FINANCIAL RESULTS OF THE CULTIVATION OF TIMBER. 497 



right, as it is necessary to keep a continuous crop up. This 

 enables us to saddle the area under timber with every farthing 

 of costs and outlays that might have to be spent were the lands 

 changing hands. Therefore the sum of £1050 shown in the 

 account represents the capitalised net rental, and is a hypo- 

 thetical sum. It is, however, quite a proper sum, the annual 

 rental or value of the land being the basis of calculation. 

 (See Example I., p. 498.) 



The plantations to which the foregoing account refers consist 

 of both broad and narrow belts of mixed woods, chiefly of the 

 broad-leaved varieties of trees. They were planted with the 

 object of sheltering the adjoining agricultural land, which object 

 they adequately serve. The rents of the parks sheltered have in 

 consequence risen by over 20 per cent., and have never suffered a 

 fall in rent. The ages of the crops range from two to eighty 

 years, the whole ground being always kept covered. The timber 

 thinned out, for which there is a good demand, is either sold or 

 used for estate purposes. The crop is at present at the age 

 when the growth of timber is most rapid, and in a few years 

 it will be very much more valuable. These plantations receive 

 little or no attention in the way of pruning or thinning, the 

 object being simply shelter, and therefore the crop is not of the 

 value that it might have been had the area been judiciously 

 managed from time of planting till now. But the owner seemed 

 to think that so long as shelter for his parks and cover for 

 game were maintained, all the good that could be expected was 

 got; in other words, the planting was not carried out with a 

 view to producing a profitable crop of timber. It is, however, 

 quite different in the case of large areas planted by way of invest- 

 ment. In these areas slipshod management tells more heavily. 

 Account No. II. shows what may be expected of this kind of 

 plantation with ordinary management. (See Example II., p. 499.) 



The fencing of the wood to which the foregoing account refers 

 was of the turf and ditch type, the total cost being about £90. 

 The plants consisted of Scots fir seedlings with a few larch. 

 Included with the results of the final cutting are several heavy 

 thinnings. The return states that there was no game. The 

 grazings were let to crofters, and for wintering sheep. 



The following two accounts (Examples III. and IV., pp. 500 

 and 501) will further illustrate what has been done, and what 

 may be done under ordinary management : — 



