PARAGRAPH XII. 



TRANSPORTATION IN FORESTRY. 



All over the world, the success of a business enterprise depends 

 on the charges made for the transportation of the commodities 

 produced. Forestry is no exception to the rule: On the contrary, 

 its products being bulky and heavy, selling per pound of weight 

 at a lo^x' price, the profits of forestry are governed in a measure 

 by the freight rates charged against the products of forestry. 



The finest mahogany tree in Brazil has no value for the time 

 being, unless it can be removed ; the finest yellow poplar in 

 western North Carolina had no value prior to the advent of the 

 railroads. Inaccessible woods, now and for a long time to come 

 beyond the reach of the lumberman, cannot be used for the 

 production of timber: the only chance left being the use of such 

 forest:-, for the pasturage of sheep, cattle, and horses. 



The farther remote from transportation a forest is, the more 

 valuable per pound must be the produce derived from it; the 

 larger is the waste, as a consequence, of inferior parts of trees 

 in the woods, and of inferior parts of the boards at the mills. 



Indeed, it might be stated that forestry is essentially a problem 

 of transportation. 



The main expense incurred when the trees are converted into 

 commodities, to be conveyed to the hands of the consumers, 

 consists of charges for transportation. , The actual charge in- 

 curred for the manufacture of woodgoods is relatively small when 

 compared with the expense incurred for the transportation of 

 the log from the stump of thfe tree to the mill ; for thq trans- 

 portation of the board from the mill to the yard, from the yard 

 to the car, from the car to the depot at the consuming city, and 

 thence to the shops of the consumer. 



In the United States the distance between the lumber-pro- 

 ducing forests and the lumber-consuming centres is becoming 

 larger and larger, in the course of decades of years, until, now- 



