TIMBER FOR MINES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23574, 7 February 1940, Page 14

TIMBER FOR MINES

TREE-FELUNG !N WALES IMPORTATION DIFFICULTIES [FKQM OUH OWN COIiIIKSPOXIIKXT] LONDON, Jan. 2 Tree-foiling on a fairly large scale is proceeding in South Wales to supplement supplies of imported timber for the mining industry. Normally South Wales eolijeries import over 1,000.000 tons of pitwood and pit props every year frpm France, Portugal and the Baltic countries. Having regard to'the increased demand for coal and the difficulty of maintaining adequate supplies of imported timber, native woodlands are being brought under the axe. During the last war Welsh forests provided about 16Q0 tons of timber a wepk for the collieries, and large tracts were almost completely denuded. They have since been replanted by the Forestry Commissioners, and thousands of additional acres have been brought into cultivation.

It has been estimated that in apothpr 20 years or so Wales would hove been able to meet nearly all the requirements of the Welsh coal industry. Since the outbreak pf the present war private woodlands have been acquired in Glamorgan, Monmouthshire, Brcconshire and Carmarthenshire, and nearly 300 men are engaged in felling. Cutting is also going on in the Forest of Dean and the New Forest.