142 ON THE PRESENT STATE AND FUTURE PROSPECTS 



When quoting prices per foot, the two methods make a considerable 

 difference ; in the one case there is only the best of the timber, in 

 the other the rough top is included. Owing to felling being done 

 by contract, the timber is measured out very exact, and the contents 

 marked on every tree with a timber scribe. A quarter of a foot is 

 always included in the measurement, and it is no uncommon thing to 

 see a tree containing 80 or 100 feet have an odd quarter or half foot 

 marked on it. This exactness of measurement has arisen from timber 

 merchants buying the trees standing ; and bringing their customers 

 to the plantation to select wood to suit their purposes, the measure 

 marked on the tree forming the basis on which the bargain is com- 

 pleted. There is much to be said in favour of exactness in measure- 

 ment, as it forms a reliable guide for reference at any future time, 

 but it is a duty often very loosely performed. Another feature in 

 timber measuring here is, that no allowance is made for bark except 

 when oak timber is sold standing ; the measurement is then cal- 

 culated under the bark. There is no good reason why an allowance 

 should be made for bark — an allowance which varies in different 

 districts of the country, and which can never be exact. It would 

 be very desirable to attain uniformity in this respect throughout 

 the country. Of course, where an allowance is made for bark, the 

 price per foot will be higher. The class of wood used for pit 

 purposes, in many districts sold by lineal measure, is here sold by 

 cubic measure, so that small trees containing only half a foot of 

 wood are measured in that way. "When sold by lineal measure 

 much time is saved in measuring, but the cubic measurement is the 

 most exact. 



The Demand for Timber in the County. — Perhaps in no other part 

 of the United Kingdom can higher prices be realised for timber 

 than in the south and west of Yorkshire, to which district this 

 paper chiefly applies. The following list of prices received for 

 timber on an estate in the south of Yorkshire this year (1873) 

 will form the best criterion for judging as to the demand. When 

 comparing prices with those in other parts of the country, the pecu- 

 liarities in measuring before mentioned require to be kept in view. 

 The prices here quoted were received for the timber lying in lots in 

 the plantation, two or three miles distant from a railway station, 

 Cartage to station cost the purchaser from twopence to three- 

 pence per foot, according as the access to the wood was easy or 

 otherwise, after which it was carried on the railway an average of 

 25 miles before arriving at its destination : — 



