for lumber is being cut more than three times as rapidly as it is growing. Furthermore, the larger part of the cut is from old-growth stands in the north, while nearly all the growth is in widely scattered second-growth stands. The cut is relatively concentrated, while the growth is widely distributed, and without

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reference to the commercial advantages of location. This is a consideration of great significance for the future of the wood-using industries. The concentrated supplies are steadily waning. Their disappearance \vill mean the death of industries unable to adapt their production to a supply limited by the rate of growth or to import. " Fire renders millions of acres of cut-over forest land in the Lake States unproductive. If fires could be kept out, the growth on these repeatedly burned lands would probably eventually increase 50 per cent., and could be increased still further by intensive management. "The average annual per capita consumption of lumber in the Lake States is probably not far from the average for the whole countrY-30o board feet. Assuming a 12 per cent. increase in population since 1910 (the increase for the previous decade was at the rate of 14.06 per cent.), the present population of the Lake States is about 8,000,000. The total annual consumption of lumber in the three States is thus about 2,426,000,000 board feet, or 70 per cent. of the lumber produced. "Comparison with the estimates of future cut above given indicates that by 1925 the local consumption will be equal to the local production, assuming no increase in population and the same per capita rate of consumption. At the end of a decade, allowing for a 10 fer cent. increase in population, consumption will exceed cut by nearly 50 per cent. In other words, the per capita consumption must either fall from 300 to nearly 200 board feet per year or the Lake States must import nearly one-third of the lumber needed for home use. With each succeeding year the discrepancy between consumption and local supply will become greater. Much western fir and pine lumber is already being consumed in the Lake States, and as the local cut decreases they will depend more and more upon the far West." Of the Southern Yellow-Pine (Pin us palustris and probably also Pinus taeda) region, which includes the South Atlantic and Gulf States : "The Pine forests of the South-eastern United States beginning along the Atlantic coast, have been exploited for Naval stores and other forest products from the time' of the first settlements. No extensive development of the t

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lumber industry, however, took place until the seventies of the last century. Before the Civil War, a limited amount of southern pine lumber was shipped to Baltimore and Philadelphia in schooners by saw-mills on the eastern shore of Maryland and near tidewater in Virginia. After the Civil War the industry spread to Georgia, Mississippi and the other Gulf States. The markets north of the Ohio river made their first demands for southern pine about 1875. By that time the Northeastern States had lost their leadership in lumber production, and the Lake States were coming to the front with about 35 per cent. of the country's cut. The great development of the southern pine industry began in the early nineties. About 1892 yellow pine from the Gulf States and Arkansas began to crowd white pine in the markets north of the Ohio river. Vast quantities were used in the construction of the World's Fair buildings in Chicago. An extensive demand was created by the lo\v prices in the early nineties. This demand spread into the Lake States, the Prairie States and the Eastern States. At the end of the nineties, southern yellow pine was leading the country in the cut of soft woods. In 1909, its production reached the peak, with nearly half of the entire country's cut of soft woods, and from then on began to decline. "Southern yellow pine is still the most important single factor in the lumber production of the United States, furnishing about 41 per cent. of the cut of softwood lumber and 35 per cent. of the entire lumber cut. It will remain an important factor for at least the next ten or fifteen years. Within the next eight or ten years, however, it is certain to undergo profound changes. it Four-fifths of the original yellow pine forests has been cut since 1870. Out of the more than 100 million acres of yellow pine land that has been cut over, about 29 million acres now supports second growth of merchantable sizes, and nearly 3 I million acres, cut over recently, second growth not merchantable. About 31 million acres of cut-over land has not come back to pine, although much of it is more suitable for timber growth than for agriculture. As the non-restocking areas do not produce any new growth and new growth in virgin tilIlber is offset by deterioration, the total area on which yellow pine is now growing is about 60 million acres.

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" The amount of yellow pine that is cut is thus about three times the annual growth. In saw timber the disparity is even greater. The annual growth upon the areas of merchantable timber is in the neighbourhood of 3 billion feet, while the cut of saw timber is 16 billion feet. In other words, the present cut of saw timber is more than five times the present annual production. "If the present merchantable second growth were not cut into for the next ten or fifteen years, but were allowed to grow at its present rate, and the unmerchantable second growth were allowed to reach merchantable size without being prematurely turpentined, the annual growth of saw timber would be considerably increased. This merchantable second growth, however, is now also being cut and its area decreased at a rate of not less than It million acres a year. About a quarter of the present yellow pine cut comes from second growth. Within the next twenty or twenty-five years the entire area of the present merchantable second growth may be completely cut over, and large areas will not come back to pine unless there is a decided change in the present procedure in regard to protecting the cut-over land from fire and hogs. "It is doubtful if the South will ever again grow timber to the sizes \vhich we find in the virgin stands. The second growth now cut for saw timber is inferior in quality to the old stands. \Vhile trees in the virgin longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) stands yield on an average from three to four logs which run six or seven logs to a thousand feet, trees in the second growth stands average at most two or two and a half logs, per tree, and the logs run fifteen to the thousand. The amount of upper grades that is sawed from second growth is much smaller than from virgin timber. For instance, a mill tally on a certain operation showed that virgin timber sawed out on the average about 55 per cent. of the high grades, while second growth barely yielded 19 per cent. An inferior forest is, therefore, succeeding the virgin timber and the highest grades are not being replaced at all. " Deterioration is taking place not only in grades but also in species. The most valuable timber trees of the southern pines are longleaf and slash pines, both for their timber qualities and as a source of Naval stores. The

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longleaf pine, particularly throughout the Gulf States, as a rule does not come in on cut-over land, because of sparse seed production and the grazing of hogs. Unless cut-over longleaf pine land is protected by hog-proof fences or by stock laws, the areas of longleaf pine will be greatly diminished. The original proportion of longleaf in the southern pine forest has already been reduced for the remaining merchantable timber from two-thirds to a little less than half. North Carolina, which once had. large areas of longleaf pine and was famous as the I Longleaf Pine State,' can boast now of hardly 50 ,000 acres of second growth longleaf pine widely scattered in small areas. U In about ten years the yellow pine region promises to take second place as a national lumber-producing centre.. H After 1931 the South will become more and more an importing region. In fifteen years the South will become dependent for its own needs upon large importations of lumber from the Pacific coast." Of the Rocky Mountain region :"Of the Rocky Mountain States, only western Montana and Idaho now produce lumber above their needs and can increase their output in the near future. It would seem that the forests of Montana and Idaho, with some 130 billion feet of saw timber and a present cut of only I billion; Colorado, with over 25 billion feet and a cut of 100 million; Arizona and New Mexico, with 39 billion feet and a cut of only 132 million, are capable of sustaining a larger lumber industry for a considerable time. H It should be remembered, however, that the region is still under-developed and that its requirements for lumber may also be expected to increase with its rapidly growing population. Furthermore, within the next twelve years over 95 per cent. of the existing sawmills in the southern yellow pine region will cut out. The Pacific Coast and western Montana and Idaho will have to assume the main burden of supplying saw timber to the entire country. Thi~ means more rapid cutting of the remaining stands and a big increase in the existing deficit in annual growth. U Considering saw tirnber alone, the annual drain is about seven times the growth. If we compare the cut of all forest products \vith the entire growth in cubic feet"

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the cut and devastation is two and one-half times the growth." Of the Pacific Coast, which is of special importance since it constitutes the chief remaining reserve of virgin timber:II The commercial forest area of the Pacific Coast States has been reduced to approximately 57,586,000 acres. A large percentage of this, about 39,370,000 acres, is in virgin stands, not all, however, of accessible highgrade timber, for there is a large percentage of relatively inferior and inaccessible areas. This is an important factor which is usually overlooked in the consideration of the western timber supply. Second growth of sawtimber size covers about 5,292,000 acres, and smaller second growth 6,425,000 acres, while non-restocking areas cover 6,500,000 acres. 11 Of the volume of the original forest no satisfactory statistics are available. The present stand, however, is about 1,141,031 million board feet, or practically half of the remaining saw timber in the United States. Oregon leads with a total stand of 493,700 million feet; that of Washington is 334 billion; and that of California 313,331 million. Six hundred and eighty-six billion, or more than half of the total, occurs in the Douglas fir belt of western Oregon and Washington. H Douglas fir comprises 558,57 1 million feet, and of this 505 billion, or nearly one-fourth of the remaining stand of saw timber in the United States, is in Washington and Oregon. 11 The total area cut over is approximately 6,125,000 acres, of which two-thirds is in Washington and Oregon, and a very large percentage west of the Cascades in the Douglas fir belt. As already indicated, the total nonrestocking area of the Pacific Coast States is estimated at 6,500,000 acres, but this is only a part of the sum total of depletion, since there has been great and needless loss from the destruction of virgin stands by fire and other causes on a part of 6,425,000 acres now supporting second growth. The area burned over annually in these three States is shown by Forest Service data to amount to 450,000 acres, and the loss in timber to about 600,000,000, board feet. H Total growth in cubic feet amounts to 706,000,000.

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One reason for these comparatively low figures is, of course, the fact that so much of the territory is occupied by virgin stands. Total depletion in cubic feet amounts to 2,500,000,000. Depletion is therefore approximately three and one-half times the growth. The depletion in timber of saw timber size is approximately nine times the growth of the same class of material. H Many operations now being seriously considered for Oregon will require transportation and other investments running into millions of dollars before any timber can he taken out. It The lumber cut for the Pacific Coast States as a whole will undoubtedly increase very materially during the next ten years. Local demands will also increase, but not In proportion to the cut. Large additional amounts will be available for the eastern markets. A gradual rise in logging costs is inevitable as the more accessible stands are cut out and it becomes more and more necessary to extend operations to the rougher tnountainous logging chances, with lighter and more broken stands and larger percentages of the less desirable species. The timber resources of the Pacific Coast States are very large, but it would be very unwise to overestimate them, for much less than the total stand is readily available. Existing transportation facilities to the East are already overburdened with present traffic, and they will have to be very materially increased to meet the probable reduction in the eastern and southern lumber cut during the next ten years." Newsprint supplies are dealt with in a special section. One of the illun1inating charts in which this report abounds brings out the rather startling fact that the price of pulpwood has increased since 1900 in the same ratio as the consumption. Both have been trebled by a steady rise persisting through these twenty years. The contract price for newsprint-thanks to the introduction of cheaper methods of manufacture-remained fairly steady till 1916. Between that year and 1920 it was doubled and in the latter year spot prices were pushed to four times the 1900 price, so far did the supply fall short of the demand. Alaska, situated in the same latitude as Norway and Sweden, is now regarded as the principal 路reserve of pulpwood, but the removal of the machinery to that region will entail heavy capital outlay.

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"The lumber industry has followed the timber, but a much smaller investment per unit of output is required in the lumber mill than in the pulp and paper plant. On a prewar basis an investment of approximately $1,5째0 per thousand board feet of daily product is required in lumber manufacture, \vhereas pulp and paper establishments require approximately $50,000 per thousand feet of daily consumption. Large investments have therefore tended to hold the pulp and paper industry in the regions in which it was first established, and timber has been hauled increasing distances to the mills. A rail and water transport exceeding 500 miles is now not uncommon." The effect of depletion on the prices of timber and on the wood-using industries are discussed at some length. This side of the question is so much affected by the War and its influence on wages that the argument appears to a foreign reader somewhat inconclusive. The estimates of the remaining reserves of timber are admittedly based on incomplete inforlnation and represent no more than. an intelligent shot. These, like all the other data, are frankly discussed and are as accurate as the industry of the American forest service can make them. But, quite .apart from all speculations, the indisputable facts recorded in the report must impress themselves deeply on every thoughtful reader. There is no denying that American wood-users have been thrown back on timber which they once considered second best and third best, simply because the choicer kinds are exhau~ted, or that their payments for transport have formidably increased since they destroyed the forests at their doors and began to fall back on distant supplies. There is not space here to review the relnedies proposed. Every forester will guess what they are, protection from fire and grazing, reinstatement by natural regeneration or planting with the appropriate legislation and grants. A Canadian pen would be more apt to deal with this side of the subject. Enough to say that' the introductory letter to the President of the United States concludes with these hopeful words :It The solution of the problem presented by forest depletion in the United States is a national policy of reforestation. Increased and \videly distributed production

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of wood is the most effective attack upon excessive prices and monopolistic tendencies. Depletion has not resulted from the use of forests but from their devastation, from our failure, while drawing upon our reservoirs of virgin timber, to use also our timber-growing land. If our enormous areas of forest growing land, now idle or largely idle, which are not required for any other economic use, can be restored to timber growth, a future supply of forest products adequate in the main to the needs of the country will be assured." No reader can close this remarkable document without a grave presentiment of timber famine and no British reader should forget t~at in the event of such a world disaster the United Kingdom is destined to be the chief victim.

THE SYLVICULTURAL TREA1"MENT OF THE MORE IMPORTANT TIMBERPRODUCING EUCALYPTS. By

G. E.

BROCKWAY.

(Continued from the preceding N'umber.) REGENERATION UNDER A SHELTER WOOD.

