Other kinds. From From and from France. Out of a total importation into the United Kingdom of walnut valued at £300,000 Canada contributed in 1926 some £36,000. A small quantity of" African walnut" in the log is received from Nigeria. Walnut is essentially a furniture and cabinet wood. 47. In addition to supplies of oak, mahogany, teak and walnut, other hardwood are imported every year into the United Kingdom to the average value of £3,000,000 of which some 70 per cent. comes from foreign sources. Though the Empire share in this trade is as yet small the quantity and variety of the woods growing in its forests are vast. Their extent is not yet fully known. We propose to mention a few examples from various parts of the Empire of timbers which might for some purposes, at any rate, be substituted for imported foreign hardwoods such as oak and walnut. 48. Although Canada produces mostly softwoods she possesses many varieties of hardwoods of commercial interest, notably maple, birch, white elm and basswood. All these timbers grow extensively in Eastern Canada and are largely employed in the local woodworking industries. Maple is widely used for flooring and there is now a regular and increasing export trade in blocks and strips to the United Kingdom for this purpose. Birch, on account of its colour and lustre, is extensively used in cabinet and furniture manufacturing and also serves in Canada for flooring. White elm grows well in Canada and provides a timber suited for general purposes where qualities of toughness and durability are required. Basswood is easily worked but of no great mechanical strength. 49. Australia produces many varieties of hardwoods of commercial value, the most abundant of which are of the Eucalyptus family--broad-leaved evergreens which yield timbers of great durability suitable for engineering works and for all purposes of general building construction. Although the Australian engineer, builder, cabinet maker and wheelwright can exercise a wide choice in the use of native timbers, the species of which quantities can be made available to establish a substantial export trade are more limited. The most important timbers for export are the jarrah and karri of Western Australia, of which jarrah is well-known in the United Kingdom and is used for a variety of purposes, such as flooring and sleepers. It has been computed that the value of jarrah and karri exported from Australia since the first consignment left for England in 1844 amounts to £22 millions. Several species of the Eucalyptus yield lighter and more easily wrought timbers and the most important of these from an export point of view is "Tasmanian oak," which grows principally in Tasmania and Victoria. This has been on the United Kingdom market for some years, and its value as a substitute, for foreign oak and American pitch-pine is now receiving fuller recogni tion. 66 Amongst hardwoods available for export, other than those of the Eucalyptus family, mention should be made of the Tasmanian myrtle and Queensland walnut," Black bean and Silky oak of Queensland. Myrtle, "Queensland walnut" and Black bean are handsome decorative woods which should compete with French and American walnut in furniture and cabinet work. Silky oak is an ornamental wood for which may suitable uses, such as parquet flooring, may be found. and New Zealand. 50. The available supplies of timber in South Africa are not From South large and the Dominion itself offers in most cases a sufficient Africa local market. Two varieties, however, of hardwoods, Kamassi and Cape Box, are exported; these are of fine texture and are used for such purposes as shuttles for weaving looms, tool handles and mathematical instruments. In New Zealand a wide variety both of softwoods and hardwoods is found. There has, however, been extensive cutting of the forests in the past and a policy of conservation and reafforestation has become necessary in recent years. A certain amount of timber, however, is exported annually to Australia, but the trade with the United Kingdom is small. 51. A wealth of hardwoods exists in many of the countries of From India the Empire within the tropics. Foremost amongst these is and Burma. India. Hardwoods are found in all parts of India, though for export purposes the most important areas are Burma, the Andamans, and the Western Ghats. The chief difficulty in extracting these timbers from Burma and the West Coast is their inaccessibility and the lack of transport facilities. The forests consist of many kinds of trees in intimate mixture; it has been recorded that in teak forests no less than 64 species of forest trees are found in common association with teak. The Government of Burma has drawn up a list of timbers of economic value, amongst which probably the most promising is Pyinkado. This timber is practically a newcomer in the United Kingdom, but a wide market is anticipated as its exceptional properties of durability become known. It is extremely hard and heavy, is claimed to resist the attack of teredo, and is described as highly suitable for piers, wharves and underwater work generally. Amongst other Burma timbers regarded as suitable for marketing in the United Kingdom are Eng, Gurjun, Thitka, and Padauk, all of which are of good qualities and attractive in colouring. 52. The Andamans are a chain of small mountainous islands From the situated in the Bay of Bengal and surrounded by coral reefs. Andamans. They are clothed down to the water's edge with dense tropical vegetation. The natives have never possessed axes or woodhewing implements, so that the forests have remained unchanged by man and may be classed among the virgin forests of the From From world. There is no teak on the islands, but there are many other species of an economic value, chief amongst which are Padauk, Gurjun, Koko, Silver greywood and white mahogany. The timber is readily accessible, since no parts of the islands are more than about ten miles from the coast. Logs are dragged to the sea and rafted to the mills for conversion. The timber is marketed chiefly in India, but an increasing quantity is now being sent to the United Kingdom. We are informed that no private firms have in the past been granted concessions on the islands and that the timber is worked by the Forest Department of the Government of India. 