Fabian Tract No. r6r. 


AFFORESTATION AND 
UNEMPLOYMENT. 


BY ARTHUR P. GRENFELL 

(LATE INDIAN FoREST SERVIcE). 

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]ANUAR\" 1 1912. 



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AFFORESTATION AND UNEMPLOYMENT. 


THE United Kingdom is remarkable amongst civilized nations m 
two respects: it has a smaller area of forest than any other in 
similar latitudes; and though it has a Government Department 
called "Woods and Forests," that Department is not much more 
than an office for the State gardeners and gamekeepers. The 
science and the art of forestry, studied and practised by every other 
important nation and by ourselves in our Indian Empire and in our 
colonies, is so utterly neglected at home that people of ordinaryintelligence rarely know that the science and art exist. 

No doubt statistics afford us some excuse. By forests we do not 
mean the deer forests of Scotland and the heath-clad hills and moorlands 
which in England are known as Ashdown Forest and Dart-
moor Forest and so on. We mean land covered with trees, and the 
percentage of forest in this sense is in Ireland 1·5 of the area, Wales 
3"9, Scotland 4·6, and England 5"3, compared with I7 per cent. in 
France, 17"3 per cent. in Belgium, the most thickly populated of 
countries, 25·9 in Germany, 32·6 in Austria, 35 in Sweden and in 
Hungary, 42 in Russia, and 48 in Servia. 

Our national want of attention to forestry is therefore accounted 
for by the scarcity of our forests. But, for reasons about to be explained, 
the time has come to establish in our country both foresta 
and the science and art of forestry. 

Report of the Royal Commission. 

Such, at any rate, is the opinion expressed in the Report on 
Afforestation (Cd. 4-t6o) of the Royal Commission on Coast Erosion, 
etc., issued in 1909. 

The nineteen Commissioners comprised six professional men 
(two of whom were experts in forestry) and four officials (two State 
and two municipal); while of the nine politicians five were 
Liberals, including a Trade Unionist, two Conservatives, and one 
each from the Nationalist and Labor Parties. The Report was 
unanimous, with some reservations from one Commissioner, and 
proposed that the State should purchase suitable land in order to 
plant 1 so,ooo acres yearly, at an average annual cost of £2,ooo,ooo, 
until a national forest estate of 9,ooo,ooo acres had been created. 
In times of trade depression some of the labor required would be 
drawn from the ranks of the unemployed, a fair number of whom 
are fit to carry out the work with but little preliminary training. 

As a piece of Collectivism the scheme is a striking one. No 
body of men as representative as were the Commissioners would 
have produced it unless a very strong case had been made out. 


4 


With but few exceptions, the Report was received with a chorus 
of approval by the press. The organ of the country gentlemen, the 
Fz'eld, in its issue of January 23rd, 1909, wrote: 

The opinion of the Commission upon Afforestation is emphatic. In effect they 
say: "Yes, afforestation is both practicable and desirable." It would be passing 
strange if the decision had been otherwise. Fer many years the authorities best able 
to form an opinion have been urging not only the wisdom, but the national necessity, 
of safeguarding our timber resources. 

We may reasonably hope that the work of this Commission will be positive, and 
not in the direction of that shunting which is so frequently the conclusion of costly 
official enquiries. To be effective, however, there should be no delay in the beginning. 
Nor is there any reason for hesitation. Upon the facts as to the necessity of 
systematic afforestation there is universal agreement, and the portions of the Reportcontaining it may at once be taken as read. The existence of unemployed men is 
also too obvious for dispute. The real points of debate are: (r) Are the men fit for 
work? (2) Will the work be profitable? The assurances of the Commission upon 
these questions we cannot but regard as wholly satisfactory. 

With this declaration on the part of progressive landlords little 
fault need be found, but the difficulty in practice will be to hold 
them and their agents to it. 

Proposed National Forests. 

The Commission report that 6,ooo,ooo acres in Scotland, 2,5oo,ooo 
in England and Wales, and soo,ooo acres in Ireland, 9,ooo,ooo acres 
in all, are fit for afforestation and should be afforested. They point 
out that the world supply of timber is being steadily depleted, that 
the price is constantly rising, and that (in 1907) we imported 
8,315,937 loads of timber, valued at £20,127,943, from countries of 
similar climate and character to our own. This quantity of timber 
could be grown on 9,ooo,ooo acres, planted to cut on a regular rotation, 
and the Commission report that exactly this area of suitable 
land is available for the purpose. This, of course, is a mere coincidence, 
and there is no reason to suppose that our imports will be 
constant at the figure of 1907. 

There is, therefore, a clear prima facie case for the promotion of 
afforestation ; but this is one of those services which privateenterprise has not yet undertaken, and, indeed, is unfitted to 
undertake. The initial outlay is substantial. The Commission estimate 
of cost of land and planting is £13 6s. Sd. per acre. Interest 
and management expenses have to be added annually. For twenty 
years there is no direct return whatever, and for another twenty 
years the thinnings yield but a small income. When forty yearshave elapsed the crop can be sold at £6o per acre, and if left for 
eighty years it will realize £175 per acre. But the investment of a 
substantial capital which will cost money to protect for twenty years,
will yield very little for forty years, and between that and eightyyears will give in lump sums, according to the acreage cut, a return 
of £3 16s. 6d. per cent. on the whole outlay is not a business proposition 
for an individual, however young and however wealthy. The 
State, which can borrow cheaply, which lives for ever, and can 
therefore afford to take long views, is the only body which could 
undertake afforestation on a large scale. 


