160 ON DIFFERENT MODES OF DISPOSING OF 



is clear that no fixed principle is applicable to all cases, and there- 

 fore the intelligent forester wisely adapts his modus operandi to the 

 various circumstances of the neighbourhood in which he is situated. 

 Private Sales are best adapted for disposing of any produce which, 

 owing to local circumstance, has a fixed market value in the district. 

 A large rake manufactory regulates the price of rake-ware, a powder- 

 mill determines the price of charwood, and collieries control the 

 price of pit-props, sleepers, or any timber required for mining pur- 

 poses. When local causes such as these determine the price of any 

 plantation produce, no auction sales will realise more money than 

 can be obtained privately ; but if the competition is indifferent, the 

 timber may sell considerably under its market value. Private sales 

 are also adapted for small estates, where the quantity of timber sold 

 is too limited to defray the expenses of sales by auction. If the 

 quantity of timber to be disposed of at one cutting is under L.50, it 

 is not advisable to incur the expense of advertising, printing, and 

 auctioneer's fee; but if the quantity to be sold exceeds L. 60, the 

 extra money realised by public competition will more than compen- 

 sate for all additional expenses. My first experience of private 

 sales was acquired in the mining districts of the north of England. 

 There the proprietor's work-people invariably cut the timber, and 

 arrange it in convenient lots, where free access can be had for its 

 removal. In arranging the lots for sale, the various sorts of timber 

 are kept separate from each other — ash from oak, oak from beech, 

 large timber from timber suitable for sleepers, sleepers from pit- 

 props, pit-props from piles and rails, and piles and rails from fire- 

 wood. Firewood is sold by the lot, piles and rails by the score, pit- 

 props by the lineal yard, sleepers by the pair, poles and small thin- 

 nings by the tree or hundred trees, and large timber by the foot 

 cube. It is considered of importance to arrange the lots neatly and 

 systematically, and to pile one tree above another in such a manner 

 that only the best of the timber will be exposed to the purchaser's 

 view. This is effected by placing the blemished trees in the centre 

 of the lots, and covering them -with timber of a superior quality. 

 The intention, obviously, is to induce the purchaser to pay a price 

 beyond the real value of the timber, and, consequently, the practice 

 is fraudulent and deceptive. It is much better to complete the lots 

 with timber of the same quality, and instead of piling one tree on 

 another, have them spread out so that all can be seen and measured 

 with facility. This avoids misunderstanding between the purchaser 

 and vendor, and in almost everv case the timber will realise more 



