WORLD’S TIMBER SUPPLY

Taranaki Daily News, 6 May 1930, Page 11

WORLD’S TIMBER SUPPLY

:| -I, ;— ENGLISH EXPERT’S VIEW..’ ■ I FAMINE NOT TO BE FEARED. ) i The; view that the world will be faced before long with a grave shortage in its timber supply is not borne out by a detailed inquiry into the economics *of forestry which has just been completed at the Imperial Forestry Institute at Oxford, says a London newspaper. Mr. W. E. Hiley, lecturer at the institute, .who is ; abo it to publish the results of the investigation .in a book entitled “Economics of Forestry,” takes the view that a timber famine will be averted by the increase of available supplies and decrease in consumption which will follow the rise in timber prices., .i,, At the same time, however, )Mr. Hiley. Expresses great concern at tho way i.n Which, in America, and to a much less, degree in Bri> .in, trees are being .cut down without provision for the land to be re-afforested. Even where land-is being planted in England, it is too often without due consideration of the timber to yield the best profit in the given conditions. “The subject of forest economics has never received tho amount of attention which it merits,” he says. ■

‘The planting of forests,” declares Mr* Riley, “is an expensive undertaking, and the Forestry Commission will in the near future be spending upwards of half a million pounds each year on the initiation and upkeep of plantations. Private landowners, too, are spending large sums on these objects. The return from this expenditure comes only after many years.” ■. Mr.' Hiley refers to the methods whereby the financial return of the various jrees can be evaluated. "The results of such investigations,” he says, "are startling. Thus, if . 4 per cent, compound interest is allowed on money during the period over which it is invested, it may be shown that the cost of producing Scots pine varies, roughly, from Is Gd per cubic foot to 4s per cubic foot, and oak 3a 6d to 12s, whereas Sitka spruce and Douglas fir can be produced at a cost of 4d to 9d per cubic foot. These are extreme cases, and the coot of growing other timbers generally |ijee between the figures given,”