ON ESTABLISHING AN EXPERIMENTAL FOREST AREA. L7a 
which forestry is a subject of instruction, and its appointment 
should hold good for as long a period as possible, so as to give a 
definite policy and continuity of method to the working of the 
area. A committee of three, with power to add to their number, 
would be quite sufficient if unanimity is to be secured. 
2. The Amount required to Carry out the Scheme. 
The chief points requiring consideration here are the purchase 
of the area and growing stock, and the outlay on the working 
expenses of the forest. 
The purchase of the area requires an amount which is more 
easily reckoned if we separate it entirely from fixtures and 
growing stock, so that nothing but the unimproved value of the 
land remains to be accounted for. The annual value of such land 
as that which has been described varies from 1s. 6d. to 5s, per 
acre, according to the character of the pasturage, proximity to a 
town or farm-house, etc. From the situation specified for our 
area, we ought to allow for not less than an annual value of 
3s, per acre, and we must also take into account the fact that 
a selected area of comparatively small extent would be valued 
rather higher than a large tract taken over entire. 
If a part of the ground were sufficiently good for the growth 
of hardwoods, the value of this would probably be greater than 
3s. per acre, but it ought not to exceed 5s., if belonging to the 
class of land we are keeping in mind. The total cost of 1000 
acres, at twenty-five years’ purchase, of the above annual values, 
would be— 
Allowing 800 acres at 75s. per acre, . . £3000 
BOO) ae siate BADSs ay 1250 
£4250 
The cost of the growing stock will probably prove the most 
formidable item to be dealt with, but the actual sum required 
depends, of course, upon the age of the plantations and their 
density. The cost of standing wood, of an average age of forty 
years, bought at its market value, would vary with situation, 
species, and rate of growth, and would also be affected by the 
previous treatment of the plantations. But assuming that the 
plantations are stocked with Scots pine, and are of normal 
deasity, and that the sylvicultural locality corresponds to that of 