THIS system is largely made use of in Europe for the protection of the young crop which may be tender in its very early youth. Owing to the strong light-demanding character of our indigenous trees, the young trees will soon languish and die if they are not given a full supply of light. This system is chiefly followed in this country where the forester considers that there is an insufficiency of seed in the soil, and so leaves a few mother trees until a seed year arrives, after ""hich they rnay be either ringbarked or felled. We pointed out that there were three main systelns of regeneration under shelterwood. We will treat of each in turn. The first is the compartment system. The compartments are large areas eguivalent to several years' cutting, depending on the frequency of the seed years. Different blocks are treated in turn, until the whole forest is eventually covered. In a mixed forest, a skilled forester is often able to regulate the proportions of the chief species of the mixture which COlne up in the re-growth. For instance, in a forest containIng a mixture of tallowwood (Euc. microcorys) and Blackbutt (Euc. pilulares) the forester may desire to obtain re-growth of one or the other species only. ; If he wished to obtain a crop of young tallowwood, he would leave a large number of trees of that species-he might even leave some old blackbutts standing also. Owing to the fact that tallowwood is of a less light-

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demanding nature than the other species, the regenera.. tion would consist mainly of the former. If a seed year arrives, or if it is considered that sufficient seed has germinated, the mother-trees should be ringbarked. Supposing that blackbutt regeneration were required on a similar area, the procedure would be to remove all trees except a few mother-trees of that species. There being ample light for the development of the light... demanding species, it would soon overshadow the tallowwood, which grows more slowly, especially in its young stages, and thus a forest of young blackbutt would be obtained. Group Systetn.-In the group system small patches all over the forest form the points of attack. A patch of mature trees is removed, and regeneration is obtained either naturally or artificially on the area so cleared.. These patches are enlarged by belts running around them, and ultimately they all become connected. Selection Systeln.-In this system single trees or small groups are removed throughout the whole forest, so that no part of it is at rest. The present system throughout Australia of limiting the cutting to trees above a certain girth is really a faulty selection system. Its great fault is that the selection is done usually by the sawmiller or hewer, and not, as it should be, by the forester. Thus it is not uncommon for large healthy trees to be removed, while small suppressed trees, which may produce a small amount of timber, have to be left, whether the miller desires it or not. Regeneration under shelter wood will be of great importance in Australian Forestry. Owing to the peculiar conditions in which our forests are at present, some modifications may possibly have to be made in the details of management. So far as our present knowledge goes, it seems likely that the compartment and the selection systems will be of more importance than the group system. The compartment systeln will be followed in those forests which have been ÂŁfrequently burnt by bush fires and so contain practically all faulty trees. The selection system will be made use of in the forests growing in the wetter areas, where fires are infrequent or where a certain amount of protection from fire has been secured.

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It was recently decided to treat the six thousand acres of prime tuart (near Cape!, W.A.) in this manner, and a careful study was therefore made of the subject. The data obtained will apply largely to other Eucalpyt forests under their natural conditions. The stocking was low and patchy and there was a large number of over-mature trees, often reaching thirty feet in girth. There were no young seedlings present on any areas in which cattle had been grazing. The youngest trees present had diameters of 10 to 16 in. These trees are probably the result of a heavy cutting which took place about thirtysix years ago, and they are found in patches, probably where the tops of the original trees fell. The svlvicultural treatment will involve the removal or the ringbarking of the over-mature trees as soon as a favourable opportunity arrives, i.e., when it is considered that there is sufficient seed in the ground. Another portion of tuart country on the same reserve was investigated. All the trees were measured and divided into diameter classes, and on examination of the figures obtained, a further problem presented itself. rrhe number of trees on the area (1,000 acres) oluitting useless ones, was as follows : 3,066 sound trees over 72 in. girth B H. 353 50 per cent. good trees over 72 in. girth B H. 1,722 trees 50 in. to 72 in. girth. 1,828 trees under 50 in. girth B H. 6,969 == total number of trees on the area. The above figures illustrate the extent to which this forest is understocked. It has been found that the average annual girth increment for this species is about 路7 of an inch. Thus it should take thirty years for all the trees between 50 and 72 in. to reach merchantable size (72 in. and over). It would therefore appear that the felling of the mature trees should be spread over thirty years, which means that about one hundred trees per year could be cut. This, however, would leave only 3,550 of the present crop of trees, that is, if they all forrued good logs, which is improbable, to be cut during the balance of the rotation of a hundred years. It is clear that if this area is worked on a selection system to ensure a perpetual yield, the felling must

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be done at the rate of one hundred trees per year for thirty years, and about forty or fifty per year for the following seventy years. As an alternative, about seventy trees per year might be cut during the whole period. Although this means the leaving of mature trees on the area, it is probable that this procedure will be followed, as many of these commercially mature trees are putting on considerable increment, and will continue to do so for many years. Although the above information would be classed under the heading of "working plans," it gives nevertheless some idea of the state of the average protected Eucalypt forest. REGENERATION BY COPPICE.

The sylvicultural systems employed for obtaining this type of regeneration are two. The first deals purely with coppice, and entails clearfelling, i.e., we have pure coppice. The second is a combination of high forest and coppice, and is known as coppice with standards. In Europe this type of forest is usually known as coppice under standards, but the Australian eucalypts are usually such strong light-demanders that the stool shoots will not flourish under the shade of older trees, and so we get the term coppice with standards. The usual method employed is to segregate the standards in small groups throughout the coppice growth. Fortunately, eucalypts coppice very freely, and this fact is being turned to practical use in various parts of Australia where round timber for mining is required. The coppicing power of the genus, however, is not withQut its drawbacks in localities where there are mixed forests, and only one species of stool shoot is desired, or in forests which are heavily stocked with poor class material, where the forester desires that only a limited number of the stools should produce shoots. In such cases the only way to surmount the difficulty appears to be the frequent use of the axe in knocking off undesirable shoots, or judicious use of sodium arsenate on the stumps which it is desirable should be killed. In dealing with this question, one is led to inquire into the number of crops one lot of stools will produce. This,

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of course, varies with the locality. In the drier regions, not more than t\VO, or perhaps three, are obtainable, but where there are more congenial conditions, as many as six crops can be expected. Of course, at the end of each rotation, some of the stools die and have to be replaced by seedlings. With practically all the members of the genus a crop of stool shoots will result at any time of the year, according to the season when the mother trees are cut down. The difficulties, however, do not end when we have obtained the shoots, as it is necessary to carry them through the hot days of sumluer and the frosts of winter. Cutting in autumn or spring tends to give the best results, subject to species and locality. The shoots appear from three to eight weeks after the trees are felled. It is evident that all species do not require the same treatment. Three types will, therefore, be dealt with, viz. (I) Such species as are found in the colder and wetter localities; (2) those found under somewhat warmer and less humid conditions; (3) those whIch grow under conditions of great heat and dryness. In the first type we have mainly fast-growing species, such as Karri (Euc. diversicolor), Tasmanian blue gum (Euc. globulus), Swamp luahogany (Euc. robusta),Blackbutt (Euc. pilularis) , Tallowwood (EUC.11'ticrocorys), Mountain ash (Euc. gigantea), besides numerous other species of less importance. We first take an area of country which has been "cut out" and burnt over numerous times. It will be noticed that most of the younger timber is of a poor class, o\ving partly to its suppression by trees which were of no use to the miller, and partly to the bad effect of bush fires. All the timber on the area, except perhaps the few young trees which show promise of developing into mlll logs, is felled when most of the danger from frosts is past. This is in most districts about the end of August or the beginning of September. Of course, if there is protection from the early morning sun the work can be carried out much earlier. None of the stumps should be more than four to six inches high. As much of the felled timber should be utilized as possible, and the top should be collected into small stacks, and if there is very much danger from fire, it is, 16

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perhaps, just as well to burn them. This burning is necessary if seedlings are required to fill up spaces in the coppice. The seedlings need a great deal of protection from the fast-gro\ving stool shoots, especially in mixed forests where some of the inferior species are greater shade-bearers than the better varieties. This is noticeable in forests containing such a mixture as tallowwood and blackbutt, as the former is a n1uch better shadebearer than the latter. It is also the more valuable timber. The shoots should be thinned about their third year, by which time they ought to be at least 20 ft. high. Usually two, but sometimes three, shoots are left per stool, preferably as far apart from one another as possible. Naturally only healthy shoots with good leaders are left. Tt is said to be advisable, when thinning, to prune the shoots, but this does not appear to be absolutely essential, as the lower limbs soon drop off of their own accord, and it is very rare to find many of the side shoots persist, as is the case with conifers. The length of rotation for these fast-growing eucalypts should not be more than about twenty years, as by that time they have developed shoots with diameters of 12 inches or thereabouts. Also by this time the phenomenally rapid gro\vth has slowed down somewhat. Twelve inches is about the diameter usually required for mining timber. As our second type we \vilI now take such species as grow in localities \vith warmer, but less hUlnid conditions. It is amongst trees of this type that most of the coppicing is at present being carried out, as it is in such localities that many of our mines are found. Examples of this type of forest may be seen near some of the mining centres of Victoria, and during last year work in this direction was carried out near Collie (W.A.). Trees belonging to this class are Jarrah (Euc. 11/zarginata), Stringybark (Euc. obliqua), Manaa gum (Euc. vi1ninalis), Spotted gum (Euc. maculata), and woolybutt (Euc. radiata), as \vell as a large number of others. The nlethod of treatment is similar to, although not identical with, that applied to the first type. These forests are not subject to such severe frosts as those in the damper localities, so that coppicing may be carried out earlier. If there is a reasonable amount of protec-

TREATMENT OF TIMBER-PRODUCING EUCALYPTS

23'S

tion, it is better that the coppicing should be carried out in the autumn, so that there is a dense canopy of leaves protecting the stump during the follo\ving SUlnmer. If this canopy is absent, the stulnp under the direct rays of the sun is liable to crack, and so becomes more subject to the attack of numerous destructive organisms. More. over, if the cutting is left till the spring, there is a chance that poor results will be obtaIned from the seedlings, which will, in many cases, be killed by the hot weather. At the age of one year, shoots belonging to this type are usually about 4 to 6 ft. in height. At three years they are about IS feet, and it is then that thinning should take place. At the end of a twenty-year rotation poles with a diameter of 8 or 9 inches are obtainable, while after a further ten years poles of 12 or 13 inches in diameter will have developed. The figures dealing with height and diameter growth are only approximate, and are liable to vary with different individual species gro\ving under different sets of conditions. As our third type we will mention those eucalypts growing in the more arid regions. Species of this type are Euc. hentiphloia or Grey box, Sugar gum (Euc. corynocalyx) , Wandoo (Euc. redunca), Salmon gum (Euc. saln'lanophloia). To this list we might add Yate (Euc. cornuta) and Red gum (Euc. rostrata). Although these two species are often found in regions where the rainfall is small, they are, nevertheless, only found along watercourses where there is a good supply of subsoil water. It must be noted, however, that these two species also flourish in much damper localities, so that they might be classed with the previous type. Probably satisfactory coppice will never be obtained from these dry area eucalypts. According to the Forester at Kalgoorlie, not more than 70 per cent. of the stools of the local eucalypts throw out shoots. Better results have been obtained at Bundaleer, where the rainfall is about 20 inches. The low rainfall in these areas will not permit of fast growth, nor of dense stocking. The great extremes of temperature, due to the distance of these localities from the sea, also act as a hindrance to coppice regeneration. If the felling is carried out in the autumn there is danger from frost, and if carried out in the spring there is the long dry summer to contend with.

EMPIRE FORESTRY

I t appears that the only satisfactory method of obtaining regeneration in the very dry areas is from seed. If, however, the area is not restocked as soon as the timber crop is removed, it is practically impossible to obtain any regeneration at all. A word may be said regarding the standards which are often left. These are usually thinned at the end of each rotation, as their extraction does not affect the surrounding forest. About ninety years is the length of time required by most eucalypts to mature, and that is equivalent to four or five rotations of the coppice. SPACING REQUIRED BY EUCALYPTS.

To obtain satisfactory results it is necessary to keep the forest in a healthy state. The quantity and the quality t)f the crop must not be impaired by bad spacing. We will now discuss the conditions necessary to ensure good results. The spacing of the trees must vary with the individual species and with the locality. It should, however, be such that the young plants are able to retain their cro\vns right to the ground for the first three or four years. As the trees grow older the crowns become larger and the lower limbs die and fall off. Trees grown in this manner are sturdy, and well able to stand being blown about by the wind, and if thinning is carried out they have sufficient vigour to take full advantage of the extra supply of light. Where the lower limbs have fallen off, only small heart knots are left, and these do no harm to the tree. It will also be noticed that by keeping healthy crowns on the young trees one is able to protect the soil for the first few years, by the end of which time the roots have penetrated to the lower layers and are able to tap the subsoil water. To obtain the best results with the slower-growing species, spacing of about 5 ft. by 5 ft., or 6 ft. by 6 ft. is sufficiently open for the first few years; but thinning soon has to be carried out. With the faster growers the spacing must be as great as 8 ft. by 8 ft., or 10 ft. by 10 ft., or it may be as high as 15 ft. by IS ft. With all except the slower-growing eucalypts, it seems a lesser evil to overcrowd than to plant too spar~ely.

