258 transactions of royaf, scottish arboricultukal society. 



Acceptance of Offers. 



On the date fixed for offers to be submitted they are examined, 

 and the highest offer should naturally be accepted. .Sometimes 

 however merchants make a higher offer than the timber is worth 

 to them in the hope of getting larger allowances in measurement, 

 or with a view to excluding outside competition so that they 

 may negotiate future sales privately. 



Summary and Conclusions. 



The foregoing observations would seem to indicate that at the 

 present time growers of timber in this country do not market 

 their crops at the most opportune time nor in an economic 

 manner. The purchasers of timber are unfortunately severely 

 handicapped in their handling and marketing of the material by 

 the unfair and needless restrictions imposed upon them by the 

 growers. As a result of this they naturally offer less than the 

 true value of the timber. 



Experience has shown that preparatory to selling timber, for 

 the benefit of all parties concerned, a survey of the crop should 

 be made. Such a survey may take the form either of a detailed 

 investigation or of an approximate one. This leads on naturally 

 to the grading of the material, so that the timber is exposed for 

 sale in a way which is best suited to the various requirements of 

 the market. Observations go to support the contention that at 

 present in the home market quality of timber ranks only second 

 to large dimensions. The explanation of this is not very 

 apparent, but the result is it may be more profitable to-day to 

 grow coarse timber of large size than good quality material. 

 This would seem to indicate, especially in the case of larch, 

 that the planting distance should be extended to say not less 

 than 6 feet and the thinnings made fairly heavy. As regards 

 offering timber for sale, it would appear that sale by private 

 bargain is the best method, while sale by auction is not to be 

 recommended. On many estates at present the questions of 

 obtaining local labour and of housing imported labour are 

 serious problems for both grower and purchaser. Cases are 

 known in which offers had been made and accepted for timber, 

 but eventually the purchasers were forced to ask for an extension 

 of the time limit, or to be relieved of the bargain, on account of 

 their inability to find labour. Finally, as regards bark allowance, 