53. British West Africa is well situated geographically to supply the timber market of the United Kingdom. The output of Nigeria and the Gold Coast is at present limited to Mahogany, with a comparatively small quantity of Ebony and " Ashanti cedar." These Colonies produce many other varieties of timber, which in contradistinction to mahogany are classed as "secondary to that important source of revenue and trade. Some of these, such as Iroko and Sida, should have considerable economic value. We understand that the Colonial forestry departments are devoting attention to the study of the possibilities of these "secondary timbers for local purposes and are preparing to ascertain the possibilities of their development for an export trade. From the evidence which we have received, it appears that the trade in mahogany would be assisted if the economic value of some of these other timbers could be proved. West Africa mahogany, like the teak in Burma, does not grow in dense stands but scattered throughout forest areas, mingled with other species. An increase in the number of trees profitably extracted from a given area should obviously decrease the general overhead costs on mahogany. 54. Many timbers of possible importance in trade are found in British West the British West Indian Islands and the mainland Colonies of Indies. British Guiana and British Honduras. The mahogany of British Honduras and Jamaica has already been mentioned. Amongst timbers of proven value the "luxury" woods, such as ebony and lignum vitae, of Jamaica and the Bahamas may be mentioned. There are immense resources of timber in British Guiana, the development of which is retarded by difficulties of transport. Greenheart has been exported to the United Kingdom for many years for use in a number of directions, of which the two extremes are piles for marine construction and the most flexible sections of fishing rods. Mora is another variety of hardwood, found in British Guiana and Trinidad, which is becoming known in the markets of the United Kingdom as a useful timber for constructional purposes where strength and durability are required. From Ceylon and British North Borneo. 55. Valuable timbers are imported into the United Kingdom from Ceylon and British North Borneo. The chief export from Ceylon is satinwood, which is a fine decorative wood, specially suitable for veneers. From British North Borneo there is a fairly large trade in red and white cedar (seraya) and camphor wood. Camphorwood resembles teak and is used for such purposes as coachbuilding. 56. These instances merely illustrate the great wealth of hard- Vast wealth of Empire wood timbers in the Empire. Some of those mentioned like hardwoods. mahogany and teak and, to a less degree, jarrah and karri from Australia, maple from Canada and greenheart from British. Guiana are already established in the timber trade and well known to the British public. Others such as "Tasmanian oak " and padauk are known to some extent; others are just appearing and behind them is a wide range as yet only known to the forester. IX.-" HOME-GROWN "' TIMBER. during the 57. The forest resources of the United Kingdom have for Depletion of resources long been inadequate to meet the needs of the country. During the War, the imperative demand for economy of freight space war. forced the State to turn to the woodlands of Great Britain with a heavy and destructive hand. At the outbreak of war there existed, fortunately, a comparatively large proportion of mature timber, both conifers and oak. Precise information is not available but it has been estimated that some 450,000 acres, mainly of softwoods, were clear-felled " clear-felled" during or immediately after the War, yielding approximately 1,000 million cubic feet of timber. This represented about one-third of the timber resources of Great Britain. Naturally the best and most readily accessible timber was taken. 66 With a view to remedying the situation resulting from this depletion of timber resources, the Forestry Commission of Great Britain was constituted in 1919. areas. 58. A census of woodlands taken in 1924 by the Forestry Extent of Commission shows a total area of woodland in Great Britain of woodland 3.000.000 acres, equivalent to 5.3 per cent. of the total land area of the country. Of this woodland area, about one half is described as being reasonably productive; of the rest approximately 800,000 acres of felled wood and scrub are, from the forestry point of view, idle land; 500.000 acres of coppice and coppice with standards have a very low average productivity; finally 200,000 acres of amenity and similar woodlands are definitely uneconomical in the sense that they are outside the scope of commercial forestry. The following table* provides an estimate of the contents of the woodlands of Great Britain in 1924. Rate of This estimate excludes branchwood; further, no account has been taken of hedgerow timber or of the contents of woodlands classified as uneconomical (amenity woods, etc.). 59. It is estimated by the Forestry Commission that private re-planting. planting will not at best do more than keep pace with current fellings, and we are advised that under existing conditions it is probable that fellings exceed plantings. The current planting programme of the Forestry Commission is approximately 23,000 acres per annum, mainly conifers. Private owners and Corporations are planting about 12,000 acres per annum additionally. Consumption. Haphazard felling. Under its present programme, 90 per cent. of the planting undertaken by the Forestry Commission is of softwoods. This is a matter of expediency. The timber cut during the War was mainly coniferous and as this is the class required in greater bulk for commercial purposes, the primary effort of the Commission is to replace it as quickly as possible. 60. The Forestry Commission estimate that 56,000,000 cubic feet were felled in 1924. The Commission state that probably 30,000,000 cubic feet of that total were consumed in the districts in which they were produced or else disposed of in the round as pitwood to the coal mines; the remainder, about 25,000,000 cubic feet, went into town mills and was distributed as converted timber. 61. There are few large areas of forest land in Great Britain. The timber grows for the most part in small woods and plantations scattered over the countryside. Many of the owners of these woodlands have not in the past pursued a policy with a view to deriving a recurrent profit from their timber. Timber has often been felled in a haphazard fashion-a tree here and * Taken from the "Report on Census of Woodlands and Census of Pro duction of Home-grown Timber, 1924," issued by the Forestry Commission, 1928. |