5 


Germany has had State forest departments for a century. Saxonyhas 429,300 acres of State forests and obtains a net return of 22s. an 
acre. In Prussia, Bavaria, and four other States, the net revenue of 
the State forests is between ros. and r ss. an acre, whilst in W urtemburg 
the return is as high as 2 ss. 3d.* 

Nearly every important nation not only owns and works State 
forests, but undertakes the systematic teaching of forestry, the 
science and art of the profitable growing of timber for sale. 

In Switzerland 7 r per cent., in Hungary 68 per cent., in Russia 
6o per cent. of the forests, 25 per cent. of the whole area, belongs to 
the State, and in Germany 52 per cent. of the forest area is State 
or municipal. In other countries the proportion is considerable, 
though smaller, save in British India, where it is nearly roo per 
cent., and in the United Kingdom where it is 2 per cent. 

Climate and Soil. 

Yet our climate and soil are suitable for the growing of timber; 
and English wood is as good as or better than that of other countries, 
if it is properly grown. In practice our home grown timber is 
usually inferior, because our woods are used primarily for ornament 
and sport. We grow fine trees with spreading branches and abundant · 
space for underwood ; the timber merchant wants tall trees with 
no big branches, and for this purpose they must be grown close 
together, as in natural forests. 

Why Afforest at all ? 

The Commission demonstrate that g,ooo,ooo acres of land, now 
used to little purpose, employing scarcely any labor, and producingnothing b1.l,t game and a little mutton, could be purchased and 
planted by the State, would yield in a generation or so a very large 
amount of wealth, larger, indeed, than the estimate if the price of 
timber continues to rise in the future as it has in the past, and would 
in the end return what is for the State a fair profit on the whole 
enterprise. 

But there are the special reasons for undertaking it. Commercially 
the proposition is sound but it is not exactly attractive. 
It is the expected social results which determined the Commission to 
recommend afforestation to the nation. 

Forestry and Unemployment. 

Afforestation has an important bearing on the problem of unemployment 
in two main ways. 

I. It can be advantageously used as a direct palliative, or, to put 
it more correctly, a preventive of unemployment both during trade 
depressions caused by cyclical fluctuations and in the slack periods 
of seasonal trades. 
*These figures are, presumably, the net annual income, that is the difference 
between receipts and working expenses per acre averaged over the whole area. The 
forests are mostly natural, and no doubt State property from time immemorial. These 
figures therefore have little relation to the finances of the scheme proposed for the 
United Kingdom. 

6 

2. Its permanent effect will be to help in, what is an essential 
part of the organization of the labor market, the better distribution 
of labor. 
Everyone knows what the "casual labor system" means. Round 
the dock gates in London and Liverpool and Hull, and all our other 
great ports, to take only one example, there is constantly hanging an 
army of " under employed " men fighting for a bare existence, and 
that army is partly recruited by country-born men who have drifted 
away from the rural villages and farms. Now, if unemployment is 
to be satisfactorily dealt with, it is necessary, as the Minority Report 
of the Poor Law Commission has shown, that the casual labor system 
should be abolished, the recruiting of the "casual" army stopped, 
and the present congested masses of the " under employed" dispersed. 
The men who are squeezed out in the process of decasualization 
will have to be absorbed eventually into regular and self-
supporting employment, and one of the forms of that employmentwill be the work of afforestation. Thus afforestation will play an 
important part both as a preventive of the "drift to the towns" and 
as an absorbent of much labor which is at present unemployed or 
·"under employed." ::c Incidentally, of course, the creation of forests 
would develop other industries beyond the mere growing and felling 
of timber, e.g., its conversion and manipulation, and the woodworking 
trades generally. It has been estimated by a high authority 
that the afforestation of a million acres would afford regular work 
on the land for IOo,ooot men, which means, to put it another way,
life in the country for half a million persons, counting five to the 
family.

The peculiar value of afforestation as a pr~ventive of unemployment 
is, however, its applicability to times of great industrial depression 
and to seasonal slackne s. It is hardly necessary to say that 
it must not be used for relief works, which are thoroughly unsound, 
and can have no place in a well organized system. But the peculiarity 
of afforestation is that it lends itself admirably to temporary 

~work. Planting can, to a great extent, be put in hand at intervals 
according to the state of the labor market, without detriment either 
to the work itself or to the interests of the community.! In giving 
evidence before the Royal Commission, Professor Schlich was asked, 
"If you had to regard periods of depression in the labor market, 

* This does not mean that every under employed dock porter or builder's 
laborer could go straight to tree planting. Training will be a necessary part of such reorganization 
of industry. It is worth remembering, however, in this connection, that 
the Report on Afforestation found that "there are sufficient unemployed personswilling to submit to and able to satisfy ordinary labor tests, who could advantageously 
be employed without a period of special training." This is a conclusion based on 
the experience of a number of practical foresters and others who have actually used 
the "unemployed" in their work. ( ee the Report, 1909, Cd. 4+60, pp. 15 foil.). 
t The discrepancy between these figures and those at the end of the section is due 
to the deduction of labor di placed allowed for in the latter estimate. 

t Provided that, as in India with famine relief works, schemes are carefully 
elaborated to this end beforehand. 


