mands on them; and in order to effect this object it recommended the establishment of an Imperial Forestry Bureau, incorporated by Royal Charter, somewhat on the lines of the Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau. This bureau, to be supported mainly by funds provided by the Governments of the Empire, would have for its chief objects the collection and dissemination of information on matters connected with forestry and forest resources, and the coordination of work done by existing agencies.
The recommendations of the conference have not yet had time to take full effect, but its first fruits were in evidence in the early part of 1921, when in the first place the preliminary steps towards the es- tablishment of an Empire Forestry Association were completed, and in the second place the important question of the future training of forest officers formed the subject of recommendations by a com- mittee specially appointed to enquire into the matter. The newly constituted Empire Forestry Association is an unofficial organization, not directly connected with the proposed Forestry Bureau; its chief objects are to serve as a link between the associations already existing in the United Kingdom and other parts of the Empire, and between individuals engaged in forestry work, to foster public interest in forestry throughout the Empire, to ensure general recognition of the importance of forest management, to collect and circulate informa- tion as to existing forest conditions and the future timber require- ments of the Empire, to provide a clearing-house of information and a centre for cooperation, and to organize meetings for the discussion of the problems connected with the growth and utilization of timber. Among other functions of the Forestry Association will be the pub- lication of a quarterly journal.
The question of the future higher training of forest officers for those parts of the Empire having no place of higher training of their own was discussed at some length by the British Empire Forestry Conference, which recommended that the training should be carried out at one central institution, and that a complete university educa- tion should be regarded as a necessary preliminary to this training. An interdepartmental committee on imperial forestry education, appointed to prepare a scheme for giving effect to the resolutions of the conference, recommended that the work already being done by universities in maintaining courses of training in forestry should not be interfered with, but that efforts should be made to coordinate all these courses, to bring them up to a common level, and to utilize them as a preliminary to a higher course of training at one central institu- tion. It was proposed that this institution should be located at Ox- ford, incorporated with the university, and governed by a board appointed one-half by the university and the other half by the departments or Governments concerned, who should jointly guaran- tee to the board an annual sum sufficient to pay the costs of the insti- tution. It was further proposed that the institution should be re- sponsible not only for the higher training of new recruits for the va- rious forest services, but also for the provision of special or revision courses for officers already serving, and that it should become a centre for research in silviculture, forest entomology, pathology, soil science, and matters affecting forest production generally. These proposals, if carried out intelligently, should be of far-reaching im- portance in so far as the future personnel of the forest services of the Empire is concerned, for it has been recognized for some time and the matter was emphasized during the discussions of the British Empire Forestry Conference, that the methods of recruitment and training in force hitherto have left much to be desired, and that a great improvement in the standard of forestry education is required.
Great as has been the progress in the past in some parts of the Empire, in other important parts scientific forestry may be said to be as yet in its infancy, and the importance of forest conser- vation and systematic management is as yet imperfectly realized. Nevertheless, if legislation can be accepted as an indication of the desire to remedy matters, there are signs of a better appreciation of the duties of the State towards forestry during recent years, for since 1906 and during the war numerous forest enactments have been passed in different parts of the Empire.
India had introduced forest legislation long before this period, in the shape of the Indian Forest Act (VII. of 1878) which with certain amendments is the basis of forest policy of the present day. Under this Act State forest for waste land may be set aside as reserved or protected forest; the Act also provides for the constitution of village forests, the protection of forests and trees, the control of forest produce in transit, and other matters. Other special enactments in the Indian Empire are the Burma Forest Act (IV. of 1902), the Madras Forest Act (V. of 1882), and certain forest regulations apply- ing to other provinces.
Forest legislation in the Malay States in the form of the Straits Settlement Ordinance (No. XXII. of 1908) is founded on Indian practice, and follows the Burma Forest Act. In the Federated Malay States a Federal enactment, following the Indian model, was passed in 1914 and revised in 1918 as Enactment No. XXXIV. of 1918; the Unfederated States have separate enactments.
