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Cost of Planting.-It was stated in the last Annual Report that the question of planting costs would be given more detailed treatment in the current Report.

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It is necessary to state in the first instance what is meant by planting.' For the purposes of the Commissioners' work planting is taken to mean all operations on a plantation up to the end of the first year and includes preparation of ground, drainage, fencing, cost of plants and their insertion in the ground and weeding for the first year. In any plantation, however, further work is required in subsequent years on weeding, replacement of failures and so This whole operation, comprising the first year's work and subsequent attention to the plantation up to the time it is able to shift for itself, is called "establishment."

The cost per acre of labour and material for planting only for the years 1923-26 are as follows:

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It will be observed that the cost of planting has risen in 1925 and 1926 as compared with 1923 and 1924. This is due in the main to more careful methods of planting which in the long run will reduce the cost of establishment.

The cost of establishment is difficult to ascertain for the reason that the process is normally not complete for any considerable area for at least four or five years. Consequently, although the Commissioners have planted to the end of 1926 some 71,000 acres, a small proportion only of this is completely established, the exact amount not being determinable without special and extensive surveys of the plantations. Since the greater part of the 71,000 acres, namely 43,701 acres, has been planted within the last three years, it is clear that any statement as to cost of establishment must be largely a matter of conjecture and it is preferred at this stage not to attempt to state a definite figure.

The actual outlay in labour and material incurred per acre on the area planted between 1919 and 1926 is given below. These figures include all costs of planting and a considerable proportion of establishment costs as well as some advance work on areas not yet planted :

Country.

England and Wales.

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A mount. £8 14 5

£9 3 6

£8 17 4

Forest Fires. During the year 87 fires occurred, affecting 571 acres. The damage done was estimated at £1,935, the amount. recoverable being £755. Of the total number of fires 29 were caused by sparks from railway engines.

Nurseries. The total area under nurseries at 30th September, 1926, was 728 acres stocked with 220 million seedlings and 104 million transplants. Comparative figures for the three years 1924-26 are given in the following table :

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1924... England and 10,310 1,144 Wales.

Scotland

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2,691
11,454 29,788
3,453
97 3,550 24,196 242
Total 13,763 1,241 15,004 53,984 2,933 56,917 176,428

32,479 105,023

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24,438 71,405

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Seed Supply. The autumn, 1925, crop of Douglas fir seed was a complete failure in Canada and the United States of America, and Sitka spruce yielded only a fair crop in both countries. For the first time for several years there was a good crop of Japanese larch seed.

Norway spruce and European larch failed entirely and only moderate supplies of Corsican pine were obtainable.

As regards native seed, Scots pine was abundant in England but only a moderate quantity could be collected in Scotland. Acorns were plentiful, but beech mast was almost a complete failure and the chestnut crop was very limited.

The quantity of seed sold during the year amounted to 1,937 lbs.

The Commissioners have to express their gratitude for gifts of seed for experimental purposes received from the forest services of Canada, France, Japan, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the United States of America.

Sub-Head F.-Advances for Afforestation Purposes:
Expenditure, £14,950.

Of the total expenditure, £3,341 was in respect of overhead and supervisory charges and £1,026 was in respect of a proceedssharing scheme. The remainder, viz., £10,583, was in respect of grants, £2,594 covering planting, preparation for planting and scrub-clearing carried out during the previous season, and £7,989 covering work carried out and inspected during the year under review.

Grants. The regulations under which grants are made for afforestation schemes were altered for 1925-26 and succeeding years. Previously grants were made for planting (up to £4 10s. per acre to local authorities and up to £3 per acre to private individuals), preparation of ground to be planted subsequently (up to £3 per acre in each case), and scrub clearing in preparation for planting (up to £2 per acre and in special cases onethird of the net cost within a limit of £4 per acre to local authorities, and up to £2 per acre to private individuals). The grant for planting now varies according to whether the scheme is in respect of conifers or hardwoods, and no distinction is made between the amounts payable to local authorities and private individuals. Particulars of the revised grants are as follows:

(1) Conifers.-Up to £2 per acre for every acre planted and thereafter maintained as a forest crop.

(2) Hardwoods.-Up to £4 per acre planted with approved species and thereafter maintained as an area for the production of hardwoods.

(3) Clearance of Scrub, &c.-Up to £1 per acre (in exceptional cases up to £2 per acre) for every acre cleared. Limited to selected schemes involving not less than 50 acres. As regards the payment of the grants for planting, 75 per cent. of the amount due is paid when the planting has been satisfactorily completed, and the balance four years later, provided the Commissioners are satisfied that any necessary beating-up has been carried out and the plantations properly established and maintained. If approval is withheld the amount of the grant is repayable by the recipient with simple interest at 5 per cent. per annum from the date of the grant.

Particulars of the schemes in respect of which grants were paid during the year are given in the table below; areas which had not been inspected prior to 30th September, 1926, are excluded:

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Sub-head G.-Education: Expenditure: Gross, £10,608;

Net, £10,579.

Details of expenditure and income are given in Table G below:
Table G.-Analysis of Education.

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The figures relating to Ireland (during 1920-23) are omitted.

Apprentices' Schools: Expenditure, Gross, £5,012; Net, £4,983.-During the year 50 forest apprentices were undergoing courses of instruction in the schools at Parkend (Forest of Dean) and at Beaufort (Inverness-shire). At the final qualifying examination 21 men who had successfully completed the two years' course were granted certificates of proficiency. A special one-month course in the Forest of Dean was attended by 15 of the Commission's foresters.

Grants to Universities and Colleges: Expenditure, £2,239.The following Universities and Colleges received grants during the year :-Oxford University; Cambridge University; University College of North Wales, Bangor; Armstrong College, University of Durham; Aberdeen University; Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture.

These centres provide courses of training for forest officers and also forestry courses for those engaged in allied occupations such as estate management and agriculture. The number of students who were studying forestry during the period under review was 118. The number of forestry degrees granted was 39, and 8 candidates were successful in gaining forestry diplomas.

Imperial Forestry Institute: Expenditure, £2,000.-The Imperial Forestry Institute is financed from the Forestry Fund. to the extent of £2,000 per annum for a period of five years from October, 1924. The contribution from the Colonial Governments was originally fixed at £3,000, but was subsequently

increased to provide for special work in which the Colonies are particularly interested.

The number of students who attended the various courses of study for the whole or part of the Academic year 1925-6 was 44. These included post-graduate probationers, India 5; Colonial Services 9; Forest Officers on leave, Colonial Services 14; India 9; research students 5; private students 2.

Sub-head H.-Research and Experiment: Expenditure:
Gross, £7,432; Net, £7,322.

Details of expenditure are stated in Table H below:-
Table H.-Analysis of Research and Experiment.

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Steady progress has been made in research and experimental work during the year.

Production. Four new permanent sample plots have been established, one in England and three in Scotland, and, in addition, 38 plots have been remeasured. A certain number of plots have been abandoned or lost owing to windfall or fellings, and the present position is that a total of 152 sample plots have been established in Great Britain, of which 80 are in England and 72 in Scotland. Up to the end of September, 1926, 85 plots have been measured once, 47 twice, and 20 three times or more.

The Commissioners have again to express their indebtedness to the various landowners who have afforded facilities for the laying out and maintenance of sample plots in their woods.

Nursery and Plantation.-Experimental work on nursery practice has continued along the same lines as in former years, resulting in many cases in confirmation of earlier results. Conclusions of practical value have now been obtained in several directions. The principal development during the past year,

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