ON ESTABLISHING AN EXPERIMENTAL FOREST AREA, berg 
stock to the best advantage, independent of any definite annual 
amount, and allow so, much annually to assist in meeting the 
necessary expenditure, and keeping any surplus back for a reserve 
fund to meet past or future deficiencies. From thinnings and 
partial clearings another £200 might be obtained, which would 
still leave us £200 to make up. The value of shooting and 
grazing rents might possibly amount to £100 of this, which would 
practically bring our annual income and expenditure within 
measurable distance. As a matter of fact, it is not probable 
that these two amounts would approach each other so closely, 
but there is nothing impossible about their doing so under the 
supposed circumstances. But we must also bear in mind that 
the capital value, and ultimately the annual yield, would tend to 
increase after the bare ground on the area became stocked, and a 
slight excess of expenditure over income may be expected for the 
first few years without great anxiety. 
We have allowed nothing in our estimate of annual expenditure 
for interest on the capital value of the land and fixtures, If these 
items of expenditure were provided for in the manner suggested, no 
expenditure under this head would be necessary; but if we regard 
our scheme as an experiment in economic forestry, the accumulat- 
ing value of this interest should be ultimately covered by the 
returns, although the latter cannot be expected to do this for 
many years. We have allowed nothing for depreciation of stock 
and fixtures, as we consider that the cost of planting bare ground 
should be considered as a set-off to this item, coming, as it should, 
under the head of capital expenditure, rather than working 
expenses. 
In carrying out such a scheme on the lines indicated above, 
many modifications would doubtless have to be made to suit the 
circumstances of the case. Our chief endeavour has been to 
sketch out a project which, while worthy of the spirit in which it 
ought to be conceived, would, at the same time, reduce the cost 
to the lowest point consistent with the importance of the objects 
in view. Forestry is an industry which requires more time than 
any other in which to develop, and we cannot, therefore, expect 
that such an area, if established, would at once be brought into 
such a state of perfection as to satisfy every critic. But its chief 
value would consist, as already indicated, in its being a means of 
demonstrating the various ways in which Scottish forestry may 
VOL. XV. PART II, R 
