150 THE STATE AND PRIVATE FORESTS 



general interests of the community. The private 

 owner is not in a position to wait the long periods 

 necessary for the growth of large-sized timber, the 

 production of a certain quantity of which may be 

 essential to certain industries in the country. 



The State can afford to accept a smaller rate of 

 interest on the capital invested in its forest property 

 than would be possible for the private owner. This 

 is admissible in the case of the State, since it reaps 

 indirect advantages by the provision of material 

 necessary to the industries of its people, in the 

 appearance of new industries dependent on the 

 materials of the forests, by providing work for 

 a portion of the population, thereby raising the 

 standard of comfort of its people, and so forth. 

 These are undoubted advantages to the State, but 

 cannot be regarded from the same view-point by 

 the private owner. 



Commercial forestry to be successful requires to 

 be carried out in compact blocks of land, involving 

 a considerable amount of capital, and the larger the 

 area, within reason, the greater will be the success 

 of the operations, since it is possible to maintain 

 better transport facilities at a smaller cost per unit 

 of area. And the large areas of forest provide a 

 greater annual amount of material by which indus- 

 tries using this material can be inaugurated and 

 maintained, providing work for a considerable head 

 of population. 



The private owner is not usually in a position to 

 provide and maintain large compact areas of forest, 

 though this would, in some cases, be possible if a 



