WOODS OF THE NOVAR ESTATE. 41 



the rate of nearly Is. 9|d. per cubic foot ; and that if £300 be 

 credited as the value of timber used on the estate, the nett revenue 

 (obtained by deduction of the outlay on timber works) was at 

 the rate of 7d. per cubic foot of the out-turn ; while, if the cost 

 of maintaining the woods be also deducted, the nett cash profit 

 on the business amounted to nearly 5^d. per cubic foot of the 

 out-turn. When considering the above rates, the fact should 

 not be lost sight of that the volume of timber (which, with the 

 exception of 4000 cubic feet, was all manufactured) is given in 

 statute cubic feet, and that a considerable amount of wood in 

 slabs, etc., remained unsold. Had the produce been sold in the 

 log, these slabs would have increased the volume disposed of; 

 but, on the other hand, the unit (quarter-girth) of measurement 

 would have been larger, and the nett result of these modi- 

 fications does not materially affect the rates above given as 

 "nett revenue" and "nett cash profit on the business." 



Before 1890, in which year the manufacture of timber was first 

 undertaken on a considerable scale, the trees were sold either to 

 local traders of Kiltearn, Assynt and Invergordon, or to others 

 from Inverness, Larbert and Glasgow. Larch, oak and elm 

 timber went to Sunderland for boat-building, while Scots fir and 

 larch were taken to Wick for the manufacture of herring barrels. 

 Small-sized oaks were purchased by cartwrights, and wood of 

 rough quality was sold for conversion into brush-backs. But 

 since 1890 the bulk of the manufactured wood has gone either 

 to Aberdeen, in the form of boards, for box-making ; to Sunder- 

 land or Newcastle for rail way -sleepers, pit-sleepers or paving- 

 blocks ; to the Highland Railway for sleepers, fencing or the 

 construction of waggons ; or for other uses to various parts of 

 Scotland or England. Sales have usually been effected on orders 

 received, or as local cash transactions, auction sales not being 

 much resorted to. 



The prices per cubic foot now prevailing for standing timber 

 are as follows : — Oak and ash, Is. to Is. 6d. ; sycamore, Is. to 5s.; 

 horse-chestnut and elm, Is.; beech, 6d. to Is.; lime, 4d.; larch, 

 Is. to Is. 2d.; Scots fir, 3d. to 6d. ; spruce, 3d. These prices are 

 obtainable for timber growing in fairly accessible places; for trees 

 less favourably situated the rates are lower, and in some localities 

 their value is at present extremely small. 



Abundance of local labour is available for planting work at the 

 rate of 17s. or 18s. a week; men employed in the manufacture of 



VOL. XVI. PART T. D 



