FINANCE 91 



their money in shares of a company formed 

 for the purpose of buying land and planting 

 on it. During the growth of the trees there 

 would be no dividend and constant expenditure, 

 and this period of postponement of dividends 

 might last for sixty or eighty years. 



Therefore it must be admitted that timber- 

 growing does not pay, if the question means, 

 Does it produce a high rate of interest, or is it 

 attractive to an investor who wishes to have 

 a safe income ? 



Timber-growing, however, pays well if it is 

 regarded as a form of accumulation. It is free 

 from those practical difficulties which frequently 

 make the results of accumulation far less than 

 might be anticipated from a consideration of 

 the mathematical results of compound interest. 

 Many testators have directed by their wills 

 that sums of money should be accumulated at 

 compound interest. The result has nearly always 

 disappointed their hopes that there would, one 

 day, be a fund approximately equal to the sum 

 shown in interest tables as due from compound 

 interest at a moderate rate. 



It is in practice impossible to invest dividends 

 immediately on their receipt. There are always 

 expenses of taxation, stamps, commission, and 



