INTRODUCTORY. 175 



(3) It secures to the owner equal, or approximately equal, 

 annual incomes, and facilitates budget arrangements. 



On the other hand the method has disadvantages, such as : 



(a) It cannot as a rule be introduced without cutting certain 



woods at an age differing from that which is most 

 profitable. 



(b) Owing to the necessity of bringing annually the same 



quantity into the market, it interferes with the com- 

 plete utilization of special demands for forest produce, 

 or the omission of cuttings when the demand is slack. 



These remarks show that the intermittent as well as the 

 annual working possess peculiar advantages, and that the 

 choice depends on circumstances. In the majority of cases 

 the annual working will be found more suitable, without, 

 however, strictly adhering to it when it would involve sacri- 

 fices out of proportion to the general advantages of the 

 method. 



Correctly speaking, in order to have equal annual returns, it 

 would be necessary to regulate the intermediate cuttings or 

 thinnings, as well as the final returns. Against such an 

 arrangement the following reasons may be given : 



(1) Areas which yield equal final returns, do not always 



yield equal intermediate returns. 



(2) Thinnings depend much more than final cuttings on 



the method of formation and tending. 



(3) The yield of thinnings depends frequently on events 



which do not occur regularly, or which cannot be fore- 

 seen, so that it is almost impossible to estimate it 

 correctly beforehand. 



Hence, it is desirable to confine the regulation of the annual 

 yield to the final cuttings, and to be satisfied with an approxi- 

 mate equalization of the intermediate returns, such as will 

 naturally happen, if the final cuttings are systematically 

 equalized; provided always that the thinnings are not made 

 so heavy as to affect the subsequent final returns. 