TREATMENT OF TIMBER-PRODUCING EUCALYPTS

237

By "too sparsely 11 we mean at distances greater than IS ft. If the trees are too sparse, due to poor regeneration or to their being planted too far apart, the lower branches remain too long, and become too big. Some of these branches may have to be removed by means of an axe or saw; and this, of course, has a bad effect on the quality of the timber, besides throwing it open to the attacks of fungi, and at thesalne time additional expense is involved. Then there is always the danger from fire. If the ttees are very far apart a considerable amount of undergrowth comes up amongst them, and this is al\vays a menace throughout the hot months of the year. The evils of overcro\vding -must not be neglected. The trees grown under such conditions are usually weedy, and if they are thinned, they are too unhealthy to support a large cro\vn, and so are unable to take advantage of the extra supply of light gi ven them. It will be noticed also that the canopy is very scanty owing to the unhealthy nature of the trees, and also to the fact that they beat one another about \vhenever there is a high wind blowing. This state of affairs, although very common with some types of trees, is not often found among eucalypts. This is due to phenomenally rapid growth in their young stages. Certain of the trees obtain a lead and very soon make the most of their advantage, overshado\ving and killing most of the weaker ones. This is nature's method of thinning, depending really on the survival of the fittest. There is one species, viz., Euc. rostrata, which does not thin out very readily. 'rhickets of this tree may be seen between the Forest of Kuitpo and Meadows, South Australia. In the danlper parts of this State, and in other States also, we find the young stringy barks becoming sOlnewhat overcrowded. A more scientific method of thinning is necessary in the coastal forests of New South Wales and Victoria, where there are numerous types of trees in a mixture. Where the saw-miller has removed the big timber, the normal forest conditions have been upset. If the fires allo\v it, a large amount of regrowth comes up, and if allowed to grow unattended one finds that usually the less valuable trees are the faster growers and tend to suppress

路EMPIRE FORltSTHY

the slower-growing but more valuable species. In consequence one finds that grey iron bark (Euc. paniculata) and tallow-wood (Euc. 1nicrocot'Ys) are becoming rare even in their natural habitat. Where planting takes place it has been found to be financially unsound to plant any closer than about 8 it. by 8 ft. for the majority of eucalypts. Very often we find planted forests being less hampered by the temporary setback due to transplanting than trees which, though grown under natural conditions, have to recover from the effects of overcrowding, after they have fought their way through the mass of regro\vth which often occurs around them. If thinning operations can be carried out while the trees are still young, so much the better, but in this case one has to take into account the expense of the operation. Where the trees are widely spaced, care must be taken to fill up any blanks, as soon as they occur, with strong healthy young trees. If one neglects to do this at once, the surrounding trees send their limbs out over the space. After the trees are more than t\VO years old, it is useless to fill in the blanks, as the young trees will not have a chance to grow properly. If the blanks are only small, they are not worth troubling about. Special treatment must be given to trees such as Euc. saln~anophoia (salmon gum), which are found in very dry areas where the rainfall often does not exceed ten inches. Here the spacing must be very ,vide, owing to the insufficiency of water in the soil to support a dense crop. The wide spacing in this case appears to have no bad effect on the tree, and in fact it is not uncommon to see such trees as salmon gum, although growing quite isolated, possessing clean trunks of perhaps thirty feet in length. The same might be sdid of sugar gums, \vhich grow in areas of somewhat higher rainfall. Plantations of sugar gums in these areas look quite satisfactory from a distance, but it will be found on inspection that only the outer" t\VO or three rows exhibit much growth, while the centre of the block" is practically useless. Some of the finest sugar gums I have seen were growing in a long strip about four rows in width. l'here were fewer side branches than one would expect and the trees gave promise of developing 1nto fine mill logs. In this case the trees were set purely for ornamental purposes, but good financial returns should be obtained froln trees grown in this manner.

TREATMENT

Ol~

TIMBER-PRODUCING EUCALYPTS

239

THINNING.

By the time a complete canopy has been formed, several types of trees will be noticed. These are dominant, sub-dominant, dominated and suppressed. As the upwarcl race for light proceeds the last two classes lag further and further behind, and the weaker ones ultimately give up the struggle. In Europe forests are given light thinnings every five to ten years. In these thinnings all the dead and dying trees, as well as some of the dominated ones, are renl0ved. The removal of these unhealthy trees helps to prevent the spread of disease. In Australia these frequent thinnings are not always possible on account of the expense incurred, nor are they absolutely essential, except at rare Intervals. It has been found that the organisms which attack dead tinlber, make very little impression as a rule on a healthy eucalypt so that in most cases no marked evil effects are noticed when the dead timber is not removed. If, however, there is a market for the thinnings, they should be made to help pay for the upkeep of the forest, and not be left for the white ants and the various fungi to destroy. All top and timber for which there is no sale should be stacked and not left scattered about the forest, as is usually the case in Australian forests. The stacking of tops lessens the evil effects of bush fires, but one must nevertheless see that an efficient system of fire-breaks is in ,existence also. With the eucalypts the frequent thinnings, in evidence in other countries, must be replaced by heavier but less frequent thinnings, somewhat similar to crown thinnings. These heavy thinnings would cause trees, \vhich are not such great light-demanders, to spread out and become bushy, but the eucalypts, when once they have a start, will produce fairly good stems even if widely spaced. Closer spacing is necessary for such species as Euc. propinqua, Euc. 1nicrocorys, &c., which are able to bear a -certain amount of shade, so that their lower branches are hard to kill. Red gum (Euc. rostrata) and to a slighter extent jarrah (Euc. 11targinata), if openly spaced, tend to fork a great deal and become bushy. One would think that these frequent thinnings would open up the leaf canopy too much, but such is not the case. We pointed out previously that in very close stands

EMPIRE FORESTRY

of eucalypts the canopy is less dense than where the trees are grown more sparsely, and enjoy better health. There are no special ages at which the forest should be thinned. It should simply be thinned when it needs it, preferably in winter time. It must be borne in mind that the state of the crown of a tree is an indication of its vigour. When trees are developing great length of trunk relative to the size of the crown, it is evident that a thinning is necessary. It has been found that, to obtain the best results from a eucalypt, the crown should represent from one-third to one-half the total height of the tree. For various reasons the heavy cro\vn thinning may have to be carried out somewhat before the principal height-growth of the stand has been reached. One of these reasons is that all eucalypts, with the exception of mountain ash, are subject to heart rot and to the attacks of white ants in their hearts. From this it will be clear that, to obtain a reasonably high recovery, logs of large diameter must be obtained. It may therefore be more advisable to obtain a forty-foot log with a large diameter than a sixty-foot log of a somewhat smaller diameter, Secondly, it will be noticed that the foliage of eucalypts is usually concentrated at or near the ends of the branches. Thus to produce a healthy crown, which is essential for good developlnent, there must be a large nunlber of lilnbs, and many of them must come from comparatively low down the stem. If, however, all these limbs are to be forced to grow straight up and compete with one another, little is gained; but if a heavy thinning takes place, these limbs are enabled to grow outwards rather than upwards, and so a greater area of leaf surface is produced. It is not advisable from a financial standpoint to attempt to produce the very great length of log which is possessed by some of the trees in virgin forest. Except for special purposes no logs greater than sixty feet in length should be attempted, and in many cases much shorter ones are quite satisfactory. When the forester considers that it is inadvisable to attempt to force the trees any higher, the main crown thinning must be carried out. This must be the heaviest of them all, and the only trees which should be left are

TREATl\'IENT OF TIMBER-PRODUCING EUCALYPTS

241

those \vhich he considers are good enough to form part of the final crop. These consist of dominant and subdominant trees, and very often a good tree of the former type may need to be removed, because it is suppressing a sub-dominant tree which is producing a better quality log. Some idea is necessary of the number of trees \vhich can be left for the final crop. This number depends largely on the individual species, its rate of growth, &c., and also on the type of timber that is required. Owing to the large area covered by the crown of a healthy tree, the number must be comparatively small. This area of cro\vn is usually well over thirty feet in diameter, so that forty or fifty trees may be set down as a maximum where large-sized timber is required. Where special tilnber of great length is required, for piles, poles, &c., considerable modifications must be made in the treatment. The thinnings must be ~less drastic and the crown thinnings must be postponed for a considerable time. This, as one would expect, requires a longer rotation. We must now deal with the thinning of mixed forests. Here our attention must be directed towards the retaining of the right distribution of species. Where we have a tree of a valuable species being suppressed by one of an inferior species, the latter must be removed, unless of course the former is too much suppressed to take advantage of an extra supply of light. It is the duty of the officer in charge, however, to see that no valuable tree is suppressed to so great an extent; it is therefore essential not to postpone thinning operations until too late. It is usually advisable to have t\VO species of trees growing on an area. In this case the slower grower of the two n1ust be a shade-bearer. In such cases a considerable amount of protection is given to the ground, and the area is utilized to a greater extent. A second type of mixed forest, \vhich gives good results, is one in which one species of tree is useful in large sizes, while the other is useful in the pole stage. '"fhe thinnings should be arranged in such a way that the latter species only need to be removed during the early thinnings. Under this system, where the trees removed are of commercial use, frequent thinnings may be 'l;lndertaken;

'ElIPIRE FOI<ESIRY

whereas in the pure forest,where these furnish no return, the thinnings must be less frequent and less thorough. Before leaving the question of "thinning/' we will mention a discussion which has arisen in European circles. This discussion deals with the effect of the suppressed trees on the dominant and sub-dominant. It has been found that, apart from acting as harbourers of disease, they play a very unimportant part. This means that the root competition which they offer is negligible. This principle should apply to forests in the damper parts of Australia; but when we consider forests growing in our drier areas, the circumstances are so markedly different that it would be folly to suggest that results obtained under European conditions are in any way applicable. It must be borne in mind that the supply of water for these forests is limited, and every drop removed by the suppressed trees will lessen the supply for the dominant ones. FELLING OF TIMBER.

The rotation of the various species may vary from fifty or sixty years to quite double that period. The best season of the year for cutting is probably the "rinter, but at present, in most of our forests, cutting is carried on throughout the whole year. This cutting in summer has possibly led to some of our timbers receiving a bad name even in our own country. Winter cutting offers better conditions for seasoning and prevents case hardening to a great extent. RATE OF GROWTH OF SPECIES OF EUCALYPTUS.

Very frequently persons interested in forestry are asked . how long a certain species of Eucalypt takes to reach milIable size. In very few cases are we able to ans\ver that question \vith any degree of accuracy. This is due largely to the fact that most of the Eucalypts do not show any well-defined annual rings. Mountain ash (Euc. gigantea) is an exception. This tree is found on the Southern Highlands (N.S.W.) at a height of three or four thousand feet, and grows to its greatest perfection in the deep volcanic soil on the sides of the hills. A further peculiarity of this fast-gro\ving tree is that it retains a sound heart.

TREATMENT OF TIMBER-PRODUCING EUCALYPTS

243

The following路data were discovered by making a stem analysis : Age 2i

years "

ft. 40 " 68 "

90 "

6 20

40 60 80 96

Height

" "

1 10 "

126 " 140 "

Diameter I

Volume

in.

2i "

9 18 28

" " "

36 "

20 CUI

ft.

75" 180 300 4 20

The minimum girth at which this tree can be cut is 84 inches; which, as the above table shows, is attained at about its sixtieth year. This tree, it must be remembered, is one of the fastest growers known, and an 84-inch girth appears rather a slnall tree for such a species, especially when we consider that for karri the ulinimum girth limit is 108 inches and for jarrah 90 inches. Definite data with regard to the rate of growth of most of the important Eucalypts will be available in from ten to t\venty years time; the experiments have not yet been completed. One way in which a large volume of data can be obtained is by taking measurements of trees which have grown up as a result of heavy fellings of the original crop. Thus at Karridale, in West Australia, they were able to identify areas \vhich were cut over in certain years, and this gave them a clue to the age of the crop of regrowth which followed the felling. In a few cases holdings have been taken up by settlers and then abandoned, \vith the result that the tilnber has again taken possession. Here also is a chance to obtain information, but it is often difficult to be sure, to a few years, when the cleared area was overrun by the forest. By making use of data obtained by the above methods, one is able to give some account of the growth of the tree for the first thirty or forty years of its life. To obtain information about other older trees one has to turn to a somewhat indirect method. Trees of girths of various sizes are measured every three or five years and the rate of increase is noted in each case. When we know the rate at which trees of a certain girth are increasing, we know how long they will take to grow a certain amount and attain the size of the next class, and so on with the different classes up to those which are commercially mature. By this method we know the rate of growth of

244

EMPIRE FORESTRY

trees of any girth, and it is a comparatively easy matter to arrive at the time taken to reach commercial si~e. In the present condition of our forests we have dominant and suppressed trees all mixed, but measurements should be made only of the former class, as they are the only trees of appreciable commercial importance. The suppressed trees put on practically no growth, and measurements of them would be very misleading. By this method it has been discovered that for Tuart the annual girth increment is, on the average, about 路7 in. It therefore requires about a hundred years to obtain a Tuart of marketable size, namely of a girth of 72 in. It is highly probable that the numerous bush fires. passing through our forests have the effect of retarding tree growth, so that all sample flats lnust be well protected in order that reliable data may be obtained. We often hear of trees maturing (commercially) in forty years. This may be true of some of the inferior species of Eucalypts, but results lead one to believe that these calculations are usually some"\vhat low. PROTECTION OF THE FOREST IN ITS YOUNG STATE.