7 


would it very seriously interfere with systematic operations if youhad to do little planting for two or three years, and had a correspondingly 
increased quantity once in three or four years, we will 
say? " His reply was: " I think it would make very little, if any,
difference, provided you did a certain amount within a certain 
number of years, say within every ten years approximately the same 
amount. .. . Generally speaking, I can say it does not matter 
whether you do a double amount in one year and nothing in the 
next year in the shape of planting-really it makes no difference in 
the long run so long as you do every five years, or every ten years at 
the outside, approximately the same amount." 

It is clear, then, that a large part of the work in the national 
forests could be (and ought to be as the Minority Report of the Poor 
Law Commission suggests) "executed out of loans on a ten years' 
program, and within the decade, made to vary in volume in such a 
way as to ebb and flow in a manner complementary to the flow and 
ebb of private industry." 

It is clear, also, that another part of the national (or municipal) 
forests can be used to prevent seasonal unemployment. The actual 
planting of trees is confined to the winter months (roughly from 
October to April), whilst preliminary work, such as fencing, clearingthe ground of brushwood, draining, etc., may be done either in winter 
or summer. Obviously, therefore, sylvicultural operations will fit in 
with agriculture. Thousands of men who will be busy during the 
summer at haymaking, harvesting and the hoeing of roots, can find 
employment in the woods when ordinary farm work is slack during 
the winter. Moreover, with a proper organization of the labor 
market, that is to say, with national labor exchanges and trainingestablishments in full working order, there is no reason why forest 
work-the rougher and less specialized departments of it at any rate 
-should not be the alternate trade of many urban laborers, men in 
the building trade for instance. There is afforestable land in the 
neighborhood of many great cities (such as London, Portsmouth, or 
the towns of the West Riding), while several of the great municipalities 
(e.g., Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool), have water catchment 
areas, which really need afforesting.

Two and a half million acres is England's share of the area pro


posed to be planted. It is here that forestry has its principal bear


ing on the unemployed question. In Surrey, Kent, and Sussex, not 

to speak of Essex, there are 36,ooo acres of afforestable land, about 

9o,ooo acres in Hampshire, nearly 30o,ooo ·~ in the South-West of 

England. Here are demonstratiOn areas and training grounds close 

at hand, where men can be tested and, if necessary, trained until 

they are fit to be drafted to the Yorkshire moors or the highlands

of Scotland. In Scotland there would not be enough men un


employed in times of depression to do the work on the large 

areas proposed to be acquired unless men previously trained in 

England could be drawn upon. 

* Moreover, out of 28,ooo acres of hill and heath land in Suffolk about three 
quarters, or 2o,ooo acres, could be successfully planted. 

8 

Enough has been said to show the special value of afforestation 
in dealing with the unemployed problem. Important questionsthen arise as to the number of men employable on any given area 
of woodland and the amount of supervision and training necessary.

This is what the Commissioners arrive at in the way of employment: 


(a) 
Temporary.-Temporary employment is afforded annually 
to 18,ooo men during the winter months. Subsidiaryoccupations would employ as many more. This is 
equivalent to the labor of 12,ooo men for one year and 
increases gradually as the scheme matures. 
(b) 
Permanent.-Permanent employment is afforded to one 
man per roo acres afforested, rising to 9o,ooo men when 
the whole area has been dealt with. The scheme is a 
"snowball." At first the labor of 12,5oo men will be 
required ; ultimately it will rise to 90,000. The subsidiary 
industries will absorb a much larger number, so 
that finally this new industry will support an additional 
population of about two to two and a half millions. 
Forestry and Small Holdings. 
A large forest scheme started at several centres in England will 
greatly assist the development of many land reforms. For, to quotefrom the Report, "the conversion of comparatively unprofitable 
lands into forests enhances the productiveness of adjacent areas and 
should promote the development of the small holdings movement.'' 
This is fairly well understood in Scotland, and it should be the business 
of all south of the Tweed to see that it is equally well understood 
in England.*
The English Small Holdings Act on its introduction aroused 
great expectations among the rural population, which have since in 
many counties been disappointed. With the help of well considered 
afforestation schemes, the hopes of those fortunate enough to live in 
~ their neighborhood stand more chance of being realized. As an 
instance of the way ip which a system of small holdings can be set 
upon a sound financial basis the evidence of Mr. Rawlence is much 
to the point. He stated that in Dorset, Wilts, Rants, and Kent (towhich may be added Devon, Somerset, Yorkshire, Wales, and manyother areas), there "must be hundreds of thousands of acres, takingthat land the normal [annual] value of which would be less than five 
shillings per acre." He also gave instances of estates sold or for sale 
at £10 or less per acre, and added: "Ifyou want to buy land of that 
sort, the better plan will be to buy au estate of 700 acres, taking myillustration ; and you would probably let several small holdings for 
almost as much as the whole farm is let, and you would have the 
residue left [for forestry purposes] practically for nothing." 

