HC Deb 17 May 1956 vol 552 cc2196-7
29. Mr. J. Johnson

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assistance he gives to the planting of timber other than national forests.

Mr. Amory

The full range of assistance and advice available to private woodland owners from the Forestry Commission is set out in the Forestry Commission's free booklet entitled "Grants for Woodland Owners." I am sending a copy to the hon. Member.

Mr. Johnson

While thanking the Minister for that reply, may I ask him if it would not be a good thing if he conducted a full-blooded campaign to induce landowners to do what their forefathers did in the eighteenth century, that is, to plant timber? We need it badly. Will the right hon. Gentleman secure a copy of the book shown to him a few moments ago by my hon. Friend the Member for Falmouth and Camborne (Mr. Hayman) and circulate it to all members of another place and to all landowners in the United Kingdom?

Mr. Amory

Yes, and I should very much have liked to have asked the hon. Member for Falmouth and Camborne (Mr. Hayman) a supplementary question about the book because I have not seen it, though I am looking forward to knowing what it is about. I agree with the hon. Member that the proper maintenance and improvement of our national woodlands is very much in the national interest. We are doing everything we reasonably can to provide incentives and encouragement with that object.