(1) Protection fro11t Fire.-Fire is' luore dangerolls to a forest in its young stages than at any other period of its existence, because the bark is then thin, and the crowns are very close to the ground. Fire will ahnost invariably kill young conifers, but this is not the case with young eucalypts. These possess a peculiar swelling just below the ground, and, if the burning has not been too fierce, this sends up new shoots in place of the one which has been destroyed. Here we might draw attention to the effects of dense and sparse stocking on the amount of inflammable material. If the trees are planted at great distances apart, a large amount of grass, scrub, &c.,. comes up between the trees and this is liable to cause serious fires. If the stocking is not quite so sparse, or even if it is dense, there is very little undergrowth, so that danger from fire is lessened. The only protection from fire is a good system of firebreaks. (2) Protection front A nimals.- Where there is young regeneration no grazing should be allowed, except perhaps. that of horses, and even then a limit should be placed on

TREATMENT OF TIMBER-PRODUCING EUCALYPTS

245

the nunlber permitted to graze on the area. An instance 路of the evil effects of grazing may be seen in the No. I and No. 2 State Forests, West Australia. Of all this area of Tuart country, <:>nly three compartments out of seventeen have been fenced and so protected from cattle and sheep. These are the only compartments which show any young plants at all. With regard to undomesticated animals, we might mention the rabbit and the hare. Although wallabies and kangaroos also do a certain amount of damage, it is limited mainlv to the dense brush forests. Rabbits and hares do more damage in the drier areas than in the coastal forests, but they appear to pay much more attention to young conifers than to eucalypts. Sometimes they gnaw off the young trees and leave them lying on the ground. When the destruction wrought by these animals is of any magnitude, one must fence the areas with It-in. mesh wire netting. (3) Protection front Weeds.-When we speak of weeds we mean not only grass and scrub, but also undesirable species of eucalypts. The young trees are usually sufficiently fast-growing to keep themselves from being suppressed by grass and scrub. Very often these act as nurses to the young eucalypts, and in some cases (e.g., Acacia pycl'lantha) may even form the basis of a forest industry~ With regard to the undesirable eucalypts, imlnediate attention is only necessary if they are faster .growers than the valuable species. If, on the other hand, they are slower growers, they may do more good than harm if left, especially in widely-spaced plantations, where they help to maintain a fairly dense canopy and so protect the soil. By the time the trees have developed a complete forest cover, most of the weeds have been suppressed, and the tops have been carried up to a considerable height, and so danger from grazing and from fires has decreased. By this time another important point has become apparent, viz., the necessity for thinning. After this stage the harm done by grazing and by weeds is negligible, but protection from fire is still necessary. With regard to insect pests, white ants (termites) are of most importance. These usually confine their attention to dead timber and to the hearts of the trees. A con-

EMPIRE FORESTRY

siderable amount of damage is done by the so-called wood-borers, but these also require an entrance to the tree through dead tissue. Owing to the enormous area covered by the eucalypts, it is at present impossible to carry out protective measures against insects. Generally speaking, hovlever, the genus is fairly free from insect pests. Some eucalypts, e.g., jarrah, are particularly free from fungus attacks, but. others, such as Tuart, are just the reverse. These probably will never be done away with, but they can be checked to a great extent by the removal of over-mature tiluber, which usually harbours the pests.

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247

THE CENTRAL FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT DEHRA DUN, INDIA. By

SIR GEORGE HART,

K.B.E.,. C.I.E.

THE' commencement of systelIlatic Forest Research in Jndia may be said to date from 1906, when at the instance of Sir S. Eardley-Wilmot, then InspectorGeneral of Forests in India, a Forest Research Institute was established at Dehra Dun. It is hardly necessary to say that previous to J906 much valuable scientific \vork had been carried out by individual forest officers: but though the result of these efforts was often p_ublished, a great deal of useful work was lost for want of a proper organization. To some extent this state of affairs may be regarded as a reproach to the Service as a whole. It was, however, inevitable; ,for even now the strength of the Service is ll1uch below that required for the work to be done. Again until recent years, and indeed to sOple extent even now, the judgment passed on the success of the forest administration depended largely on the financial results of the working, so that the meagre staff employed was compelled to devote the whole of its time to organization, and, as Professor Stebbing has clearly shown in the first volume of his work on "The Forests of India," often in face of po\verful opposition. It is not so many years ago that the writer of this article, on being sent to a certain large province as Conservator of Forests and calling on the Head of the Administration for the first time, was informed by that powerful official that he would never think of looking on forest work from any point of view other than the financial results. Splendid as has been the work done for India by the members of the, Indian Civil Service, few if any of these officers had, when they con1menced their duties, any knowledge of the necessity of good forest management for the general welfare of the country, and as under the pre-Reform conditions, these men ruled India anq, in several provinces at any rate, a very large proportion of

EMPIRE FORESTRY

them never came into personal路contact with the forest officers or their work, it will be clear that the need for Forest Research stood a very small chance of recognition. Though the Research Institute was established in 1906, it was not till 1914 that the buildings were completed. In 1915 more land was taken up to provide for the requirements of the probationers for the Provincial Forest Service, for whose training the research officers were partly responsible. The main building contains" museums and offices for the Sylvicultural, Economic .and Zoological Branches as well as the general library and lecture rooms, while the Botanical and Chemical Branches and the various laboratories and workshops are housed in separate buildings. Attached are quarters for forty students, a fine playing-field, and residences for two research officers and the house tutor in charge of the Provincial Service classes. The whole Institute, which is under the administrative control of the Inspector-General of Forests, is in charge of a President, with research officers in control of each of the five main branches mentioned above. In addition specialists are .appointed temporarily when necessary and are attached to the Institute to carry out investigations in subjects of particular economic importance. Thus a cellulose expert 'has been employed for some years past to investigate possible new sources of paper-making materials, of which the forests of India contain abundant supplies. A tannin expert was also engaged to study the question of tanning materials; but though much valuable work has been accomplished during the past four or five years, it has, it is understood, been decided that the present condition of the tanning' industry in India does not justify the continuance of tan research after May, 1923, when the engagement of the expert will terminate. From 1906 onwards research work has been prosecuted as energetically as was possible with the small staff and the inadequate plant and annual money grants provided. It would occupy too much space to give even .a brief summary of the work done; and all that can be said is that steady progress was made in all branches, and that the staff was strengthened occasionally by the addition of assistants to the research officers. Those -interested in this subject will find full information given in the annual Progress Report of Forest Research Work

FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT. DEHRA DUN

249

in India, which contains a list of the Institute's publications. About five years after the completion of the buildings, when the experience gained during the war had enforced recognition of the extreme importance of scientific research of all kinds, it was realized that if a serious attempt was to be made to cope with the vast mass :of work to be done, expansion on a very considerable scale was inevitable, and a new scheme was accordingly prepared. This scheme, which received the approv",l of the Government of India and was sanctioned bv the Secretary of State for India on February 2$, 1920, "Comprised the acquisition of a new site covering 1,200 acres of land, the erection of new buildings, including quarters for the staff, workshops and laboratories, and the appointment of an increased staff for research, wiihout reference to educational purposes other than the provision of quarters for the Provincial Service students. It should be noted that an area of 1,000 acres was considered to be sufficient to provide for all requirements, including experimental and demonstration areas and allowance for future expansion of staff and equipment; but that as the commencement 9f a separate Chemical Service was then under consideration and as it was held to be desirable that the central Chemical and Forest Research Institutes should be in close communication, an addi... tional area of 200 acres was allotted for that purpose. In passing it may be stated that, although the whole 1,200 acres has been acquired, it does not now seem likely that a separate chemical service will be formed, at any rate for some considerable time to come. The scheme was estimated to cost a total of Rs. 3,058,000, or approximately £2°4,000, the details being :Acquisition of 1,200 aores ... ..• ... RS.480,000 Plant, equipment and buildings for laboratories and workshofs ... ..... ... ... ... 400,000 Erection 0 main Forest Research Institute building..• 1,000,000 Quarters for 60 students... ... ... . 150 ,000 Residem:es for 22 Imperial Service Officers . 41 8.000 Residences for 16 Provincial Service Officers ..• 160,000 Clerks' quarters ... 100,000 Menials' quarters... ... 50 ,000 Field Assistants' quarters . . . ... 50,000 Roads, water supply, laying out and contingencies 250,000

Rs. 3,058,'000

EMPIRE FORESTRY

The land, however, was much more expensive than was anticipated, and this, together with the enormous increase in the price of building operations and the cost of considerable additions resulting from a visit paid by the Forest Economist to similar institutions in America, has, it is understood, raised the cost to Rs. 10,200,000, or approximately ÂŁ680,000. This is a very large sum; but it is less than one-half of the net revenue of the Indian forests for the year 1917-18 and so can hardly be regarded as an excessive expenditure on ensuring the full development of Indi",ls vast forest resources. As regards staff, the scheme raised the status of the President to that of a Chief Conservator of Forests, made the five research officers the heads of their respective branches, divided each branch, other than Sylviculture, into, a number of sections, each in charge of Imperial Service officers or men of similar status, and provided as&istants for each section, as shown in the following statement :Branch

Sylvicultural Botanical Zoological Chemical Economic

Sections

Assistants attached to sections

Remarks

Two One One One Two Three

Systematic CEcological Mycological Systematic Four regional ... . Biological and Distillation Three Wood technology One Seasoning

Three

Imperial Service Officer One Imperial Service Officer

Three Timber testing Wood preservation One Minor forest products... One Paper pulp â&#x20AC;˘.. ... One Mechanical engineering One One (veneers) Wood working One (saw-mill) One (workshop)

The Sylvicultural Branch was not divided into sections as the work of this branch at the Central Institute was to be mainly statistical, the field work being carried out in the, provinces by local research officers. Officers of this kind have now been appointed in several provinces. Unfortunately, however, sanction to this comprehensive scheme only meant that it could be carried out whenever

FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT DEHRA DUN

251

the Government of India were able to provide funds for the purpose, and so far this has only been possible to a limited extent. The present position is that the land has been acquired, that most, if not all, of the plant required for the various sections of the Economic Branch has been purchased, that a sum of Rs. 700,000 (approxiInately ÂŁ46,000) has been sanctioned for the erection of the laboratories and workshops of the Economic Branch, and that it is proposed to proceed with one wing of the main institute building in order to permit of the transfer of the Economic and Zoological Branches to the new site: residences for the officers of the two branches, an insectary and quarters for the assistants, clerks, menials and labourers will also be constructed. The object of this transfer appears to be not so much to improve the facilities for research as to permit of the utilization of the greater part of the present Institute for the combined training of Indian recruits for the Imperial Branch of the Service and of the Provincial Service students; the Government of India, as constituted at present, being very anxious to commence the training in India of Indian recruits for the I.F.S. with the least possible delay, and it h.aving been proved that it will be much cheaper to provide fully for two branches of the Institute on the new site than to establish new educational buildings and equipment. . The following extract from an article that appeared in the Indian Forester, February, 1921, gives some interesting details regarding the plant, laboratories and workshops of the Economic Branch. " The workshop and laboratories of the Economic Section will be divided into two groups, one containing shops chiefly dependent on steam, the other on electric power. The latter block of buildings is to consist of a minor forest products laboratory, suitably equipped, a timber-testing workshop fitted with one ten-thousand, one thirty-thousand, and one one hundred-thousand pound universal testing machine, two impact machines, a dogspike-pull machine, an expansion-contraction machine and a warp-testing machine; a wood workshop with saws, lathes, saw-facing machines, &c., a veneeer or three-ply laboratory fitted with a 36-inch veneer cutter, presses, &c., and an iron workshop to carry out running repairs.

EMPIRE FORESTRY

Adjoining these workshops are the offices of the various sectional officers. The laboratories and workshops which are dependent on steam power \viII form the first group, and will consist of a hall to take the tan extract plant (presumably this will not now be built. G.S.H.); another for the paper pulp section, fitted with a fractional digester plant and a 36-inch paper-making machine; a section composed of four Sturtevant drying-kilns and a battery of three Tiemann steamspray kilns; and, lastly a hall in which will be located an absolutely up-to-date experimental pressure creosoting 'plant. "Ei~ht-hundred-feet go-do\vns, connected with the laboratories by tramline, have also been provided, and to complete the outfit a sawmill has been purchased to supply timber to the various sections." By no means all of the posts sanctioned under the new scheme have yet been filled, owing partly to the difficulty of obtaining competent specialists, but mainly to lack of funds. Still the staff has been strengthened considerably since the scheme was sanctioned, as a forest officer has been placed in charge of the minor forest products section and experts .engaged to control the sections of season'ing, timber testing and systematic zoology. The outlook for the future is not very encouraging, for in the present state of the country's finances it is very difficult to obtain funds to work the present staff efficiently, while expansion seems out of the question. Presumably the whole matter will be reviewed by the Retrenchment Commission which is to be at work in India during the coming cold-weather season, and the best that it seems possible to hope for is that the justification for the enlarged Research Institute will be recognized, and that nothing worse will be decided on than the holding of vacant posts in abeyance until the financial . situation permits of their being filled. In conclusion the writer desires to express his thanks to his friend Mr. W. F. Perree, C.I.E., President of the Research Institute, who was good enough to send him a note, without which much of this article could not have been written.

253

FEMELSCHLAGBETRIEBA SWISS SYSTEM

OF FOREST MANAGEME'NT. By R.

MACLAGf\N GORRIE.

