of coniferous lands in the course of 80 years, the work to be divided between the State and private and municipal owners. To carry out this work the Forestry Commission was established in 1919 and £3,500,000 promised to finance the first 10 years' operations. During this period the State was to plant 150,000 acres with conifers and a small area with hardwoods, while private and municipal authorities were expected to plant 110,000 acres (partly with State aid), making a total of 260,000 acres in all. In order to encourage private forestry, the Government also inaugurated a system of grants and the systematic establishment of forest workers' holdings at the rate of five holdings per 1,000 acres of afforestable land. It is anticipated that these holdings, the occupiers of which are guaranteed 150 days' work per annum in the State forests, will make a useful permanent addition to the rural population in the poor grazing districts. PLANTING PROGRAM The work of the Forestry Commission is largely governed by what is known as the Acland report, which laid down the area to be planted each year under the 10-year program, although slight alterations were subsequently made. CONIFERS The following table shows the planting program of conifers, together with the areas actually planted, to the end of the fiscal year September 30, 1926: It will be noted that the total to the end of the fiscal year 1926 was 68,193 acres, as compared with the program of 70,300 acres. In addition to the areas covered by the foregoing, there were 1,697 acres planted in Ireland to March 31, 1922. HARDWOODS No definite program was laid down for the 10-year period, but small areas have been planted each year, as shown in the following It is estimated that a total area of 4,000 acres will be planted with hardwoods during the 10-year period. The total area planted or sown, including both conifers and hardwoods, during the year ended September 30, 1926, was 18,375 acres, on which there were planted 38,835,000 trees consisting of 51 per cent Scotch and Corsican pines, 24 per cent Norway and Sitka spruces, 10 per cent European and Japanese larches, 9 per cent Douglas fir, and 6 per cent other varieties. From the inception of the forestry program to September 30, 1926, an area of 70,816 acres has been planted; and this total, added to the estimated planting for the remaining three 'years, gives a total of 139,000 acres for the 10-year period. As of September 30, 1927, there were 62 areas in England and Wales and 50 in Scotland under the control of the forestry commissioners: The number of employees engaged in the forests of the commission since the inception of the present program has been as shown in the following table: NOTE. 450 employees were transferred to the commission with the Crown woods on Apr. 1, 1924. Out of the £3,500,000 due to be paid into the forestry fund under the forestry act, 1919, before March 31, 1929, £2,369,000 has been paid to September 30, 1926, leaving £1,131,000 still to be provided. Adding to this £252,000 on hand September 30, 1926, and estimating the net receipts from operations at £300,000, there should be available for gross payments over the two and one-half years still to run to March 31, 1929, a sum of £1,683,000 equivalent to an average gross expenditure of £673,000 per annum. It is estimated that if the forest workers' holding program is to be carried out about £200,000 in excess of the £3,500,000 will be required, the total expenditure on forest workers' holdings being estimated at £336,500. MUNICIPAL AND PRIVATE AFFORESTATION Under the Acland report the area proposed to be afforested by local authorities and private owners with State assistance during the 10-year period was 110,000 acres, or an average of 11,000 acres per annum, but no annual program was laid down. Of this area 50,000 acres were to be covered by grants for replanting, 25,000 acres by grants for afforestation, 10,000 acres by loans for planting and replanting, and 25,000 acres by proceed-sharing schemes. To date no progress has been made in promoting afforestation by loans, and proceed-sharing schemes have been restricted to two examples. Considerable progress, however, has been made in promoting afforestation and replanting by means of grants, both for 92015-28-2 unemployment relief and normal work. The following table indicates the amount of work carried out by means of grants: In addition to the foregoing, which shows the acreage for which grants were paid, there were also recipients of grants for "preparation for planting" who undertook to plant without further payments. It is therefore estimated that, taking these into consideration, the total area planted would exceed 55,000 acres. In connection with the two proceed-sharing schemes already referred to, the following statement shows planting work, in acres, that has been done: It is estimated that the total area which will be planted by municipal authorities and private owners in the 10-year period with the assistance of the forestry commissioners will be approximately 75,000 acres. ESTIMATED RESULTS OF PROGRAM The 10-year forestry program has so far advanced that the commissioners have now made an estimate of the probable results which may be anticipated at the end of that period, which is shown in the following statement: It is admitted, however, that the figure given as representing the areas planted with State assistance is somewhat doubtful. This estimated result of 239,000 acres of both conifers and hardwoods is about 8 per cent less than the Acland committee put forward for conifers