100 ENGLISH WOODLANDS 



five to sixty-five is in most cases the age at 

 which a larch plantation should be felled. 



It is impossible to attempt any average state- 

 ment of the value of thinnings. Generally it 

 is impossible to sell them except locally, and 

 local markets vary extremely. Also there is no 

 distinction between the later thinnings and a 

 partial clearance or the removal of the final 

 crop in instalments. 



As a very general statement it may be said 

 that an average larch plantation should yield 

 during the last fifteen years of the rotation a 

 total crop per acre of about 1,600 cubic feet, 

 excluding all trees which measure less than 

 6 inches quarter-girth under bark. 



Probably most planters would be satisfied if 

 they could be sure that at the end of the rota- 

 tion the receipts would show an annual profit 

 of 8s. per acre in addition to 3 per cent, com- 

 pound interest on the cost. Apart from any 

 local circumstances which may affect favourably 

 the sale of timber, it would be hazardous to 

 plant any land which could be let for more 

 than 5s, per acre annually, if the object of the 

 planting was merely the realisation of a profit. 