As a general definition it may be said that this system, which is also known in Switzerland as "la methode des coupes jardinatoires," is a shelterwood compartment system, in which successive regeneration fellings are made throughout a long regeneration period. It is thus a compro,mise between the uniform compartment system with regeneration by groups, as practised in many of the French beach and'oak forests, and that of the pure selection system, as practised in Haute Savoie and in many parts of the Swiss Jura and Alpine regions. In theory it differs from the former in that the regeneration period is prolonged over a spell of years amounting to as much as half of the usual 100-year rotation fo rconifers, and from the latter in that the wood remains practically untouched during the other half of the rotation. In practice, a division of anything up to 200 hecta.;res is kept intact, with only the usual thin,nings and cleaning until towards the time when natural regeneration may safely be expected. The best groups of young seedlings, with a minimum size of about 25 yards squ~re, are encouraged by slightly heavier thinnings immediatelY3;bo~e them, and these are repeated frequently. The heavy and precipitate seeding felling of the French system i~ unknown here, and the abundant crops of weeds and the frequent failures in regeneration so often seen in France are avoided almost entirely. Modifications in the amo\lnt of thinning in order ,to favour any species are introduced now. If th,e crop is of pure silver fir, the admission of light must be slow,; if of pure beech, or of spruce and beech, the fellings can be more frequent and heavier. When silver ,fir has to be

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favoured against the other two the light admission must be very slow until the silver fir has become firmly established, after which the gradual removal of the final crop will allow groups of beech to come up as well. On ground suitable for a large volume production of silver fir, it is often thought advisable to wait until the eightieth or ninetieth year before opening out the canopy, in order to ensure a good silver fir crop. If spruce is desired, the thinnings must be more sudden and heavier than for either of the other two species, though as a rule spruce is depended on to fill up the gaps left between groups of beech and silver already established, and if any planting up of blanks has to be done, spruce is generally used. It is often found that in a mixed crop of beech and silver fir the beech comes away fast, and may be anything up to twenty feet in height before the silver, which seeded at the same time as the beech, commences active height growth, but by the end of another fifteen to twenty years the majority of the beech has been overtaken by the silver and is removed in the early thinnings. Even where the mature crop is of pure conifers a considerable seeding of beech can be depended on because the beechmast is carried by birds and animals and wind from neighbouring areas. The groups of regeneration are gradually enlarged, fellings being carried out every two to three years in the areas under treatment, until finally the groups are fused and the whole division has been regenerated. This, as has been said, may take anything up to fifty years, and as the finest stems of the old crop are conserved till the very last they have a splendid opportunity for putting on a large increment. A large price is obtained locally for this heavy fir tiIIlber, as much as 140 francs per cubic metre being obtained at the present time. The following points are emphasized in the management :(I) A seeding thinning must never be undertaken unless sufficiently thick and healthy natural regeneration has appeared to warrant commencing a regeneration group. (2) Groups once commenced should be encouraged by enlarging them concentrically in ever widening circles. Where the nominal rotation is 100 years, trees of 70 years or even younger may be sacrificed in order to ensure the regeneration. The money lost in cutting these im-

FEMELSCHLAGBETRIEB

255

mature trees is more than repaid by the extra price gained by the few remaining standards, and by the early establishment of the new crop. (3) Thinnings should always be carried out with' a view to preserving the best and most promising standards for the final crop. As a rule thinnings are made Hpar le haut," and are repeated every five to six years. (4) All thinnings and felIings are done by departmental labour. Only skilled woodmen are employed and great care is used while felling standards, to cause as little damage as possible to the young growth; if necessary, large branches are lopped before the trunk is felled. Extraction routes are carefully marked and must be adhered to, so that damage to young growth is surprisingly small. The usual method of sale is to agree on a price per cubic metre for certain trees before they are felled, then after they have been felled and removed to the roadside the. buyer pays that price per cubic metre on the quantity whlch the logged material is found to contain. Every twenty years the working plan is revised, though no hard and fast rules are made prescribing fixed coupes or periodic blocks to be regenerated; in fact the forest officer is left an entirely free hand in the selection of new regeneration zones, and if need be he can commence regeneration thinnings in any division of the forest which he thinks best. In addition to these revisions, an enumeration of all timber of over 16 cm. diameter at breast height. throughout the forest is made every ten years, and calculations from the figures obtained in this way fix the possibility and the maximum annual cut for the following ten years. By using Heyer's formula for the calculation of the possibility, an opportunity is given for continuous progress towards the formation of a normal forest, and in this respect this system, as practised in the Bienne forests, resembles the Hmethode du controle" of the Neuchatel forests, though the latter is more highly intensified in its progress towards the maximum output, and is applied to a strict selection system only. The particular advantages of the Femelschlagbetrieb are as follows :(I) It favours the regeneration of mixed shade-bearers. (2) Regeneration is obtained early and failure ,is minimized.

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(3) It Value-increment" is obtained on trees of the final crop_ (4) A continuous supply of timber of all sizes is pro. vided for the neighbouring agricultural communities. (5) The uneven canopy provides almost as efficient protection against snow and wind breakage as the true selection system gives. (6) Weed growth is prevented and the humus layer is well preserved. (7) It is elastic and gives the forest officer a free hand. (8) By using Heyer's formula, it tends to evolve a normal forest. (9) It is useful for the conversion stage in changing an even aged wood into a selection wood, as is being done in several parts of Switzerland at the present time. The disadvantages may be summarized thus : (I) The raising of light demanders is difficult., (2) It is a highly intensive system and can only be carried out efficiently when one forest officer remains in charge for a period of years. (3) Departmental felling by trained workers is essential to reduce damage to young growth to a minimum. (4) The fellings occur over a scattered area.

257

A NOTE ON THE DURABILITY OF INDIAN TEAK. By S. M.

EDWARDES,

C.S.I., C.V.O.

THE antiquity of the Indian export trade in teak (Tectolla grandis) is proved by various references to it in the works of ancient writers. The earliest of these is Ptoletny, the author of U Periplus" (circa A.D. 80), who speaks of "great vessels with brass, and timbers and beams of teak," being路 despatched regularly from Barygaza (the modern Broach in Western India) to the ports of the Persian Gulf. The word "teak," it may be noted, is merely a European corruption of the Tamil word tekku" and was probably adopted owing to the fact that Europeans first became acquainted with the wood in Malabar, which was exporting this timber to Babylon three cen.. turies before the Christian era, and is still in our own day one of the two great sources of supply. The trade appears to have continued throughout the centuries" unchecked by the political vicissitudes of India; for AI-Masudi records the export in the middle of the tenth century of enormous teak logs to the depots of Basra" Irak and Egypt. The Portuguese, after the establishment of their empire in the East, were not slow to perceive the value of this timber as an article of export. Several of their historians make reference to it; for example, P. Francesco de Sousa, who speaks in his Oriente Conquistado of "teca (teak) which is a wood net subject to decay" : while in 1597, we find the King of Portugal enjoining the Government of Goa U not to allow the Turks to export路 any timber (i.e., teak) from the Kingdom of Pegu." As regards the durability of teak,. we have in the first place the evidence of Dr. Sayee, the famous Assyriologist, that Indian teak was discovered in the ruins of Ur of the Chaldees, thus proving that commerce by sea be.. tween India and Babylon was carried on about 3000 B.e.,

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when Ur Bagas, the first King of united Babylonia, ruled in Ur. Again, exploration has discovered fine beams of teak, still undecayed, in the walls of the great palace of the Sassanid Kings at Seleucia or Ctesiphon, which dates from the middle of the sixth century. Even more remarkable are the teak ribs which to this day ornament the roof of the great chaitya or Buddhist chapel, excavated from the solid rock, at Karli in the Poona district of the Bombay Presidency. This great cave has been described by Fergusson in his History oj Eastern and Indian Architecture as the largest and most cOlnplete Buddhist chapel hitherto discovered in India, and he gives good reason for believing that, together with the monks' cells surrounding it, it was excavated not very long after stone first came into use as a building material in India. From other evidence, and from the researches of archc:eologists, we know that the general use of stone in northern India for building, sculpture and decoration, dates from the reign of the Mauryan Emperor Asoka (273-232 B.e.), and experts are agreed that these caves at Karli near Poona were probably hewn out of the living rock about the year ~o B.e., and that the great teak ribs which ornament the semicircular roof are coeval with the excavation. The writer of this note twice visited these caves during his years of service in India, once in 190 3, and again in 1911; and he can testify to the fact that the ribs of teak, which overhang the dagoba or relicshrine of the Buddha, are as perfect as on the day, two thousand years ago, when the pious excavator of the caves gazed upon his finished work and found it good. As one stands before the sculptured pillars of the shrine and tries to recall all that has happened in India during that long period, the longevity of these teak timbers strikes the imagination with redoubled force. Great empires, like that of the Guptas, of Vijayanagar, of the Moguls and the Marathas, have risen and decayed: even the religion, in honour of which the beams were originally hewn and set in their places in this rock monastery, vanished from India as a living creed many centuries ago. But the timbers have defied the ravages of time, and stand immutable as the great hill-ranges which dominate western India. The history of ship-building in India offers further

L. _i ~~)

THE DURABILITY OF INDIAN TEAK

259

proof, if it be needed, of the extraordinary durability of teak. The first master-builder of the Bombay Govern.. ment Dockyard was a Parsi, Lavji Nasarvanji Wadia, who commenced building ships of teak in 1735 and, on his death in 1774, handed down his knowledge a.nd reputation to his grandsons. They and their descendants served the East India Company as shipbuilders until 1837, and during this period of a little over a century they constructed 170 war vessels and other craft for the Company, 34 warships for the Royal Navy, 87 merchant vessels for private firms, and three ships for the Imam of Muscat. These ships were all built of teak, and many of them lasted for fifty or sixty years, as, for example, the Bombay, built for the Bombay Marine in 1739, and described as "a staunch and stout vessel" in 1800. The brig Euphrates, built in 1828, was perfectly sound in the hull in 19째째; while H.M.S. Meeanee, built at Bombay in 1844, and serving in 1905 as a hospital ship in Hong-Kong harbour, was reported at the latter date absolutelv sound. Lieut.-Colonel A. Walker, author of Considerations on the Affairs of 11ldia, wrote in 181 I : U It i~ calculated that every ship in the Navy of Great Britain is renewed every twelve years. It is wellknown that teak-wood built ships last fifty years and upwards "; and barely ten years earlier Rear-Admiral Sir T. Troubridge had written to Framji Wadia, who held the post of master builder at that date (1802), H I have pledged myself you will produce ships that will eclipse those built in England." The Admiral's statement was put to the test, and proved to be perfectly true. Many teak-wood ships, built in the Bombay dockyard, were purchased for the British Navy after they had been running fourteen or fifteen years, and were found to be perfectly strong and seaworthy. The Sir Edward Hughes performed eight voyages as an Indiaman before she was acquired by the Royal Navy; whereas no Indiaman built in Europe was capable of completing more than six voyages with safety. One of the most remarkable of these teak-built ships was the Swallow, which the Wadias launched in 1777. She commenced her career as a Company's packet-boat, making several trips to England. She then joined the Bombay Marine, but reverted shortly afterwards to the

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packet service. In 1800 she was sold to the Danes, and sailed to the West Indies, where she was seized by a British man-of-war for breach of treaty and condemned as prize. She was next purchased by the Admiralty, and served for several years as a war sloop, and finally, having again become a merchant vessel, she ran out to India and was lost on the James and Mary shoal in the路 Hooghly in 1823. Among the finest battleships built of Indian teak and launched from the Bombay dockyard, was the Ganges, which afterwards served as the flagship of Sir Edward Codrington at the battle of Navarino. The last ship built by the Wadias was the Investigator, which was still in commission in 1909 as the head vessel of the Indian Marine Survey. Surely the English traveller, Dr. Fryer (1675), was justified in calling the teak tree It this Prince of the Indian forest." Its qualities. were certainly an important factor in the gradual rise of British naval power in the East.

261

THE CHENCHUS. A WILD TRIBE OF THE MADRAS FORESTS.

OF the wild tribes of the Madras Presidency, the Chenchus of the Nallamalais present the ugliest problem to the administration. They are a forest tribe, living in small villages or gudems, scattered here and there in the forests on the eastern and western slopes of the Nallamalais which traverse the Kurnool district from north to south. Few of them care to till the land. They live partly by collecting forest produce, by grazing cattle and by hunting. But no small share of their livelihood is derived from theft, dacoity and the levy of blackmail from the neighbouring peasants and from the pilgrims who visit the Srisailam temple. All observers agree in describing them as idle, improvident, drunken, thievish and brutal. Unlike the Khonds of Ganjam, they appear to have few good qualities to set off against these shortcomings. They are not remarkable for intelligence, but they have learnt to distil arrack and to manufacture serviceable bows and arrows, and some of them are in possession of firearms. At home, they burn the forest in order the more easily to pick up the Ippa flower which they distiL They then get drunk, quarrel and shoot each other. Outside the forests, they plunder the peasants and pilgrims who come within their reach, murdering those who are rash enough to resist. We are apt in these days to despise the bow and arrow, hut our forefathers knew better, and so do those who come in contact with the Chenchus. In fact, no constable, fo[~st watcher or excise peon dare interfere with a Chenchu carrying bow and arrows, and the pilgrim or peasant stands a poor chance of his life, if he endeavours to protect his property. 1 This abridged account is taken from a pamphlet, "The Chenchus and the Madras Police," issued by the official Publicity Bureau, Madras, in 1921.