• The Commission report that only half a million acres need be acquired for 
forest purposes in Ireland. This is a timid recommendation ; but to analyze the 
situation there, which is complicated by all kinds of political issues, would require 
too much space. 

9 

The advantage to the small holder of being able to earn good 
wages during the winter in the adjoining State forests is too obvious 
to need enlarging on. It will serve to title him over the period it 
takes for his farm to become economically self-supporting, and afford 
him ready money for rent and the interest on the capital requiredfor stock. If the county councils do not fall in with this idea, there 
is no reason, save the defects of the present Board of Agriculture,
why the State itself should not establish the subsidiary small holdings, 
under section 20 of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act, 
1908. There will be a further advantage in that co-operation,
which is so essential to the success of the small holder, ought to be 
initiated and fostered by central State action, and these "national" 
small holdings will provide an invaluable opportunity for this purpose. 


Opposition to be Overcome. 

IN ENGLAND : FOR HUNTING AND SHEEP FARMING. 

In England, apart from the grouse shooting on the Yorkshire 
moors, the hunting rather than the shooting interest is to be feared. 
For example, there are, according to the Commissioners, many suitable 
areas in the West of England ; for instance, in Somerset alone 
the Mendips, the Quantocks, and Exmoor. .Now the prosperity of 
the present rather scanty population of Exmoor is based on two 
things-sheep grazing and the existence of the Devon and Somerset 
stag-hounds. It is true, as the Report points out, that much land 
could be devoted to forestry that is now being used as pasture for 
sheep, and that the system of farming could, without difficulty, be 
adapted thereto. If the poor upland pasture were improved bysuitable cultivation and the use of artificial manures, as is being done 
with great success in Belgium and Denmark, and to a lesser extent in 
England itself, the diminished area of grazing could easily carry the 
same number of sheep as before. If additional land were required to 
be given up to the forester, great stock would be substituted for 
small, and cattle breeding and dairy farming would replace the production 
of mutton. 

But the opposition of the stag hunters is more serious. In 
England the ownership of land in many cases, if not most, does not 
imply the management of a business, but rather the enjoyment of a 
luxury. Consequently, even though it could be proved as a matter 
of estate management that a landlord who lent himself to a largescheme of afforestation on Exmoor would benefit himself materially, 
it does not follow that this would move him to support locally unpopular 
improvements. Still less would he or his agent be influenced 
by the fact that such a scheme could indirectly benefit the 
unemployed of Bristol, Bridgwater, and Taunton during times of 
trade depression. For if new work were started on a large scale in 
his neighborhood, there would be:: a demand not only for comparativelyunskilled labor from the towns, but also for skilled woodmen, planters,
and men brought up on the land from the neighborhood. This 
would inevitably send up the wages of the rural proletariat; and 


10 

howeYer much some of us may wish to see that (as it is the necessary 
antecedent from a financial point of view of most land reforms), 
it would for that very reason be opposed by the existing territorial 
interests. Increased wages, though they would ultimately pay for 
themselves in the better quality of the work done, might at first lead 
to reductions in rent; and whereas rents are now rising, the rise 
might be stopped. Changes in husbandry-even changes which 
would ultimately increase rents-are not often welcomed by the 
landowner. His immediate interest "is in getting the utmost possible 
rent, which may (and often does) come from such a use of the 
land as involves its producing a smaller quantity of foodstuffs than 
some other use"; just as "the farmer's pecuniary interest lies in 
getting the highest possible percentage on the capital he employs, 
which may (and often does) lead him positively to restrict the intensity 
of his labor and the product of the farm."* 

IN ScoTLAND : GRousE AND DEER. 

Scotland, where the Commission recommends that o,ooo,ooo 
acres be acquired for plantations, is where afforestation is likely to 
be carried out on a large scale. In that country, outside the fertile 
lowlands, all classes of the country population are well aware that 
the rural economy is based almost entirely on the use of the land for 
sport. And this is a very unsafe position. Fashions in shootingchange. ] ust as pheasant shooting is losing the esteem of sportsmen 
because over preservation has made it too artificial (and as a 
table bird the tame hand-reared pheasant is little, if at all, superior 
to a barndoor fowl), so in deer forests, where the ground is often 
overstocked and the beasts' range limited, the stalker will seldom 
get such fine trophies as he can in Germany and Eastern Europe,
where the deer live under more natural conditions. But the conversion 
of bare mountain land and heath into forest will not destroy 
the shooting. Except for rabbits (which are incompatible with affor~
estation, but which in any case are of no account in the Highlands), 
game will still flourish, though its character may be changed. As a 
well informed article in the Academy puts it: "People can make 
shooting for black game, capercailzie, and pheasants instead of 
grouse at no pecuniary loss. They can keep deer from destroyingthe young trees by giving them fodder, as they do in the German 
deer forests." Pheasants reared in large areas of dense forest would 

be wild and gamey enough to satisfy the most critical shot or 
maitre d'hotel, and this kind of shooting would soon recoyer its 
value. The able writer of the T£mes articles on British forestry, 
published between February and May, 1908, observes upon gamepreservation that "Any misgivings as to the effect of forestry uponpheasant shooting may be allayed by recollecting that the battue 

ystem is a fashion imported from Germany, where scientific forestry 
has been longer established than in any other country." 

