164 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
the local climate also becomes less suitable for growing large 
timber. Pit-props or pulp-wood are about the only classes of 
timber which could be produced on such land, but at the present 
moment the cost of carriage prohibits such timber being utilised 
for pit-props unless within a short distance of a colliery or with 
cheap water carriage, while pulping-mills do not exist, one 
reason being, that the timber for keeping them running has 
not yet been grown. What would happen with large and 
regular supplies is another matter, and all we can say with 
certainty is that a satisfactory market has to be found for 
Scots pine, spruce and larch, the average size of which would 
not exceed 10 to 20 cubic feet per tree, if the planting of hill 
land is to be a financial success. At the present time, we know 
prices for this class of timber are not satisfactory, although the 
price of larch enables a little profit to be made. But as there 
is little or no certainty about larch succeeding over large areas, 
we can only depend with certainty upon the other two for per- 
manent crops. The average price for these two species at 
present is about 2d. per cubic foot, leaving out of account 
altogether remote plantations from which timber cannot be sold 
at all. With an average rate of growth of 50 feet per acre per 
annum, this price brings in 8s. 4d. gross rental, which is equal 
to a loss of about 2s. per acre if our former supposition of 
annual costs is correct. With an average price of 3d. per foot, 
this loss would be converted into a gain, but only to the extent 
of a rental equal to that paid by the land in its unimproved state. 
To obtain any clear financial advantage from planting this class 
of land, therefore, we must get an average price of 4d. per cubic 
foot, which should bring in a net rental of about 5s. per acre. 
On favourable localities, we should gain a further advantage 
in the yield of timber and the larger size of individual trees, and 
in convenient situations a better relative price could be obtained, 
and it is not difficult to prove that planting pays under such cir- 
cumstances. But, taking the average yield of 10,000 acres of 
land lying between 500 and 1500 feet above sea-level, I think 
we should find that the yield of 50 cubic feet is, if anything, too 
high, because a certain proportion of this class of land must be 
allowed for as non-productive. Peat-bogs, swamps, bare or only 
thinly-covered rock, are sure to occur to a greater or less extent 
at elevations over 1000 feet, and tend to reduce the average 
yield per acre, and although the cost of planting such land may 
