l;3() JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



In selling for a lump sum, the owner knows in advance how much 

 he is to receive, and is relieved of all responsibility in getting out the 

 timber and putting it upon the market. 



On the other hand, he usually gets less for his timber, has little con- 

 trol of the operation, and the w^oodland is left in very poor condition. 



A second method is to sell the timber by the thousand feet, or other 

 unit of measure, the price per unit depending upon the kind or grade 

 of material, the operator doing the cutting, measuring, and grading, 

 checked by the owner. 



Under this system, the ow'ner is paid on a basis of a classified prod- 

 uct, which enables him to follow the operation more closely, and where 

 the cutting and grading is done to advantage, a higher price is obtained 

 for the timber. 



The disadvantages are that too much is left to the honesty and in- 

 tegrity of the operator, often leading to disagreements and controver- 

 sies, and frequently there is excessive waste and poor utilization of the 

 timber, especially in the lower grades, in which there is the least profit 

 to the operator. 



A third method is for the owner himself to do the cutting and to 

 market the product direct to the users or consumers, in the case of saw 

 logs selling them to manufacturers or hiring a portable sawmill outfit 

 to cut the timber at a specified rate per thousand feet. 



This method often enables the farmer to utilize his teams and help 

 profitably during the winter months and to receive the highest returns, 

 since he is doing away with the middle man. It is particularly well 

 adapted to the marketing of small products, such as firewood, pulp- 

 wood, poles, posts, ties, acid wood, etc. Another advantage is that the 

 farmer has full control of the operation in the woods and can limit the 

 cutting to such trees as should be taken, although his lack of knowledge 

 of what to cut and what not to cut often nullifies such advantage. 



The chief disadvantages are that the farmer is not usually familiar 

 with timber prices, nor is he in touch with the best markets. In the 

 case of logs and saw timber he does not have the proper equipment for 

 handling them, nor is he experienced enough in classifying and grad- 

 ing to get satisfactory results. 



A fourth method often advocated for farmers having small tracts of 

 timber is a co-operative plan by which two or more farmers join in the 

 sale of their products. This method is particularly applicable where a 

 farmer does not have enough timber on his own place to justify an 

 operation, but by combining with one or more adjoining farmers simi- 