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By the year 1914, the Chenchus had made themselves such a nuisance to the Forest Department and to the neighbouring peasants that the Government found it necessaryto appoint a special officer to see how the problem could best be attacked. As a result of this officer's report, a very remarkable experiment was tried. A special officer was appointed to get into touch with the Chenchus, to gain their confidence, to try and induce them to give up dacoity and burning the forest, and to bring them into friendly relations with all the officers of Government. Mr. Saunders, a junior police officer, was selected for the po~t. From 1917 to 1919 he lived in the Nallamalais among the Chenchus. The police of Madras are often blamed because they do not see that it is their duty and privilege to act as moral reformers; but Mr. Saunders certainly did not deserve this reproach. He regarded himself not as an ordinary police officer, but as a missionary of humanity; and if the converts he made were few and unsatisfactory, that was not his fault The self-sacrificing zeal with which he devoted himself to his work was beyond praise. His experiences during those two years were something more than extraordinary. Nothing can illustrate so well the nature of the Chenchus and the difficulties which he had to face as the following extract from one of his reports :It While there was no work, the Chenchus, as was inevitable, became more troublesome. I spent much of my time in Bairluti and the neighbourhood, trying to keep them quiet. It was an eventful experience largtely concerned with suppressing drunken brawls and efforts to prevent more serious misdemeanours. April, 1917, was one of the worst months. The Chenchus were drunk almost continuously from beginning to end, and I had to go to the gudem at all hours of the day and night to stop fights and quarrels. They generally recognized me, but were often far too drunk to understand or to take any notice of what I said. On one occasion at about I a.m., two of them were having a particularly hot quarrel; fearing bloodshed, I left my bed, albeit most reluctantly, and went into the gudem. I called to them to stop, but they took no notice of me. I tripped up one and left him on the ground groping for his antagonist; the other I picked up and carried off to his

THE CHENCHUS

hut, where I put him to bed and left him to the tender mercies of his wife. J then went back to the" first man and found him with his bow and arrows lookin~ for the路 other Chenchu and uttering most sanguinary threats of vengeance for having been knocked down by him. I took him back to the bungalow with me and put him to sleep on the verandah near my cot, that he might not carry his threats into execution. This sobered him somewhat and he proceeded to tell me in the orthodox way that he was 'quite all right.' I assured him that I was satisfied on this point, but he remained unconvinced; and as he dropped off to sleep, I heard him murmur) 'Abba ba, suppose he gets angry in the morning.' .4 This particular individual is a fairly common type of Chenchu. He can work quite well. When led to work and looked after, he is not really vicious; but has no will of his own and follows anyone else, whether for good or evil. He has taken part in a number of dacoities, mostly under the influence of arrack and bad companions. He is by nature born lazy, and will not lift a little finger if he can avoid it. To this end he has two wives, who are made to dig roots for him or otherwise support him by their earnings as coolies. As long as there is arrack available, .he cannot keep away from it, and, while i under its influence, he is quite irresponsible for his actions; he is capable of carrying out the threats I referred to; in fact I regret to have to record that he has recently killed another Chenchu at night in the jungle under very similar condItions.

A frequent cause of the quarrels in this gudem was a girl about fifteen years old called Atchi, but always addressed by the nick-name of Komati. She had been duly betrothed to a man called Bodigadu. He" was in appearance a loose-lipped and weak-kneed wreck, and was generally admitted even by the Chenchus to be a waster. Komati refused to go and live with him. This was a great grievance, and there was open war between Bodigadu and the girl's relations. Whenever Bodigadu and his companions were sufficiently primed with arrack, they would make a raid upon the relations and try to carry off the girl. I had frustrated a number of these It

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attempts and determined to put an end to it if possible. About midday on May 4 there was an uproar in the gudem and I found another of these incidents in progress. I stopped it as usual, and then called all the gUdem together, and sug~ested that they should hold a panchayat (caste council) and settle the matter. Either the girl had to go to her husband, or he had to be repaid the expenses he had incurred at the time of betrothal and the girl's parents declared free to marry her to some one else. My proposal met with general approval, and we all sat down under the big tamarind tree to thresh the matter out. The girl was brought before the panchayat and asked if she would go to her husband. She refused to go. The husband was then asked to divorce her on payment of the betrothal expenses. This led to great argument as to what the expenses had been, and it was as much as I could do to stop the quarrels and fights incidental to the discussion. At one stage the girl was asked what her objection was to Bodigadu. It was admitted that h~ was not pretty to look at, but his supporters urged that he was no worse than many of the panchayatdars (members of the caste council). This untimely personal allusion deeply offended the panchayatdars and a sort of general melee ensued. I t was in due course, but with no little difficulty, suppressed and business was resumed. One of the elders of the ~udem undertook to offer the required explanation. He turned to me with an engaging twinkle in his eye and said, I You remember, Swami, when you were riding your bicycle the other day, the tyre punctured and went off soft? Well, Bodigadu is just like that.' This was received with uproarious approval by all except the individual referred to, and eventually he was paid Rs. 20 plus Rs. 5 for the panckayatdars. He agreed to leave Komati sever-ely alone and not to interfere with. her parents or relations, and in token of this a blaze 'was 'made upon the tamarind treeâ&#x20AC;˘. H By these events the tale of the panchayat spread to other gudems. It happened. at the time tbat the RS.25 to be paid to the prospective husband was not forthcoming. Fearing lest, after ail, the disputes would not be ended, I advanced tbeRs. 25 without further argu'ment and brought the proceedings to a close. Many

THECHENCHUS

weeks later at Pasurutla there was a dreadful scene. It is the custom in polite C',henchu society far a man who carries off another man's wife or betrothed to pay eompensation in cash. Here a certain Chenchu buck was under the ne.cessity of paying up, and indignan·t1y complained that I had put up the price of wives. He asserted that the outside limit was Rs. 8 or Rs. 10, and practicatly said I w.as traitor to my sex in having admitted such an outrageous claitn as Rs. 25 in the panchayat,and above all in having put down the cash. Another shock was in store for me. 'When I advanced the Rs. 25 I never expected or wanted to see it again and was content to think the quarrelling would cease, and in time forgot all about it. Nearly t\velve months later, while I was talking to one of the older and better behaved men at Bairluti, he made several allusions to my , wife.' Asl had had no matrinlonial ventures, I set out to find out what he meant. I then learnt that no man 'would marry the unfortunate girl .Komati for fear that I should come down on him for the repayment of the money, and in the meantime she was referred to as my wife by right of purchase; I hurriedly caused it to be made known that I would bestow the Rs. 25 as dowry on any prospective husband. Truly these panchayats are traps for the unwary."

For two years Mr. Saundersworked among ·th~ Chenchus, doing the work of a pioneer of civilization. With the help of the forest and agricultural departments; he set about teaching the Chenchusto cultivate the land. He worked with his own hands side by side with tht Ch.enc~hus in the field, hoping, by his example, to over.. come their· idleness. He grew mulberry bushes and obtained silkworms from Mysore. The lac insect ·was introduced from the Central Provinces. He arranged with the Forest Department to provide the Chenchus with regular coolie work by which they could earn a living wage.· He opened schools for th~ Chenchusand when the trained teachers fled away, he recruited the best substitutes he could get from among the few educated men in the neighbouring villages. He enticed the Chenchu children to the school by the bait of parched rice .and dholl. He laboured to teach them physical drill, the 18

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habit of washing and the game of football. The difficulties he met with were extraordinary. The trained teachers obtained for the school were -frightened away by fever and arrows. The moment the children became bored, they vanished in the jungle, and school hours had to be limited to an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. Cholera, smallpox and drought made their appearance. The Forest Department sometimes found it impossible to provide honest work for the Chenchus to do; the indolence and drunkenness of the Chenchu seemed sufficient to defeat all efforts to establish village industries among them; while Mr. Saunders' own health was giving way under repeated attacks of malaria. At the same time, Chenchu crime instead of diminishing began to increase with alarming rapidity. This was partly due to the drought which added to the difficulty often experienced by the Chenchus in finding means for earning an honest living. But it was probably also due in part to the protection which the Chenchus had recently received from the attentions of the ordinary police. To give Mr. Saunders every chance of winning the confidence of the ~henchus, the ordinary police had avoided interfering with the Chenchu gude1fls. The result was that the bad characters amon~ the Chenchus had enjoyed an unusual immunity in their enterprises, and they were able to delnonstrate to the rising generation that it was possible with little or no risk to gain by crime in a single night far more than could be earned by six months' honest labour. Their school of thought naturally acquired considerable prestige, and Mr. Saunders found himself unable to counteract its influence. So, in the end, after two years' devoted work and much fever, Mr. Saunders himself had to own that what he was doing "did not seem to be leading anywhere." His experiment had. been a failure, the kind of failure that is not less honourable than success. It had become plain that the Chenchus could not be reformed till they had been made to understand that crime does not pay. And if this was necessary in the interests of the Chenchus themselves, it was even more necessary in the interests of their unfortunate neighbours. For, in the words of the district magistrate, "to offer schools and c0-operation to the Chenchus in their present temper is like offering chicken bones to a tiger."

REVIEW. THE FORESTS OF INDIA. By E. P. STEBBING. The Bodley Head, I922.)

(2 Vols. 42S.; Vol. I.

THE first volume of Professor Stebbing's book "The Forests of India" deals only with the period ending in 1864 and is divided into four parts. The first of these is . of a general and introductory character, in which the author sketches the geographical} physiugraphical and geological conditions, the early history of the country, the position of the forests at the time the British first began to achieve supremacy in the middle of the eighteenth century, and then concludes with a chapter devoted to the character and distribution of the forests. The other three parts deal with the periods 1796 to 1850, 1850 to 1857, and 1858 to 1864. Each comprises, first, a general summary and then more detailed descriptions of the occurrences in the various provinces, a method of treatment leading to a good deal of repetition which, though possibly unavoidable, is rather irritating. The book teems with long quotations from official reports and despatches and, in the first part, from standard works such as Holdich's "India," Strachey's H India," and Oldham's H Evolution of Indian Geography," and interesting as much of this material is, we cannot help thinking that the size of the work might have been reduced without any loss of utility, if many of the extracts from official papers had been summarized instead of being quoted in full. The summaries, too~ were hardly required and, in any case, should have been given at the end of each part and not at the beginning, while we think that by devoting no less than 90 pages to operations in the Panjab during 1858 to 1864, out of the 238 pages allotted to this period for-the whole of India, Professor Stebbing has shown some want of proportion. Again, it seems to us that the

268

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chapter devoted to the character and condition of the forests might have been better than it is; indeed, although the author has followed the arrangement adopted in Ribbentrop's " Forestry in British India," his regret that Troup's " Silviculture of Indian Trees" was not published until after he had written this chapter is made evident in a footnote. For the forest officer this is one of the most important of. the subjects treated and we must confess that considering the size of the book we think it unduly compressed and that a careful perusal left us with a somewhat confused impression. It is, for instance, hardly accurate to describe deciduous, or semi-deciduous trees such as Dalbergia latijolia, Pterocarpus, Lagerstramia and Terminalia as forming part of an U evergreen forest growth of large trees:' Teak, too, though the principal timber exported from the forests of South-west India, is confined mainly to the deciduoU's and semi-deciduous forests and does not occur generally in the true evergreen on the western slopes of the 路Ghats. Again, in dealing with the Burmese evergreen, the author includes Dipterocarpus turbinatus and Dipterocarpus alatus, which are true evergreens, in a list of " leaf-shedding trees which tower above the mass of evergreens.'" We should have thought, also, that Professor Stebbing would have known that the Xylia of Southern India has been fixed as Xy.lia xylocarpa (Hole, Indian Forester XXXVIII, p. 463, 1912) and that Xylia dolabrijorlnis is confined to Burma and Arakan, even though this alteration in botanical nomenclature did not take place till after the publication of the well-known works of Gamble and Brandis. Finally, it is strange tbat neither Mysore nor Coorg are mentioned in the subregion of the sandal wood, considering that the out-turn of this valuable wood from these two localities is much greater than that of all the districts named, unJess, indeed, Professor Stebbing means to include Mysore and Coorg in H the northern slopes of the Nilgiris." . Nevertheless Professor Stebbing is to be ,congratulated 'On the production 路of this book which is a monument to his industry, which for the first time collects together in one place the early forest history of India, and which is of the greatest interest to all who are in any way concerned with the progress of forestry in India or elsewhere. It 路draws a picture of .all the most accessible of

REVIEW

the areas containing valuable forests, subjected from the earliest times to every possible form of injury, principally uncontrolled exploitation, regular annual burning and shifting cultivation. And it shows how the few who had either the necessary scientific kno\vledge or the foresight to realize the importance of conserving her forests had to overcon1e, not only the hostility of the people" accustomed for centuries to use the forests as they pleased, and the greed of the timber merchants, but .also the stupid ignorance of the earlier executive and administrative British officials who, though there were many honourable exceptions, seem to have held that the best way to ensure the permanence of the timber supplies necessary for the development of the country \vas to make over the forests on long leases, or in perpetuity, to private enterprise. As some of those to whom the lessons to be learned from this book should be useful, may not have the opportunity, or the time, to study it carefully, we propose to draw attention as briefly as possible to the principal events of the four periods with which Professor Stebbing has dealt. Previous to 1796 the important points to note are that the ancient practice of the ownership of all forest and waste land being vested in the de facto rulers of the country, \vho, without any idea of protection, made certain trees royal so that they could obtain revenue by their sale, led to the ultimate formation of a GovernInent forest estate and of the Indian Forest Service; also that the advent of the British to power in India tended to increase the pace of forest destruction owing to the requirements for military and other purposes and the efforts of the British Admiralty to replace the failing supplies of English oak by teak from India for use in the construction of the fleet. Exploitation of the most accessible and valuable areas in Bombay, Madras, Tenasserim, proceeded practically without check throughout the period 1796 to 1850, and it路 is interesting to note that the few attempts made to ascertain the condition of the forests and take measures to prevent their destruction were due to the spur applied from England regarding the extent to which the King's Navy might rely on supplies of teak to replace oak, and not to any\ awakening on the part of the local officials. Men with scientific knowledge like Wallich and Heifer,

