LANDOWNERS CO-OPERATIVE FORESTRY SOCIETY. 233 



know what to do with it. The secretary gives in his report 

 a typical example where two offers were received for one lot 

 of timber — an offer of ^800 and another of ^2000. If the 

 offer of ^Soo had been accepted, as such offers frequently are, the 

 owner would obviously have lost ;^i20o. Yet it is more than 

 doubtful whether the purchaser at ^800 would have made a 

 larger profit than the purchaser at ^2000. On the contrary, 

 experience shows that the timber merchant who knows what 

 he is buying, how to handle it, and place it to the best 

 advantage, is the man who both makes the best offer and 

 secures for himself the best profit In this difficult business 

 knowledge and organisation count for as much as the raw 

 material which proprietors grow and merchants harvest and 

 sell. 



In one point, surely a very elementary one, and typical of 

 the chaotic state of the home timber market, this Society has 

 been of great service both to sellers and purchasers of timber. 

 This is in measuring and classifying timber offered for sale 

 by our members. It seems scarcely credible that anyone can 

 propose to sell a crop of which he knows neither the quantity 

 nor the value, but this is quite a common occurrence in forestry, 

 even on large and otherwise well-managed estates. It is no 

 paradox, but a statement of fact, to say that by the mere 

 process of measuring or classifying timber exposed for sale by 

 our members this Society has been able greatly to increase its 

 value. Since it has become known that the measurements made 

 by this Society are accurate and trustworthy, timber merchants 

 have readily admitted the advantage, from their point of view, 

 of dealing with clients who know what they have to sell, and 

 have been willing to reduce the margin which they are usually 

 obliged to allow for the disappointment caused by inaccurate 

 estimates. We have much reason to thank our Travelling 

 Forester, James Grant, for his services in this respect. 



I cannot conclude these remarks without pointing out that 

 the thanks of members are particularly due to members 

 who have served on the Nursery and Timber Committees, 

 especially to Mr Gammell and Mr Milne Home, the chairmen 

 of these committees. Just as the trading business of the 

 Society depends mainly upon Mr Leslie and his staff, so the 

 realisation of the Society's larger aims depends mainly upon 

 the work of these two important committees. 



VOL. XXVIII. PART II. Q 