• idney 'Vebb: preface to the English translation of llasbach's "History of the 
English Agricultural Laborer." 

II 

It may seem strange to devote so much consideration to uneconomic 
sports hitherto enjoyed only by the leisured rich. But, 
according to the Royal Commission, the sporting rights would 
~erve to cover the expense of local taxation and part of the upkeep 
of the woods until they began to pay expenses. In fact they are an 
economic asset of immediate value; and their exercise need not 
interfere with the proper tending and profitable exploitation of the 
forests, although perhaps their enjoyment in a more democratic 
fashion than at present will have to be deferred until the national 
income is more equably distributed. In the near future the State 
might let shootings to co-operative societies of sportsmen, upontrustworthy guarantees of fair usage. 

The Scots will, therefore, be well advised to accept the Commissioners' 
scheme ; for they will be in the pleasant position of 
eating their cake and having it too, at least a part of it. And on 
points like these those who wish to see the scheme carried throughin its entirety do well to be posted. There are differences of opinion 
as to the best scale for a start. Mr. R. C.·Munro Ferguson, M.P., 
who has been a conspicuous advocate of forestry in Scotland, said, in 
July, 1910: "The agricultural interest is exceeding sensitive as 
regards the afforestation policy of the Commission on the groundthat it may absorb some undue proportion of the available resources." 
This would be perfectly true if he had stopped there, but he continued 
: "That, however, is a groundless fear, because it must be a 
matter of some years before any large scheme of afforestation can be 
undertaken, and an expenditure averaging £ so,ooo for the first six 
or eight years is probably as much as could be well laid out on the 
requisite preliminary machinery." Here his view entirely conflicts 
with the view of most experienced men. They are of opinion that 
too much time is being spent in talk, and that there are plenty of 
men and sufficient experience accumulated in the United Kingdom 
to allow the work to be begun on a far larger scale with everypromise of success. 

THE OPPOSITION OF LAND AGENTS. 

Even if landowners were less unprogressive than is often alleged,
and many were prepared to support a large development of State 
forests in their neighborhood and run the risk of the increased 
value of the adjoining estates being largely absorbed by taxation, 
there would remain another very formidable class to be reckoned 
with. 

Compare the amount received by the landlord and his agent. 
The landlord does 5 per cent. of the work and receives 95 per cent. 
of the rent; that is to say, the work of the landlord is rewarded 
361 times as highly as that of the agent. Here is a disproportionthat exists in no other business. If we turn to the provisions of the 
Commissioners' larger scheme, we find that the administration 
charges required to produce a net revenue of £I7,5oo,ooo amount to 
no less than £x,8oo,ooo, or nine and a half per cent. on the total of the 
two sums. The inference is obvious : either the agent is very much 


I2 

underpaid, or the work is often badly done. Both conditions are 
true at once in varying degree. The result is that the land agent, 
as compared with other professional men, can only make a living by 
managing a very large tract of land in a routine fashion. He has 
not the time, even if he had the knowledge to do his part in adapting 
the husbandry of the estate to changing conditions. Were he 
to do so he would lose in two ways. Firstly, he would manage less 
land and get a correspondingly smaller income ; secondly, until the 
improvement on the land he still managed became productive he 
would lose a part of his percentage on that. This is particularly 
true of forestry, because farm land given up to plantations would 
hardly become productive during the agent's lifetime. The consequence 
is that English land agents as a class (since they are but 
human) are quite ignorant of scientific forestry. Hence if their 
business were curtailed in one direction by the creation of large 
State forests, they could hardly hope, under any proper system of 
administration that is likely to be set up, to expand it in another byassuming the direction of these forest estates. Nor do they show 
any serious signs of improving. Only a few years ago the lecturer 
in estate agency and forestry at a well known college, which has 
been compared in efficiency with the Agricultural University at 
Copenhagen, qualified for his duties in teaching forestry by a short 
visit to Germany. And a few months ago a very capable land agentin charge of some large woods in the south of England told the 
writer that he was ignorant of the art, and more than hinted that it 
did not matter in the least. 

A RTISTS AND S CENERY. 