EMPIRE lC'ORESTRY

and executive officers like Tremenheere, Guthrie and Durand, did their best to bring some form of order out of chaos, though their efforts were always defeated by the extraordinary want of foresight displayed by those in authority over them. An instance of this comes from Tenasserim, where towards the end of this period Guthrie, with the support of the Commissioner, Durand, cancelled certain licences for total contempt of the existence and provisions of rules issued in 1~91. On the case being referred to the Deputy Governor of Bengal, that official criticized Guthrie's action as unjust and inequitable, on the ground that the rules had been avowedly and notoriously a dead letter and that Government had never shown any intention, or given any notice, of enforcing them, and actually proposed to the Court of Directors not only to replace the licences by leases for ninety-nine years, but also to sell the forests outright and convey a complete title to the purchasers. The present generation may be thankful that the Court of Directors refused to sanction these proposals and insisted that before any further grants were made a sufficient area of forests should be set aside for the supply of Government requirements. There were two bright spots in this otherwise depressing period. One, the 路commencement of the Nilambur teak p~antations by Conolly, Collector of Malabar, to whose name these splendid areas form a lasting monument, and the other the formation of the Western and Eastern Jumna canal plantations, which were started in 1820-21 and 1830-31, .. ,respectively, and ,,-hich had yielded handsome profits to Government by 1847- Bombay gave a lead to the rest of India by appointing Dr. Gibson to be Conservator of Forests in 1847. The period 1850-57 was marked by a moderate amount of progress throughout India and Burma. In Bombay there was great restriction of shifting cultivation, while a portion of the Anamalai forest tract was worked for teak by departmental agency with a fair amount of success. In Madras, Cleghorn was appointed to be Conservator of Forests in 1856. In Pegu, McClelland was appointed Superintendent of Forests in 1852 and in 1856 was succeeded by the late Sir Diedrich Brandis, India's first trained forest officer. McClelland made a great effort to put a stop to the ruinous damage caused

REVIEW

to the forests by the uncontrolled felling of permit holders, but was not supported by the Commissioner of Pegu. His report of 1854 and the manner in which the Commissioner dealt with his proposals resulted, however, in the issue of Lord Dalhousie's famous minute of 1855, which has rightly been called the charter of the Indian }4'orest Service. In this minute the Government of India, under Lord Dalhousie's guidance, at last realized the importance of the forest question and laid down a definite policy. It is to be noted that as regards the method of exploitation the minute recommended that the Superintendent of Forests, after marking and girdling the teak trees to be felled, should give out contracts for the delivery of the timber at Rangoon and there sell it in moderate lots to the highest bidder at public auction. Had this policy been followed regularly in Burma and in India generally, there can be no doubt that the revenue derived by Government from the forests would have been far greater than has actually been the case. During the last few years of this period a start was made in northern India by the deputation of Captain Longden to examine the Himalayan forests, and by the establishment of an agency at Sialkot to deal with 4eodar timber from Pangi, a portion of the Chamba Native State, where Longden started work in 1854-55, being succeeded by Peyton in 1856, and where 73,728 large deodars were felled between 1853 and 1863. N early half of Professor Stebbing's book is devoted to the comparatively short period of 1858-1864, for with the passing of Government from the hands of the Company to the Crown and the strenuons labours of Brandis路 and Cleghorn, matters moved more rapidly in the direction of a settled policy of forest conservancy, even though the great extension of railways which followed the Indian Mutiny gave rise to a further heavy demand on the over-taxed resources of the accessible forests and led to the ruin of many areas which had so far escaped the attentions of the timber traders, particularly in the Himalayan forests and in Central India. To nO,tice the various occurrences in the different provinces would occupy more space than is available; but it must be mentioned that during this period Pearson, who after

EMPIRE FORESTRY

the conclusion of his fine work in India was responsible for the training of a large number of forest officers at Nancy and who, at the advanced age of over ninety, still Inaintains the greatest interest in the doings of his old service, was appointed to be the first Conservator of Forests in the Central Provinces with Forsyth, the author of that delightful book "The Highlands of Central India," as one of his assistants. Sill1ilarly Stewart was appointed in the Panjab and Read in Oudh. Cleghorn worked steadily in ~ladras till 1861 and by his great personal influence with all classes was able to make much progress. He was then transferred to the Panjab, where between 1862 and 1864 he displayed wonderful energy in examining and reporting on the forests in the valleys of the Giri, Pabar, Tons, Sutlej, Beas, Chenab and Jhelam rivers, in which traders \vorking for the supply of railway sleepers and other timber for public works had already caused grave damage. Brandis remained in Burma. till the end of 1862, when he was brought over to India to advise on the general forest situation. In Burma he started his since famous method of linear valuation surveys, drew up the first working plans, introduced the method of H taungya" regeneration, and strove hard to carry out the policy of departmental working recommended in Lord Dalhousie's minute of 1855 : in this, however, he was defeated, though not entirely, the influence of the timber-trading firms and the apathy, or opposition, of the revenue officials being too strong for him. The volume ends with quotations from the Government of India's despatch of November, 1862, to the Secretary of State, making preliminary proposals for the formation of a regular forest department, and from the Secretary of State's reply thereto, in which those proposals were approved. And we will close this review with a quotation from the former despatch, from which the ,early forest policy of the British in India stands self-condemned. "It will be understood from this ac'" count that until quite the last few years no forest administration has in truth existed."

273

RECENT PUBLICATIONS ON FORESTRY AND TIMBERS. The Forests of India, by E. P. Stebbing. 2 vols., 425. Vol. i ready. Published by The Bodley Head, 1922. (The first volume is reviewed on pp. 267 ante). 2. Reports on Timbers and Paper Materials. 4s. Published by TOhnMurray, Albemarle Street. (This volume contains the results of the inquiry into the possibility of increasing the use of Indian timbers, and of using Indian paper materials, in England, undertaken by the Committee for India of the Imperial, Institute. A large local demand has hitherto prevented any large export of timber, other than teak, from India, but there are good grounds for the belief that the export trade in certain hard woods, which are of value for decorative and other purposes and are at present little known in the United Kingdom, could be considerably expanded. The character and uses of several timbers of this character. are described. In the section on paper materials, India's position is the subject of special remark in a p;eneral statement of the world's pulp and paper-making industry. The possibility of utilizing Indian bamboo and savannah grasses for this purpose is discussed, and the opinion is expressed that both materials are available in conditions and circumstances favourable to commercial exploitation). 3. The Drama of the Forests, Romance and Adventure, by Arthur Heming. Illustrations by Author with reproductions from a series of his paintings owned by the Royal Ontario Museum. 21S. Published by Hodder and Stoughton. 4. Announcements of the New York State College of Agriculture, 1921-22 (Cornell University Official Publication. Vol. xii, No. 13). (Pages 54-60 of this publication are devoted to the Department of Forestry, and describe its aims and objects, its courses of instruction, and its sequence of studies. Curricula intended for professional forestry students, who mean to devote their lives to this subject, I.

274

EMPIRE FORESTRY

are differentiated from those framed for students who do not wish to make forestry their major occupation). 5. Education in Forestry. Proceedings of the Second National Conference, New Haven, Conn., December, 1920. Bulletin, 1921, No. 44 of the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education. Published by the Government Printing Office, Washington, 1922. (This publication contains the opening address of Professor J. W. Tourney, and Reports submitted to the Conference by various Committees, together with the discussions and the recommendations of the Conference. The subjects dealt with by the Committees are of more than ordinary interest and include: " The Position that Forestry Courses should take as Cultural and Educational Discipline"; "The Scope and Character of Training for Specialists in Foreign Products"; cc The Field, and Scope of Vocational Training in Forestry" ; "The Character and Extent of Research by Schools of Forestry and Departments of Forestry in Colleges and Universities"; The Course Leading to the Degree of Master of Forestry." Copies of the Bulletin can be obtained at a cost of 10 cents from the Government Printing Office, Washington.) 6. The Application to Estate Uses of Timber Grown on the Spot. A paper read on February 8, 1921, before the Plough Club and the Forest Society, Schools of Rural Economy and Forestry, University of Oxford, by George L. Courthope, M.P., Whiligh, Sussex. Oxford University Press. 7. Journal of the Oxford University Forest Society, Michaelmas Tenn, 1921. First Series, No. 2. Published by the Holywell Press, Ltd., Oxford. (The contents include: "The Pine Resin and Turpentine Industry in India," by A. J. Gibson; "The Use and Abuse of Hedges," by Leslie Wood; cc The Water Catchment Areas of Great Britain," by Professor A. Henry; The Imperial Forestry Conference," by R. L. Robinson; "The Introduction of Exotics"; ,e Forest Work in Burma," by Professor R. S. Troup; "How Insect Pests are Tackled," by P~ofessor H. Maxwell Lefroy;." The Conversion and Utilization of Hardwoods," by Colonel S. S. Mallinson ; " Has Willow Growing a Place in Forestry? " by E. S. Bazeley; "A Few Memories of a Tour of some Forests in Eastern .France and Alsace," by H. B. Barrett.) Cl

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

275

8. The Timbers of British Guiana, by Herbert Stone and Dr. W. G. Freeman. Published for the Government of British Guiana. Illustrated with 9 photo-micrographs and containing descriptions of 97 of the Colonial woods collected by the Hon. A. G. Bell. Price Ss. W. Rider and Son. 9. A Guide to the Identification of the Commoner Timbers of Nigeria, by Herbert Stone and H. A. Cox, B.A.Cantab. Illustrated with three plates. Published for the Crown Agents for the Colonies. Price Ss. W. Rider and Son. 10. The Indian Forester, March 1922; Vol. xlviii, No. 3. The .,t>ioneer Press, Allahabad. (An interesting number containing inter alia articles on " The Femelschlag System or the System by Coupes Jardinatoires "; on "Some Assam Rain Forests"; on " The Calorific Value of some Bombay and Burma Timbers." I I. The Illustrated Canadian Forestry Magazine, February, 1922; Vol. xviii, No. 2; Ottawa, Canada. (A well-illustrated and interesting organ of forest propaganda containing the Annual Review of the Canadian Forestry Association's Activities for 1921.) 12. Forestry for Woodmen, by C. O. HansoD; 2nd edition. Price 6s. 6d. The Clarendon Press, Oxford. (In this 2nd edition little change has been made in the original text, but two chapters have been added; one dealing with the Forestry Act of 1919 and the Forestry Commission, and giving a summary of recent developments, and the other treating briefly of the afforestation of waste land and describing the survey which is necessary before any planting scheme can be decided OD. The index is incomplete and should be ccnsiderably enlarged, whenever a third edition is published.) 13. A Manual of Indian Timbers, an Account of the Growth, Distribution, and Uses of the Trees and Shrubs of India and Ceylon, with descriptions of their WoodStructure, by 1. S. Gamble; 3rd edition with corrections and additions. Price 3 guineas. Sampson Low, Marston & Co. (This Manual contains valuable indice~, and two new appendices, one giving annotated descriptions of wood specimens received since the publication of the 2nd edition in 1902, and the other describing a collection of Assam woods supplied in 1921. A map of the

EMPIRE FORESTRY

forest areas of India might well have beeD added, and the introduction,.whicb was written twenty years ago for the second edition, should have contained some account of the sciel1tific and ec路onomic progress attained during the last two decades. These omissions t however, detract but little from the great value of the work.) (a) Annual Report of the Forests Commission of Victoria for the year ended June 30, 1921. Issued gratis. Melbourne. (b) Forestry in Victoria, by H. Mackay; originally issued in 19 I 4. 0 btainable free of charge from the Forests Commission of Victoria t Melbourne. (c) Annual Progress Report upon State Forest Administration in South Australia for the year 1920.21, by Waiter Gill, Conservator of Forests; Government Printer, North Terrace, Adelaide, 192 I. Schlich's Manual of Forestry, Vol. i, Forest Policy in the British Empire, by Sir William Schlich, K.C.I.E., late Inspector路General of Forests to the Government of India and late Professor of Forestry, University of Ox-ford; 4th edition, revised and enlarged. Price I Ss. Bradbury, Agnew.

LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE EMPIRE FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. LIFE MEMBERS. Acland, The Rt. Hon. F. D., M.P. *Armitage. Captain C. H., C.M.G.,D.S.O. Barr-Smith, The Hon. T. E. *Beckett, Colonel R. M. *Beeten, Sir Mayson Borthwick, Dr. A. W. Burnham,The Viscount *Butler, Sir Harcourt, K.C.S.I., C.I~E. :l'Clements, J. B., Esq. ::~Clutterbuck, P. H., Esq., C.I.E., C.B.E. *Courthope. Lieutenant-Colonel G.L., M.P. *Davies, Major D., M.P. *Duchesne, M. C., Esq., F.S.I. Fisher, Major R. E. ::~Forteyiot, The Lord ::~Gilmour, Sir John, Bart., D.S.D., M.P. *Greaves, Miss H. J. *Hill, Sir Claude, K.C.S.I., C.I.E. *Inchca:pe, The Lord, G.C.M.G., K.C.S.I. *Kitchingman, G. D., Esq. ::~Leverhulme, The Lord Limbdi, H.H. The ThakoreSaheb of *Lovat, The Lord, K.C.M.G., K.T.,. D.S.O. *Lyell, The Lord ::~Maxwell, Sir John Stirling, Bart. :*Millard, W. S., Esq. *Morrison, H., Esq., M.P. *Novar, The Rt. Hon. Viscount,G.C.M.G,. *Plymou"th, The Rt. HOD. Earl, G.B.E. Price, Sir William *Purves, J. M., Esq. *Rogers, C. G., Esq., C.I.E., F.L.S. Saxton, A. C. Stubbs, Sir Reginald E., K.C.M.G. Udaipur, H.H. The Maharana Sahib Bahadur'of

* Founder Members.

EMPIRE FORESTRY

HONORARY LIFE MEMBER. Nawab Sir Syed Ali ImamMoid-ul-Mulk Bahadur, K.C.S.I. FULL MEMBERS (ANNUAL).

A1lerconway, The Rt. Hon. Lord Allen, The Rt. Hon. Charles P. Anantanarayanan, N., Esq. Antrobus, Sir Cosmo G., Bart. Ashbolt, A. H., Esq. Baker, R. E. St. Barbe, Esq. BaIfour, F. R. S., Esq. Battiscombe, E., Esq. Bates, E. F., Esq. Bend, Captain Sir Ion H.Bart., C.B., D.S.O., M.P. Bell, Sir Hesketh, K.C.M.G. Bijoux, F., Esq. Black, R., Esq. Bonfield, P., Esq. Bowring, The Hon. Sir Edward R. Brasnett, N. V., Esq. Buccleuch, The Duke of, K.T. Buxton, The Viscount, G.e.M.G-. Campbell, R. H., Esq. Carr, R. H., Esq. Caverill, P. Z., Esq. Cheer, Lieut. E. W. Code, W. J., Esq. ConnoIly, The Hon. Sir James D. Cornish, F., Esq., F.L.S., F.S.Z. Cox, Sir E. Owen, G.B.E. Crouchley, H. D. E., Esq. Cubitt, E., Esq. Dallimore, W., Esq. Davidson, Sir William, K.C.M.G. Denman, The Rt. Hon. Lord, G.C.M.G. Dilke, Sir Fisher W., Bart. Duke, Sir Frederick W., G.e.I.E., K.C.S.I. Dwigbt, T. W. Finlayson, E. H. Forbes, A. C., Esq. Fraser, J. P., Esq. Gardner, H. M., Esq. ~. Grainger, M. A. Grogan, Major E. Scott, D.S.O.

LIST OF MEMBERS

Groom, Professor P. Harris, Sir C. Alexander, K.C.M.G., C.B., C.V.O. Hart, Sir George, K.B.E., C.I.E. Henkel, J. S., Esq. Henry, Professor A. Hill, M., Esq., C.I.E. Hodgson, Sir Frederick M., K.C.M.G. Hohenkerk, L. S., Esq. Home, J. H. M., Esq. Howard, J., Esq. Invernairn, The Lord Islington, The Rt. HOD. The Lord, G.C.M.G., D.S.D. Jellicoe, The Viscount, D.M., G.C.B., G.C.V.O. Koenig, P., Esq. Legat, C., Esq. Loder, G. W. E., Esq. Lovegrove, N. H., Esq. Mallinson, Lieut.-Col., S. S., D.S.O., M.C. Mackay, H., Esq. McBride, The Hon. Sir Peter McCrae, A., Esq. Meyer, Sir William, G.C.I.E., R.e.S.l. Milner, The Viscount, K.G., G.C.B., G.e.M.G. Mitchell, H. H. G., D.B.E. Moor, H. W., Esq. Mulholland, F. D., Esq. Munro, D., Esq., D.B.E. Murray, H., Esq., C.I.E., C.B.E. NathaD, The Rt. Hon. Sir Matthew, G.C.M.G. North-ey, Sir Edward, K.C.M.G., C.B. Noxon, William C., Esq. Peake, J. P., Esq. Pearson, A. C., Esq., C.M.G. Pelletier, Lieut.-Col. P. Perrins, C. "V. D., Esq. Phipson, H. M. Price, Sir Keith Rammell, J. C., Esq. Rennie, G., Esq. Rogers, C. S., Esq. Schlich, Sir Willia~, K.C.I.E. Seaforth, The Rt. Hon. the Lord Shaw-Stewart, Sir Hugh, Bart., C.B. Sutherland, The Duke of Smith, F. B., Esq., e.M.G. J'\~

280

EMPIRE FORESTRY

Steel, MajorS. Strang, M.P. Stone, H., Esq. Tennant, The Rt. Hon. H. T. Troup, Professor R. S., C.I.E. Turnbull, W., Esq. . Unwin, A. H., Esq. Ussher, C.E.E., Esq. Weigall, Sir Archibald, R.C.M.G. Willingdon, The Lord, G.B.E., G,C.SI!.' Gâ&#x20AC;˘.C.I.E. Wilson, E., Esq. Witt, D, 0., Esq. Wright, H. LI, Esq. Younger, J., Esq., D.L.

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS~ Cameron, D. R. Cordeaux, Major H. E. 5., C.B., CIM.G. Coryndon, Sir Robert T., K.C.M.G. Davies, A. S., Esq. Farrington, Sir Henry A., Bart. Galway, Lieut...Col. Sir Henry L., K.C.M.G.,D.S.O. Gorrie, R. M., Esq. Kynock, W. Leavitt, C., Esq. MacFadyen, C. Melrose, G. P., Esq. Moir, E. M., Esq. Morse, C. A. Parker, H. A. Ross, N. M. Rowe, P., Esq. Stevenson, Col. H. I. Turner, 1., Esq. White, E. J., Esq. Wood, L. S., Esq., F.S.I. \-

AFFILIATED MEMBERS. Australian Forestry League Coats, Messrs. J. and P., Ltd. Edinburgh University Forestry Society Mallinson and Sons, Messrs. W. Oxford School of Forestry Ransome and Co., Ltd" Messrs. A.

EMPIRE FORESTRY JOURNAL. INDEX TO VOL. I. PAGE

Aeroplane, Forest Work by Aeroplane and Insect Pests Aeroplane in Quebec Aluminium Tree .. Ancient Office of Verderer Australia and the Empire Exhibition Australian Forest League ..

90 197 193 191 136 148 66

BAINES, SIR FRANK. Westminster Hall BALFOUR, F. R. S. The Douglas Fir Flagstaff at Kew Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) .. BORTHWICK, A. W. First Annual Report of the Forestry Commission .. British Guiana British Honduras . BROCKWAY, G. E. Silvicultural Treatment of the more important Eucalypts 52, Burma Forests and PoHtics

203 69 102 72 ·200 189 229 180

Canada's Forests and Propaganda .. Canadian Lumber Trade .. Canadian Timber Canadian Timber Imports to England in 1921 " Capper Report" (Review) Chenchus COURTHOPE, LT.-COL. G. L. Westminster Hall

163 165 94 166 216 261 214

Dehra Dun, Central Research Institute Douglas Fir Flagstaff at Kew Drying of Woods

247 69 192

Editorial Notes and Miscellanea, Vol. I., No. 1Empire Forestry Association .. Forest Work by Aeroplane .. Tasmania •. Western Australia •• Canadian Timber •• Kauri Pine South Africa .• Queen Charlotte Islands India.. •. A Curious Forest Ceremony Publicity Work in Canada .. Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) Evils of Forest J)estruction .. Forestry and Democratic GOVernment Sylv&" •• .. H

87 90

91 92 .94 96 95 97 98

100

101 102 108 104 10e

, Editorial Notes and Miscellanea, Vol. I., No. 2An Appeal •• .• Programme of the Association .• Good News from Queensland and Kenya Colony Empire Forestry Journal •• .. .. Testing of Empire Timbers .. Geddes Report on National Expenditure Ancient Office of Verderer .. SCottish Forestry .• .. .. .. Scottish Forests of Antiquity Forestry and Politics in Westem Australia Forest Products Laboratory at Perth, W.A. Australia and the Empire Exhibition .. New South Wales.. '.' Forestry in Tasmania .. Tasmanian Forestry Association New Zealand .. ..

127 127 128

129

130 132 136

138 140 143 146 148

148 150 153 156 156

~I:':~~~ ~~itk:<g~~::;:~i.ca

•• canada's Forests and Forest Propaganda Canadian Lumber Trade .. .. " Timber Imports to England in Fire Prevention on Canadian Railways .. Future Timber Supply of Rhodesia .•

158 163

165

~921

166 167 169 171 172

~af~ia ::

Panjab Forests .. Forestry in Bombay Burma Forests and Politics •. Timbers of India.. Trade Names for Indian Timbers Indian Paper Mills Forest Products of Ceylon .. Forest Resources of Malaya •. British Honduras •. •• Paper-making Pros~ts in Slam •. An Aluminium Tree Forest Fires Caused by Landslips Drying of Woods .• .. A Forest Exhibition Aeroplane in Quebec •• English Timber Market in 1921 Forestry at Oxford University Famous Trees .• •• •. Germany takes no Risks •• •• Empire Timbers and the National Debt .. Aeroplane and Insect Pests •• ~i:nc:~a,~:nc~~f .~e Study. ~f Forestr.~ Roumanian Forest Exploitation American Forestry Association •• Doga Timber and Tannin Extraction Co. Greenbeart Timber, British Guiana ••

175

178

180

181 184 185 186 187 189

190

101 192 192 193 193 193 194 195 196

196

•.

~~b:::rf:u~=fo=tt~ent.:.ACqulsit~~n Branc~. Edwards, S. M. Durability of Indian Teak rrree Worship in India See Editorial Empire 'Forestry Association Empire Forestry Association Inaugural Meeting Empire Timbers and National Debt Encouragement of the Study of Forestry .. English Timber Market in 1921 Eucalypts, The silvicultural Treat,ment of the more important Famous Trees Femelschlagbetrieb Fire Prevention on Canadian Railways Forest Ceremony ...

PAGE

197 197 198 200 200 200 200 201 202-

257 78 87

3 196 197 193 62, 229

195

253 167 10()

PA.GE

Forest Destruction Forest Fires in Canada Forest Fires caused by Landslips Forest Products Laboratory, Perth, W.A. Forest Products of Ceylon Forest Resources of Malaya Forestry Commission, First Annual Report of Forestry and Democratic Government Forestry and Politics in W. Australia Forestry at Oxford University Forestry in Bombay Forestry in British Empire Forestry in Tasmania Forestry Publications Forests of India (Review) Future Timber Supply of Rhodesia

103 43 192

146 186 187 72 104 143 194

178 11

150 116, 273 267 169

132 253

Geddes Report on National Expenditure GORRIE, R. M. A Swiss System of Forest Management Govenling Council and Office Bearers, Empire F.A., 1922 Greenheart Timber and British Guiana GRIMWADE RussELL, W. The Australian Forest League HART, SIR GEORGE. Dehra Dun ..

200 66

The Central Forest Research Institute at 247

Inaugural Meeting Empire Forestry Association India India, Forests of (Review) India, The Timbers of Indian Paper Mills, The Claims of

98, 172 267

181 185

Kauri Pine KILBY, W. 11.

167

Members of the Empire Forestry Association

277

·New South Wales New Zeala.nd Nigeris .. North America.

156 171 156

Oak used in Westminster Hall Oxford University, Forestry at

214 194

148

Panjab Forests .• 175 Paper-making Prospects in Siam 190 PEARSON, R. S. Timber Testing in India •• ·47 POOLE, C. E. LANE-. Western Australia. as a Producer of fine Timber 35 Publications on Forestry .. 116, 273 Publicity Work in Canada. 101 3

PAGE

Queen Charlotte Islands .. Queensland and Kenya Colony

97 128

ReviewsThe Chenchus •. .• •• First Annual Report of Forestry Commission The Forests of India .• •. Silviculture of Indian Trees .• Timber Depletion in U.S.A•.•

261 72 267 110 216

Rhodesia, The Future Timber Supply of ROBINSON, R. L. Forestry in the Empire .. Roumanian Forest Exploitation

169 11 200

SEAMAN, L. N. Timber Testing in India Scottish Forestry Scottish Forests of Antiquit.y Silviculture of Indian Trees (Review) 52, Silvicultural Treatment of Eucalypt.s South Africa STmLlNG-MAXwELL, SIR JOHN. Timber Depletion in the United States Swiss System of Forest Management " Sylva" (Review)

47 138 140 110 229 95

Tasmania Tasmanian Forestry Association Teak, Durability of Testing of Empire Timbers Timber Depletion in the U.S.A. (Review of a Report by the Forest Service) Timber for Casks Timber Supplies Department Timber Testing in India .. Timbers of British Columbia Timbers of India Trade Names for Indian Timbers.. Trade Returns 1920 and 1921 Tree Worship in India

91 153 257 130

Westminster Hall Western Australia Wastern Australia. as a. Producer of fine Timber WILSON, ELLWOOD. Forest Fires in Canada.

216 253 109

216 . 198 201 47 158 181 184 125 78

203, 214 92

35 43