only. FOREST PRODUCTS RESEARCH Based on an article by Maj. F. M. Oliphant in "Forestry" Following a recommendation by the Imperial Forestry Conference of 1920 there was established under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research a Forest Products Research Board to organize and carry on research into the utilization of lumber and other forest products. As the result of a survey by the board, the Government set up a forest products research laboratory, and in October, 1925, a permanent director was appointed to organize and direct the work. A site was acquired at Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, on which to build the laboratory, the work being carried on in the interim in temporary quarters at the Royal Aircraft Factory, South Farnborough, Hampshire. By the latter part of 1927, however, the erection of the permanent buildings had been completed and the equipment installed. ORGANIZATION AND WORK The laboratory has been organized under 10 different sections, the objects of their work being as shown in the following table: 1. Timber mechanics... Strength properties of timber; influence of defects; influence of treatment (e. g., seasoning, preservation). 2. Seasoning.... 5. Pathology.. 6. Wood preservation.... 7. Utilization..... 8. Woodworking.. Practice of air seasoning and kiln drying; kiln design. Scientific study of the relations of water and heat to Fungi and insects causing decay; toxicity of pre- 9. Chemistry of wood ... Constitution; changes under various treatments (e. g., seasoning), cellulose products, including those from waste wood (e. g., from sawdust). (In cooperation with St. Andrews University.) Recording and issue of information; reference library. 1 At a later date it may be necessary to form, and include this work in, a section of minor forest products to deal also with extractives (tannins, resins, gums, etc.), destructive distillation, pulp and paper, and fibers. PROGRAM AND ACHIEVEMENTS A Although it has been in operation for only two years, and during that time operating in restricted temporary quarters, the forest products research laboratory has made considerable progress. few of the more important problems undertaken and the means by which they have been investigated are referred to under their respective sections. Mechanics. One of the first investigations undertaken by this section concerned the utilization of native or planted species for pit props. The species tested included both Scotch and Corsican pines, larch, Norway spruce, and Douglas fir, while the foreign species tested include Scotch pine and Norway spruce from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, and Russia. This investigation is still in progress. In preparation for the work of testing structural timbers, tests have been made on Scotch and Corsican pine, larch, Douglas fir, and ash, to be followed later by oak, all in the green condition. Tests on air-seasoned material will follow. As an example of the great number of tests involved in this work it might be mentioned that those on ash, which dealt with nine trees from one locality, consisted of 1,114 mechanical tests and 1,699 complementary physical tests, with about the same number still to be carried out on seasoned specimens. It is proposed that the results of tests on oak shall be regarded as the datum line in comparing the strengths of British woods. The laboratory has adopted as standard practice the use of the machines and methods of test proposed by the Forest Products Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Madison, Wis., which was a pioneer in this and other fields of forest products investigation. Seasoning. This section carries on studies of both natural and artificial seasoning. An increasing amount of advisory work is being undertaken and in cooperation with the furniture industry investigations are being made by means of small samples of various woods, finished in various ways, placed in different positions and localities inside the house to discover the proper moisture content the furniture should possess for use in particular situations. In the field of kiln-drying, experiments have been made with native Scotch pine, oak and Corsican pine, teak paneling for railroad finish, west coast hemlock, and Sitka spruce, the latter for use as airplane material. An experiment with ash for omnibus construction work is in progress, having for its object the comparison of the respective merits of air-dried and kiln-dried lumber. Wood technology.-An important part of this section's work consists of indicating woods which, having similar characteristics, are likely to form efficient substitutes for other woods which are either becoming scarce or, being of foreign origin, might be replaced by an Empire product. A study has been undertaken in connection with the strength tests on ash, particularly that side of the investigation that concerns "brashness," or short grain in timber, in so far as this may be due to structure. Another study is concerned with the different working qualities found in oak, such as, for instance, the mild, easily worked variety that comes from Volhynia and Slavonia and the hard, strong oak, difficult to work, such as the native product. Wood pathology. One very important entomological investigation is nearing completion, namely, the losses caused by the Lyctus beetle to hardwoods when piled in storage. In cooperation with the section of seasoning, a kiln treatment has been developed using a model-size kiln, which promises to offer a practical solution of the trouble. |