506 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTDRAL SOCIETY. 



Note. — That these figures will be found useful to many cannot 

 be doubted. The number of returns received is, however, dis- 

 appointingly few. England sends eight, Scotland fourteen, and 

 Ireland only two. These are sufficient, however, to indicate the 

 direction in which the timber trade is drifting. It is stated in 

 several of them that the supply is unequal to the demand. 



In analysing the figures, it may be observed that they vary 

 considerably; but it is quite evident that a great improvement in 

 values has taken place, and that the demand is good throughout. 

 In districts adjacent to boat-building stations, prices rule higher for 

 most kinds of wood. It is evident that a good deal of the timber 

 sold has been of second and even third quality. This may be 

 accounted for in several ways — (1) Hardwoods, or broad-leaved 

 trees, are seldom put upon the market in quantity and in proper 

 condition. They are either so old as to be decayed in the heart, 

 branchy and brittle, or are of such small dimensions as to be 

 useless for the best markets. Timber merchants say that a good 

 sound lot of hardwood of large size rarely finds its way into the 

 market. This is to a great extent the explanation of the variation 

 in prices for the same article. Take Plane for example, the returns 

 range from Is. to 5s. per cubic foot. Distance from market is not 

 accountable for this difference. (2) The quality of Pine and other 

 timber of small sizes is inferior, owing to the large quantities of 

 immature timber thrust upon the market through the bad effect of 

 gales ; and also, generally speaking, to the fact that parts of our 

 woods are grown on the clump-and-belt system, where sylvicultural 

 principles cannot be observed, and which produce an inferior, coarse- 

 grained, and brittle class of timber. (3) The felling of timber which is 

 immature, and is cut at all seasons of the year. These facts, taken 

 together, account to a large extent for the amount of inferior 

 timber one finds in the market. Notwithstanding all defects and 

 faults, our home timber in the manufactured state fetches, class 

 for class, a higher price than is paid for the imported article. 



