THE PKODUCE OF WOODS AND PLANTATIONS. 167 



often maintained that the proprietor's own workpeople ought to cut 

 and convert the whole of the underwood before it is sold. This 

 would be something like converting timber for sale, and would 

 have to be done very judiciously to be remunerative. It is well 

 known that proprietors who convert their own timber seldom realise 

 so much money, after deducting expenses, as those who sell it un- 

 converted. The reasons assigned are many and various, but I think 

 the principal cause is that the forester has neither time nor expe- 

 rience to compete with those who devote their whole energies to this 

 branch of business. A saw-mill is a great acquisition, and very 

 desirable on every estate ; but it ought only to be used to convert 

 timber for estate purposes, or for the benefit of tenants, who are 

 often allowed rough timber for their repairs. Theoretically con- 

 sidered, a proprietor who converts his own timber and sells it after- 

 wards, ought to secure all the intermediate profits ; but in practice, 

 his profits vanish, and the whole thing works unsatisfactorily. The 

 same thing would occur were proprietors to attempt to convert their 

 underwood. Hurdle-stakes would be made into fagots, hurdle-rods 

 into " withs," rake-ware into hoops, and hop-poles into sheep-cages. 

 Those who buy our underwood are hard-working men, whose lives 

 of experience enable them to convert expeditiously, applying each 

 piece of wood to the purpose for which it is best adapted. If a 

 staff of inexperienced workmen were to convert a piece of under- 

 wood, it would probably be of less value after they had finished 

 than before they began. The more valuable the underwood, the 

 less chance there would be of its being converted judiciously, and 

 for these reasons I recommend underwood to be sold growing in 

 the manner described. Every description of underwood is sold as 

 soon after the fall of the leaf as circumstances will permit. The 

 following "conditions of sale" are printed and distributed with the 

 catalogues : — 



Reservations and Conditions of Sale. 



1. The highest bidder to be the purchaser; and if any dispute 

 arise, the lot in dispute shall be put up again and resold. 



2. No person shall advance less at each bidding than 2s. Gd, per 

 statute acre. 



3. The purchasers to take their respective lots with all faults, and 

 at the close of the sale pay to the auctioneer a deposit of 20 per cent, 

 upon and in part payment of the purchase-money; the remainder of 

 the purchase-money to be paid on the 29th September 1874, or 



