THE PRICES OF HOME TIMBER. 23 I 



timber would force them to insist upon higher prices 

 from the consumer. 



8. Competition for contracts leading to excessive cutting of 



prices. 



9. High railway rates. 



The causes for the foregoing unsatisfactory condition of 

 things have already been enumerated, and it only remains to 

 examine two in detail : — 



1. Cutting of Rates. — Whereas the foreign producer dictates 

 his price to the consumer, the home timber merchant has to 

 take what he is offered, and in competing for orders his only 

 chance of securing business is to quote a lower rate than his 

 fellow-merchants. This tends to encourage undercutting, and 

 the margin of profit becomes so small that true competition is 

 paralysed, and only those merchants best situated locally can 

 buy standing timber at a profit. 



The remedy lies in the hands of the landowners and the timber 

 merchants conjointly. If the former firmly refused to sell their 

 standing timber below its value, and if the latter resisted the 

 temptation to undercut their trade competitors, and concen- 

 trated their powers of organisation upon the improvement of 

 market conditions, the home timber trade might become a more 

 profitable industry to all concerned. 



2. Cost of Railway Transport. — This cause alone renders a 

 large proportion of home timber unsaleable except at a loss. 

 Only the most valuable kinds can be transported in bulk, and 

 so the secondary lots have to be manufactured /// situ by means 

 of portable mills. In the case of conifers this system is quite 

 satisfactory where the quantity is large, but it is impossible 

 to deal with small lots in this way, and consequently they are 

 wasted. In the case of hardwoods the position is more serious 

 for it is difficult to manufacture hardwoods in situ, and they 

 must be delivered to the merchant in the log. As a rule, the 

 price for small consignments cannot be adjusted until after 

 delivery, which places the producer at such a disadvantage that 

 he does not care to take the risk of consigning. In consequence, 

 the trade in home hardwoods has become stagnant, and though 

 there is a keen demand for good home-grown oak, ash and 

 sycamore, none of these species can be easily procured in the 

 open market, and substitutes have to be imported from abroad 

 at high prices. 



