l8o THE NEW FORESTRY. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

 VALUING AND SELLING TIMBER. 



Timber Valuers. Standing Timber.Fallen Timber. Cordwood. 

 Conditions of Sale. Felling Timber. 



SECTION I. TIMBER VALUERS. 



IT will be granted, we think, that unless the owner succeeds 

 in getting his timber valued and sold to advantage he cannot 

 be said to have fully realised the object of growing it What- 

 ever system of forestry may be adopted the methods of 

 valuing and selling the timber are much the same in all cases, 

 but we strongly advise owners who value the future of their 

 woods to employ either their own or some other competent 

 forester to set out the lots for sale and ascertain the quality of 

 the timber and the number of cubic feet in each lot. The last 

 is the main object, as when the quality is known the vendor 

 may safely hold out for a fair price, and will usually get it. 

 We are here referring to standing timber ; fallen timber can 

 be measured, but more is sold standing than fallen in England 

 at present. 



In setting out standing timber for sale, where a clear cut is 

 not desired, only the trees that ought to come out should be 

 marked, and these will usually be a portion of the oldest trees, 

 and such as show signs of decay, or such as need to be 

 removed in thinning, the healthiest growing trees being left in 

 a regular way throughout the wood. No one can do this but 

 a forester and his employer's interests are his own. This 

 advice is offered because there are persons calling themselves 

 estate and timber valuers, or surveyors and auctioneers, who 

 profess to conduct timber sales to far better advantage than 

 those on the spot can do, and who seek for engagements of 

 that kind over the heads of resident agents and foresters. 

 They set forth to owners of woods that their extensive connec- 

 tion with the timber trade and the facilities they possess give 

 them advantages not possessed by others, and not unfrequently 

 secure important engagements, particularly among proprietors 

 who happen to have considerable quantities of timber but who 

 do not employ a regular forester. We dare say such agents 

 may occasionally be able to value timber and sell it too, but 

 their woodcraft ends there. Some recognise this, and employ 

 foresters to do the work for them, in which case the vendor 



