COMPARISON OF MODES OF SALE. 465 



the wood more profitably to himself, and can time its conver- 

 sion and removal so as to take advantage of any special demand. 

 In this mode of sale, however, the purchaser obtains the crown 

 and stumps of the trees, as well as the stems, and thus may be 

 encumbered with a quantity of firewood, the disposal of which 

 is often burdensome and unprofitable to a timber-merchant. 



The matter has a different aspect as regards the interests of 

 the forest-owner. When the standing trees are sold by unit 

 of produce, this protects the forest-owner from the necessity 

 of selling his trees at too low a price, at the same time allow- 

 ing him full play in felling and converting the trees carefully. 

 AY hen, however, it is important to satisfy local demands, this 

 mode of sale is not satisfactory [as the whole of each assort- 

 ment from a felling-area, or the demarcated portion of one, 

 is purchased necessarily by one individual. Tr.] 



Sale of standing trees to be felled and converted by the 

 purchaser is generally more disadvantageous than otherwise 

 to the forest-owner, since he is obliged to hand over the 

 felling-area more or less to the purchaser, and is unable to 

 effect an accurate estimation of the volume or quality of the 

 wood, a condition which is generally more unfavourable to the 

 seller than to the buyer. It is well-known what large profits 

 are made by wood-merchants in the purchase of whole forests, 

 or compartments, of standing trees in Kussia, Bosnia, Hun- 

 gary, etc. Still, under certain circumstances, the sale of 

 standing trees may be preferable to that of converted wood, 

 especially when the wood-market is over-stocked ; when super- 

 vision is defective or labour scarce ; also in districts where 

 this mode of sale has become customary, and long usage, 

 influenced by the interests of both buyer and seller, have 

 removed much of its harmfulness. 



Experience of the sale of standing trees has shown, 

 especially in Eussia, where this mode of sale prevails, and 

 also in France* and Austria, that in many cases silvicultural 



* [Generally the attention to silvicultural requirements on felling-areas in the 

 French State Forests on the part of the adjudicatairet, or purchasers of stand- 

 ing trees, is satisfactory. In thinnings, where all the trees to be removed can- 

 not be known beforehand, but are marked gradually as the work progresses, 

 sales in France are effected by unit of produce. Tr.] 



F.U. H H 



