LECTURE VII. 



METHODS OF BUSINESS CONDUCT- 

 FOREST ECONOMY. 



As in every technical industry concerned in production, so in forestry 

 the methods of the technical art are distinct from the methods of the busi- 

 ness conduct. "Silviculture" represents the technical art of forestry; 

 while under the comprehensive term "forest economy" we may group all 

 that knowledge and practice which is necessary for the proper conduct of 

 the business of forestry. 



Besides the purely technical care in managing the productive forces 

 of nature to secure the best attainable production of material, best in both 

 quantity and quality the highest gross yield there must be exercised a 

 managerial care to secure the most favorable relations of expenditure and 

 income the highest net yield, a surplus of cash results without which the 

 industry would be purposeless from the standpoint of private enterprise 

 and investment. Moreover, an orderly conduct and systematic procedure 

 to secure this revenue is necessary. 



It is possible to practice the art of silviculture incidentally, as the, 

 farmer does, or can do, on his wood lot, without special business organiza- 

 tion and elaborate planning, the owner harvesting and reproducing and 

 tending his crop whenever needful ; but the case is different if forest grow- 

 ing is to be carried on as a business by itself with a view to continued and 

 regular procedure, to continued and regular revenue; in that case more; 

 elaborate planning becomes necessary. 



The one peculiarity which distinguishes the forestry business from. 

 every other business is the time element. The forester cannot harvest an- 

 nually what has actually grown (the current increment) ; the forest crop, 

 as we have seen, must accumulate the accretions of many years before it 

 becomes mature, i.e., of sufficient size to be useful ; hence, unless special 

 provisions are made in the management of a forest property, the crop and 

 the revenue would mature and be harvested periodically only, and that in 

 long periods ; from twenty to a hundred years and more would elapse from 

 the sowing to the reaping. 



The farmer may be satisfied to practise on his wood lot attached to his 

 farming business what is technically called an "intermittent" management, 

 harvesting and reproducing from time to time without attempting to se- 

 cure regular annual returns. But when forestry is to be practised as an 

 independent industry, it becomes desirable, as in any large mercantile es- 



