by British labour, but also to a large extent by the Canadian Forestry Corps and other units. Canadian sawmilling plants were erected in many parts of the country, and the production of sawn timber went on to the extent of depleting many well-wooded districts, the reforestation of which will present an urgent prob- lem for some time to come.
During the war the British army played an important part in the exploitation of the French forests, and here again the Cana- dian Forestry Corps, which at the close of hostilities numbered some 17,000 men, did signal service in providing the requisite supplies of timber for military purposes.
The eastern theatres of the war were supplied largely from India. Figures available refer only to the period from April 1917 to Oct. 1918, during which timber supplies were in the hands of the Indian Munitions Board. The total quantity of timber shipped during this period to overseas destinations, namely, to Mesopotamia, Egypt, Salonika, Aden, East Africa, the Persian Gulf and elsewhere, amounted to 198,000 tons, while in addition 30,000 tons were utilized for war purposes in India, making a total of 228,000 tons, or an average of 12,600 tons a month. In addition railway sleepers were supplied for over 1,800 m. of track. The bulk of the work connected with the exploitation of the forests for the supply of this timber was done by the Indian Forest Department.
all events, must be regarded as largely abnormal. The balance is -)- or according as the total exports are greater or less than the total imports.
It will be seen that the chief importing country of the British Empire is the United Kingdom and the chief exporting country is Canada. During the period 1909-13, however, the United Kingdom drew 88 % by volume and 83 % by value of her imports from without the Empire, the chief sources being Russia, Scandinavia, S.W. Europe (for pit wood) and the United States. Of the Indian exports teak represents about 85%, while imports consist mainly of jarrah timber and railway sleepers from Australia and deal and pine timber. Of a total of 7,133,800 loads exported by Canada, 1,058,000 loads valued at 3,525,000 were imported by the United Kingdom. S. Africa imported 10,452,000 cub. ft. of unmanufactured timber from Scandinavia, 2,632,200 cub. ft. from the United States, 440,500 cub. ft. from Australia, and 92,900 cub. ft. (teak) from India; imports of manufactured timber were chiefly from Scandinavia. As regards the Australian states, about half of the W. Australia imports were from the United States and rather more than one-sixth were from Scan- dinavia, while of the exports, about one-third went to the Eastern states and the remainder to India, the United Kingdom, New Zea- land and S. Africa in the order named; imports into Victoria consisted mainly of soft-woods from Scandinavia, the United States, Canada and New Zealand: Queensland imports were principally from over- seas and exports were to other States of the Commonwealth: New South Wales exports were chiefly to New Zealand, the Pacific Is. and the East. (R. S. T.*)
(2) UNITED STATES. At the beginning of 1921 the United States was facing the certainty of a future shortage of timber.
TABLE I. Area of British Empire Forests. Square miles (rounded off to nearest ten).
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Acncul-
Forest
T . |
Country
tural Land
Merchant- able
Unprofit- able or In- accessible
Total
Other Land
lotal Land Area
jnited Kingdom
97,080
3,860
1,320
5,180
17,210
119,470
British India (State forest only) ....
43L900
126,310
125,160
251,470
407,430
i ,090,800
Canada (as a whole)
689,060
390,630
541,790
932,420
2,108,190
3,729,670
British Columbia
15,700
149,300*
188,000
353,ooo
40,000
201 /loo
712 I 3O
c I e 62O*
T 1C. 2/1O
690,860
Australia
- u oi4y w
O I -*, 1 O U
O 0,^*"
i oO -; 4 u
15,000
IO OOO
SO OOO
60 ooo
CQC COO
67O C.OO
New South Wales ...
17^190
17^190
oVOO""
292,270
\j f v/, jw
309,460
Victoria
43,750
4,690
7,810
12,500
31-630
87,880
S. Australia
250
6,000
380,070
W. Australia ....
71,830
4,770
21,000
25,770
878,320
975,920
Tasmania
94
17,200
26,210
New Zealand (State forest only) .
27,520
2,140
14,23
16,370
59,690
103,580
S. Africa, Union of ....
20,930
2,360
449,810
473,100
Newfoundland ....
10,000
42,000
Kenya Colony
47,170
3,600
1,500
5,100
192,790
245,060
S. Rhodesia
2,210
18,300
73,200
91,500
58,790
152,500
Myasaland
3,000
43,6io
Swaziland
Practically nil
6,500
Uganda
.
1,200
-
92,740
Sold Coast
10,890
14,000
24,110
38,110
31,000
80,000
Migeria
100,800
50,400
168,000
218,400
16,800
336,000
Sierra Leone .....
I, OOO
31,000
Malay States .....
8,300
21,170
14,100
35,270
8,930
52,500
Trinidad
760
800
380
1,180
50
1,990
Bahamas
430
4,400
Jamaica
50
I, OOO
1,050
4,200
Cyprus
1,890
630
50
680
I,OIO
3,580
British Honduras ....
40
2,400
3,600
6,000
1,960
8,000
British Guiana ....
900
13,000
64,780
77,78o
IO,8OO
89,480
Ceylon
4,870
4,820
15,540
20,360
250
25,480
Total
1,857,520
9,185,700
- Omitted in total.
Imperial Statistics. A complete survey of the forest resources of the British Empire was in 1921 still far from being an accomplished fact, and in many cases area statements must for the present be accepted as only roughly approximate. Subject to this limitation the accompanying tables, compiled from information furnished by the different Governments concerned to the British Empire Forestry Conference in 1920, give the latest statistics available. Of the two area statements, Table I. gives the estimated area of forest, agri- cultural land and other land in each country, and Table II. gives a classification of the forest area according to ownership. Certain parts of the Empire, for which statistics are not available, have been omitted.
Table III. shows the quantities and values of exports and imports. As the figures refer partly to pre-war periods and partly to the period of the war they are not fairly comparable, and in the latter case, at
Yet a continuous supply is absolutely indispensable for the pros- perity of the nation. The dangerous condition of forest de- pletion has already been reached. The U.S. Forest Service, in a report on Timber Depletion, Lumber Prices, Lumber Exports, and Concentration of Timber Ownership, submitted to the Senate June i 1920, sets forth that of the original 822,000,000 ac. of virgin forest only 463,000,000 ac., little more than half, are left. Of this but 137,000,000 ac. are virgin timber. There is some second growth of saw-timber size on 112,000,000 ac.; 133,000,000 ac. have second growth under saw-timber size; and 81,000,000 ac. (as much as the combined forest areas of Germany, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal)
