credit to itself for the consequent flourishing condition of the aircraft and aircraft-engine industry in general, to the very comprehensible satisfaction of those industrials who, instead of competing for orders, found themselves the object of competition. The requisite rigour of inspection was in some parts relaxed; one recognised object of a Government dockyard-that of keeping prices to a sane level-was also swept away; and the Royal Aircraft Factory, which had fulfilled this unpopular function, could no longer discharge it with much effect at precisely the time when it was most needed, since the war had increased the demand out of all proportion to the size of this establishment.

If now we enquire why the Central Air Committee' so easily lost control of its component elements, we find the answer in its one weak point: viz. that each of the Wings (Naval and Military) had access to funds, limited it is true, but completely independent of the governing committee. They could and did snap their fingers at its agreements and resolutions. It is safe to prophesy that precisely the same fate awaits the new Committee under Lord Derby, unless, with his characteristic commonsense, he awakes to the fundamental weakness of its position. The zeal of the 'new broom' era will of course carry things along for awhile, especially at a time of hotly awakened patriotism; but let us hope that at an early date he will discover that his committee's policy, whatever it is, calls not only for funds but for the power to grant or withhold independently of those elements which he has been called in to control and unify. Whether this necessarily means that he must be a Minister of the Crown depends chiefly on the magnitude of the funds controlled; and this again depends on the attitude of Parliament towards the significance of Aeronautics in our task of maintaining our status as a firstclass Power. For ourselves, we think that the threat by air is sufficiently great; and, so thinking, the sooner we turn our air committee into an Air Office or an 'Airvy the better, and by all means let Lord Derby be the First Air Lord.

Art. 4.-THE FORESTS OF FINLAND AND EUROPEAN TIMBER SUPPLIES.

Atlas de Finlande. Articles by Prof. A. K. Cajander, P. W. Hannikainen (Director-General of State Forests), and A. B. Helander (Inspector of Forests). Helsingfors : Geogr. Society of Finland, 1911.

THE Great War has given rise, in certain parts of Europe, to almost unprecedented demands for various classes of timber. The materials have been utilised in a variety of ways, outside their ordinary peace-time usages-for the flooring, walling and roofing of trenches and dug-outs, the hutting of troops in training, the preparation of barbed-wire entanglements, the handles of entrenching tools, and for many other purposes, both naval and military, which are better perhaps left undisclosed. It was estimated the other day that there were some 2000 odd miles of trenches on the Western and Eastern fronts. To construct these an enormous amount of wood has been needed. The whole of this material is lost to the world, for what remains of it at the end of the war will never prove serviceable. This excessive consumption of wood, outside its ordinary purposes, has rendered necessary the institution of a very careful enquiry into the sources of present and future accessible supplies and into the probable amounts available in the forests of the allied countries situated in Europe. Urgent as this problem has already become to some of the Allies, ourselves for instance, the question will be still more acute at the close of the war. A previously undreamt-of demand must inevitably make itself felt with the advent of peace. It is becoming therefore an imperative duty-and each month that passes adds to the urgency of this duty-that the Allies should place themselves in a position to deal with the question in the least wasteful and most efficient manner possible. Owing to our insular position, we are, or should be, even more concerned in grappling with this problem than those of our allies who will have forest resources of their own to fall back upon. Competition in the timber markets at the close of the war between countries now fighting as close allies will on the one hand be playing into the

hands of the Central Powers, and on the other be alike fatal to true economy and to rapid progress in the rebuilding of the towns, villages and homesteads which have practically ceased to exist within the areas devastated by the operations of war. And this great demand, even in the absence of such competition, must, it is to be feared, react unfavourably on industries dependent on wood for their raw material. The economic questions involved require to be carefully thought out, and a settled plan of action should be determined upon between the Allies now.

