452 DISPOSAL AND SALE OF WOOD. 



that was under forest, the economic condition of the popula- 

 tion, the cost of transport, and, finally, the different qualities of 

 the wood-assortments. It was, therefore, a mere stroke of 

 luck if the royalty was anywhere near the correct price of an 

 assortment. How little, indeed, this was the case, may be 

 gathered from the fact that often royalties were fixed for 

 entire provinces or small States, and frequently remained 

 unaltered for long periods. If the forest officials desired to 

 counteract these bad results to some extent, they had to 

 propose an increase in the royalties for certain special cases, 

 and thus attempt to reform an evil by imposing a greater one. 

 This system did most damage in Austria, where certain State 

 and private forests were assigned to mines of salt and other 

 minerals, supplying them with forest produce at prices 

 which were for the most part ludicrously low, often so low 

 as to cover barely the cost of maintaining the forests. 

 In this way, forests were deprived of their proper revenues, 

 and their maintenance and development were hindered 

 unfairly. 



The great harm done to forests by low wood-prices, the 

 rising value of all raw material, the constantly increasing 

 demands on State treasuries and the many inconveniences 

 resulting from the above antiquated ideas in the sale of forest 

 produce, have, in most countries during the second and third 

 decades of the present century, led to a complete change of 

 principle. It is now admitted that the forest-owner, like any 

 other producer, is thoroughly justified in selling his produce 

 for its full value. 



Even if there can be no question that the price of firewood 

 depends on that of coal, yet to depress it as low as that of coal 

 merely on this account is not fair, for there are several other 

 intervening circumstances which must not be neglected, such 

 as custom, comfort, etc. 



The price of wood varies with time and place, and in order to 

 allow due weight to these factors in fixing royalties, different 

 tariffs must be assigned to different districts or sale-depots. 

 Thus, all places where wood prices are about the same should 

 be comprised within a sale-district, excluding places where 

 there are any marked differences in prices. In a province, 