There remains a final objection which, as it IS often raised bythose who profess to love " natural " scenery, must be met and 
answered. It is said that afforestation will destroy the " natural " 
beauty of the moors and mountains, and that economic forests must 
necessarily be ugly. This is not so, for 2,soo,ooo acres devoted to 

~ forests in England will leave plenty of open space, while the additional 
charm of real forest scenery will be added. The author of the 
very able series of articles on '' British Forestry" in the Tz"mes 
(February to May, 1908), completely disposes of the objection : 

If woods are to be preserved they must be managed on an economic basis. We 
hope to convince readers that this can be done without sacrifice to sylvan beauty-
that the best re&thetic results indeed can only be obtained as the outcome of sound 
forest treatment. The most delectable and special characteristic of English scenery 
consists in richly timbered parks, the finest of which owe their origin to ancient 
forests. Take as an example in the South the park at Ashridge. Nowhere else 
shall you see such statues of beeches in dense masses, in detached groups, and standing 
singly-the very perfection of tree growth. But do not imagine that such a 
result can be attained by dotting beeches about on open ground. The Queen beech 
at Asbridge had never attained her hei&'ht of I 35 feet with go feet of clean bole 
unless she had shared with ten thousand s1sters the discipline of high forest. 

Similarly Maeterlinck has waxed eloquent on the beauties of 
serried ranks of forest trees. Dealing with arboriculture in a park 
he says: 


Plant it with beautiful trees, not parsimoniously placed as though each of them 
were an object of art displayed on a grassy tray, but close together like the ranks of a 
kindly army in order of battle.... Trees never feel themselves really trees nor 
perform their duties unless they are in numbers. Then at once everything is trans-
formed-sky and light recover their first deep meaning, dew and shade return, silence 
and peace once more find a refuge. 

Of the common Scots pine he adds : 

You can picture nothing to compare with the architectural and religious alignmentof the innumerable shafts shooting towards the sky, smooth, inflexible, pure.... 

It is to be hoped that the town councils of England will lay the 
words of the practical man and the poet to heart, so that we, too, 
may have nobly timbered woods close to our big towns such as give 
a distinctive charm to many Danish, Belgian and German cities. 

A New Department Wanted. 

The Commissioners appear to have recognized this, for theyadvise that their scheme be administered by Commissioners specially 
appointed for the purpose. This is an admission that the Departments 
of Woods and Forests and of Agriculture, as at present organized, 
are unfit for it. With one or two exceptions, the officials 
capable of executive work have only the ordinary land agent's 
training. Mr. Munro Ferguson, in a letter to the T£m es in 19101 pleaded that we are not in a position to find oft hand skilled su bordinate 
officials and working foresters for executive duties. But this 
plea must not be exaggerated. '' Ofthand" does not mean five to 
eight years. The first essential step is a properly constituted 
Forestry Department. It would be idle to try developing this out 
of the Office of Woods and Forests, if "development" impliedretaining anything more than the name of the department. Its first 
duties will be to secure demonstration forests, provide the necessary 
sylvicultural training for the executive staff, make a survey of lands 
suitable for forests, and prepare schemes for planting them. So 
soon as this new department is ready to act, the Commissioners' 
scheme should be entrusted to it for execution. It may well have 
recourse to the large water "catchment" areas which several municipalities 
possess in the Midlands and the North of England, and 
which are being planted in a tentative fashion. These will be veryuseful as demonstration areas and training grounds. Moreover, 
since the representatives of these towns have already asked for expert 
advice and financial aid, the new Forest Department should be 
able to secure efficient management. We must not forget the 
recommendation of the Royal Commission that "this form of State 
work can best be performed by a central authority," a recommendation 
which all Progressives, with the object lesson of the administration 
of the Small Holdings Act before them, will cordially endorse. 

Conclusion. 

In conclusion, what is now needed in this matter is not enquiry,
but agitation and definite State action. The experts have done 
their part. The case is made out. The only danger is lest a 


scheme which has few, if any, open enemies should, through publicapathy and official incompetence, be allowed to lapse. Reformers 
should press for proper publicity on matters of afforestation and 
especially for : 

I. A well equipped executive Forest Department under the 
reformed Board of Agriculture, with an expert body to make a 
proper return of the land suitable for afforestation, to give advice, 
and to prepare schemes. 
2 . A settled policy of steady acquisition of land by the State and 
local authorities to be used for afforestation ; the local authorities to 
be advised by and, if necessary, subsidized and controlled by the 
Forest Department. 
3-Proper technical instruction in forestry, both in rural schools 
and colleges and in the universities. 
It is only by these means that this important measure of national 
reconstruction can be brought into being. 

BOOKS FOR REFERENCE. 

On 
Afforestation. Second Report of the Royal Commission on Coast Erosion, 
Reclamation of Tidal Lands, and Afforestation in the United Kingdom. Cd. 
4460. Wyman. 1909. 6d. Minutes of Evidence and Appendices; beingVol. I f. , Part I f. Cd. 4461. Wyman. 1909. ss. 3d. 

FORBES, A. C.-Development of British Forestry. Arnold. 1910. ros. 6d. n. 
FoRBES, A. C., and Prof. W. R. F!SHER.-Two Prize Essays on the Adaptation of 
Land for Afforestation. Loughton and Co.. r Essex Street. 1904. 
MUNRO-FERGUSON, R. C.-Afforestation. An Address. London: National Liberal 
Club. 
NISBET, JoHN.-Our Forests and Woodlands. Dent (Haddon Hall Library). 1900. 
7s. 6d. n. 
---The Forester. Practical Treatise on British Forestry and Arboriculture 
~ for Londoners, Land Agents, and Foresters. Two vols. Blackwood. 1905. 
42s. n. 
SCHLICH, Sir W.-Forestry in the United Kingdom. Bradbury. 1904. 2s. n. 
Manual of Forestry. Vol. I. Forest Policy in the British Empire.

