1^0 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1794. 



foot, there would have been no 

 profit in letting it stand, as the in- 

 terest of 30s. at 5 per cent, would 

 have produced Is. 6d. in the year ; 

 and ft is for this reason that I 

 have fixed upon 30s. as the value 

 of trees which should be cut down ; 

 if they are cut sooner or later, the 

 proprietor will be a loser. It must 

 not be supposed, however, that 

 great precision can attend this ob- 

 servation ; since particular soils, or 

 tlie greater or less thriving condi- 

 tion of the wpodj itgy render it 

 useful to cut down, trees before 

 tjiey are worth 30s, or to let them 

 stand a while longer. It ought to 

 be remarked also, that large trees 

 sell for more per foot than small 

 ones do, yet the usual increase of 

 price is not a compensation to the 

 proprietor for letting hjs timber 

 stand to a great age. This may be 

 made out from the foUowii.g expe- 

 riment. 



In the 27th of October, 1792, I 

 measured, at six feet from the 

 ground, the circumference of a very 

 fine oiik of eighty-two years growth, 

 from the time of its being planted, 

 and found it to be 107 inches; on 

 £he same day of the month, in 1793, 

 it measured 108 inclies. There is 

 net one oak in fifty (at the age of 

 (his) which gains an inch circum- 

 Jtrence in one year. The length 

 of the boll of this tree was about 

 eighteen feet, it contained about 

 eighty-four feet of timber, and was 

 worth, at 3s. a foot, 121. 12s. It 

 gained in one year very little more 

 than one foot and a half of timber, 

 or 4-s. 6d. in value ; but the interest 

 of 121. 12s. at 4 per cent, amounts 

 in one year, to above twice the yz^ 

 lue of the increase, even of this tree, 

 \vhich is a singularly thriving one. 



I have been the more particular 

 on this subject from a public consi- 

 deration. Many men are alarmed, 

 lest our posterity should experience 

 a scarcity of oak-timber for the use 

 of the navy ; and various means of 

 increasing its quantity have been 

 recommended with jreat judgement. 

 In addition to these means, the 

 making a much greater than the 

 ordinary increase of price on timber 

 of a large scantling, might be not 

 improperly su!,imitted to the consi- 

 deration of those who are concern- 

 ed in the business. If the navy- 

 board would give 81. or 91. a load 

 for timber trees containing 100 cu-. 

 bic ftet or upwards, instead of 41. 

 or 51. every man in the kingdom 

 would have a reasonable motive for 

 letting his timber icaad till it be- 

 came of a size fit for the use of the 

 navy ; whereas, according to the 

 present price, it is every man's in- 

 terest to cut it down sooner. 



In tlie neighbourhood of Amble- 

 side, there is found a stratum o£ 

 grey lime-stone, which, thougji it 

 contains a little clay, might be as 

 serviceable as the purest son for a- 

 gricultural purposes ; but, unfoi tu- 

 rately, for the improvement of this 

 part of the country, coal is so dear, 

 that very little of this lime-stone is 

 burned, the lime which is used in 

 the culture of the lands being either 

 fetched from Kendal, or brought up 

 "Vyindermere-Iake at a great ex- 

 pence. As there is great plenty of 

 coppice-wood in the district here 

 spoken of, it may be useful for the 

 farmers and land-owners to consi- 

 der, whether the burning of lime 

 with fagots in a flame-kiln, as is 

 practised in Sussex, may not be a 

 more beneficial application of the 

 underwoods, than the converting 



them 



