PUBLIC AUCTION. 45? 



the place where it is held. This may be either on the felling- 

 area or at the wood-depot, or in a building in some neighbouring 

 and suitably situated village or town. 



If the sale is effected in the forest or depot, then every 

 would-be purchaser can examine each lot, and estimate its value, 

 and bid for it with confidence and deliberation. This is par- 

 ticularly useful for purchasers when there is a considerable 

 difference in the quality of the various lots. 



When, however, in a sale by detail the lots are scrupulously 

 assorted as at present in many forests, the buyers are accus- 

 tomed to visit the felling-area before the sale, and true descrip- 

 tions of the lots are given by the auctioneer or where in 

 sales of standing trees sufficient information regarding their 

 volume and quality has been supplied beforehand to the 

 buyers a sale under cover of a roof is preferable, as it is 

 much more expeditious and usually attracts a greater number 

 of purchasers than a sale in the open air. Anyone wishing to 

 purchase a large quantity of timber, will in any case visit the 

 felling-area before the sale, and small purchasers have no time 

 during the sale to measure and value every log, without 

 delaying the auction intolerably. An auction in the forest 

 is therefore advisable in the following cases : when buyers 

 cannot be induced to visit the felling-area or depot beforehand ; 

 when the wood has been assorted carelessly, or each lot con- 

 tains wood of various assortments and qualities. Generally, 

 in all other cases, the interests of the forest-owner are safe- 

 guarded better when the auction is held in a building. 



The date chosen for the auction, the place in which the 

 auction is held, and the list of material to be sold, should 

 now be advertised publicly, both in the best local newspapers 

 and in printed notices posted up at inns and public buildings 

 in the sale-district, as well as by the public crier. If the pro- 

 duce to be sold is chiefly wood for local demands, it is super- 

 fluous to spend much money on advertising; it is then 

 sufficient in the notices to give a list of the chief assort- 

 ments, and to advertise in purely local newspapers only. 

 If, however, valuable timber is to be sold for which there is a 

 good demand or which is suitable for export, or in sales of 

 quantities of merchantable firewood and especially of 