Bradbury. 1906. 6s. n. 
SCHWAPPACH, ADAM.-Forestry. Dent. 1904. Is. n. 
SUMMERBELL, T.-Afforestation. I.L.P. Pamphlet. 1908. rd. 


THE F .A.BI.A.N SOCIALIST SERIES. 
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L SOCIALISM AND RELIGION. 
CONTENTS: (1) Christian Socialism, by the Rev. Stewart D. Headlam. (2) Socialism 
and Christianity, by the Rev. Percy Dearmer. (3) Socialism and the Teaching of Christ, 
by the Rev. John Clifford. (4) A Word of Remembrance and Caution to the Rich, byJohn Woolman. 
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IY. THB BASIS AND POLICY OF SOCIALISM. ~ 
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V. THE COMMONSENSE OF MUNICIPAL TRADING. 
By Bernard Shaw. With new Preface. "Whether you agree with it entirely or not, you, 
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SOCIALISM AND H~IONAL MINIMUM. 
By Mrs. Sidney Webb, Miss B. L. Hutchins, and others. 
WASTAGE OF CHILD LIFE. 
By J. Johnston, M.D. "Passing from one count to another, he puts together his hugeindictment of national extravagance; showing also how the practice of thrift might ensure 
to the nation the possession of healthy and efficient citizens. "-Daily News. 
III. SOCIALISM AND SUPERIOR BRAINS: A Reply to Mr. MaUock. 
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![.~. THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TRADE UNIONISM. 
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THE F .A.BI.A.N SOCIALIST SERIES. 
VOLUMES HOW READY. 
L SOCIALISM AND RELIGION. 
CONTENTS: (1) Christian Socialism, by the Rev. Stewart D. Headlam. (2) Socialism 
and Christianity, by the Rev. Percy Dearmer. (3) Socialism and the Teaching of Christ, 
by the Rev. John Clifford. (4) A Word of Remembrance and Caution to the Rich, byJohn Woolman. 
U. SOCIALISM AND AGRICULTURE. 
CONTENTS: (1) The Village and the Landlord, by Edward Carpenter. (2) State Aid 
to Agriculture, by T. S. Dymond. (3) The Secret of Rural Depopulation, by Lieut. ·CoL 
D. C. Pedder. (4) The Revival of Agriculture, by the Fabian Society.
W. SOCIALISM AND INDIVIDUALISM. 
CONTENTS : (1) The Difficulties of Individualism, by Sidney Webb. (2) The Moral 
Aspects of Socialism, by Sidney Ball. (3) The Impossibilities of Anarchism, by G. 
Bernard Shaw. (4) Public Service v. Private Expenditure, by Sir Oliver Lodge. 
IY. THB BASIS AND POLICY OF SOCIALISM. ~ 
CONTENTS: (1) Facts for Socialists, by the Fabian Society. (2) Capital and Land bythe Fabian Society. (3) Socialism: True and False, by Sidney Webb. (4) Twentieth 
Century Politics, by Sidney Webb. 
V. THE COMMONSENSE OF MUNICIPAL TRADING. 
By Bernard Shaw. With new Preface. "Whether you agree with it entirely or not, you, 
are bound to admit its intellectual power and persuasive eloquence. 
SOCIALISM AND H~IONAL MINIMUM. 
By Mrs. Sidney Webb, Miss B. L. Hutchins, and others. 
WASTAGE OF CHILD LIFE. 
By J. Johnston, M.D. "Passing from one count to another, he puts together his hugeindictment of national extravagance; showing also how the practice of thrift might ensure 
to the nation the possession of healthy and efficient citizens. "-Daily News. 
III. SOCIALISM AND SUPERIOR BRAINS: A Reply to Mr. MaUock. 
By Bernard Shaw. 
![.~. THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TRADE UNIONISM. 
• -,By J. H. Greenwood. Preface by Sidney Webb. 
'l'he first tour volumes consist of a revised, collected, and classified edition of some of the most Y&luable 
tbe famous u Fabian Tracts,. in a style more suitable for the general reading public. Each bookiet 1a 
Jnted on good paper with good type, and ta supplled in two forms, viz., in attractive wrappers at 8cL 
cb, net, and ln Q.uarter cloth boards, gUt top, at 1./-each, net. Po&1i&.ge: l.d. a.nd 2d. each, except for 
" IS, l i d. and 2d. 
THE FABIAN SOCIETY. 3, CLEMENT'S INN, STRAND. 
FIFTH EDITION. REVISED. 
WHAT TO READ 
ON SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SCBJECTS. 
AN UP-TO-DATE, SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY, DEALING WITH 
SociALI!:;M, SociAL AND INDUSTRIAL PROBLEllls, 
EcoNOMICs AND EcoNOMIC HisTORY, PoLITICAL SciENCE, 
GovERNMENT AND ENGLISH HisToRY. 
Compiled by the Fabian Society for Students of UniversityExtension Lectures and Classes, for persons investigatingSocial Problems, and for the general reader. 
Interleaved, in Paper Cover, 1s. net; postage 2d. 
Bound in buckram, 2s. net; postage 3d. 
THE FABIAN SociETY, 3 CLEMENT's INN, STRAND, LoNDON; 
or of P. S. KING & SoN. 

