90 ENGLISH WOODLANDS 



situdes of weather and fire, and their realisation 

 is difficult and purely speculative, for no one 

 can say with certainty what will be the price 

 of timber many years hence. 



The views expressed in these pages are : First, 

 the future will show no substantial difference 

 in returns from the past ; any difference in 

 prices will probably be counterbalanced by cor- 

 responding differences in the cost of labour and 

 public burdens. Secondly, timber-planting can 

 only in very rare cases show a financial result 

 which a chartered accountant would accept as 

 a profit. In spite of these disadvantages, timber- 

 planting has two considerable advantages, which, 

 however, cannot be realised unless the wood- 

 lands are managed with great economy and 

 unless they are in private hands, so that a large 

 proportion of the supervision is given by the 

 proprietor and not charged against the wood- 

 lands as an item on the debit side of the account. 



Assuming the conditions of economy in manage- 

 ment and partly unpaid supervision, wood- 

 lands are a convenient form of accumulation at 

 a moderate rate of interest, and also they provide 

 a useful means for the investment of small 

 sums which otherwise might be wasted. 



Very few persons would be content to invest 