In Canada the Forest Reserves and Parks Act passed by the Dominion Parliament in 1906, with subsequent amendments, authorizes the setting apart of forest reserves and Dominion parks. The British Columbia Forest Act of 1912, with subsequent amend- ments, places the forests under the charge of the Forest Branch. The Forest Fires Prevention Act of Ontario, passed in 1917, provides for the protection of forests from fire and for the appointment of a provincial forester. The Nova Scotia Forest Protection Act of 1913 and the New Brunswick Forest Act of 1918 provide for fire protec- tion, and the latter establishes a forest service. Quebec has forest legislation dealing with fire protection and other matters.
In Australia forest legislation appears in various forms. The Forest Act of South Australia, which dates from 1882, places the control of forests in the hands of a commissioner with considerable powers. The Queensland State Forests and National Parks Act,
1906, provides for the setting aside of State forests and national parks, and the Land Act of 1910 deals with timber rights and sales. In Victoria forest legislation is represented by the Forest Act of
1907, as consolidated and amended in 1915, and the Forest Act of 1918, which places the forests under a commission of three with wide powers. The New South Wales Forestry Act of 1916, which con- solidated forest legislation, provides for the constitution of State forests and their control by a commission of three. In New Zealand a State Forest Act was passed in 1908, but as it proved defective in certain respects it was amended by Section 34 of the War Legisla- tion and Statute Law Amendment Act of 1918.
In South Africa the Union Forest Act of 1913, amended in 1917, consolidates the laws of the four provinces of the Union and deals with the tenure, demarcation, regulation and protection of forests. In Southern Rhodesia the Cape Colony Forest and Herbage Act of 1859 and the ordinances of the Rhodesian Legislative Council pro- vide for forest protection. In British East Africa (Kenya Colony) the Forest ordinances of 1911, 1915 and 1916 give wide powers for con- stituting reserved forests, and provide for a forest service and other matters. In Nyasaland the Forest ordinance of 1911 and the Crown Lands ordinance of 1912 prohibit the cutting of certain kinds of timber. In Nigeria the Forest ordinance of 1916 gives the governor wide powers in forest matters.
This brief sketch of legislative action taken, particularly in recent years, indicates the awakening interest in the natural forest resources of many parts of the Empire. There was still in 1921, however, much to be done before future progress could be assured. One of the most pressing needs is the building up of adequate and efficient services of trained forest officers where these do not exist; in this way the forests will be brought by degrees under scientific management, and the wasteful methods of felling and conversion which have so often been a feature of forest exploitation in the past, and the destruction of extensive areas of valuable coniferous forests, will be kept in check. Apart from direct State action, however, much good should result from measures which will influence public opinion towards an ap- preciation of the value, utility, and national importance of forests, and the necessity for safeguarding their future by con- servation, protection, and efficient management.
War Supplies. During the war the timber resources of Great Britain itself were taxed to their utmost. For some years prior to 1914 the annual imports of manufactured timber averaged about 10,000,000 loads. The imports diminished in 1914 to 8,433,000 loads, in 1915 to 7,666,000 loads, in 1916 to 6,319,000 loads, and in 1917 to 2,875,000 loads. At the outbreak of war there were considerable stocks of imported timber which, together with imports, mainly from northern Europe, sufficed to meet all urgent military demands during the first year of the war. In the latter part of 1915, however, owing largely to the advent of the sub- marine campaign, it was found necessary to take steps towards an increase in the supply of converted timber, although even prior to this, anxiety had been felt as to the maintenance of the supply of pit props for the mines. It was at this time, therefore, with the appointment of a Home-Grown Timber Committee under the Board of Agriculture, that the first serious steps were taken towards utilizing home-grown timbers to the utmost, while at the same time ensuring the greatest possible economy in the use of timber. Early in 1917 the tonnage stringency and the necessity for curtailing imports called for stricter control; this control was assumed by the War Office, who took over the staff of the Home- Grown Timber Committee and formed a Timber Supplies Depart- ment under a Director of Timber Supplies. This department was handed over soon afterwards to the Board of Trade. The ex- ploitation of the home timber resources was carried out not only
