THE VALUATION OF WOODS OR PLANTATIONS. 403 



has been planted than is necessary for the purposes mentioned ; 

 and in this case the excess number should be valued according to 

 the class to which they may belong as timber, and by the methods 

 previously described. The amount should then be added to the 

 capitalised current agricultural or grazing rental of the land, at 

 say, twenty-five years' purchase. This looks at first sight as if 

 the purchaser were paying the full value of the land as agricul- 

 tural land over and ab )ve the value of the trees. But this is not 

 the case, the capitalised rental of the parks as agricultural land 

 being reduced on account of the presence of the trees. Clear 

 of timber, the land would probably fetch a much increased rental. 

 To illustrate this, I may mention the case of a property which was 

 lately in the market. Several parks were rather heavily wooded. 

 The trees were counted, and it was found that on an average 

 about one-fifth of each acre was covered or affected by timber. The 

 surrounding land clear of trees was rented at £1, 10s. per acre, 

 and the land offered for sale was also estimated to be worth this 

 sum. It was accordingly offered at twenty-five years' purchase 

 of the estimated rental of £1, 10s., or £37, 10s. per acre, but no 

 purchaser was forthcoming. It was then offered at twenty-five 

 years' purchase of the current rental of 24s., or £30 per acre, 

 plus the value of the trees to be ascertained by arbitration, and 

 it then found a purchaser. The trees were valued at £7, 10s. 

 per acre, and this, added to the capitalised sum of £30, brought 

 out the sum at which they were first offered, viz., £37, 10s. 



Ornamental timber growing in ordinary plantations outside 

 the policies is valued in the same way as other timber of the 

 same bulk and quality. f 



4. Young Woods. 



In valuing young plantations— those not yet thinned and 

 which have not begun to yield a return — the valuer usually 

 proceeds as follows : — He first finds out the cost of planting per 

 acre, either from the estate books or by estimating the cost 

 approximately; and to this he adds the expenditure on drainage 

 and fencing, with a sum to cover taxes and the cost of manage 

 ment from the date of planting to date of valuation. He then 

 proceeds to fix the value per acre of the land covered by the 

 plantation, on the basis of the rental at which similar neigh- 

 bouring land is let for agricultural or grazing purposes, but 

 making allowance for unproductive heights and hollows, if any, 



VOL. XVI. PART III. 2 E 