The great forests of some of the European nations and their contents, both in volume of timber, sizes and classes of materials, and estimated values, are more or less well-known. For instance, the fine forests of the Central Powers and their prospective value and importance when peace comes can be more or less correctly estimated. The same may be said for the forests of France and of some other western European nations. Norway and Sweden, as is well known, have continued to supply, down to the commencement of the war, and in fact to the present time, large amounts of materials of the classes here under consideration. It is difficult, however, to forecast the extent to which they will be able or prepared to assist us in meeting the infinitely greater demands which must arise in the near future. They have been taking advantage, Sweden especially, of the high prices now existing. But are they prepared to continue to do so, and can their forests stand the strain? There appears little reason to expect, or even, in the future interests of the countries themselves, to hope, that these Governments will continue to consent to the exhaustion of their forests, even to take advantage of an excessive inflation of prices. It has also become the duty of the countries most directly concerned to endeavour to prevent such an inflation of prices as would be the immediate outcome of direct competition amongst themselves in the timber markets. At the same time, it is a first necessity in the interests of future generations that the forests of Europe should be so managed that as little interference as possible may take place in the existing plans of management of the woods. Such plans are primarily based on the removal of the normal

increment; or, to put it in more popular language, on the removal of the annual interest, whilst the capital is left behind intact. Over-cutting means trenching upon the capital, interference with the supplies of the future, and is financially unsound in the case of large areas of forest managed by the State on commercial principles in the interests of the community.

It is admitted that to some extent it should be possible for America and Canada to assist us in this matter. They have, in fact, been taking advantage of the high market rates; but it is these rates which it is imperative should be brought to a lower level at the close of the war, and if possible before this problematical date. This problem, in its main issues, is one for the Allies alone, and they will certainly be called upon to solve it for themselves.

The sources of supply form the first point for consideration. It becomes necessary to ascertain whether there exist in Europe accessible areas, or areas which can be made accessible with comparative ease and at a remunerative outlay, of commercially exploitable forest which can be utilised to supply the heavy demands which will exist. There are other matters of urgent importance, such as the afforestation throughout Europe of all land which in the opinion of experts will prove financially sound in the interests of the several communities. This and other problems which will arise are outside the province of the present article.

Having settled upon the source of supply, the next point to ascertain is whether the commercially exploitable forests referred to above contain an excess of old growing stock, i.e. whether, owing to insufficient demand in the past, or to a scanty population, to their inaccessibility, or the existence of forests in the country with better export facilities, these forests have been left unexploited up to now. It is forests of this nature which the world has been busily cutting out for over a century, and more especially since the advent of steam communication. The greater part of them have been already exploited or ruined by fire and other causes. Tracts of considerable size and practically untouched do, however, exist; and Russia probably owns the greatest area of them in Europe. A considerable portion of these forests

is managed by the State Forestry Department of the country, and, save in the more densely populated parts, the fellings made annually in these areas have been far below the possibility; in other words, want of demand or of export facilities has rendered it impossible to remove the annual amount of timber which proper forest conservancy and a correct management of the areas on financial lines would indicate and justify. European Russia, Siberia and Finland contain vast tracts of such forests, some more accessible than others. It is proposed here to confine ourselves to a consideration of the forests of Finland, which, owing to their proximity to the sea and their comparative accessibility, should, if the matter is managed on statesmanlike lines, prove of incomparable value to the Allies in the near future.

From time immemorial the forests of Finland have played a very important part in the development of the country. In the distant past, when the population lived a nomadic existence, they hunted in the forests to supply themselves with food. With the advent of agriculture, the forests still continued to play an integral part in the life of the people. Areas were felled and burnt to provide additional room for the raising of crops, the ashes of the burnt materials forming a valuable manure for the new fields. The method is still practised in Eastern Finland, economically wasteful as it is. Materials for building purposes, heating and cooking, agricultural implements and so on, were all derived from the forests. But except to provide the local needs of the population the forests had little other use. Until comparatively recent times there was no export of forest produce, nor were the forests conserved in any way. Small beginnings were made in 1862-3 with the establishment of a Forest Service and a forest school at Evo. But progress languished. It was thought that agriculture would pay better; and for years subsequently all efforts were concentrated upon this business. It was gradually perceived, however, that the high hopes placed on successful agricultural development were to be disappointed; exports of agricultural produce remained small, while, so late as 1907, Finland was importing over 4,000,000l. worth of cereals, grain, etc. On the other