F
F
ABIAN SOCIETY.-The Fabian Boclesy conslsSs of Boclallsss, A statement 
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I.-General Socialism in its various aspects.

TRACTS.-rsg. The Necessary Basis of Society. By SIDNEY WEBB. IS1· 
The Point of Honour: a Correspondence on Aristocracy and Socialism. ByRuTH CAVENDISH BENTINCK. 147. Capital and Compensation. By EDW. R. 
PEASE. 146. Socialism and Superior Brains. By BERNARD SHAW. 142. 
Rent and Value. 138. Municipal Trading. 121. Public Service versus 
Private Expenditure. By Sir OLIVER LoDGE. II3. Communism. ByWM. MORRIS, 107. Socialism for Millionaires. By BERNARD SHAW. I39· 
Socialism and the Churches. By Rev. JOHN CLIFFORD, D.D. I33· Socialism 
and Christianity. By Rev. PERCY DEARMER. 78. Socialism and 
the Teachmg of Christ. By Dr. J . CLIFFORD. 42. Christian Socialism. 
By Rev. 8. D. HEADLAM. 79· A Word of Remembrance and Caution to 
the Rich. By JoHN WooLMAN. 75· Labor in the Longest Reign. By B. 
WEBB. 72. The Moral Aspects of Socialism. By SIDNEY BALL. 69. 
Difficulties of Individualism. By SIDNEY WEBB. 51. Socialism: True 
and False. By B. WEBB. 45· The Impossibilities of Anarchism. ByBERNARD SHAW (price 2d.). 7· Capital and Land (7th edn. revised 1908). 
5· FactP for Socialists (11th ed., revised 1908). 132. A Guide to Books 
for Socialists. LEAI!'LETS-13. What Socialism Is. 1. Why are the 
Many Poor? WELSH TRACTS-143· Sosialaeth yng Ngoleuni'r Beibl. 
Gan J. R. JoNES (Caernarfon). 141. Translation of 139. 87. Translation of 

78. 38. Translation of 1. 
&L -Applications of Socialism to Particular Problems. 
TRACTS.-I6o. A ,National Medical Service. By F. LAWSON DoDD. 2d. 
I57· The Working Life of Women. By Miss B. L. HUTCHINS. ISS· 
The Case against the Referendum. By CLIFFORD D. SHARP. I54· The 
Case for School Clinics. By L. HADEN GuEST. I53· The Twentieth 
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State Purchase of Railways. By EMIL DAVIES. In cover, 2d. 149. The 
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The Case for School Nurseries. ByMr3. TowNSHEND. 144. Machinery:
Hs Masters and its Servants. By H. H. ScHLOESSER and C. GAME. 140. 
Child Labor under Capitalism. By Mrs. HYLTON DALE. 136. The Village 
and the Landlord. By EDw. CARPENTER. 131. The Decline in 
the Birth-Rate. By S. WEBB. 130. Home Work and Sweating. ByMiss B. L. HUTCHINS. 128. The Case for a Legal Minimum Wage.

122. Municipal Milk and Public Health. By Dr. F. LAWSON DODD. 
us. Municipalization by Provinces. II9. Public Control of Electrical 
Power and Transit. 123. The Revival of Agriculture. uS. The 
Secret of Rural Depopulatton. us. State Aid to Agriculture: an 
Example. II2. Life in the Laundry. 98 State Railways for Ireland. 
1124. State Control of Trusts. 86. Municipal Drink Traffic. 84. Economics 
of Direct Employment. 83. State Arbitration and the LivingWage. LEAI!'LET.-I04· How Trade Unions benefit Workmen. 
111.-Local 
Government Powers : How to use them. 
TRACTs.-156. What an Education Committee can do (ElementarySchools), Sd. 137. Parish Councils and Village Life. 109. Cottage Plans 
and Common Sense. 76. Houses for the People. 99· Local Govern· 
ment in Ireland. 82. Workmen's Compensation Act . New edition for the 
Act of 1906. 62. Parish and District Councils. 54· The Humanizing of 
the Poor Law. LliiAI!'LETS.-134· Small Holdings: and how to get them. 

68. The Tenant's Sanitary Catechism. 71. Ditto for London. 
IV.-General Politics and Fabian Policy.
TRACTS.-158. The Case against the C.O.S. By Mrs. TOWNSHEND. 
u6. Fabianism and the Fiscal Question: an alternative policy. 108. 
Twentieth Century Politics. By SIDNIIIY WIIIBB. 70. Report on Fabian 
Policy. 41. The Fabian Society: its Early History. Bv BRRNA~tn RR~ovr 
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